ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the basics of conducting a secondary analysis the major stages involved in political communication research and the key issues a researcher must be cognizant of when conducting a secondary analysis. It then devotes space to summarizing the present state of secondary analysis in the field how much of research can be classified as secondary analysis and in what specialties within political communication this type of work can be found. The chapter then gives attention to the study of creativity using work from the field of positive psychology. It discusses three dimensions of creativity: novelty, effectiveness, and authenticity. The nine-part, creativity-by-secondary analysis typology is utilized to show how political communication scholarship has been highly creative in its engagement of secondary analyses. The chapter focuses on making the case that some level of creativity is evident in the secondary analyses being produced by political communication scholars.
