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Journal Article 1: Goode, V., Crego, N., Cary, M. P., Thornlow, D., & Merwin, E. (2016). Improving quality and safety through use of secondary data. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 39(11), 1477-1501.

Abstract: Researchers need to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of data sets to choose a secondary data set to use for a health care study. This research method review informs the reader of the major issues necessary for investigators to consider while incorporating secondary data into their repertoire of potential research designs and shows the range of approaches the investigators may take to answer nursing research questions in a variety of context areas. The researcher requires expertise in locating and judging data sets and in the development of complex data management skills for managing large numbers of records. There are important considerations such as firm knowledge of the research question supported by the conceptual framework and the selection of appropriate databases, which guide the researcher in delineating the unit of analysis. Other more complex issues for researchers to consider when conducting secondary data research methods include data access, management and security, and complex variable construction.

Journal Article 2: Murphy, J. W., & Schlaerth, C. A. (2010). Where are your data? A critique of secondary data analysis in sociological research. Humanity & Society, 34(4), 379-390.

Abstract: Secondary data analysis has become central to the research experience of many, if not the majority, of sociologists. The problem with this approach to research is the subtle, but powerful, message that is conveyed about the nature of the social world. Social existence is portrayed in an abstract and somewhat dehumanizing manner. Additionally, due to this social imagery, researchers are not encouraged to enter communities to conduct research. As a result, many methodological skills that used to be learned, almost by osmosis, are no longer emphasized during the research enterprise.

Journal Article 3: Fincham, B., Scourfield, J., & Langer, S. (2008). The impact of working with disturbing secondary data: Reading suicide files in a coroner’s office. Qualitative Health Research, 18(6), 853-862.

Abstract: The article discusses the effects on the researcher of reading disturbing secondary data (defined here as evidence gathered by someone other than the researcher). The case study is a qualitative sociological autopsy of suicide, and the secondary data--written documents and photographs--are all from case files in a British coroner’s office. Following ethnographic detail about the research setting and research process, there is discussion of the diverse secondary data sources in these files, particularly in relation to the impact on the researcher. Some general observations are made about emotion in the research process and potential strategies for responding to emotion. The authors locate their responses to reading about suicides within the broader context of the social processing of death and distress, and also consider whether emotional reactions to data have any analytical purchase.