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A new dataset titled ‘Orientation Systems in Public Transportation and the Cultural Dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance – A Behavioral and Semiotic Analysis of Selected European Cities,’ authored by Dr. Kamil Olender of the University of Wroclaw, has been published in the QDA. The dataset contains materials produced under the ‘Miniatura’ grant of the National Science Center, Poland. The study evaluated orientation systems in public transportation in the context of the identity elements of the city and region. The theoretical background of the project was based on Geert Hofstede’s concept of cultural dimensions.

On November 29, 2024, Maciej Melon from the QDA team and Magdalena Bielinska from the Open Science Platform operating within the Interdisciplinary Center for Mathematical and Computational Modeling at the UW conducted an online training on research data management and the use of the Social Data Repository (https://rds.icm.edu.pl/). The training was intended for employees of the University of Lodz Library and was divided into two parts: a discussion of the basics of research data management with a presentation of the repository, and instructions for depositing a sample dataset.

On November 27, during the Oral History Seminar, Ms. Monika Szewczyk, a PhD student at The Doctoral School in the Social Sciences at Jagiellonian University, presented an interview on participation in protests related to the tightening of abortion laws, conducted as part of a biographical method class taught by Prof. Grażyna Kubica.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On October 23, during the Oral History Seminar, Ms. Karolina Domańska presented an interview from her research on the popularity of American basketball in Poland in the 1990s. She used this research in her master’s thesis, titled The Popularity of American Basketball as a Cultural Phenomenon in Poland during the Transition Period in the 1990s (The Case of the Southwestern Voivodeships), which she wrote under the supervision of Dr. Marta Kurkowska-Budzan, Professor at Jagiellonian University. The thesis was awarded twice.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On September 25, 2024, the first Oral History Seminar of the 2024/2025 academic year took place. Participants analyzed two transcriptions of interviews conducted as part of the project titled “‘Paltry Pensions’ in the Context of the Sense of Social Justice and the Goals of Pension Policy. A Multidimensional Sociological Analysis.” This project, funded by the National Science Center, Poland (grant number 2021/41/B/HS6/04416), is currently underway at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, under the direction of Dr. Danuta Życzyńska-Ciołek. During the seminar, the analysis of the interview content was accompanied by a discussion of methodological issues. The handling of personal data of research participants in relation to archiving audio recordings of sociological research was also addressed.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

A new dataset titled ‘Housing Tenure and Dwelling in Social Housing Associations – IDI Interviews with Residents of TBS Warszawa Północ Housing Stock’ has been published in the QDA. The dataset contains 10 transcripts of interviews conducted in the spring of 2024 in Warsaw by Ms. Klara Lewandowska as part of her bachelor’s thesis research at the University of Warsaw.

In May 2024, Dr. Michał Przeperski published the book  Dziki Wschód. Transformacja po polsku 1986-1993 [Wild East. Transformation in Polish 1986-1993] (Wydawnictwo Literackie Publishers, Cracow 2024). Among other sources, the book uses interviews from the dataset ‘Narratives of political and economic transition, 1995’ – a collection of interviews conducted by Dr. Denise V. Powers, available at QDA.

The last Oral History Seminar of the 2023/2024 academic year took place on May 22, 2024, with an introduction by Dominik Czapigo (KARTA Center). Participants analyzed two accounts recorded as part of the documentary project ‘Poles in the East,’ carried out from 2006 to 2011 by the KARTA Center and the History Meeting House, which jointly run the Oral History Archive. During the project, numerous trips were organized to seven countries (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Romania, and Ukraine), during which the stories of 1,075 interviewees were recorded and nearly 4,300 archival materials were scanned. These materials were then—thanks to a grant from the National Program for the Development of the Humanities—compiled and prepared for release. One of the results of the project was the publication Polacy na Wschodzie. Historie mówione [Poles in the East. Oral Histories]. More information can be found on the project website: www.polacynawschodzie.pl.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the ‘Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)’. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us at: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On April 24, 2024, the subsequent Oral History Seminar took place at IFiS PAN. During the meeting, Dr. Marcin Chorązki (Institute of National Remembrance, Branch in Cracow) presented an interview with a woman representing the former social class of Polish landowners. The interview was conducted in 2015 as part of research into the fate of landowners in the People’s Republic of Poland.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

A new dataset titled ‘The Young and the Pandemic’ has been published in the QDA. Its author is Professor Magdalena Radkowska-Walkowicz (University of Warsaw).

The dataset contains materials collected by the Childhood Studies Interdisciplinary Research Team (University of Warsaw) as part of three research projects: two already completed (‘Children’s pandemic archive’ and ‘Change. Children’s pandemic experience’) and one ongoing (‘Pandemic and post-pandemic children’s worlds’). The projects aim to explore children’s experiences and opinions on the COVID-19 pandemic from a childhood studies perspective. The dataset contains diverse materials, including children’s drawings and letters, transcriptions of their statements, interviews with adult experts, information leaflets on one of the studies, and a calendar of the pandemic.