Secondary Data
1 Secondary data analysis: an introduction
All data are the consequence of one person asking questions of someone else. (Jacob 1984: 43)
This chapter introduces the field of secondary data analysis. It begins by considering what it is that we mean by secondary data analysis, before describing the type of data that might lend itself to secondary analysis and the ways in which the approach has developed as a research tool in social and educational research. The second part of the chapter considers the use of secondary data analysis in contemporary social research and introduces the results of a review of recent research output in the field.
Defining secondary data analysis
Numerous definitions of secondary data analysis appear in the literature, many with subtle differences which together suggest a lack of consensus about what is meant by the term. For example, one relatively straightforward definition of the secondary analysis of survey data was suggested by Hyman (1972: 1), as ‘the extraction of knowledge on topics other than those which were the focus of the original survey’. Other definitions of secondary analysis have emphasised its usefulness for exploring new research questions: ‘the study of specific problems through analysis of existing data which were originally collected for another purpose’ (Glaser 1963: 11); or: ‘the further analysis of an existing dataset with the aim of addressing a research question distinct from that for which the dataset was originally collected and generating novel interpretations and conclusions’ (Hewson 2006: 274). However, such definitions appear to disregard the potential of secondary analysis in reanalysing existing datasets with novel statistical or theoretical approaches
4
Using secondary data in educational and social research
in such a way that: ‘secondary analysis is the re-analysis of data for the purpose of answering the original research questions with better statistical techniques, or answering new
All data are the consequence of one person asking questions of someone else. (Jacob 1984: 43)
This chapter introduces the field of secondary data analysis. It begins by considering what it is that we mean by secondary data analysis, before describing the type of data that might lend itself to secondary analysis and the ways in which the approach has developed as a research tool in social and educational research. The second part of the chapter considers the use of secondary data analysis in contemporary social research and introduces the results of a review of recent research output in the field.
Defining secondary data analysis
Numerous definitions of secondary data analysis appear in the literature, many with subtle differences which together suggest a lack of consensus about what is meant by the term. For example, one relatively straightforward definition of the secondary analysis of survey data was suggested by Hyman (1972: 1), as ‘the extraction of knowledge on topics other than those which were the focus of the original survey’. Other definitions of secondary analysis have emphasised its usefulness for exploring new research questions: ‘the study of specific problems through analysis of existing data which were originally collected for another purpose’ (Glaser 1963: 11); or: ‘the further analysis of an existing dataset with the aim of addressing a research question distinct from that for which the dataset was originally collected and generating novel interpretations and conclusions’ (Hewson 2006: 274). However, such definitions appear to disregard the potential of secondary analysis in reanalysing existing datasets with novel statistical or theoretical approaches
4
Using secondary data in educational and social research
in such a way that: ‘secondary analysis is the re-analysis of data for the purpose of answering the original research questions with better statistical techniques, or answering new