Primary data are those that you have collected yourself,
whereas secondary data originate
elsewhere. Generally, you will find that you are expected to collect primary
data when using quantitative methods, but that secondary data are more
acceptable when you are using a qualitative method. This is because there are
certain common aspects of qualitative research which involve only secondary
data, such as the study of television or newspaper discourses. If you wanted to
understand the nature of the representation of Romany people on television, you
wouldn’t make your own television programmes! You would use those which exist,
and they would form [your] secondary data (Forshaw, 2000).
A secondary
data research project involves the gathering and/or use of existing data for
purposes other than those for which they were originally collected. These
secondary data may be obtained from many sources, including literature,
industry surveys, compilations from computerized databases and information
systems, and computerized or mathematical models of environmental processes.
Secondary Data
- What Is Secondary Data?
- Data may be described as Primary or Secondary
- Primary data - collected by the researcher
himself
- Secondary data - collected by others to be
"re-used" by the researcher
- What Form Does Secondary Data Take?
- Quantitative Sources
- Published Statistics:
- National Government Sources
- Demographic (Census, Vital Statistics,
Cancer Registrations)
- Administrative (by-product of Government)
- Collected by Govt. Depts. overseen by ONS
(eg. employment, prices, trade, finance)
- Government Surveys (input to Government)
- General Household Survey (GHS)
- Family Expenditure Survey (FES)
- Labour Force Survey (LFS)
- Family Resources Survey (FRS)
- Omnibus Survey
- Local Government Sources
- Planning Documents
- Trends Documents (eg former Strathclyde
Social Trends and Economic Trends)
- Other Sources
- Firms & Trade Associations eg Society of
Motot Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT)
- Market & Opinion Research eg Gallup,
NOP, SCPR System 3
- Trade Unions, TUC, STUC
- Professional Bodies eg CIPFA (Chartered
Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy) provides a Statistical
Information Service re Local Government Statistics
- Political Parties
- Voluntary & Charitable Bodies eg Low Pay
Unit, SCF (Save the Children Fund), Rowntree Foundation
- Academic & Research Institutes eg
- Micro-Social Change Research Centre (MSRC)
at Essex Uni
- National Institute for Economic &
Social Research (NIESR)
- Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
- International Sources
- EU, OECD, World Bank, IMF
- Non-Published / Electronic Sources
- Data Archives eg the Data Archive At Essex
- Data Sub-Setting Service On Tape, Disk,
Postal Or Via Janet
- On-Line Access To National Computing Centres
- MIMAS (Manchester Information &
Associated Services)
- EDINA (Edinburgh)
- International Sources on Internet & Web
/ Sources for Qualitative
Research:
- Biographies - subjective interpretation
involved
- Diaries - more spontaneous, less distorted by
memory lapses
- Memoirs - benefit/problem of hindsight
- Letters - reveal interactions
- Newspapers - public interest & opinion
- Novels & Literature In General - eg
Atkinson's tribute to usefulness of Gordon's "Dr Novels";
McLelland's study of achievement motivation in different cultures via
children's stories & folktales
- Handbooks, Policy Statements, Planning
Documents, Reports, Historical & Official Documents (Hansard, Royal
Commission reports) etc. n.b Marx's use of Factory Inspectors reports in
developing his theories of the labour process
- Ways of Using Secondary Sources
- Exploratory phase - getting ideas
- Design Phase - definitions & sampling
frames, question wording
- Supplement to Main Research
- - Re-Enforcement &/Or Comparison
- Main Mode of Research
- - Direct Data Collection Impossible
- - Or Costly & Time Consuming
- Limitations of Secondary Data
- Collected For A Different Purpose
- Problem of Definitions
- Problem of Comparability Over Time
- Lack of Awareness of Sources of Error/Bias
- Has the Data Been "Massaged"?
- What Do The Statistics Really Mean?
- Eg. Health, Crime, Unemployment
- Limitations of Survey Data
- Representativeness
- Validity of Responses
- Limitations of Documents
- Documents "Construct" As Well As
Report Social Reality
- How to Search & Use Secondary Sources?
- Documents - Bibliographic Skills, Use of
Keywords, Boolean Operators
- Published Statistics
- Guide to Official Statistics
- Digests & Abstracts
- Primary Publication
- Electronic Sources
- Biron
- Gateways - SOSIG, BUBL
- Search Engines - Infoseek, Alta Vista,
Webcrawler etc.
SOURCE: RMS - the Research Methods Server in the
Division of Social Sciences, School of Law and Social Sciences, Glasgow
Caledonian University, Glasgow.
Forshaw, M (2000) Your Undergraduate Psychology Project: A BPS
Guide Blackwell Publishing