Red flags in data: Learning from failed data reuse experiences

Abstract

This study examined the data reusers' failed or unsuccessful experience to understand what constituted reusers' failure. Learning from failed experiences is necessary to understand why the failure occurred and to prevent the failure or convert the failure to success. This study offers an alternative view on data reuse practices and provides insights for facilitating data reuse processes by eliminating core components of failure. From the interviews with 23 quantitative social science data reusers who had failed data reuse experiences, the study findings suggest: (a) ease of reuse, particularly the issue of access and interoperability, is the important initial condition for a successful data reuse experience; (b) understanding data through documentation may be less of an issue, at least for experienced researchers to make their data reuse unsuccessful, although the process can still be challenging; and (c) the major component of failed experience is the lack of support in reusing data, which emphasizes the need to develop a support system for data reusers.