Big data in qualitative research

[Extract] Big data have emerged in an era of heightened digital change, appearing in literature and research since the turn of the 21st century. Big data refer to rapidly produced, digitally encoded information of variety, velocity, volume, value, and veracity (5 Vs) that is used as evidence for a phenomenon, commonly having relationality within data networks (Mills, 2019). While increasingly relevant to qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, this entry discusses big data in qualitative research—a field in which a large variety of nonstatistical data have always been central. Here, the meaning and significance of big data is established, providing examples for qualitative and mixed methods research. A brief history of big data is described, while identifying some of the key potentials and challenges of big ..