Qualitative Secondary Analysis: Asking new questions of old data

1
Qualitative Secondary Analysis Asking new
questions of old data

• Brenda M. Gladstone
• Tiziana Volpe
• Community Health Systems Resource Group
• The Hospital for Sick Children
• QUIG, April 23, 2008

2
Introduction

• Little published evidence of benefits
  limitations1
• Lack of guidance about QSA process,
  methodological decision-making or evaluative
  criteria2,3
• Need for empirical exemplars1
• Why now? emergence of data archiving and advances
  in computing
• Promotion of data sharing and data retention in
  policy and practice (ESRC Qualidata in the UK)

1Corti Thompson, 2004 2Thorne,
19941998 3Sandelowski, 1997
3
Defining QSA

• Reuse of existing data, collected for prior
  purposes, a term used to describe various
  analytical practices to
• investigate new questions, or a new perspective
  on an old question.
• corroborate, validate or refine original
  (primary) analysis
• Inclusion of meta-research designs
  (meta-synthesis meta-analysis meta-ethnography)
  is contentious
• Qualitative longitudinal research

4
Why do QSA?

• Generate new knowledge new hypotheses/questions
  to support existing theories
• Expand/extend, data sets/participant numbers and
  analysis
• Enable comparative research in different
  geographical/temporal(historical)/cultural
  contexts
• Generalizability of findings, data from different
  researchers researching similar populations
• Methodological and substantive teaching tool

5
Why do QSA (cont.)?

• Student projects
• Existing databases represent considerable
  financial and temporal commitments
• Respondent fatigue burden to talk more
  sensitivity to those living stressful lives
  vulnerable, inaccessible populations
• Development of archival data

6
Types of QSA (Heaton, 1998 2004)

• Supra analysis transcends original focus
  examining new empirical, theoretical,
  methodological questions
• Supplementary analysis more in-depth
  investigation of an emergent issue or aspect of
  data not fully considered in primary study
• Re-analysis data are re-analyzed to verify and
  corroborate primary analyses of qualitative data
  sets
• Amplified analysis combines data from 2 or more
  primary studies for the purposes of comparison or
  to enlarge a sample
• Assorted analysis combines secondary analysis of
  data with primary research and/or analysis of
  naturalistic data

7
Theoretical, methodological, ethical and
practical challenges related to QSA

• Nature of qualitative data
• Problem of data fit
• Problem of not having been there
• Problem of verification
• Researcher(s) relationship to primary data

8
Doing QSA A case example

• The Original Study
• Understanding social factors influencing
  motivation while living with schizophrenia or
  first episode psychosis (FEP)
• 60 in-depth interviews
• People diagnosed with schizophrenia
• Young people experiencing FEP
• Parents
• Health Professionals
• Interviews transcribed and entered into Ethnograph

9
Doing QSA A case example

• The QSA Study
• A supra analysis of a subset of interviews with
  parents whose children had experienced a first
  episode of psychosis
• Purpose ask new questions of primary data about
  parents help-seeking experiences
• Data consisted of 10 interview transcripts with 7
  mothers, 3 fathers
• Consent from original participants not obtained
  for QSA

10
Challenges Encountered

• Establishing quality
• Context
• Documentation
• Funding
• Ethics

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QSA Challenges Establishing Quality

• Establishing rigor/trustworthiness criteria for
  primary/secondary analysis, equally applicable?
• Availability of original transcripts and
  documents
• Role of original researchers
• Context in which data was collected
• Sampling issues
• Analytic framework

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QSA Challenges Context

• Considering the historical, biographical, and
  theoretical contexts in which the primary study
  was conducted
• Field of early intervention
• Help-seeking processes
• Researcher location disciplinary training
• Role of researcher in design implementation of
  study

13
QSA Challenges Documentation

• Availability/quality of primary study documents
• Transcripts
• Demographic information
• Audio recordings
• Field notes analytic notes
• Technological changes
• Human financial resources

14
QSA Challenges Funding

• Funding a secondary analysis
• Who funds it?
• What is it worth?
• Is it cost effective?
• Data storage and archival costs?

15
QSA Challenges Ethics

• Obtaining REB approval
• Informed consent
• Does re-using data violate original consent?
• Is it feasible and/or appropriate to go back to
  participants?
• Building in consent for future studies
• Confidentiality/Anonymity
• What is anonymization in the context of QSA
• What is enough anonymization
• Data stockpilingjust in case

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Emerging Guidelines for QSA

• Suggested guidelines for documentation
• Information regarding interaction between
  researcher/participants
• The whole interview not just the parts
• Background information about the interviewer
  (age, gender, race, social class)
• Place, time, setting
• How participants were approached/recruited
• Information about relevant others (gatekeepers)

17
ISA-RC33 7th International Conference in Naples,
September 1-5, 2008

• Session 1 Making qualitative data more
  re-usable defining issues of context and
• representation
• Session 2 Making qualitative data more
  re-usable technical solutions for capturing
• context and representation
• We would like to invite papers that consider
  issues around the effective archiving and further
  (re)use of raw qualitative research data, with a
  particular focus on the issues of how context is
  defined and (re)captured.

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Going Forward

• Archiving primary data and documentation
• audio-tapes, interviews, transcripts,
  field-notes, journals, photos?
• how is it organized, managed, and stored?
• Who owns the data? Who is responsible for data?
  How is credit for the primary/secondary analysis
  established?
• SSHRC Research Data Archiving Policy

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References

• Cisneros Puebla, C., Mruk, K., Roth, W.
  Editorial The FSQ Issue on Qualitative inquiry
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  Sozialforschung/ForumQualitative Social Research
  on-line journal, Art.45. Available at
  http//www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-05
  /05-2-45.e.htm/. Accessed August 15, 2005.
• Corti, L, Thompson, P. Secondary analysis of
  archived data. In Seale, C, Gobo, G, Gubrium,
  JF, Silverman, D. Eds. Qualitative Research
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  327-343.
• Fielding, N.G. Getting the most from archived
  qualitative data epistemological, practical and
  professional obstacles. International of Social
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• Gladstone, B., Volpe, T. Boydell, K. Issues
  encountered in a qualitative secondary analysis
  of help-seeking in the prodrome to psychosis. The
  Journal of Behavioral Health Services
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• Heaton, J. Reworking Qualitative Data. London
  Sage, 2004.
• Heaton, J. Secondary Analysis of Qualitative
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• Sandelowski, M. To be of use Enhancing the
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• Thorne, S. Secondary analysis in qualitative
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• www.esds.ac.uk/qualidata