Summary
Contents
What is qualitative secondary analysis? How can it be most effectively applied in social research? This timely and accomplished book offers readers a well informed, reliable guide to all aspects of qualitative secondary analysis. The book: Defines secondary analysis. Distinguishes between quantitative and qualitative secondary analysis. Maps the main types of qualitative secondary analysis. Covers the key ethical and legal issues. Offers a practical guide to effective research. Sets the agenda for future developments in the subject. Written by an experienced researcher and teacher with a background in sociology, the book is a comprehensive and invaluable introduction to this growing field of social research.
Association and Causation
Association and Causation
Association is a connection between two social phenomena, demonstrated by onetendingto vary according to variations in the other, whereas causality is a special case of association, when changes in one systematically result in direct changes in the other.
Section Outline: Association and imprecise connections. Example: church-going and age. Association and correlation. Direction of connection: narratives. Spurious relationships. Examples: class and political attitudes; explaining illness. Necessary and sufficient conditions. Causality in quantitative and qualitative methods.
Research provides descriptions of what it studies. Some descriptions connect two social phenomena, making it possible to say that they tend to happen together, or rarely happen together, or that when one comes first, the other usually follows. These connections or ‘relationships’ are referred to as associations. A special kind of ...