What are the strengths and weaknesses of secondary analysis as a scientific inquiry?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

he principal strength of secondary analysis is economy, achieved through money, time, and personnel saved in data collection and management. The development of computer-based analyses has also made it relatively easy for health services researchers to share their data with one another. The multiple sources of secondary data enable researchers to conduct inquiries into many areas of interest. Because of the economy and availability of secondary data, secondary analysis is fast becoming one of the most popular methods of health services research.

In addition to savings on time, cost, and personnel, the use of available data may afford the opportunity to generate significantly larger samples than primary research, such as surveys and experiments. Secondary data may also be viewed as more objective and, therefore, more credible because the purpose of data collection is not research oriented, and personal biases are less likely to be introduced. Secondary analysis affords the opportunity to study trends and changes over a long period of time, and is also the preferred method for carrying out area-based research, particularly international comparative studies. Using secondary data can also strengthen primary research, as secondary data are helpful in designing subsequent primary research studies and can serve as a baseline for comparison with primary data collection results.

The principal weakness of secondary analysis is the extent of compatibility between the available data and the research question. Secondary data must be found rather than created to the researcher’s specifications, and searching for relevant data sources isn’t easy. Once identified, the value of available data will depend on the degree of match between the research questions to be addressed and the data that happen to be available. Often, available data are not well suited to the researcher’s intended purposes. Because of potential compatibility problems, the design of secondary studies may have to be started from back to front. One key disadvantage is that the scope and content of the studies are constrained by the nature of the data available. Even if relevant secondary data exist, they may not offer the information required to address the research question, including the definitions and classifications that the researcher wishes to use. Access to data may also pose a challenge. It may need to be negotiated, there may be constraints for confidentiality and ethical concerns, and laws may sometimes prohibit the release of certain government data.

Another limitation of secondary data, particularly administrative records that were not collected for research purposes, is that records are frequently incomplete or inaccurate. The process of examining secondary data can be time-consuming, and there are several ethical issues to consider regarding secondary data analysis. The researcher must obtain informed consent, and authorship and acknowledgment issues must be worked out between the researcher and the owner of the data. The researcher must also make clear his or her intentions for the use of the data at the start of the project, and must maintain the subjects’ confidentiality in the data throughout the project.