is secondary analysis second best? a case study of re-using qualitative data libby bishop esds...
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Is Secondary Analysis Second Best? A case study of re-using qualitative data
Libby BishopESDS Qualidata, University of Essex
PACTE-CIDSP and GRETS Secondary Analysis in Qualitative Research:
Utopia and PerspectivesGrenoble
3-4 November 2005
Is re-using data different?
• Primary/secondary is a false dichotomy
• Secondary analysis raises issues critical for ANY qualitative inquiry:– Relationships with respondents– Co-construction of data– Consent: for use, for findings?– Context(s): local (setting and
people) and social
Can the growing consumption of convenience food be used to explore the discourse of “choice” as a key
value claimed by neo-liberalism?
• How are convenience foods defined?• What attitudes are expressed toward
convenience food?• Under what conditions are convenience
foods used? • What reasons are given for its use?• Is individual choice a reason?• How important is individual taste in
meal planning?• How do answers vary by: time period,
age, gender, employment status, class?• What attitudes are expressed about
sociality at meals?
Why Secondary Analysis?
• Appropriate for initial exploration (literature review with data)
• Benefits of historical perspective for social change
• It was “convenient”
First things first…
• Consent– No explicit permissions for
archiving, but– Licences, anonymised data, best
judgment
• Context– Good, but never enough– No insider advantage
Finding and assessing data:sample selection
• Initial choice: Mothers and Daughters
– Theoretically useful sub-sample (lower SES)
– Rich descriptions of food, especially “tins”
– But, limitations (generation, geography)
Mothers and Daughters questions
– Would you say that some people are naturally healthier than others?
– Do you have any sort of recipes that you have for keeping healthy?
– And any particular ideas for keeping children healthy?
Mothers and Daughters data excerpt
Nowadays they get a tin an’ there's nae [no] eggs in it an' the goodness is oot [out] o’ it. …The juice... there's nae the juice in it. Well, that's whit we find wi' the things nowadays an’ a, the richt good is out o' them... the body-buildin’ material… I mean, tinned soup, I would niver hae [have] it in the hoose…[house]
ID no.
ATTI-TUDE
REASONS GIVEN FOR ATTITUDE TOWARD TINNED FOOD USE OF TINS OK?
UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS?
too expensive
taste home made more nourishing
home made better
other
4g neg good, plain food better
yes tin of soup OK
7g neg couldn't afford it
good, wholesome home made better
yes when you're on your own
19g
neg cld never afford 4-5 tins
frozen doesn't taste right
body building material gone
wouldn't give it to husband
yes maybe ok for daughter if in a hurry
28g
neg home made more wholesome
no time for that, not for babies
yes what you eat when you're young for a start
41g
neg soup less expensive
maybe more convenient
9gg
neg soup better not artificial yes Oxo ok for soup; tin of beans ok, but not tin of soup
67g
neg cheaper better taste
prefer home made
no but people use it for convenience
Sample expansion and topic refinement: three threads…
• Findings from Blaxter: from soup to fish fingers?
• Individuated, desocialised meals– In research (de Vault 1999- “double
cooking”, Valentine 1999)– In the news: 43% of mothers make up
to three different meals per night
• Entering the theoretical fray:– Unpacking “convenience”– Challenging “choice”
Selected Edwardians questions: new focus on choice
– What members of the family were present for meals?
– Did your mother or father bake bread; make jam; bottle fruit or vegetables?
– Did they buy any tinned or dried vegetables or fruit?
– Could you choose what you wanted to eat from what was cooked or did you have to eat a bit of everything?
– Did all the family sit at the table for the meal?
Edwardians: could you choose at meals?
Yes No n/a TotProfessionals 0 5 1 6Employers&Managers
2 2 2 6
Clerical&Foremen 1 4 1 6Skilled Manual 3 5 0 8Semi-skilled Manual 1 6 1 8Unskilled Manual 1 3 0 4Unclassified 3 3 0 6Total 11 28 5 44
ALL data are constructed
• Blaxter and Patterson found moral accounts of food– I found multiple discourses of tins
and convenience
• Thompson found agents of social change– I found no pattern of choice at
meals by class
Conclusions
• Secondary analysis is being used as a proxy for other duels– positive/interpretive– naïve realism/hermeneutic– modern/post-modern– subjective understanding/
authorial authority
• Should SA be used? Yes, if it suits the research problem…