What term describes data that has been collected for a purpose other than the present research question?

The term that describes data collected for a purpose other than the current research question is secondary data. This type of data has already been gathered and processed by other researchers or organizations for different objectives. When you use secondary data, you're leveraging information that already exists, which can save time and resources compared to gathering new data. It's important to critically assess the quality and relevance of secondary data, as it may not perfectly align with the specific needs of your current research. This is contrasted with primary data, which is collected specifically for the research at hand. Tertiary data refers to resources that compile and summarize primary and secondary data, while qualitative data focuses on non-numeric insights obtained from interviews, observations, or open-ended survey responses.