1. Chapter 22: Archival Data Sets Revisiting Issues and Considerations By: Thekra Al seef

2. 1- what are archival data sets 2- classic studies that utilized archival data 3- when should you consider using archival data 4- archival data accessibility issues 5- sources of archival data 6- suggestion steps in the research process

3. What Are Archival Data Sets? Considered a nonreactive data collection method Only through primary data collection, does secondary data sets exist

4. Classic Studies That Utilized Archival Data One of the earliest studies to make use of official records was Emile Durkheim’s Suicide (1897/1966) Terman’s (1925) Genetic Studies of Genius at Stanford University Ted Gurr’s (1968) study on the incidence and magnitude of violence in modern societies

5. When Should You Consider Using Archival Data? Archival data sets are, mostly, longitudinal data sets Can be used in a huge variety of ways for a variety of research questions Sharing data from longitudinal studies is valuable and necessary Sequences of events and patterns of change that occur within the individual, the family or some other unit can be studied most effectively through the use of longitudinal data

6. Disadvantages Difficult to formulate appropriate operational definitions because the data has not been collected in the appropriate form Questions may be phrased and presented to respondents in a way not exactly suited to the current researcher’s goals, or subjects who responded may not have been what the researcher would have chosen Existing data may not be in the format you require One major problem is that many variables of interest in social science research is not reported in census data Also secondary data, are by definition, old data

7. Advantages Frees researchers from the responsibility, time, and expense of collecting and coding their own data Sampling and measurement are among the lowest of all sources of survey data Most variables are available

8. Archival Data Accessibility Issues Are never precisely what one wants or expects The data often reflects the perspectives of the original investigators Does not guarantee life-record or longitudinal data analysis Draws on both quantitative and qualitative data and analysis Rationale for using archival data should be based on strengths of the data

9. Sources of archival data Various public and private data archives - Murray research center - Inter-university consortium for political and social research The U.S. Census and and related sources Published or broadcast media suitable for content analysis.

10. Steps in the research process Problem specification Search for appropriate data Preparation of research proposal Initial analysis of archival data Analyses

11. Conclusion Social Science is practical knowledge for society’s sake Typical dilemma that social researchers confront is either not to study what they want or to do so under less than ideal conditions Archival data provides an efficient, cost-effective, and timely way for researchers to pursue important theoretical and policy-related questions about a variety of issues Greatest scientific value of archival data lies in the potential for replication by other researchers