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7
Data Collection:
Secondary Data

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Learning outcomes
After completing this chapter you will be able to:

● understand the value and importance of using secondary data in the com-
pletion of business research projects;
● classify and explain the different sorts of secondary data and the main
sources of such data;
● understand how to evaluate the reliability and validity of secondary data;
● describe how existing data can be identified and collected;
● discuss the developments in the collection and analysis of secondary data.

Introduction
Once the research topic has been selected and the terms of reference for the
academic business research or consultancy project has been agreed through
the project/consultancy brief and the plan, then we are in a position to begin
the research/consultancy project itself beginning with the process of collect-
ing data. In this chapter we start the process of looking in detail at the ways of
collecting data in the process of conducting consultancy research. We shall be
concerned in this particular chapter with collecting data which already exists,
either inside the organization itself or is held external to the organization. We
shall see that most organizations have a wealth of such data which they can
draw on and analyze in seeking to address consultancy issues and problems.
We shall also see that it is to this existing data that the consultant should turn
first before considering the need for further data that will have to be collected
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Data Collection: Secondary Data 89

for the first time. Finally, we shall see that there is a plethora of existing data
that a consultant can turn to and utilize. Such data is, if anything, more abun-
dant than ever in today’s information age and in addition developments in
data and information technology systems are enabling much speedier and
detailed access to already available data.

7.1 Secondary data: meaning and scope

The completion of academic or consultancy business research will normally
require the collection of data. This data is then analyzed and used to assess the
area on which the project is focused with a view to using this to solve prob-
lems, explore issues, and ultimately make recommendations. In Chapter 6 you
were introduced to the different categories or types of data. Specifically, we
distinguished between primary and secondary data and qualitative and quan-
titative data. In this chapter we shall be looking at secondary data: the differ-
ent types, its collection, and how to evaluate and interpret secondary data.
As the term implies, secondary data is essentially ‘second-hand’ in as much
as it is not new data collected specifically and primarily for the purpose of
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the consultancy being conducted. Very often, there is so much secondary data
available that could potentially be used in a consultancy research project that
the problem for the researcher is in sorting through and evaluating exactly
which secondary data to use, and how to assess its usefulness. Perhaps some-
what confusingly, in fact secondary data should be examined before any data
is collected for the first time by the researcher. If, and only if, existing data can-
not be used to meet the objectives and requirements of the consultancy project,
then the researcher should turn to the collection of new data. The reason for
this use of secondary data first is perhaps obvious, but nevertheless is worth
underlining. Essentially, we use secondary data before collecting new data
because the collection of new data is generally much more expensive and time
consuming. In addition, of course, it makes little sense to begin to collect such
expensive new data if the data needed, or at least some of it, has already been
generated within the organization or by some outside body or organization.
We shall consider the advantages and uses of secondary data in more detail
shortly, but first we need to distinguish between the two main types or catego-
ries of secondary data namely internal secondary data and external secondary data.
Internal secondary data is data that already exists within the organization in
some form or another. It is important to recognize that such data may in fact
be in a different part of the organization such as, for example, a different divi-
sion, location, etc. Much internal secondary data is data that is generated as
part of the normal operation of the organization’s business and activities. For
example, most organizations have some sort of data within the organization
on the various functional activities of the business including:

● sales and marketing data,

● production data,
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90 Research Methods

● personnel data,
● financial data.

Increasingly, as we shall see later, often this internal secondary data is part
of, and is accessed and analyzed through, the company’s management infor-
mation systems (MIS). In addition to this data from the company’s operating
activities and records, we also have internal secondary data that stems from
previous research and data gathering activities conducted within the organi-
zation. For example, a company may already have on record data about the
researcher ’s area of interest from previous research studies. Finally, in terms of
internal secondary data, we have the more general types of data which stem
from, for example, other documents and records such as company reports,
internal memos, in-house magazines, and so on.
We shall consider the sources, uses, and developments with regard to inter-
nal secondary data in more detail later in the chapter.
External secondary data includes all data which again already exists but
which has been collected outside of the organization. As such, by its very
nature, this type of data has been collected by another party. The range and
types of external data available to the researcher/consultant these days is
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so extensive as to be potentially bewildering. There is a real danger here of
information overload. Different researchers have in fact generated a range of
classifications for secondary data including not only the internal and exter-
nal classifications mentioned here, but also classifications of secondary data
encompassing raw secondary data, compiled secondary data, documentary
secondary data, survey based secondary data, and secondary data compiled
from multiple sources (Hakim 1982; Dale et al. 1988; Bryman 1989; Malhotra
1993; Kervin 1999; Robson 2002). Again, we shall consider some of the major
sources and types of external data available to the researcher/consultant in
more detail later in the chapter, but perhaps one of the most useful and com-
prehensive categorizations of secondary data, I feel, is that of Saunders et al.
(2003) who distinguish between three major categories or types of secondary
data as follows:

● ‘documentary’ secondary data

● ‘multiple’ source secondary data
● ‘survey’ secondary data
(Source: Saunders et al. (2003, pp. 189–94))

Uses of secondary data

Secondary data is data which has been collected previously by someone else,
and consequently has been collected for a different purpose. This suggests
some drawbacks to which we will return later. Nevertheless there are good
reasons for making use of the secondary data which is available.
Although all data is intended to provide information for analysis and deci-
sion making, secondary data can be used in several ways in the context and
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