Secondary analysis of qualitative data:

what is it and can it help your research?

Libby BishopESDS Qualidata, University of Essex

Department of Sociology MinicourseEssex University

24 May 2007

What is “secondary analysis”?

• Ways to use pre-existing data– Description– Comparison, sample extension– Restudies (Booth-poverty)– Reanalysis/new questions

(Fielding's, Bornat)– Research design (instrument)– Validation vs. reflexive restudy

(Savage)• Can data “pre-exist”?

Uses of secondary analysis for post-graduate research

• Helpful to think of comparison with literature review– Lit review covers findings, with

breadth– “Data review” covers data, in

depth

Strategies for SA: qualitative data

• Content knowledge: search catalogue to locate and download relevant studies– Thematic guides

• Methods knowledge: explore supporting documentation– User guides for each study

• Web searching and browsing– Qualidata Online

Advantages of reuse

• Might save time (recruiting, transcription) but more time on learning previous context

• Some consent issues may be resolved

• Readily available data for vulnerable, hard-to-access populations

• Distance from data

Disadvantages of reuse

• Data simply not available• Not get experience of primary

data collection• Constrained by what was

asked in original study• Inadequate context• Limited or unknown consent

agreements• Distance from data

Epistemological critique- Context

• Context is essential for reflexive use of qual data

• Full context can not be recreated in SA

• Ergo, SA is not suitable…• Recontextualisation…

Levels of contexts

Holstein and Gubrium (in Seale, 04)

van den Berg (FQS, 05)

Institutional, cultural

Extra-discursive

Situational Conditions of discursive production

Conversational, interact ional

Intra-discursive

Contexts and reusing dataOriginal project

Current project

“Data” records

transcripts, audio, etc.

transcripts, often no more

Interview setting

room, dress, appearance

often not documented

Project original questions, messy analysis

new questions, ‘official methodology’

Cultural,institutional

relevance depends on the res. Q

relevance depends on the res. Q

Context examples

• What does tinned food signify?– 2007, 1967, 1947, 1927…

• Contacting the primary researcher– For and against

What if there isn’t “enough” context?

• What is the nature of the document?

• What was the intent of the author?

• What were the conditions under which it was produced?

What would a historian do?

Ethics• End User Licence and beyond…• Respondents• Interviewers• What about when reuse is for very

different purposes?– What is the researcher’s duty?– Is it different from primary

researcher’s?

• A real case study…..• No harm, no deceit?

Qualitative data collections

• Data from Economic and Social Research Council awards

• Data from ‘classic’ social science studies

• Other funders and sources

Types of qualitative data

• Diverse data types: in-depth interviews; semi-structured interviews; focus groups; oral histories; mixed methods data; open-ended survey questions; case notes/records of meetings; diaries/research diaries

• Some multimedia: audio, video, photos

• Formats: digital, paper, analogue audio-visual

Supporting Documentation• Examples

– Funding application– Description of methodology– Communication with informants on confidentiality– Coding schemes / themes– Technical details of equipment – Interview schedules– End of award report– Documentation from CAQDAS software packages, e.g.,

analytical memos– Bibliographies, resulting publications

• Anything that adds insight or aids understanding and secondary usage

Using thesaurus for searches

• Jewish, anti-Semitism• Football, celebrity• Capitalism, inequality,

redistribution• Multiculturalism, ethnic

minority religions• Populism, Venezuela, Taiwan,

discourse analysis

For more information

• ESDS Qualidata sitehttp://www.esds.ac.uk/qualidata/

• UK Data Archive Cataloguehttp://www.esds.ac.uk/search/

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