Methods of Collecting Primary and Secondary Data

Primary Data:-

Data which have been originally collected and have not been undergone    any sort of statistical methods or treatment.

Primary data are usually in the shape of rawmaterialsto which statistical methods are applied for the purpose of analysis and interpretation

Methods collection Primary Data:-

Primary data may be collected either through observation or through direct communication with respondents in one form or another through personal interviews. There are several ways of collecting pri­mary data.

These may be:

(i) Observation method,

(i) Interview method,

(iv) Delphi Technique

(iii) Projective Techniques

(iv) Focus Group Interview

(v)  Questionnaire Method 

1.   Interview Method: 

It is the most widely used primary data collection methods wherein the interviewer asks questions either personally, or through mail or telephone from the respondents to obtain the insights of the problem under study. The researcher may either visit the respondent in person at his home or meet him at the central location as mutually decided by them.

And in case, a large group of respondents is to be contacted then the mail and telephone survey can be used. In the mail survey, the questionnaires are sent to the respondent who is expected to give answers to the questions via mail. In the case of a telephone survey, the interviewees are called and asked questions (closed-ended) specific to the research problem.

2.   Delphi Technique:

 It is a forecasting technique wherein the researcher elicits the information from the panel of experts either personally or through a questionnaire sent through the mail. Here, each expert in his respective field is asked to give their opinions on the problem concerned and the consolidated view of all is used to reach for the most accurate answer.

3.   Projective Techniques: 

The projective techniques are the unstructured and an indirect interview method used where the respondents are reluctant to give answers if the objective is disclosed. In order to deal with such situation, the respondents are provided with the incomplete stimulus and are required to complete it through which their underlying motivations, attitudes, opinions, feelings, etc. related to the concerned issue gets revealed. Some of the following projective techniques are used to discover the ‘whys’ of the market and the consumer behavior:

§  Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):

Here the respondent is presented with multiple pictures and then is asked to describe what he think the pictures represent.

§  Role Playing: 

Under this method, the respondents are given the imaginary situations and are asked to enact in a way they would have if the situation is real.

§  Cartoon Completion: 

Here the respondents are shown the cartoon pictures comprising of two or more characters and then are asked to give their ideas and opinions about the characters.

§  Word Association: Here the researcher provides a set of words to the respondent and then ask them to tell what comes to their mind when they hear a particular word.

§  Sentence Completion: The researcher provides the incomplete sentences to the respondents and asks them to complete it. This is done to check the ideas of the respondents.

4.  Focus Group Interview: 

It is one of the widely used data collection methods wherein a small group of people, usually 6-12 members come together to discuss the common areas of the problem. Here each individual is required to provide his insights on the issue concerned and reach to a unanimous decision. In this interview, there is a moderator who regulates the discussion among the group members.

5.  Questionnaire Method:

 Questionnaire is the most evident method of data collection, which is comprised of a set of questions related to the research problem. This method is very convenient in case the data are to be collected from the diverse population. It mainly includes the printed set of questions, either open-ended or closed-ended, which the respondents are required to answer on the basis of their knowledge and experience with the issue concerned

Secondary data collection Methods:

 Secondary data:Data which have been collected originally and have been undergone any statistical treatment or method at least once.

Secondary data is the data that has already been collected through primary sources and made readily available for researchers to use for their own research. It is a type of data that has already been collected in the past.

The secondary data are readily available from the other sources and as such, there are no specific collection methods. The researcher can obtain data from the sources both internal and external to the organization. The internal sources of secondary data are:

§  Sales Report

§  Financial Statements

§  Customer details, like name, age, contact details, etc.

§  Company information

§  Reports and feedback from a dealer, retailer, and distributor

§  Management information system

There are several external sources from where the secondary data can be collected. These are:

§  Government censuses, like the population census, agriculture census, etc.

§  Information from other government departments, like social security, tax records, etc.

§  Business journals

§  Social Books

§  Business magazines

§  Libraries

§  Internet, where wide knowledge about different areas is easily available.

The secondary data can be both qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative data can be obtained through newspapers, diaries, interviews, transcripts, etc., while the quantitative data can be obtained through a survey, financial statements and statistics.

One of the advantages of the secondary data is that it is easily available and hence less time is required to gather all the relevant information. Also, it is less expensive than the primary data. But however the data might not be specific to the researcher’s needs and at the same time is incomplete to reach a conclusion. Also, the authenticity of the research results might be skeptical.

Other source :

• Radio

Radio stations are one of the secondary sources of data collection, and one needs a radio to access it. The advent of technology has even made it possible to listen to radio on mobile phones, deeming it unnecessary to get a radio

• Library

This is a traditional secondary data collection tool for researchers. The library contains relevant materials for virtually all the research areas you can think of, and it is accessible to everyone.

A researcher might decide to sit in the library for some time to collect secondary data or borrow the materials for some time and return when done collecting the required data

• Internet-Enabled Devices

This could be a mobile phone, PC, or tablet that has access to an internet connection. They are used to access journals, books, blogs, etc. to collect secondary data.