SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS

For some topics and in some circumstances collecting primary data can be difficult or
inappropriate. Below we outline and approach to developing a research report using secondary
data, that is existing data that can be used by you to answer you research question(s). It is
important to remember when reading in this area that the word “text” will be used a lot. This comes
from (amongst other sources) philosophers such as Derrida and Deleuze, however, when using
the word “text” we mean “written”, spoken and “symbolic”. So in these terms analysing a text can
e.g. mean analysing a recording of an interview.

The Analysis of Secondary Data

Analysing secondary data can be done in a number of ways, in additon to thematic analysis there
is Content Analysis and Discourse Analysis.

Content Analysis
1. Content analysis identifies patterns in recorded (written or spoken or graphic) communication.
To conduct content analysis, you systematically collect data from a set of texts, which can be
written, oral, or graphic:
 Books, newspapers and magazines.
 Speeches and interviews.
 Web content and social media posts.
 Photographs and films.

2. Content analysis can be quantitative (focused on counting and measuring) and/or qualitative
(focused on interpreting and understanding). In both types, you categorize or “code” words,
themes, and concepts within the texts and then analyse the results.

3. Quantitative Content analysis can be used to quantify the occurrence of certain words,
phrases, subjects or concepts in a set of historical or contemporary texts. To research the
importance of Sustainability in project reports, you could analyse the reports for the frequency
of terms related to environmental responsibilities and use statistical analysis to find differences
over time or between firms.

4. Content analysis can be used to make qualitative inferences by analysing the meaning and
semantic relationship of words and concepts. To gain a more qualitative understanding of
Sustainability issues in projects, you could locate the word “sustainability ” in project reports,
identify what other words or phrases appear next to it (such as “social”, “community”, “ethics”,
“procurement” etc.), and analyse the meanings of these relationships to better understand the
intentions of different stakeholders or their understanding of what sustainability means to them.

How to Conduct Content Analysis?

5. Start with a clear and direct research question.

Select the content you will analyse, based on your research question. You need to decide:
 The medium (e.g. newspapers, speeches or websites) and genre (e.g. opinion pieces,
political campaign speeches, marketing copy …).
 The criteria for inclusion (e.g. newspaper articles that mention a particular event,
speeches by a certain politician or websites selling a specific type of product …).
 The parameters (or limits of what is included) in terms of date range, location, etc.
 If there are only a small number of texts that meet your criteria, you might analyse all of
them. If there is a large volume of texts, you can select a sample.
 Define the units and categories of analysis – e.g. is the unit of analysis each individual
politician (so individuals) or politicians from each of the political parties (so parties).

Next, you need to determine the level at which you will analyse your chosen texts. This means
defining:
 The unit(s) of meaning that will be coded. For example, are you going to record the
frequency of individual words and phrases, the characteristics of people who produced
 or appear in the texts, the presence and positioning of images or the treatment of
themes and concepts that fit with your coding system?
 The set of categories that you will use for coding. Categories can be objective
characteristics (e.g. aged 40-50, lawyer, …) or more conceptual (e.g. trustworthy,
corrupt, family oriented …).

6. Develop a set of rules for coding.

 Coding involves organizing the units of meaning into the previously defined categories.
Especially with more conceptual categories, it’s important to clearly define the rules for
what will and will not be included to ensure that all texts are coded consistently.
 Coding rules are especially important if multiple researchers are involved, but even if
you’re coding all of the text by yourself, recording the rules makes your method more
transparent and reliable.
 In considering the category “young Project Manager,” you decide which titles will be
coded with this category. With “trustworthy”, you decide which specific words or
phrases related to trustworthiness (e.g. honest and reliable) will be coded in this
category.

7. Code the text according to the rules

You go through each text and record all relevant data in the appropriate categories. This can
be done manually on Excel or aided with computer programs, such as QSR, NVivo, Atlas, ti
and Diction, which can help speed up the process of counting and categorizing words and
phrases.

 Once coding is complete, the collected data is examined to find patterns and draw
conclusions in response to your research question.
 In quantitative content analysis, you can use basic descriptive tables to show frequencies
of coded categories. Further, you might use statistical analysis to find correlations or
trends, discuss your interpretations of what the results mean, and make inferences about
the creators, context and audience of the texts.
 In qualitative content analysis, you need to produce a coding tree to show your
first-order/level, second-order/level codes and final main themes emerged.

Resources for Content Analysis

The below are sources of information about Content Analysis that you can look at to get some idea
of how this works.

a) Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage

publications. (You can find this book in the University Library)
b) Neuendorf, K. A. (2016). The content analysis guidebook. Sage publications. (You can find this
book in the University Library)
c) Kolbe, R. H., & Burnett, M. S. (1991). Content-analysis research: An examination of
applications with directives for improving research reliability and objectivity. Journal of
consumer research, 18(2), 243-250. https://www. jstor. org/stable/2489559
d) Mayring, P. (2004). Qualitative content analysis. A companion to qualitative research, 1, 159-
176. http://www. qualitative-research. net/index. php/fqs/article/download/1089/2386%3B
e) Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of advanced
nursing, 62(1), 107-115. https://doi. org/10. 1111/j. 1365-2648. 2007. 04569. x
f) Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H., & Bondas, T. (2013). Content analysis and thematic analysis:
Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. Nursing & health sciences, 15(3),
398-405. https://doi. org/10. 1111/nhs. 12048
g) Insch, G. S., Moore, J. E., & Murphy, L. D. (1997). Content analysis in leadership research:
Examples, procedures, and suggestions for future use. The Leadership Quarterly, 8(1), 1-25.
https://doi. org/10. 1016/S1048-9843(97)90028-X
h) Guthrie, J., Petty, R., Yongvanich, K., & Ricceri, F. (2004). Using content analysis as a
research method to inquire into intellectual capital reporting. Journal of intellectual capital.
https://doi. org/10. 1108/14691930410533704
Examples of Content Analysis Based Studies
a) Qiang, M., Wen, Q., Jiang, H., & Yuan, S. (2015). Factors governing construction project delivery
selection: A content analysis. International Journal of Project Management, 33(8), 1780-1794.
b) Yang, J. B., Chu, M. Y., & Huang, K. M. (2013). An empirical study of schedule delay causes based
on Taiwan's litigation cases. Project Management Journal, 44(3), 21-31.
c) Sun, W., Mollaoglu, S., Miller, V., & Manata, B. (2015). Communication behaviors to implement
innovations: How do AEC teams communicate in IPD projects?. Project Management Journal, 46(1),
84-96.
d) Campopiano, G., & De Massis, A. (2015). Corporate social responsibility reporting: A
content analysis in family and non-family firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(3), 511-
534. https://link. springer. com/article/10. 1007/s10551-014-2174-z
e) Harris, H. (2001). Content analysis of secondary data: A study of courage in managerial
decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 34(3-4), 191-208. https://link. springer.
com/article/10. 1023/A:1012534014727
f) Turley, L. W., & Kelley, S. W. (1997). A comparison of advertising content: Business to
business versus consumer services. Journal of advertising, 26(4), 39-48. https://doi. org/10.
1080/00913367. 1997. 10673534
g) Deumes, R. (2008). Corporate risk reporting: A content analysis of narrative risk
disclosures in prospectuses. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 45(2), 120-
157. https://doi. org/10. 1177%2F0021943607313992
h) Landrum, N. E., & Ohsowski, B. (2018). Identifying worldviews on corporate sustainability:
A content analysis of corporate sustainability reports. Business Strategy and the
Environment, 27(1), 128-151. https://doi. org/10. 1002/bse. 1989
i) Cho, S., & Huh, J. (2010). Content analysis of corporate blogs as a relationship
management tool. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. https://doi. org/10.
1108/13563281011016822
j) Greer, C. F., & Ferguson, D. A. (2011). Using Twitter for promotion and branding: A content
analysis of local television Twitter sites. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 55(2),
198-214. https://doi. org/10. 1080/08838151. 2011. 570824
k) Lin, J. S., & Peña, J. (2011). Are you following me? A content analysis of TV networks’
brand communication on Twitter. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 12(1), 17-29. https://doi.
org/10. 1080/15252019. 2011. 10722188

Discourse Analysis
9. Discourse analysis is a research method for studying written or spoken language in relation to
its social context. It aims to understand how language is used in real life situations. Discourse
analysis is a qualitative and interpretive method of analysing texts (in contrast to more
systematic methods like content analysis). You make interpretations based on both the details
of the material itself and on contextual knowledge.

Grant et al. (2005) quote Fairclough and Wodak (1997, p. 277) when considering the
contribution of discourse analysis to an understanding of organizational change:

"Discourse is not produced without context and cannot be understood

without taking context into consideration […] Discourses are always
connected to other discourses which were produced earlier, as well as
those which are produced synchronically and subsequently."

In other words, language does not have a fixed, objective meaning, but its meaning is changed
or effected by a whole range of contextual factors: the author's belief system, the surrounding
political, economic and social context, any professional community to which the person belongs
– which will have its own jargon (as in medical or legal) – as well as the immediate situation in
which the words were uttered.

A simple example of this might be that if you say “How are you doing.” to an English person
they will probably assume you mean “Hello.”. If you say “How are you doing.” to a French
 person they will probably assume you are asking about their health and may give you a list of
their ailments. The words are the same but in different cultural contexts they have different
meanings. Again a simple example is that if you are visiting an English person who is a patient
in a hospital and you say “How are you doing?” they will probably assume you are asking about
their health and may give you a list of their ailments. The same words will be interpreted
differently because of a different social context.

10. When you do discourse analysis, you might focus on:

 The purposes and effects of different types of language.
 Cultural rules and conventions in communication.
 How values, beliefs and assumptions are communicated.
 How language use relates to its social, political and historical context.

What is Discourse Analysis Used For?

11. Conducting discourse analysis means examining how language works and how meaning is
created in different social contexts. It can be applied to any instance of written or oral language,
as well as non-verbal aspects of communication such as tone and gestures. By analysing
these types of discourse, researchers aim to gain an understanding of social groups and how
they communicate.

Materials that are suitable for discourse analysis include:

 Books, newspapers and periodicals.
 Marketing material, such as brochures and advertisements.
 Business and government documents.
 Websites, forums, social media posts and comments.
 Interviews and conversations.

Resources for Discourse Analysis

12. The below are sources of information about Discourse Analysis that you can look at to get
some idea of how this works.

a) The handbook of business discourse. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/portsmouth/Doc?id=10309050

b) Elgar introduction to organizational discourse analysis. https://www. elgaronline.
com/view/9781784717049/9781784717049. xml
c) https://www.
emeraldgrouppublishing.com/archived/research/guides/methods/discourse_analysis. htm
d) https://methods. sagepub. com/reference/encyc-of-research-design/n115. xml
e) https://www. sciencedirect. com/topics/social-sciences/discourse-analysis
f) https://methods. sagepub. com/video/an-introduction-to-discourse-analysis-tuto

Examples of Discourse Analysis Based Studies

a) Delisle, J. (2019). Uncovering temporal underpinnings of project management standards. International
journal of project management, 37(8), 968-978.
b) Higgins, C., & Coffey, B. (2016). Improving how sustainability reports drive change: a critical
discourse analysis. Journal of cleaner production, 136, 18-29. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j.
jclepro. 2016. 01. 101
c) Sylvestre, P., McNeil, R., & Wright, T. (2013). From Talloires to Turin: A critical discourse
analysis of declarations for sustainability in higher education. Sustainability, 5(4), 1356-1371.
https://doi. org/10. 3390/su5041356
d) Vaara, E., Sorsa, V., & Pälli, P. (2010). On the force potential of strategy texts: a critical
discourse analysis of a strategic plan and its power effects in a city organization. Organization,
17(6), 685-702. https://doi. org/10. 1177%2F1350508410367326
e) Pollach, I. (2003). Communicating corporate ethics on the world wide web: a discourse
analysis of selected company web sites. Business & Society, 42(2), 277-287. https://doi.
org/10. 1177%2F0007650303042002006
f) Wagner, A. (2015). Shale gas: Energy innovation in a (non-) knowledge society: A press
discourse analysis. Science and Public Policy, 42(2), 273-286. https://doi. org/10.
1093/scipol/scu050
g) Pieczka, M., & Escobar, O. (2013). Dialogue and science: Innovation in policy-making and the
discourse of public engagement in the UK. Science and Public Policy, 40(1), 113-126.
https://doi. org/10. 1093/scipol/scs073