Secondary Analysis of Job Placement Interviews of the German Federal Employment Agency. A Research Report

Abstract

Secondary analysis of qualitative interview data is related to the potential for re-analyzing existing data from a new research focus and theoretical perspective. Few examples of this application exist, where the decisions made in the research process and the implementation steps are empirically demonstrated on the basis of a concrete secondary analysis. With the present study I intend to provide such examples. For this purpose, a qualitative secondary analysis of dialogues between job agents and unemployment workers is used to report on the challenges and methodological implications of such a research strategy. Further, the benefits and limitations are discussed with respect to the specific research context. The interview data for the secondary analysis came from a process evaluation conducted by the German Institute for Employment Research (IAB) following a structural change in the employment agencies of the German Federal Employment Agency. In contrast, the research interest of the secondary analysis was fundamentally different. Rather than evaluating the result of structural changes in the primary research, I focused on the decision-making processes in the course of job-placement by public employment agencies in the secondary analysis.