Using Spanish Official Statistics: Data Sources & Criteria
Spanish Official Statistics: Data Sources and Usage Criteria
Most Spanish official statistics sources present data at the regional and provincial level.
All empirical research or data production requires the use of resources and funding sources. The main difference lies in the fact that public financing tends to be controlled and acts under the obligation of transparency and truthfulness, unlike private funding, where there may have been some data preference over others. Keep in mind that the publication of the data source for the entities may be included in corporate advertising strategies.
Criteria for Using Data from Secondary Sources
The widespread use of data from a secondary source depends on its place within the research. If it is at the center, the use of the data will be very broad. Methodological reflection is required on the source, requiring the rationale for choosing such a source based on its abilities and limitations. The most common form of its use is limited to a narrow selection of variables, dictated by the objectives of the research: asking questions of the secondary source of data, then measuring the responses to those questions and deciding whether to use the data obtained. To find out which variables are most relevant, the concepts in the theoretical work must be clear.
The selection of variables can have financial implications, especially for data that are bought. To cross-reference variables, read the submission form, along with most of the databases, and above all, a detailed analysis of the questionnaire or form used for recording or production of the data unit.
Precautions When Using Secondary Data
The first precautions are related to the theoretical and methodological design that produced the data. In particular, one must take into account:
- The meaning of the concepts that appear as a category of data. You have to know at all times the operational meaning of a term. For example, the concept of suicide is quite understandable to us, but the concepts used are always subject to different interpretations.
- Knowing how the validity of the data relates to our concepts.
- The date of fieldwork in which the records were made, as the social phenomenon under observation can be affected by a special event.
- The registration form. It is not the same when registration is done by the citizen themselves, interested in an administrative process, or by institutions or experts, as the responsibility is very different. The variety of registration forms can impact the products of such records (data), especially when it is not only administrative acts but also research practices.
The second kind of caution has to do with the statistical properties. This applies to the quality of the sample used or the representativeness of the data analyzed: answers to the whole sample or only parts of it?
The third kind of caution refers to the passage of time and is particularly relevant when conducting longitudinal studies. The call for caution stems from the possibility of making the mistake of comparing data that are not comparable because, among other reasons, data listed under the same category do not have the same meaning in the various applications of the study.
Evaluating a Source: Caveats
When evaluating a source, complete a form containing the following fields:
- Name or identification of the source
- Name of the institution that collects the data
- Name of the institution that produces the data, if different from above
- Considerations about the institution
- Description of objectives of the secondary source
- Periodicity of the secondary source:
- Length of periods (monthly, yearly, etc.)
- Date of origin of the periodicity
- Degree of continuity with the periodicity set
- Time of fieldwork, to see if something happened during the dates that might have affected the results
- Way of recording information (survey face to face, telephone, territorial)
- The population (youth, children)
- Design which gives us clues about the representativeness of the indicators
- Level of disaggregation, particularly by territorial
- Other methodological issues relevant to the researcher may wish to consider
- Variables used
- Availability of the data matrix in news programs