secondary analysis

secondary analysis

any inquiry based on the reanalysis of previously analysed research data, e.g. publicly available data such as CENSUS data, or data available from data banks such as the ESRC Data Archive at Essex University. The advantages of using such data are their relative cheapness, since the data do not have to be collected, and the opportunity they can afford for longitudinal historical or cross-cultural analysis. The main disadvantage is that the researcher has far less control over the construction of variables and often has only limited knowledge of the manner and circumstances in which the data were collected. see also OFFICIAL STATISTICS.