Unit of Competence

DATA GATHERING ON BUSINESS REQUIRMENTS

Identifying the key sources of information
Information technology has become something that we can’t avoid using. It is now becoming the agent of
change. There are rapid and considerable advancements in the area of information and communication
technologies. Use of information technology simplifies the way things are done in offices or organizations,
facilitates communication in different and distant areas. Hence, every one needs to have the knowledge of
applying information technology in our daily activities.

We collect and use information in one way or the other in our daily life. When we ask a passerby what

time it is, we are looking for information. If you go to the organization where your
sister works in and ask
the workers where your sister’s office is, you are looking for information that will help you in getting
your sister.

Therefore, Informationis a collection of meaningful or useful data that can be used as a base for
guidance and decision-making. The various sources of information are classified in to two major
categories:
1. Documentary sources

2. Non-Documentary sources.

Documentary Sources are documented or recorded sources of information in different forms, while non- documentar
sources are those that are not properly recorded or documented for public use. The documentary sources are further
categorized into three groups: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary sources.

Primary sources
PRIMARY -is first hand information, gathered by the user e.g. using a questionnaire, using different
data collection techniques to acquire information on production levels, sales to date etc. Data
Warehousing should be considered here.

Primary Documentary Sources of Information: are the first records of original research and development
undertakings. primary sources can be published in a variety of forms.
Some of these are: periodicals, reports, patents standards, dissertations, etc.
Primary documentary sources are not always in published form.
There are also unpublished primary documentary sources like: laboratory reports, memoranda, diaries, letters,
inscriptions n
stones, coins, etc.

Examples of primary sources include:

 personal correspondence and diaries

 works of art and literature
 speeches and oral histories
 audio and video recordings
 photographs and posters
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  newspaper ads and stories
 laws and legislative hearings
 census or demographic records
 plant and animal specimens
 coins and tools

Written sources
Not all primary sources will be spoken. Written reports can make an excellent source of
information for a journalist. They are usually written after a lot of research by the authors, they
have been checked for accuracy and are usually published with official approval.

Leaked documents
You may occasionally be given documents which have not been officially released to the press.
They may be given to you by someone in a company or government department who does not
want to be seen giving them to the media. We call these leakeddocuments.

Other Primary sources of Information

Primary sources comprise the first published records of original research and development. They
represent the original unfiltered ideas and comprise of the most recent available information.
Primary sources are unorganized sources and thus are difficult to be used without the help of
secondary sources. Types of primary sources include: periodicals, research reports, conference
proceedings, patents, standards, theses and dissertations, trade literature, etc.

Secondary Documentary Sources of Information:are those sources, which are either compiled
from or referred to the primary sources of information. In order to serve a particular purpose, the
original information in the primary sources is modified, selected and/or recognized so that the
secondary sources of information are produced. Unlike the primary sources, the secondary
sources of information contain filtered, organized, digested and repackaged Knowledge rather
than new knowledge. Examples:Periodicals, Indexes, Bibliographies, Textbooks, Reference
books, etc.
Secondary Sources of Information
SECONDARY -is information that already exists due to other peoples research e.g. from books,
journals, government figures, data on rivals (competitors) sales in the same market (collected by
independent source i.e. newspaper).
A secondary source, in contrast, lacks the immediacy of a primary record. As materials
produced sometime after an event happened, they contain information that has been interpreted,
commented, analyzed or processed in such a way that it no longer conveys the freshness of the
original. History textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, interpretive journal articles, and book
reviews are all examples of secondary sources. Secondary sources are often based on primary
sources
The nature of secondary sources of information

Secondary data is data which has been collected by individuals or agencies for purposes other
than those of our particular research study. For example, if a government department has
conducted a survey of, say, family food expenditures, then a food manufacturer might use this
data in the organization's evaluations of the total potential market for a new product. Similarly,
statistics prepared by a ministry on agricultural production will prove useful to a whole host of
people and organizations, including those marketing agricultural supplies.

No marketing research study should be undertaken without a prior search of secondary sources

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 (also termed desk research). There are several grounds for making such a bold statement.

 Secondary data may be available which is entirely appropriate and wholly

adequate to draw conclusions and answer the question or solve the problem.
Sometimes primary data collection simply is not necessary.

 It is far cheaper to collect secondary data than to obtain primary data. For the
same level of research budget a thorough examination of secondary sources can
yield a great deal more information than can be had through a primary data
collection exercise.
 The time involved in searching secondary sources is much less than that needed to
complete primary data collection.
 Secondary sources of information can yield more accurate data than that obtained
through primary research. This is not always true but where a government or
international agency has undertaken a large scale survey, or even a census, this is
likely to yield far more accurate results than custom designed and executed
surveys when these are based on relatively small sample sizes.
 It should not be forgotten that secondary data can play a substantial role in the
exploratory phase of the research when the task at hand is to define the research
problem and to generate hypotheses. The assembly and analysis of secondary data
almost invariably improves the researcher's understanding of the marketing
problem, the various lines of inquiry that could or should be followed and the
alternative courses of action which might be pursued.
 Secondary sources help define the population. Secondary data can be extremely
useful both in defining the population and in structuring the sample to be taken.
For instance, government statistics on a country's agriculture will help decide how
to stratify a sample and, once sample estimates have been calculated, these can be
used to project those estimates to the population.

The problems of secondary sources

Whilst the benefits of secondary sources are considerable, their shortcomings have to be
acknowledged. There is a need to evaluate the quality of both the source of the data and the data
itself. The main problems may be categorised as follows:
 Measurement
 Source bias
 Reliability

Sources of information

Secondary sources of information may be divided into two categories: internal sources and
external sources.

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 Internal sources of information

Sales data :All organizations collect information in the course of their everyday operations.
Orders are received and delivered, costs are recorded, sales personnel submit visit reports,
invoices are sent out, returned goods are recorded and so on. Much of this information is of
potential use in marketing research but a surprising amount of it is actually used. Organizations
frequently overlook this valuable resource by not beginning their search of secondary sources
with an internal audit of sales invoices, orders, inquiries about products not stocked, returns from
customers and sales force customer calling sheets. For example, consider how much information
can be obtained from sales orders and invoices:

 Sales by territory
 Sales by customer type
 Prices and discounts
 Average size of order by customer, customer type, geographical area
 Average sales by sales person and
 Sales by pack size and pack type, etc.

Financial data:An organization has a great deal of data within its files on the cost of producing,
storing, transporting and marketing each of its products and product lines. Such data has many
uses in marketing research including allowing measurement of the efficiency of marketing
operations. It can also be used to estimate the costs attached to new products under consideration,
of particular utilisation (in production, storage and transportation) at which an organization's unit
costs begin to fall.

Transport data: Companies that keep good records relating to their transport operations are
well placed to establish which are the most profitable routes, and loads, as well as the most cost
effective routing patterns. Good data on transport operations enables the enterprise to perform
trade-off analysis and thereby establish whether it makes economic sense to own or hire vehicles,
or the point at which a balance of the two gives the best financial outcome.

Storage data:The rate of stockturn, stockhandling costs, assessing the efficiency of certain
marketing operations and the efficiency of the marketing system as a whole. More sophisticated
accounting systems assign costs to the cubic space occupied by individual products and the time
period over which the product occupies the space. These systems can be further refined so that
the profitability per unit, and rate of sale, are added. In this way, the direct product profitability
can be calculated.

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 External sources of information

The marketing researcher who seriously seeks after useful secondary data is more often surprised
by its abundance than by its scarcity. Too often, the researcher has secretly (sometimes
subconsciously) concluded from the outset that his/her topic of study is so unique or specialised
that a research of secondary sources is futile. Consequently, only a specified search is made with
no real expectation of sources.

The main sources of external information sources are (1) government (federal, state and local) (2)
trade associations (3) commercial services (4) national and international institutions.
Tertiary Sources of Information: contain information refined or distilled and collected from primary
and secondary sources of information. Tertiary sources are organized with the aim of assisting the
searcher of information in the use of primary and secondary sources. All of these sources do not contain
subject matter knowledge. Examplesare: Catalogues in your library, Directories like telephone directory,
File directory.
Some of
the tertiary sources are: directories, yearbooks, and bibliography of bibliographies.

1. Directories
Directories are lists of names and addresses arranged for reference purposes and are generally
organized in alphabetical order. A directory may include indexes by subject field, geographical
location, or some other desirable classification. These make up the largest single category of
reference books.

2. Yearbooks
Yearbooks are reference books which describe the events pertaining to a particular year. In
various disciplines of business, much of the task of digesting the developments of a year is
performed by annual reviews of progress, and this function is performed by yearbooks as well. In
this way they form an important source of information in the field.
Information gathering techniques
Categories of data
Quantitative vs. qualitative data
You may need to source quantitative data or qualitative data.
Quantitative data can be measured. Sources include reports for decision making, performance

Quantitative data can be analysed using mathematical equations and computation. Care needs to
be taken to ensure that quantitative data is current and reliable - you may want to investigate the
method of data capture and processing.
Qualitative data is a record of thoughts, observations, opinions or words. Qualitative data often
comes from asking open-ended questions to which the answers are not limited by a set of choices
or a scale. Qualitative data is important to capture; it may be in the form of memos, procedure
manuals, survey responses, workshop results or policy guidelines. Care needs to be taken when
analysing qualitative data to ensure that the information or data has not been authored in a way to
bias or politically motivate receivers of information.

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 Internal . external
The information you gather may come from internal or external sources.
Internal sources are those found within the organisation; for example, annual reports, sales
figures and employees.
External sources are sources outside the organisation such as statistical information, standards
documentation, or research conducted by external organisations.
The project in which you are involved will influence the balance of the internal or external
information gathering effort. For example,
 A website design and development project may require you to gather and define internal requirements
 a business. However, a significant effort should be put into external
scanning. This may involve identifying 'best practice' associated with competitors or
organisations with similar business models.
 A database design requires a significant proportion of internal data gathering, but as with
website design, you should not exclude current trends and future expectations which may
be evident through external scanning.

Documents vs. people

A review of the organisation's documents provides a good background and is often the starting
point to understanding the organisation and how internal systems work.
Documents form a good base for further investigation.
There are often a lot of documents available, which means the analyst must read extensively to
gain limited information.
On the other hand, people are also a source of information. An individual is a wonderful source
of information that can respond dynamically to questions and stimuli. This unique characteristic
of the human race enables fast and focused exchange of information through many
communication mediums. reports, data capture forms, and numeric results from surveys and statistical research.

The advantages of gathering information through interviews, workshops and questionnaires must
also be balanced with a degree of scepticism. When you gather information from an individual,
you gather an individual's opinion. It’s important to remember that this opinion may (and probably will) differ
from the opinions of others.

Statistics and sampling

Sampling
When determining requirements, it is likely that you will have to collect information from a
number of people. If the organisation is small, you may choose to collect information from all
people - this is called a census. Alternatively, you may choose to collect information from only
nominated specialists. This is known as judgement samplingor convenience sampling. Not all
organisations are small and localised: consider determining requirements for an organisation
with over 2000 computer users spread across 4 continents. In this situation, it is prudent to
survey a sample of users. Two commonly used sampling techniques are randomisation and
systematic sampling

The use of sampling is much more time efficient, and that is why sampling is so commonly used.
Unfortunately, the improper use of sampling can lead to methodological disaster.

Documents and information

An organisation stores a large number of documents such as policy documents, finance
statements, annual reports and mission statements. These documents can provide valuable
information when analysing user requirements. For example, mission statements may provide

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 information regarding organisational goals. You may be required to review these documents to
identify the kind of information they contain. The contents may be useful in the business
requirements analysis.

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 Sources of information
When conducting a business user-requirements analysis, it is important to identify the sources of
information. You will need to select different sources of information in order to gather complete
and accurate information.
The following list provides some examples of information sources.

 Management
 Clerical/operational staff
 Statements of company policy including mission
 Organisation charts
 Administrative procedure manuals
 Document blanks or data entry forms
 Completed documents or data entry forms
 Training manuals

Assess methods
Data gathering methods and budget constraints
There are a variety of different data gathering methods, and each have their own advantages and
disadvantages. You will need to research the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.
While you are undertaking your research, take notice of the relative costs associated with each
method.
Your research should highlight that questionnaires are an effective method of capturing data
from a large group of people at a relatively low cost; however, if the sample group is small,
sometimes the questionnaire development costs outweigh the benefits. In the past, questionnaires
have often been paper-based. A cost associated with paper-based surveys is the coding and
transcribing of the responses into a computer for analysis. Using computer-based questionnaires
reduces costs associated with coding and transcribing data.

Research

Reviewing documents
Reviewing documents is the process of searching, finding and extracting information from
documents which have been created by authors. A listing of documents can be found in Table 1:
Information sources.

Sampling documents
Sampling documents is the process of collecting representative samples of forms, records and
other documents in order to ascertain an implied consistency for the total population. Two
commonly used sampling techniques are randomisationand stratification.
 Randomisationis a sampling technique characterised as having no predetermined
pattern or plan for selecting sample documents.
 Stratificationis a systematic sampling technique that attempts to reduce the variance of estimates by
equally dispersing the sample selection within a given population - that is, choosing documents or
records by formula.

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 Interviews
An interviewis a planned meeting during which you obtain information from another person.
The personal interview is often the preferred information gathering technique when developing
business and user requirements.
The interviewer can contextualise the response by observing body language. Body language is all
of the non-verbal information being communicated by an individual. Part of body language is
facial disclosure. Facial disclosure can sometimes enable you to understand how people feel by

Now let’s look at the most common steps that take place during the interviewing process.

 Determining the people to interview.

 Establishing objectives for the interview.
 Developing the interview questions
 Preparing for the interview.
 Conducting the interview.
 Documenting the interview.
 Evaluating the interview

Questionnaires
Questionnaires are sometimes called surveys. A questionnaire involves questions written onto a
form. The respondent provides their response in the form.
Two common formats for questionnaires are free-format and fixed-format. A single
questionnaire often includes both formats.

 Free-format questionnaires offer the respondent greater latitude in their answer. A

question is asked, and the respondent records the answer in the space provided after the
question.
 Fixed-format questionnaires contain questions that require the selection of predefined
responses from individuals.

Observation
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 Observation is a technique that enables the analyst to view how processes and activities are being
done in the context of the business. This additional perspective can give a better understanding of
system procedures. It is sometimes worthwhile to read procedure manuals to find out how things
should be done. Then interview people to find out how they believe it IS being done. Finally,
observe processes to find out how it is actuallybeing done.

Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a workshop or meeting where ideas are expressed and captured for later
consideration. The three common rules of brainstorming are:

 Be spontaneous. Call out ideas as they occur.

 No criticism, analysis, or evaluation is permitted while the ideas are being generated. Any idea
may be useful, if only to generate another idea.
 Focus on the quantity of ideas, rather than the quality of the ideas.

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