ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some further methods that will be very useful for people to have in their research toolkit. With growing demands for accountability and evidence-based practice, researching these rich sources of data is becoming increasingly important. Secondary analysis of clinical and other agency records is termed ‘clinical data mining’ (CDM), a process that is complementary to what one might term evidence-based practice—or practice that is shaped by research findings. CDM is a research methodology on the continuum of research methodologies, with its own strengths and weaknesses. Secondary analysis can be used to conduct an exploratory study, a descriptive study or even an explanatory study. Secondary analysis is an excellent source of descriptive material in that records may be assessed to provide a descriptive profile of the client source. Assessing the impact of the disaster on workers is a vital part of this stage of research.
