ETHICAL AND REPRESENTATIONAL ISSUES IN QUALITATIVE SECONDARY ANALYSIS

Although secondary analysis holds considerable promise for optimizing the health knowledge that can be constructed in relation to existing q ualitative databases, methodological developments to guide design and evaluation of this research have not been fully explored in the qualit ative research literature. This article extends preliminary methodolog ical explorations to address two specific concerns arising from second ary analysis: ethics and representation. Because secondary research cr eates the potential for exaggerating certain errors in both ethics and representation, the risks associated with such analyses must be consi dered in the light of the opportunities. Preliminary strategies for he lping secondary qualitative researchers to articulate and resolve the representational and ethical problems that may arise from their work a re offered.