THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF SECONDARY DATA

SURVEY SECONDARY DATA

• Survey secondary data refers to existing data originally collected for some other purpose using a survey
strategy, usually questionnaires.

• Such data normally refer to organisations, people or households.

• They are made available either as compiled data tables or, increasingly frequently, in structured form as a
downloadable matrix of data.

• Survey secondary data may be available in sufficient detail to provide the main data set from which to answer
your research question(s) and to meet your objectives. They may be the only way in which you can obtain the
required data.
• Censuses are usually carried out by governments and are unique because, unlike other surveys,
participation is obligatory, They include censuses of populations
• they are usually clearly defined, well documented and of a high quality. Such data are easily
accessible in compiled form, are available via the Internet and are widely used by other organisations
and individual researchers.

• Continuous and regular surveys are those, excluding censuses, which are repeated over time as
repeated at regular intervals,
• Such as the UK’s Living Costs and Food Survey, although access to these data is limited by European
and individual countries.
• Non-governmental bodies also carry out regular surveys. These include general-purpose market
research surveys, Because of the commercial nature of such market research surveys, the data are
likely to be costly to obtain.
• Many large organisations also undertake regular surveys, a common example being the employee
attitude survey. However, because of the sensitive nature of such information, it is often difficult to
gain access to such survey data, especially in its raw form.
• Ad hoc surveys are usually one-off surveys and are far more specific in their subject matter.

• They include data from questionnaires that have been undertaken by independent researchers as
well as interviews undertaken by organisations and governments.

• Because of their ad hoc nature, you will probably find it more difficult to discover relevant
surveys.

• you may be able to gain access to and use raw data from an ad hoc survey that has been deposited
in a data archive .
DOCUMENT SECONDARY DATA
• Document secondary data are defined as data that, unlike the spoken word, endure physically
(including digitally) as evidence, allowing data to be transposed across both time and space and
reanalysed for a purpose different to that for which they were originally collected.
• For your research project, the document sources you have available can depend on whether you
have been granted access to an organisation’s records as well as on your success in locating data
archives, and other Internet, commercial and library sources.

• Text media include notices, correspondence (including emails), minutes of meetings, reports to
shareholders, diaries, transcripts of speeches and conversations, administrative and public records
as well as text of web pages.
• Text media can also include books, journal and magazine articles and newspapers.
• Audio media, such as archived recordings of radio programmes, speeches, audio blogs and
podcasts.
• Can be analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively by transcribing the spoken words and
treating them as text.

• Document visual data can be classified into three media groups:

• two-dimensional static,
• two-dimensional moving and
• three dimensional lived.
• Two-dimensional static media include photographs, pictures, cartoons, maps, graphs, logos and
diagrams.
• Two-dimensional moving media include films, videos, interactive web pages and other multi-media,
often being combined with audio.
• Three-dimensional and lived media includes architecture and clothing.

• Business and management researchers are making greater use of visual and to a lesser extent audio documents
as data. Much of these are web-based materials generated by organisations and online communities.
MULTIPLE-SOURCE SECONDARY DATA

• Multiple-source secondary data can be compiled entirely from document or survey secondary data,
or can be an amalgam of the two.
• It can include data that are being added to continually such as records of transactions, as well as
data that are added to less frequently on an ad-hoc basis or collected only once.
• often for a specified date to provide a ‘snapshot’. Other multiple-source secondary data snapshots
include the various share price listings for different stock markets reported in the financial pages
of quality newspapers.
• One method of compilation is for you to extract and combine one or more comparable variables
from a number of surveys or from the same snapshot survey that has been repeated over time to
provide longitudinal data, in which you will be able to obtain data over a long period.
 Evaluating secondary data sources

 Secondary data must be viewed with the same caution as

any primary data that you collect. You need to be sure that:
 • they will enable you to answer your research questions
and to meet your objectives
 • the benefits associated with their use will be greater than
the costs;
 • you will be allowed access to the data
Evaluating secondary data sources

 Secondary sources may not always be suitable for your research question or
objectives, so it is crucial to evaluate their suitability. Researchers can save time
by rejecting unsuitable data earlier, especially when there are multiple possible
secondary data sources.
 Validity and reliability criteria can be used to evaluate potential secondary data,
which can be incorporated into a three-stage process. However, this process is
not always straightforward, as sources may not always contain all the necessary
information
Evaluating secondary data sources

 Accessibility of secondary data is also important. Some sources, such as those

available online or in university libraries, can be easily accessible, but paper-
based sources may require long hours of work. For others, such as organizations
and online forums, permission and potential ethical implications may need to be
obtained.
Evaluating secondary data sources

 Measurement validity is a crucial factor in determining the suitability of any data set.
Secondary data that fails to provide the necessary information for research questions or
objectives can result in invalid answers
 For instance, a manufacturing organization may record monthly sales instead of orders,
making the measure invalid. This can cause issues when analyzing relationships between
sales and orders.
 There are no clear solutions to measurement invalidity problems. To evaluate the validity
of data, one can examine how other researchers have dealt with this issue in a similar
context. If they found the measures suitable, it can be more certain that the data will be
suitable for the research questions and objectives. If they had problems, they can provide
suggestions on how to overcome them.
Evaluating secondary data sources

 The other important overall suitability criterion is coverage. You need to be sure
that the secondary data cover the population about which you need data, for the
time period you need, and contain data variables that will enable you to answer
your research questions and to meet your objectives. For all secondary data sets
coverage will be concerned with two issues:
 •ensuring that unwanted data are or can be excluded
 •ensuring that sufficient data remain for analyses to be undertaken once
unwanted data have been excluded.
Evaluating secondary data sources

 When analyzing secondary survey data, you will need to exclude those data that
are not relevant to your research questions or objectives. Service companies, for
example, need to be excluded if you are concerned only with manufacturing
companies.
 For document sources, you will need to ensure that the data contained in them
relate to the population identified in your research. For example, check that the
social media content on an organization's social media pages actually relate to
the organization. Where you are intending to undertake a longitudinal study, you
also need to ensure that the data are available for the entire period in which you
are interested.
 Assessing Reliability and Validity of
Secondary Data

 • Reliability and validity of secondary data are determined by

the method of data collection and the source.
 • Large, well-known organizations and government
organizations have reliable data due to their credibility.
 • Documentary data, such as organizations' records, can be
difficult to assess due to inconsistencies and inaccuracies.
 Assessing Reliability and Validity of
Secondary Data
 • Initial assessment of the authority of documents available via the
Internet can be done by identifying the person or organization
responsible for the data.
 • Internet sources often contain an email address or other means of
contacting the author for comments and questions.
 • A detailed assessment of the validity and reliability involves
assessing the method or methods used to collect the data, who were
responsible for collecting or recording the information, and the
context in which the data were collected.
Documentary Sources and Data Reliability

• Lack of formal methodology in documentary sources

like blogs, social media, and interviews.
•Personal perspective and recipient's awareness of
context.
•Data often reflects writer's perceptions rather than
objective reality.
Documentary Sources and Data Reliability

 • Absence of data collection and presenter's presence affects

analyses.
 • In-depth interviews require social interaction understanding,
not captured by audio-recordings or transcripts.
 • Clear explanation of data collection techniques helps assess
survey data validity and reliability.
 Data Collection and Analysis:

 • Explain sampling techniques and response rates.

 • Provide a copy of the data collection instrument, usually a
questionnaire.
 • Examine the questions used to collect data for validity.
 • Pay attention to data analysis and reporting in reports.
 • Be cautious of percentages or proportions used without giving totals.
 • Beware of selective use of quotations without supporting evidence.
 • Data may be unreliable if not supported by other evidence.
 Measurement Bias in Research

 Deliberate Distortion of Data:

 • Data is intentionally inaccurately recorded, often in
secondary sources.
 • Data collected to support a particular cause or group's
interests is more likely to be suspect.
 • Consumer satisfaction surveys may play down negative
comments to make the service appear better.
 • Online news reports may contain 'fake news' or misrepresent
the truth.
 Measurement Bias in Research

 Detection of Measurement Bias

 • Detection requires looking for pressures on the original source
that might have biased the data.
 • For written documents, triangulation with other independent data
sources is necessary.
 Changes in Data Collection Methods
 • Changes in data collection methods can introduce changes in
measurement bias.
 • Detection depends on discovering changes in data recording
methods.
Assessing Secondary Data Costs and Benefits

• Requires a balance of time and financial resources.

• Some data is free online, others require lengthy negotiations.
• Special tabulations from government surveys or market research
companies are expensive.
• Benefits from data are assessed based on their ability to answer
research questions and meet objectives.
• Data format like spreadsheet-readable format saves time and avoids
re-entry.
• Not completely reliable data with some bias is better than no data at
all.