[1] Secondary data can be obtained from many sources: Government departments and agencies routinely collect information when registering people or carrying out transactions, or for record keeping – usually when delivering a service.
[3] It can include: A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population.
Information collected by the government will also cover parts of the population that may be less likely to respond to the census (in countries where this is optional).
[4] A clear benefit of using secondary data is that much of the background work needed has already been carried out, such as literature reviews or case studies.
While 'secondary data' is associated with quantitative databases, analysis focused on verbal or visual materials created for another purpose, is a legitimate avenue for the qualitative researcher.