Secondary Sources in Social Research Essay

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Total Length: 1981 words ( 7 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 5

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328).

Smith boils it down to two main concerns (pitfalls) and objections to the use of secondary data in social research: a) "It is full of errors"; and b) "…because of the socially constructed nature of social data, the act of reducing it to a simple numeric form cannot fully encapsulate its complexity" (p. 328). The author offers the national Census as a perfect example of the limitations of using secondary data in social research. In counting "everyone," how does the government assure that everyone has been counted? How about the homeless? How about "tourists" in the country for long stays? What about those with "multiple nationalities" or those "who simply refuse to be counted" Smith asks. She suggests that in the 1991 UK Census about 2% of the total number of national residents "were uncounted" (p. 329).

Meanwhile, Esther Sales and colleagues have published an article in the Journal of Social Work Education that urges in lengthy arguments the promotion of the "expanded use of secondary data in social work research" (Sales, et al., 2006, p. 543). The authors spend the first few pages of their research article to point out "the great potential" of secondary data in social issues.

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For example, they point to the growing amount of available secondary sources that can be found through Internet databases and elsewhere. Databases that are available to researchers looking for secondary analysis of data "have extremely large sample sizes, number of variables," and provide a chance for researchers to "clarify and expand upon our understanding of complex relationships" (Sales, p. 551).

After spending most of the article promoting greater use of secondary data, on page 551 the writers do recognize the limitations of secondary analysis in social work. They point out that secondary researchers often find it difficult to assess "failings, biases, or errors" in the secondary research, and therein lies the biggest issue that skeptics have with secondary information in the social studies genre.

Conclusion

While there is a wealth of good statistical and sociological data available through secondary sources, it certainly behooves researchers, writers, scholars, educators, journalists and others to be cautious when portraying secondary data as legitimate and authentic. This paper points to the flaws and foibles of relying on secondary sources exclusively; and in particular, this paper points to the folly and potential injustice of relying on one specific secondary source. The highest level of accuracy can generally.....

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