Deck 8: Using Secondary Data

Question 1

What are secondary data?

A) Data not directly related to your research question
B) Data originally collected for some other purpose
C) Unimportant data
D) Ordinal data

Answer 1

Data originally collected for some other purpose

Question 2

Which of the following does NOT apply to secondary data?

A) It was gathered for a different purpose than your own
B) It may have been processed
C) It may have been stored in a repository
D) None of the above

Answer 2

None of the above

Question 3

Secondary data is never appropriate to use in a student project.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

"Tyler is investigating the impact of forthcoming legislation on the brewery industry." His topic is suitable for research using secondary data.

Question 5

Most governments in the world have statistical departments but they are least likely to provide ________.

A) General population census records
B) Industrial output figures
C) Television programme viewing figures
D) Housing statistics

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a criterion of precise suitability of secondary data?

A) Observer bias
B) Measurement bias
C) Reliability
D) Validity

Question 7

Journalists and scholars can help in secondary data research because ________.

A) They have academic qualifications
B) They are old
C) They have experience
D) They may have addressed the same aims

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a criterion of overall suitability of secondary data?

A) Measurement validity
B) Face validity
C) Coverage
D) Unmeasured variables

Question 9

Which of these is a disadvantage of secondary data?

A) It already exists
B) Inexpensive
C) Fast to obtain
D) Addresses the topic differently

Question 10

Secondary data are LEAST helpful to ________.

A) Develop questionnaires
B) Interpret Tables
C) Formulate hypotheses
D) Evaluate new products

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT an example of documentary data?

A) Organisations' websites
B) Video recordings
C) Company reports
D) Industry statistics

Question 12

What is "raw" secondary data?

A) Data on a sensitive topic
B) Data which was not collected rigorously
C) The actual data produced by a study
D) A summary of the key findings from a data set

Question 13

Which ONE of these is an example of compiled data?

A) Customer comments
B) Tables from surveys
C) Number of visitors to a store
D) CCTV recordings of shopper visits

Question 14

Which kind of secondary data are "industry statistics"?

A) Multiple source based
B) Documentary, written materials
C) Ad hoc surveys
D) Census

Question 15

The UK Government "Labour Force Survey" is an example of ________.

A) Multiple source, area-based data
B) An ad hoc survey
C) Documentary, written materials
D) Continuous and regular survey

Question 16

Which of the following is a caveat with the use of secondary data?

A) Helps to set own data in context
B) Purpose may not match that of your research
C) Provides longitudinal data
D) Provides area-based data

Question 17

Why are census, continuous and regular survey data useful as a complement to your own primary data?

A) They prove or disprove your theory
B) They set your findings in a wider context
C) They show whether your findings are right
D) All of these

Question 18

An ad hoc survey is one which is carried out according to the needs of a specific study.

Question 19

Gemma is interested in how the employment of under 16 year olds has changed over the past fifty years. What type of secondary data sets would be most useful to her?

A) Longitudinal
B) Cohort studies
C) Cross-sectional
D) Industry

Question 20

Secondary data cannot help ________.

A) To give direction to primary data collection
B) To create research instruments
C) To decide on sampling
D) To observe retail behaviour

Question 21

Eurostat is a provider of area-based secondary data.

Question 22

Which of these can help you locate secondary data on your research topic?

A) Tertiary literature
B) A librarian
C) An acknowledged expert in the field
D) All of these

Question 23

"A central, searchable repository filled with quantitative and qualitative secondary data sets from a range of government, academic and commercial sources." What is being described here?

A) The Internet
B) The UK data archive
C) DirectGov
D) A library catalogue

Question 24

You should not approach an acknowledged expert in your field to help you find secondary data as they will be biased.

Question 25

Why is it important to obtain a detailed description of how the data were collected when you request a secondary data set?

A) To copy for your methodology
B) To ensure you take the same philosophical approach
C) To evaluate the quality of the data
D) For ethical reasons

Question 26

In using secondary data we do not need to consider who was selected and how they were selected. We are only interested in the results.

Question 27

Which of these is NOT a disadvantage of secondary data?

A) It is unobtrusive
B) You have no control of data quality
C) It can be costly
D) Access may be difficult

Question 28

Which is of these is NOT an advantage of secondary data?

A) Unobtrusive
B) Saves you time
C) Is always free
D) Can provide you with comparative data

Question 29

Which of these is a methodological problem that may have occurred when secondary data were originally collected?

A) It was expensive
B) The sample may not have been representative
C) The research objective is different to yours
D) It may have been published before

Question 30

The quality of secondary data sets can always be assessed.

Question 31

How might a newspaper article affect your understanding of the secondary data reported in it?

A) It may present findings selectively
B) It may emphasise some points over others
C) The report may be biased by the writer's agenda
D) All of the above

Question 32

"Measurement validity" means ________.

A) The degree to which the secondary data reports on variables suitable for your study
B) The degree of fit between the method and the reported data
C) The length of time since the study was undertaken
D) How accurate the findings are

Question 33

It is not possible to evaluate the suitability of a secondary data set in advance of using it.

Question 34

Which of these is NOT a stage in evaluating the suitability of a secondary data set?

A) Its fit with your research questions
B) Undertaking statistical tests on it
C) The benefits of using it outweigh the costs
D) You will be allowed access

Question 35

Books and journals are examples of multiple source secondary data.

Question 36

"You are researching the incidence of childcare related employee absences in a firm. The secondary data set you have decided to use does not state the cause of employee absence where a doctor's note is not required." What problem does this cause your research?

A) You cannot tell which absences are for childcare related reasons
B) You have measurement invalidity
C) You cannot meet your research objectives
D) All of the above

Question 37

A voice recording is an example of secondary documentary data.

Question 38

"Rob is researching unemployment among 50 - 60 year old males in the north-east of England. He is using the labour force survey as a secondary data set and needs to remove all the data relating to men aged under 50 and over 60." What is Rob trying to ensure is suitable here?

A) Coverage
B) Measurement Validity
C) Data quality
D) Costs

Question 39

It is possible to deal with the problem of measurement invalidity by stating that the measures used are a suitable proxy even thought they are not exact.

Question 40

Which of the following is a problem of using government produced statistics for a longitudinal study?

A) They are from a non credible source
B) They suffer from reporting bias
C) Definitions are likely to have changed over time
D) It is difficult to obtain statistics from past years

Question 41

An unmeasured variable is one included in secondary survey data but not required for your research.

Question 42

Investigating the source of your secondary data is called checking its ________.

A) Coverage
B) Measurements
C) Authority
D) Benefit

Question 43

Well known research organisations can largely be trusted to produce good quality data since their reputation depends on their data's credibility.

Question 44

Which of these is NOT a good way of assessing the reliability and validity of secondary data sources?

A) Looking for publications based on the data
B) Checking for an email address to make further enquiries
C) Looking to see if the data is from a well known source
D) Trusting an organisation's name that sounds academic

Question 45

Secondary data from a survey with a high response rate is likely to be no more valid than that from one with a low response rate.

Question 46

Re-analysing meeting reports, emails or letters allows you to ________.

A) See how the author constructed the events discussed
B) Gain an objective insight into what actually happened
C) Understand the social interactions of the situation
D) None of the above

Question 47

"A manager decides not to record minor incidents in her accident report log." This is an example of ________.

A) accidental distortion
B) Sample error
C) Deliberate distortion
D) Precise suitability

Question 48

You are undertaking research on the usefulness of 'coaching' as a development tool and have found a secondary data set based on a survey undertaken by a Coaching Consultancy of their own clients. You should be wary of deliberate distortion because ________.

A) The data set will be too small to be useful
B) The respondents may have painted the consultancy in an overly favourable light
C) The consultancy may have falsified the results
D) All of these

Question 49

Secondary data that are not completely reliable are better than no data at all.

Question 50

Which of these is a question you should ask yourself when evaluating a secondary data set?

A) Is the method clearly described?
B) Who was responsible for gathering the data?
C) Who commissioned the research?
D) All of the above