ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the major secondary sources and how they may be used in a social assessment. Secondary data can often be used to help focus the assessment by narrowing the questions that need to be asked. Secondary data can be used in two principal ways: descriptively and analytically. Secondary sources can be used to analyze what type of information is likely to be important, what types and magnitude of social impacts are likely to occur/and what meaning they might have for the community and its residents. The decennial census of the population is a rich source of demographic, employment, occupational, and income data. State governments compile a good deal of information on schools, taxation, and social services that can be useful in assessment work. The federal government, and separately its many bureaus and agencies, publishes an enormous amount of information, some of which can be useful in social assessment.
