Question

Describe the use of existing sources as a sociological research method. What are its advantages? Give an example from the Macionis textbook of using existing sources.

Answer 1

Using Existing Sources
The study of sources collected by someone other than the researcher, also referred to as archival research or secondary data research, is an important part of sociology. In archival research or secondary research, the main target isn't on collecting new data but on studying existing texts.

By studying texts associated with their topics, researchers gain a powerful foundation on which to base their work. Furthermore, this type of study is essential for the progress of their central research question. Without an in-depth understanding of the research that has already been done, it is impossible to understand what a meaningful and relevant research question is, much less how to position and frame research within the context of the sector as a whole.

Types of Existing Sources
Common sources of secondary data for social science include field notes, organizational records, censuses, semi-structured and structured interviews, and other sorts of data collected through quantitative methods or qualitative research. These methods are considered non-reactive, because the people don't know they are involved in a study. Common sources vary from primary data. Primary data are collected by the investigator who conducts the research.

Researchers use secondary analysis for several reasons. The first reason is that secondary data analysis saves time that might rather be spent collecting data. In the case of quantitative data, secondary analysis provides larger and higher-quality databases that might be unfeasible for any individual researcher to gather on his own. Analysts of social and economic change consider secondary data essential, since it is not possible to conduct a new survey that may adequately express past change and progresses.

The next step researchers undertake is to conduct background research through a literature review, which may be a review of any existing similar or related studies. A visit to the library and a radical online search will uncover existing research about the subject of study. This step helps researchers gain a broad understanding of work previously conducted on the topic at hand and enables them to position their own research to make on prior knowledge. It allows them to sharpen the main target of their research question and avoid duplicating previous research. Researchers—including student researchers—are liable for correctly citing existing sources they use in a study or that inform their work. While it is fine to create on previously published material, it must be referenced properly and never plagiarized. To study hygiene and its value in a particular community or society, a researcher might sort through existing research and unearth studies about child rearing, vanity, and cultural attitudes toward beauty etc. It’s important to sift through this information and determine what is relevant.

ADVANTAGES
1. Researchers can work with information they could not possibly obtain on their own. The U.S. Census Bureau, for example, collects information about the whole national population (income, education, family size, residential patterns, and occupational status),something an individual researcher has neither the time nor funds to do. Additionally, the analysis of existing data can be a convenient way for sociologists to pool theirresources; one researcher can take data collected by another and use it for his own project, increasing whatcan be learned from an equivalent set of information.
2. Using sources such as political speeches, cultural artifacts and newspapers, sociologists are able to learn about many social worlds, in several time periods, thatthey would never be ready to enter themselves; for instance ,preserved letters and diaries from the first 1800s have allowed researchers to investigate the experiences of wives and mothers on the American frontier (Peavy andSmith 1998).
3. Researchers can use an identical data repeat or replicate projects that have been conducted before, which may be a great way to test findings for trustworthy or to see changes across time.