Rethinking Qualitative Data: What Counts as Data

According to the LSE Impact article by Sezai Doruk Soyata on 10 August 2026, qualitative data includes transcripts plus contextual materials such as silences, hesitations, spatial arrangements, and fieldnotes (LSE Impact).

• Sezai Doruk Soyata argues in LSE Impact on 10 August 2026 that "an interview is not simply a container for answers, " and that pauses and hesitations can be evidence when systematically recorded.
• Sezai Doruk Soyata writes on 10 August 2026 that fieldnotes convert context into evidence by recording atmosphere, off‑recorder remarks, and spatial cues across sites.
• Sezai Doruk Soyata warns in LSE Impact on 10 August 2026 that AI tools can speed transcription and coding but "cannot, on their own, reliably determine how contextual details become analytically meaningful."

Answer: The LSE Impact blog post by Sezai Doruk Soyata (published 10 August 2026) broadens the definition of qualitative data beyond transcripts to include silences, spatial arrangements, informal conversations, and fieldnotes.

According to LSE Impact, interview recordings and transcripts remain central but are incomplete because "participants may pause, hesitate to answer, answer indirectly, laugh, lower their voice, change the subject or speak in unusually general terms, " and those behaviors can become analytic evidence when compared across cases.

According to LSE Impact, fieldnotes are a crafted form of evidence because they document who was present, what the space looked like, and what the researcher noticed after the event, not simply private impressions.

Answer: Researchers and UX teams should treat fieldnotes, silences, and spatial cues as analyzable data and design processes that record and audit those materials.

According to LSE Impact on 10 August 2026, systematic recording means keeping consistent fieldnote templates, annotating transcripts with time-stamped observations, and documenting when and why an absence or silence was treated as evidence.

According to LSE Impact, transparency can include anonymised sharing where possible or explicit notes explaining what cannot be shared for ethical reasons.

Answer: The LSE Impact piece on 10 August 2026 clarifies that qualitative data is broader than transcripts and that researchers must make contextual moves into evidence visible.

Sezai Doruk Soyata writes in LSE Impact that researchers should document when and why silences, absences, and fieldnotes become analytical claims.

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