Secondary data

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Secondary data refers to data that is collected by someone other than the primary user. [1] Common sources of secondary data for social science include censuses, information collected by government departments, organizational records and data that was originally collected for other research purposes. [2] Primary data, by contrast, are collected by the investigator conducting the research.

Contents

Secondary data analysis can save time that would otherwise be spent collecting data and, particularly in the case of quantitative data, can provide larger and higher-quality databases that would be unfeasible for any individual researcher to collect on their own. In addition, analysts of social and economic change consider secondary data essential, since it is impossible to conduct a new survey that can adequately capture past change and/or developments. However, secondary data analysis can be less useful in marketing research, as data may be outdated or inaccurate. [1]

Sources of secondary data

Secondary data can be obtained from many sources:

Administrative data and census

Government departments and agencies routinely collect information when registering people or carrying out transactions, or for record keeping – usually when delivering a service. This information is called administrative data. [3]

It can include:

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. It is a type of administrative data, but it is collected for the purpose of research at specific intervals. Most administrative data is collected continuously and for the purpose of delivering a service to the people.

Advantages and disadvantages of secondary data

Secondary data is available from other sources and may already have been used in previous research, making it easier to carry out further research. It is time-saving and cost-efficient: the data was collected by someone other than the researcher. Administrative data and census data may cover both larger and much smaller samples of the population in detail. Information collected by the government will also cover parts of the population that may be less likely to respond to the census (in countries where this is optional). [4]

A clear benefit of using secondary data is that much of the background work needed has already been carried out, such as literature reviews or case studies. The data may have been used in published texts and statistics elsewhere, and the data could already be promoted in the media or bring in useful personal contacts. Secondary data generally have a pre-established degree of validity and reliability which need not be re-examined by the researcher who is re-using such data. Secondary data is key in the concept of data enrichment, which is where datasets from secondary sources are connected to a research dataset to improve its precision by adding key attributes and values. [5]

Secondary data can provide a baseline for primary research to compare the collected primary data results to and it can also be helpful in research design.

However, secondary data can present problems, too. The data may be out of date or inaccurate. If using data collected for different research purposes, it may not cover those samples of the population researchers want to examine, or not in sufficient detail. [1] Administrative data, which is not originally collected for research, may not be available in the usual research formats or may be difficult to get access to.

Secondary analysis or re-use of qualitative data

While 'secondary data' is associated with quantitative databases, analysis focused on verbal or visual materials created for another purpose, is a legitimate avenue for the qualitative researcher. Actually one could go as far as claim that qualitative secondary data analysis “can be understood, not so much as the analysis of pre-existing data; rather as involving a process of re-contextualizing, and re-constructing, data.” [6]

In the analysis of secondary qualitative data, good documentation cannot be underestimated as it provides future researchers with the background and context and allows replication. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research</span> Systematic study undertaken to increase knowledge

Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error. These activities are characterized by accounting and controlling for biases. A research project may be an expansion of past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects or the project as a whole.

Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Focus group</span> Group interviewed to analyse opinions

A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar participants. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are used in market research to understand better people's reactions to products or services or participants' perceptions of shared experiences. The discussions can be guided or open. In market research, focus groups can explore a group's response to a new product or service. As a program evaluation tool, they can elicit lessons learned and recommendations for performance improvement. The idea is for the researcher to understand participants' reactions. If group members are representative of a larger population, those reactions may be expected to reflect the views of that larger population. Thus, focus groups constitute a research or evaluation method that researchers organize to collect qualitative data through interactive and directed discussions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantitative research</span> All procedures for the numerical representation of empirical facts

Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosophies.

Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects of education including student learning, interaction, teaching methods, teacher training, and classroom dynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grounded theory</span> Qualitative research methodology

Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data. Grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning. The methodology contrasts with the hypothetico-deductive model used in traditional scientific research.

In medical research, social science, and biology, a cross-sectional study is a type of observational study that analyzes data from a population, or a representative subset, at a specific point in time—that is, cross-sectional data.

Exploratory research is "the preliminary research to clarify the exact nature of the problem to be solved." It is used to ensure additional research is taken into consideration during an experiment as well as determining research priorities, collecting data and honing in on certain subjects which may be difficult to take note of without exploratory research. It can include techniques, such as:

ATLAS.ti is a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software that facilitates analysis of qualitative data for qualitative research, quantitative research, and mixed methods research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aggregate data</span> Data combined from several measurements

Aggregate data is high-level data which is acquired by combining individual-level data. For instance, the output of an industry is an aggregate of the firms’ individual outputs within that industry. Aggregate data are applied in statistics, data warehouses, and in economics.

Research data archiving is the long-term storage of scholarly research data, including the natural sciences, social sciences, and life sciences. The various academic journals have differing policies regarding how much of their data and methods researchers are required to store in a public archive, and what is actually archived varies widely between different disciplines. Similarly, the major grant-giving institutions have varying attitudes towards public archival of data. In general, the tradition of science has been for publications to contain sufficient information to allow fellow researchers to replicate and therefore test the research. In recent years this approach has become increasingly strained as research in some areas depends on large datasets which cannot easily be replicated independently.

Online research methods (ORMs) are ways in which researchers can collect data via the internet. They are also referred to as Internet research, Internet science or iScience, or Web-based methods. Many of these online research methods are related to existing research methodologies but re-invent and re-imagine them in the light of new technologies and conditions associated with the internet. The field is relatively new and evolving. With the growth of social media, a new level of complexity and opportunity has been created. The inclusion of social media research can provide unique insights into consumer and societal segments and gaining an "emotional" measure of a population on issues of interest.

Quantitative methods provide the primary research methods for studying the distribution and causes of crime. Quantitative methods provide numerous ways to obtain data that are useful to many aspects of society. The use of quantitative methods such as survey research, field research, and evaluation research as well as others. The data can, and is often, used by criminologists and other social scientists in making causal statements about variables being researched.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Official statistics</span> Statistics published by government agencies

Official statistics are statistics published by government agencies or other public bodies such as international organizations as a public good. They provide quantitative or qualitative information on all major areas of citizens' lives, such as economic and social development, living conditions, health, education, and the environment.

The marketing research process is a six-step process involving the definition of the problem being studied upon, determining what approach to take, formulation of research design, field work entailed, data preparation and analysis, and the generation of reports, how to present these reports, and overall, how the task can be accomplished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data</span> Units of information

In common usage, data is a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted formally. A datum is an individual value in a collection of data. Data is usually organized into structures such as tables that provide additional context and meaning, and which may themselves be used as data in larger structures. Data may be used as variables in a computational process. Data may represent abstract ideas or concrete measurements. Data is commonly used in scientific research, economics, and in virtually every other form of human organizational activity. Examples of data sets include price indices, unemployment rates, literacy rates, and census data. In this context, data represents the raw facts and figures from which useful information can be extracted.

Computer-assistedqualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) offers tools that assist with qualitative research such as transcription analysis, coding and text interpretation, recursive abstraction, content analysis, discourse analysis, grounded theory methodology, etc.

The Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) is a national data archiving and dissemination service that was founded in January 2003. It is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Jisc. In July 2012, the ESRC announced it will become a partner in the UK Data Service, to be established as of October 1st of 2012.

The UK Data Service is the largest digital repository for quantitative and qualitative social science and humanities research data in the United Kingdom. The organisation is funded by the UK government through the Economic and Social Research Council and is led by the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex, in partnership with other universities.

Statistics Botswana (StatsBots) is the National statistical bureau of Botswana. The organization was previously under the Ministry of Finance and development planning as a department and was called Central Statistics Office. The organisation was initially set up in 1967 through an Act of Parliament – the Statistics Act and thereafter transformed into a parastatal through the revised Statistics Act of 2009. This act gives the Statistics Botswana the mandate and authority to collect, process, compile, analyse, publish, disseminate and archive official national statistics. It is also responsible for "coordinating, monitoring and supervising the National Statistical System" in Botswana. The office has its main offices in Gaborone and three satellite offices in Maun, Francistown and Ghanzi. The different areas in statistics that should be collected are covered under this Act and are clearly specified. The other statistics that are not specified can be collected as long as they are required by the Government, stakeholders and the users.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Secondary Data". Management Study Guide. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. ↑ "New impacts from 'old' data - Economic and Social Research Council". www.esrc.ac.uk. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ "ADRN » What are administrative data". adrn.ac.uk. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ "ADRN » Benefits of administrative data". adrn.ac.uk. Archived from the original on February 8, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  5. ↑ Horn, N. (June 1, 2018). "The Immense Value Behind Data Enrichment with Secondary Data". inzata.com.
  6. ↑ Moore, Niamh (August 1, 2006). "The contexts of context: Broadening perspectives in the (re)use of qualitative data". Methodological Innovations Online. 1 (2): 21–32. doi: 10.4256/mio.2006.0009 . S2CID   145318344.
  7. ↑ "A Reflexive Account of Reusing Qualitative Data: Beyond Primary/Secondary Dualism". www.socresonline.org.uk. May 30, 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

Sources

  • Novak, Thomas P. (1996). Secondary Data Analysis Lecture Notes. Marketing Research, Vanderbilt University. Available online (telnet):www2000.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu/marketing.research.spring.1996.

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