Visibilities and invisibilities in data reuse: video records of practice in education

Abstract

This article investigates data reuse or the secondary analysis of qualitative data, specifically video records of practice in education, which are used to study the complex cognitive, social, and logistical issues involved in teaching and learning processes. It examines reuse through the lens of the invisibilities experienced by educational researchers who perform secondary analysis on video records of practice. Drawing on 22 in-depth interviews with educational researchers, we examine how they conceptualize secondary analysis of qualitative video data and cope with invisibilities in the data. For example, knowing the original research question was not sufficient: reusers needed to understand more about the intentionality of the data producer. They also sought more information on the reflexivity of the original researcher and how this influenced data production. Additionally, reusers discussed the creation of evidence from the video during secondary analysis as teaching and learning themselves entail invisible processes.