SECONDARY QUANTITATIVE DATA

Types of Secondary Quantitative Data Available To the Social Science Researcher



Types of Secondary Quantitative Data Available To the Social Science Researcher

Introduction

There are three types of quantitative secondary data: surveys, official statistics, and official records. Depending on how the data are stored, each may be referred to as archival data. Surveys are characterized by data acquired through questionnaires or interviews and, probability sampling. The research issues raised by secondary use of surveys are very different from issues surrounding official statistics and records. Many of the problems in the use of surveys focus on questions of analyses, whereas, for official statistics and records, the main problems are with the characteristics of the data set itself (Babbie 2004, pp. 96-102).

Official statistics and records are collections of information maintained and made available in permanent form by organisations. Official records are collections of statistical data that are generated as an organisational by-product of another mission or goal. They are “official” in the sense that they are the records of an administrative office; official statistics, on the other hand, are designed for public consumption. For example, police departments keep extensive data on criminal complaints, investigations, arrests, and characteristics of victims and offenders. Official statistics in the form of annual reports from the intelligence agencies on crime in the United Kingdom provide information that is accessible to anyone. Official records, on the other hand, are more difficult to access than official statistics because they are constructed primarily for internal use. Compared to official statistics, agencies that generate official records retain a proprietary interest in their use (Kerlinger and Lee 2000, pp. 47-78).

The proprietary issues range from legally protected information about individuals to a concern that research using official records may throw an unfavourable light on agencies.

Official records typically contain a greater amount of detail than official statistics. Official statistics are collected from many agencies and are meant to be disseminated widely. Hence, the data collected focus on a few elements that will be reported consistently and accurately. For example, the data that are reported in national mortality statistics is taken from death certificates that contain much less information than is available in the files of coroners or medical examiners (Bulmer, Sturgis & Allum 2006, pp. 3-91). For official records, the unit of analysis is mostly based on the target of service delivery. Thus, welfare agencies collect information on individuals who apply for food stamps, employment agencies collect information on people looking for work, etc. Official statistics, on the other hand, make information available at higher levels of aggregation, such as the monthly or annual number of people applying for welfare or employment.

Finally, one advantage of official records is that the persons who originally completed the forms may be present in the agency and available to the researcher. In the absence of adequate documentation, the researcher is given the opportunity to learn how the information was gathered. By contrast, official statistics may be gathered from many different agencies or presented in a form that makes it ...