Secondary Analysis & Official Statistics

This chapter explores the possibilities associated with the analysis of data that have been collected by others. There are two main types discussed in this chapter: • the secondary analysis of data collected, either for commercial or research purposes, by other people; • the secondary analysis of offi cial statistics—that is, statistics collected by government departments in the course of their work or specifi cally for statistical purposes. This chapter explores: • the advantages and disadvantages of carrying out secondary analysis of data collected by other researchers, particularly in view of many datasets being based on large, high-quality investigations that are invariably beyond the means of students; • how to obtain such datasets; • the potential of offi cial statistics in terms of their reliability and validity; • the growing recognition of the potential of offi cial statistics after a period of neglect as a result of criticisms levelled at them; • the notion that offi cial statistics are a form of unobtrusive method—that is, a method that is not prone to a reaction on the part of those being studied to the fact that they are research participants.