Using secondary data in research

Research iusing secondary data Yestake into account morei essentiali aspectito ensure the relevance, quality and ethical use of data.

• Relevance of the data to the objectives of the study

  • Assess whether the existing data are relevant to the research questions, hypotheses and variables required

  • Check that the data is sufficiently detailed and structured to allow it to be adapted for analysis

• Data quality and reliability

  • Make sure the source of the data is reliable (e.g. from a trusted organisation, academic repository, etc.)

  • Assess the accuracy, completeness, timeliness and potential weaknesses (e.g. sampling errors or measurement inaccuracies) of the data

• Conditions of access and use

  • Determine whether the data is freely accessible or restricted

  • Comply with the copyright and usage conditions of the dataset, as established by the licence or included in the metadata description of the dataset

  • If necessary, contact the authors of the dataset to clarify the terms of use

• Ethical and legal aspects

  • Ensuring the privacy of individuals is important in the use of secondary data, especially where the data contains sensitive or personally identifiable information

  • Comply with relevant data protection regulations (e.g. GDPR in the EU)

• Data documentation and metadata

  • Check that data is properly documented – information on collection methods, time period, definitions and coding should be available

  • Metadata helps to understand how the data was collected and to assess its suitability for analysis

• Reference to data source

  • Cite the data source correctly, using the required citation format (e.g. DOI, author(s), title and date) to ensure transparency and respect for the creators of the dataset