Secondry Method of research

THE NATURE & USES OF SECONDARY DATA SOURCE

Introduction:
Primary Data is new data gathered to help to solve the problem at hand. As compared to secondary data which is previously gathered data. Primary data collection is necessary when a researcher cannot find the data needed in secondary sources. Market researchers are interested in primary data about demographic/socioeconomic characteristics, attitudes/opinions/interests, awareness/knowledge, intentions, motivation, and behavior. Three basic means of obtaining primary data are observation, surveys, and experiments.  The choice will be influenced by the nature of the problem and by the availability of time and money. An example is information gathered by a questionnaire.

Qualitative data is subjective, rich, and in-depth information normally presented in the form of words. In undergraduate dissertations, the most common form of qualitative data is derived from semi-structured or unstructured interviews, although other sources can include observations, life histories and journals and documents of all kinds including newspapers.

Qualitative data from interviews can be analyzed for content (content analysis) or for the language used (discourse analysis). Qualitative data is difficult to analyze and often opportunities to achieve high marks are lost because the data is treated casually and without rigor. Here we concentrate on the content analysis of data from interviews. In primary research many methods are used to collect the data.

What are the problems of secondary data quality that researchers must face?

The data from different sources useful for the study not collected primarily for the said study is called secondary data. This can be used for filling needs of specific references on some point in the study. We can also seek reference to benchmarks or standard against which to test other finding. It is also very useful in exploratory research, helping researcher to define further research needs and can be rich source of hypotheses. Some times secondary data can be used as a sole base for study in which collecting primary data is not possible physically, legally or due to time and cost limitations.

It is always cheaper to collect secondary data than primary data. Research on past events can only be conducted using secondary data.

Although the use of secondary data is very helpful, easy and cheaper, but the main problem with second data is that it is collected not primarily for the study under consideration. The information contained may not be specific for the study needs. Definitions will differ, unit of measure are different, different time may be involved. Also it is difficult to assess the accuracy of the information because researcher may know very little about the research design and condition under which data is gathered. It is also often out of date.

Due to the mentioned shortcomings, secondary data must be evaluated before use. First it may be evaluated that how well do the data fit the research needs and secondly what confidence can researcher put in the accuracy and legitimacy of the data.

Researcher must understand the definitions and classifications employed, measurements used the topical coverage and time frame are important so that the data can be used for the present study. It is good to locate the original source of the information rather than use an intermediate source that has quoted from the original. This way researchers can avoid any error in transcription and review the cautionary and other comments that went along with the original data. Also researcher can uncover revisions that have been made in the data since the intermediate source used it.

Completeness and reliability of the data is also of researcher’s concern. There are two concerns, first, are the persons who conducted the study people in whom you can have confidence, regard and their organization is well regarded. Second is source capability concerns the original source.

Researchers must also especially be on guard when a report does not contain the methodology and sampling design. These are the prime concern in determining if the data are adequate for the investigator’s research purpose.