ABSTRACT
In Chapter 18 on ‘Quantitative Research’ the distinction was made between primary research, in which you collect and analyze your own data, and secondary analysis, in which you analyze data collected by someone else. This chapter deals with the latter. It begins by defining secondary analysis and listing the main types of sources of secondary data. The role played by secondary analysis in postgraduate research is then discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of secondary analysis vis à vis primary research are outlined, and the considerations which should influence the choice of whether or not to use secondary data are summarized. One of the most important of these considerations is the availability of readily accessible secondary data which are potentially capable of answering the questions you wish to pose. Accordingly, the chapter describes in some detail how to search for secondary data and how to select and obtain a suitable data set. There is not space in a short chapter such as this to do more than outline the main issues. In the final section a number of sources which deal with the topic of secondary analysis in more detail are reviewed. You should endeavour to familiarize yourself with at least some of these sources at an early stage in your research. Finally, this chapter does not consider statistical techniques, which are covered in Chapter 21.
