SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA LIBRARIES.

The creation of social science data libraries has reemphasized many important methodological issues associated with contemporary research techniques. Since documentation of the data-gathering and coding processes is vital for the secondary analyst, considerable attention is focused upon these activities. As research workers become increasingly sensitized to the potential exploitation of their data by others, there is a tendency for them to document their activities in greater detail. Since data libraries are energetic in their attempts to obtain such documentation, this activity is being emphasized repeatedly. While it is often submerged somewhat by individuals working with information collected by them personally in a familiar milieu with an opportunity to establish an unequivocal shared understanding with the source of the information regarding each specific datum, this understanding is problematic for the secondary analyst.