Community Health Assessments: Secondary Data Quiz

How is secondary data defined?

What is one advantage of using secondary data for a community health assessment?

Which of the following is an example of secondary data?

What is a primary characteristic of primary data?

In community health assessments, why might researchers choose secondary data over primary data?

Secondary data refers to data collected first-hand by a research team.

Primary data are often considered 'new' data collected for specific purposes.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is an example of a source for primary data.

Researchers may choose secondary data because it is already collected and potentially useful.

An example of primary data collection is conducting a telephone survey.

Secondary Data

Secondary data is data collected by another entity or for a different purpose
This data can be valuable for community health assessments (CHAs) because it frequently exists and is readily available
Secondary data is often collected by government agencies or other organizations
Common sources of secondary data for CHAs include:
- Census and other national surveys
- Medical records and other administrative data from health systems
- Claims data (e.g., Medicare data)
- Vital records
- Surveillance systems

Advantages of Secondary Data

Saves costs associated with collecting primary data
Extremely time-efficient
Large sample sizes are often available
Data exists at multiple geographic levels (zip code, census tract, town/city, county, state)

Disadvantages of Secondary Data

Data may not be available that is needed
Data that does exist may be challenging to locate if you don't know where to look
Data may not perfectly meet needs of the CHA (since it wasn't collected for that specific purpose)
Data may be dated since it often takes time to become publicly available.

Examples of Secondary Data

American Community Survey (ACS)
County Health Rankings
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
National Vital Statistics System
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program

This quiz focuses on the role of secondary data in community health assessments (CHAs). You will explore its advantages, disadvantages, and common sources of data, helping to enhance your understanding of data collection methods in health assessments.