Secondary data analysis

Question 1

Secondary data

Answer 1

Any data that is collected by others (ie: not yourself) at an earlier point in time

Question 2

Primary data

Answer 2

Data that we collect ourselves; original information collected by the researcher themselves

Question 3

Expert-coded datasets

Answer 3

Experts provide estimates and assessments of various measures; usually opinion based

V-Dem: Varieties of Democracies; experts code country democracy scores based on certain criteria
CHES: Chapel Hill Expert Survey; experts estimate party ideology and party positions

Question 4

Researcher coded datasets

Answer 4

Coded by teams of researchers based on publicly available information (ie: news sources, academic articles, etc.)

COW, UCDP: teams of researchers code data on conflicts and casualties

Question 5

Types of secondary data

Answer 5

• You can collect your own surveys
• Official statisitcs
• Quantified texts, party manifestos
• Exisitng qualititative sources

Question 6

Categorical variable

Answer 6

Binary variable: There are only two categories (i.e. dead or alive).

Nominal variable: There are more than two categories (i.e. whether someone is an omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, or fruitarian).

Question 7

Ordinal variable

Answer 7

The same as a nominal variable, but the categories have a logical order (i.e. whether a student got a fail, pass, merit, or distinction in an exam).

Question 8

Continous variable

Answer 8

Entities get a distinct score

Interval variable: Equal intervals on the variable represent equal differences in the property being measured (i.e. the difference between 6 and 8 is equivalent to the difference between 13 and 15).
Ratio variable: The same as an interval variable, but the ratios of scores on the scale must also make sense (i.e. a score of 16 on an anxiety scale means that the person is, in reality, twice as anxious as someone scoring 8).

Question 9

Benefits of secondary data - Quality

Answer 9

Secondary data are often of higher quality, part of a collective project and usually of larger scale which ensures quality

Question 10

Benefits of secondary data - time scale

Answer 10

Because these data collection efforts are part of larger projects, they are often collected over periods of time as opposed to single surveys that capture a moment in time

Question 11

disadvantages of secondary data

Answer 11

Unable to make causal inferences , because secondary data sources are often not experimental (ie: we are not manipulating a treatment as the researcher) it is difficult to make casual inferences

Inaccuracies