Secondary Data - GCSE Sociology Definition

Secondary data refers to information that has already been collected and published by someone else, rather than being gathered directly by the person using it. In GCSE Sociology, students use secondary data to help understand social patterns and issues without having to collect all the information themselves. Examples of secondary data include statistics from the government, reports from organisations, surveys conducted by other researchers, and articles from newspapers or magazines. Using secondary data can save time and resources, but it's important to consider who collected the information in the first place and why, as this can affect how reliable or biased the data may be.