Impact of Secondary use of Data - Essay Example

?Impact of Secondary use of Data By Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Conclusion 14 Introduction We can employ a wide variety of datacollection technique and tools to collect two types of data such as qualitative data (normally comprise words or text) and quantitative data (normally comprise numbers, statistics or financial). Though, quantitative data can be presented in tables or graphical form. In this scenario, secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone else for a different purpose and we want to use it. Some of the common examples of data collection could be: data presented by an organization for its business marketing, gathered by a hospitality firm on its guests by using its guest history system, annual business reports or Government statistics and figures (Thames Valley University, 2010). On the other hand data can be used in different scenarios such as: someone can simply present the original data in its unchanged format. In this scenario, probably this data will be used in the introduction or literature review as support or proof for their argument. A person can also make use of this data in a different way if this data is utilized (for analysis or interpretation) for a wide variety of purposes than the original then the most likely place would be in the ‘analysis of findings’ part of a research report or thesis. For instance, a research work carried out on suicide issue can comprise the official suicide data of different countries or regions (which was collected by government or their equivalent) and evaluate this data to determine if they could categorize variables that would indicate that some people are more likely to commit suicide as compared to others (Thames Valley University, 2010). However, there are numerous issues involved with the secondary usage of data. This paper will discuss the secondary uses of data, some of its advantages and disadvantages. In the end, this paper will discuss issues with secondary usage of data and laws to deal with these issues. Secondary Use of Data: An Overview No doubt secondary research can be considered as the most extensively used technique for collecting data as this process of data collection engages retrieving information that is previously collected from either the inventor or a distributor of primary research. In addition, secondary data comprises the information and data collected from third-party sources for instance a business website, sales and accounting records, marketing research reports and magazine articles. Moreover, it can also comprise any already collected information utilized by the vendor from any external or internal source (BlogSpot, 2008; Thames Valley University, 2010). Advantages of Secondary Use of Data In fact, there are a lot of benefits of making use of the secondary data or research. First of the most important advantages of using secondary data is that it is relatively easy get access to a wide variety of sources of secondary data. Some time ago secondary data collection required business marketers or sales management to spend a lot of time in libraries, or wait for reports to be received via mail. On the other hand, at the present there exist a number of modern technologies for data collection for instance with the availability of the Internet and online access to a lot of digital resources, the access to the secondary data and information has become very simple. In fact, the Internet has become a convenient and usually standardized tool for all sources of secondary research. In addition, by making use of the secondary data researchers can be able to get access to important data and information for small or in many cases absolutely no cost to acquire. For that reason, this secondary data is much more affordable and less expensive as compared to other methods of data collection where researchers perform the research themselves. Additionally, the use of secondary data allows researchers to make clear the research problem. In many cases, secondary data is utilized before primary data to help researchers make clear the research focus and purpose. In this scenario, sometimes secondary data is used to help bring into line the scope of large scale primary data. Moreover, keeping in mind the results obtained through secondary data, the researchers can identify that the accurate data and information they were searching for already exist through secondary sources. Thus, it would successfully get rid of the need and cost to perform primary research. Moreover sometime, the creators of secondary data also offer facts about how they collected this data and information. Hence, it can be included information outlining the actions and measures used in data collection and issues faced while carrying out the primary research. In this scenario, the careful evaluation of the issues can help out the researcher to make a decision that the possible information attained is not worth the possible issues in carrying out the research (BlogSpot, 2008; Thames Valley University, 2010). Disadvantages of Secondary Use of Data Despite a lot of advantages of the secondary data there are some drawbacks also associated with it. In this scenario, one of the biggest disadvantages is that the originators of the primary data are basically self-governed and work under the marketer. As a result, the secondary data used must be inspected strictly in view of the fact that the roots of the data may be doubtful. Additionally, the researchers are required to take considerable action and steps in order to significantly weigh up the legality and consistency of the information presented. In fact, there are so many cases when secondary data are not delivered in an appearance that accurately satisfies the researcher’s requirements. As a result, researchers need to depend on secondary data that is delivered and categorized in a way that complies with their needs. However, in a lot of cases, researchers are able to find data that appears to be helpful and useful. In many cases, researchers are not able to get the complete version of the required data to get the full worth of the data. This is for the reason that the majority of research suppliers provide some of the portions of their research free of cost and after that charge expensive cost for delivering their complete version. Moreover, while making use of the secondary data, researchers must work out carefully especially while using old-fashioned information from the past because with organizations competing in quickly changing industries, an old-fashioned secondary data and reports may have little or no significance to the present market environment (BlogSpot, 2008; Thames Valley University, 2010). Some Considerations about Secondary Use of Data In their article (Davis, 2011) discuss a number of aspects that should be kept in mind while making use of data for secondary purposes: First of all we should be aware of the purposes for which the data were gathered and to what extend the requirements for these primary purposes correspond to the future secondary uses? (Davis, 2011) Is there a disagreement with regard to how something is best collected for the secondary purposes? Hence, the requirements of the primary use should and will succeed (Davis, 2011) The person who is collecting the secondary data is fully aware of the secondary purpose? In view of the fact that this understanding and awareness can help in motivating the person who is collecting data in an attempt to take more care that the data is appropriate for the secondary purpose or would bring about a mixture of gaming actions when they have incentive to “turn” the consequences of the secondary use either to their own help or that of the other (Davis, 2011). Is the data correctness significant in collecting data to the recorder? In this scenario, a most common issue can occur where users are required to collect data on the basis of system design or management pressure. Hence, if someone has to collect data but they are not concerned with the correctness of data as it has no direct impact on them then they can presume or structure data or simply type any old rubbish to get past a compulsory field for which they don’t have applicable data (Davis, 2011). Issues with Secondary use of Data If we discuss this point from the researchers’ perspective it is significant to be aware of the issues that can take place while making use of secondary data in research with the intention that a researcher can be able to take care of these issues. In view of the fact that the secondary data is frequently the only choice for the researchers for the reason that they can discover particular subjects, on the other hand it can unavoidably result in a problem for researchers. Many researchers believe that the some of the quality relates issues that a researcher can face with secondary data is confirming and measuring the worth of the secondary sources that researchers would be using throughout their research. Thus, it is recommended for the researchers that they must make their most excellent endeavors in an attempt to authenticate the correctness of the data. (Ganly, 2010) discuss an example to clarify this scenario. For instance, a researcher who wants to take some information from a newspaper article regarding a court hearing should take further steps to authenticate the accuracy of that information. In this scenario, they would need to take transcripts of the court hearing (Ganly, 2010). Though, the verification of the secondary data in research is not always an easy task, but a researcher must make every effort with the intention of proving the trustworthiness and reliability of the data being used in any research. Additionally, it is also essential for the researchers to find out the value of secondary sources from time to time. In addition, with the intention of identifying the trustworthy secondary sources and access truthful and correct information researchers must authenticate the sources by assessing them carefully. In order to do so a researcher must think about the basic idea, scope, authority, and viewers that the information is based on secondary sources. Hence, the careful identification of these aspects will facilitate a researcher select secondary sources that have strong features. On the other hand, making use of the secondary data and information as the only choice can result in problems of credibility and verification and as a result a researcher's job becomes much harder (Ganly, 2010). Even though the utilization of secondary data can carry a great deal additional effort, still it must be done at times. From a researcher’s perspective to cope with the problems of verification and credibility brought by secondary data the researchers must take some serious initiatives to authenticate secondary sources. Thus, the researchers should also make carefully planned decisions in the selection of secondary resources if they want their research to come into view as believable and applicable. Moreover, identifying the issues with secondary data is the initial step in finding out the solution to these problems (Ganly, 2010). In her book, (Boslaugh, 2007) shares similar viewpoints on secondary data. She gives a lot of useful suggestions for the effective use of secondary data. According to her viewpoints, if a researcher is successful in finding a secondary data set that they believe is useful for their analysis, they need to gain knowledge of as much as they can with reference to why and how it was gathered. Especially, they should effort to get answers to the following three questions: (Boslaugh, 2007; Kilkelly & Horgan, 2011) 1. What kind of information is it, and how and when were the data gathered? 2. What was the basic purpose for which the data were gathered? 3. What cleaning and/or recoding tools and techniques have been used to the data? Basically, the question of assessing the primary purpose of the project (web site, documentation or anything from which data is taken) is significant for the reason that its effect may be seen in a wide variety of additional features of the data and information, such as from the population selected to the particular phrasing of questions used in a questionnaire or survey to collect data. In view of the fact that the person who is making use of secondary data was not engaged in designing and developing the stages for the project whose data they will utilize and analyze, thus, they greatly need this information with the intention of placing the data in the background (Boslaugh, 2007; Kilkelly & Horgan, 2011). In addition, by taking an excessive case, a person would without doubt would like to be acquainted with if the on hand research project on the health effects of smoking was supported by a nonprofit organization devoted to smoking prevention or a tobacco company. A person would also want to be acquainted with if there was any specific viewpoint or theory of health performance that motivated the initialization of the project for example, was a smoking termination or presentation project planned by means of the Transtheoretical Model? In fact, the knowledge and facts of the core theoretical viewpoints following a research project can enlighten the causes for a lot of alternatives made in designing and implementation of the research and will be imitated finally product, the data a person is suggesting to examine (Boslaugh, 2007; Kilkelly & Horgan, 2011). According to (Law, 2005), some of the concerns about the secondary use of data normally pay attention to the possibility for harm to the individual themes of the research and the need of knowledgeable permission. In addition, a lot of authors are concerned with the dominance of knowledgeable permission or approval for any type of research concerning individual subjects. In this scenario, the approval or permission has something to do with not only to a specific author, but as well for a purpose of secondary data usage. Additionally, many authors believe that ‘the need to search for an author's’ permission to take part and to provide data for a particular reason must take priority.’ In view of the fact that the authors and researchers normally are not able to forecast possible requirements for secondary use of data that they are recording or gathering, thus they are not capable of completely informing subjects of the primary research with reference to possible and expected secondary uses of data. As this full revelation of information is one of the basic needs of informed permission, it follows that it is not possible to take informed permission for unexpected uses of data (Law, 2005). At the present, the advancements and developments in the information technology has raised a lot of ethical and professional concerns regarding the use of the secondary data. According to (Parry & Mauthner, 2004) data, once acknowledged as the confidential or personal possessions of individual investigators, are at the present turning out to be more and more visible to the worldwide research society. In simple words, they are turning out to be ‘worldwide commodities’. Basically, this fashion has been encouraged by the growing need and demand to work together and contribute to diminishing resources as well as it has been mainly facilitated by the developments of most modern information technologies. In fact, these days’ social researchers and scientists are a great deal more optimistic to find, access, and determine data and information from data located internationally (regardless of the physical location of the data), making use of a wide variety of documentation measures, software applications and network tools (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). Laws for Secondary use of Data In their research paper, (Parry & Mauthner, 2004) discuss specific implications for data ownership or copyright with respect to qualitative research and as a result for archiving and making secondary use of the data. In this scenario, copyright is a significant problem for the archiving of any research data for the reason that it outlines the constitutional rights of possession and power of the researched data. There is another right known as an intellectual property right, which is a copyright aimed at presenting the constitutional rights to control the use of the research data and material in numerous ways (as defined and described in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), in which almost all the researchers normally take part in such as, creating and distributing copies of, as well as delivering, the research data or material in an appropriate way in front of the public. In this scenario, data archives internationally (in other parts of the world) require that private information regarding research contributors is to be kept secret and hidden and that ensures the privacy as well as secrecy are to be privileged (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). While talking about laws and regulations about the secondary use of the data (Parry & Mauthner, 2004) have discussed some of the useful laws in their paper. In this scenario, the most up to date law in the UK with certain suggestions for data archiving was the Data Protection Act (1998), which was actually implemented in March 2000. In addition, the legislation normally made tighter the set of laws with reference to acquiring, maintaining, using or revealing the secret data or information about researchers/owners, private data required for the purpose of research established definite exceptions. In this scenario, according to this legislation, research data can be utilized for reasons excluding those for which they were initially gathered, they can be held for an indefinite period, and research subjects do not essentially have a right of access to these data (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). These exemptions, on the other hand, only pertain where the data are not processed to support actions or decisions affecting specific researchers, as well as where it is believed that secondary data and information will not result in considerable harm or considerable distress. In addition, for the reason that the legislation takes into consideration a wide variety of ‘private data’ believed to be more sensitive than others, as well as the exceptions having an effect on the data and information cannot be applied in a blanket manner. Moreover, the secret data, which are caused to experience severe rules and laws with regards to their dispensation, consists of information regarding subjects ethnic or tribal roots, trade union membership, political opinions, religious attitudes, physical/mental health, criminal participation, criminal record and sex life. Because sociological research is quite likely to engage the processing of this secret private data it is in no way sure whether or not the existing exceptions applied to research data do in reality envelop such processing (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). Moreover, the elimination of key recognized features and attributes of research contributors may convince secrecy requirements it can reduce the quality and integrity of the data, or yet alter their sense. In this scenario, one more method of securing research participants’ secrecy in multiple method research, where a variety of kinds of data and information can in mixture recognize contributors, is by archiving imperfect datasets. On the other hand, many researchers have demonstrated that this will have implications for the integrity and quality of the datasets. These results were extracted from the study participated interviewing parents and modern and latest tools of data gathering with children (controlled through the argument of vignette, pictures and photographs, the children’s own drawings and poems) (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). In the same way, there is another law the British Sociological Association (BSA) supports researchers to follow the rules and regulations of intended informed permission. Basically, the informed permission involves without charge decision on the part of participants to play a part in research, made exclusive of risk or encouragement, based on sufficient data and information. In addition, it forces blame on the researcher to give details as fully as possible, as well as in a way that is useful and purposeful to researchers for instance who is undertaking and financing it, what the research is about, why it is being carried out, as well as how it is to be promoted. In addition, the Oral History Society presents ethical guidelines to deal with these issues. These guidelines cover their obligations and responsibilities to participants which go beyond the officially permitted requirements or measures (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). Additionally, within oral history, issues related to archiving are made open in forms of research programs as well as raised by research participants from the beginning. Moreover, the interviewers are required to look for written copyright permission from interviewees when the interview is conducted. Furthermore, the Oral History Society evidently confirms that data collection and recordings which have not been cleared cannot be utilized with authorization for a variety of purposes as well as the position of carrying them is mainly overwhelmed. As discussed above, the copyright permission engages letting the interviewees know where their research material and data will be physically stored or archived and how it can be used. As well, the interviewees can ask to stay unidentified, establish certain criteria for the types of use to which their data and information would be placed, and stop discussion before a specific date (Parry & Mauthner, 2004). Basically, the informed permission is a basic ethical requirement of most of ethical actions. On the other hand, it is still uncertain what makes up an informed permission in the case of archived data. In this scenario, both the Qualidata and ESRC suggest that researchers should be knowledgeable that their data can be accessed and used by other researchers once it has been rightfully anonymized, however they still do not point toward whether researchers should be made aware that it will be archived in an internet-supported depository or offline. Hence, the doubt regarding this aspect can simply mix the recognized issues linked with informed permission (Carusi & Jirotka, 2009; Wiles et al., 2006; Parry & Mauthner, 2004). Conclusion Secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone else for a different purpose and we want to use it. Some of the common examples of data collection could be: data presented by an organization for its business marketing, gathered by a hospitality firm on its guests by using its guest history system, annual business reports or Government statistics and figures. No doubt secondary research can be considered as the most extensively used technique for collecting data as this process of data collection engages retrieving information that is previously collected from either the inventor or a distributor of primary research. However, there are numerous issues appearing in case of secondary use of data. This paper has discussed some of the issues and their solution strategies. Though, there are several laws and ethical guidelines that can be applied to research material and data but still they are insufficient because of the intangible nature of the data. Still it is a matter of concern how these rules should be applied as data is archived in different locations. References BlogSpot, 2008. advantages and disadvantages of secondary research. [Online] Available at: http://prosandconsofsecondaryresearch.blogspot.com/ [Accessed 25 April 2012]. Boslaugh, S., 2007. Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press. Carusi, A. & Jirotka, M., 2009. From data archive to ethical labyrinth. Qualitative Research, 9(3), pp.285-98. Davis, E., 2011. Secondary Uses of Data – A Poachers Tale. [Online] Available at: http://woodcote.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/secondary-uses-of-data-%E2%80%93-a-poachers-tale/ [Accessed 26 April 2012]. Ganly, S., 2010. Problems with Secondary Data Research and How to Deal with It. [Online] Available at: http://voices.yahoo.com/problems-secondary-data-research-6746320.html [Accessed 28 April 2012]. Kilkelly, U. & Horgan, D., 2011. Secondary Data Analysis: Ethical & Legal issues. [Online] Available at: http://www.google.com.pk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=89&ved=0CGgQFjAIOFA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchildrensummerschool.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F11%2Fu-kilkelly-and-d-horgan-ethical-legal-implications.pptx&ei=cYOfT_LIJ6344QTrufSYAw&usg=AFQjCNG [Accessed 25 April 2012]. Law, M., 2005. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Issues in the Secondary Use of Research Data. IASSIST Quarterly, 2005(Spring), pp.5-10. Overstraeten, T.V., 2010. Legal Guidelines on the Use of Electronic Patient Data: Do we need new rules of the game? [Online] Available at: http://www.worldofhealthit.org/sessionhandouts/documents/PS4-2-VanOverstraeten.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2012]. Parry, O. & Mauthner, N.S., 2004. Whose Data Are They Anyway? Practical, Legal and Ethical Issues in Archiving Qualitative Research Data. Sociology, 38(1), pp.139-52. Thames Valley University, 2010. Secondry Data Collection. [Online] Available at: http://brent.tvu.ac.uk/dissguide/hm1u3/hm1u3text2.htm [Accessed 22 April 2012]. UWO, 2012. SECONDARY USE OF DATA. [Online] Available at: http://www.uwo.ca/research/ethics/guidelines_for_all/Non-Board_Specific/1g002-guideline-secondary-data-feb-2002.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2012]. Wiles, R., Charles, V., Crow, G. & Heath, S., 2006. Researching researchers: lessons for research ethics. Qualitative Research, 6(3), pp.283-99. Read More