Unit III-COLLECTION OF DATA

Secondary Data:
As stated earlier, secondary data are those data which have already been collected and
analyzed by some earlier agency for its own use, and later the same data are used by a
different agency. According to W.A.Neiswanger, “A primary source is a publication in which
the data are published by the same authority which gathered and analyzed them. A secondary
source is a publication, reporting the data which was gathered by other authorities and for
which others are responsible.”
Sources of Secondary Data:
The various sources of secondary data can be divided into two broad categories:
1. Published sources, and
2. Unpublished sources.
1. Published Sources:
The governmental, international and local agencies publish statistical data, and chief among
them are explained below:
(a) International Bublications: There are some international institutions and bodies like I.M.F,
I.B.R.D, I.C.A.F.E and U.N.O who publish regular and occasional reports on economic and
statistical matters.
(b) Official Publications of Central and State Governments: Several departments of the
Central and State Governments regularly publish reports on a number of subjects. They
gather additional information. Some of the important publications are: The Reserve Bank of
India Bulletin, Census of India, Statistical Abstracts of States, Agricultural Statistics of India,
Indian Trade Journal, etc.
(c) Semi-Official Publications: Semi-Government institutions like Municipal Corporations,
District Boards, Panchayats, etc. Publish reports relating to different matters of public
concern.
(d) Publications of Research Institutions: Indian Statistical Institute (I.S.I), Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (I.C.A.R), Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (I.A.S.R.I),
etc. Publish the findings of their research programmes.
(e) Publications of various Commercial and Financial Institutions
(f) Reports of various Committees and Commissions appointed by the Government as the Raj
Committee’s Report on Agricultural Taxation, Wanchoo Committee’s Report on Taxation
and Black Money, etc. are also important sources of secondary data.
(g) Journals and News Papers: Journals and News Papers are very important and powerful
source of secondary data. Current and important materials on statistics and socio-economic
problems can be obtained from journals and newspapers like Economic Times, Commerce,
Capital, Indian Finance, Monthly Statistics of trade etc.
2. Unpublished Sources: Unpublished data can be obtained from many unpublished sources
like records maintained by various government and private offices, the theses of the
numerous research scholars in the universities or institutions etc.
The choice of data collection methods depends on the facilities available, the degree of
accuracy required, the expertise of the researcher, the time span of the study, and other costs
and resources associated with and available for data gathering
Basis of difference Primary data Secondary data
Originality Primary data are collected Secondary dada are already
originally available and thus these are
not original
Collection By the investigator himself By some other person
Time More time consuming Less time consuming
Precaution Needs more precaution at Needs less precaution at the
the time of collection but time of collection but more
less at the time of its use at the time of its use
Conversion A primary data after a use is It can never be converted
converted into a secondary into a primary data
data
Statistical process Not done Done
Cost Expensive Cheaper
Efforts More efforts required Less efforts required
Accuracy More accurate Less accurate
Training personnel required Experts/trained required Less trained personnel

Tabulation Meaning:
Tabulation is a systematic & logical presentation of numeric data in rows and columns to facilitate
comparison and statistical analysis. It facilitates comparison by bringing related information close
to each other and helps in further statistical analysis and interpretation.
In other words, the method of placing organised data into a tabular form is called as tabulation. It
may be complex, double or simple depending upon the nature of categorisation.
Also Check: Tabular Presentation of Data

5 Major Objectives Of Tabulation:

(1) To Simplify the Complex Data

 It reduces the bulk of information, i.e. raw data in a simplified and meaningful form so that
it could be easily by a common man in less time.
(2) To Bring Out Essential Features of the Data

 It brings out the chief/main characteristics of data.

 It presents facts clearly and precisely without textual explanation.
(3) To Facilitate Comparison
  Presentation of data in row & column is helpful in simultaneous detailed comparison on
the basis of several parameters.
(4) To Facilitate Statistical Analysis

 Tables serve as the best source of organised data for further statistical analysis.
 The task of computing average, dispersion, correlation, etc. becomes easier if data is
presented in the form of a table.
(5) Saving of Space

 A table presents facts in a better way than the textual form.

 It saves space without sacrificing the quality and quantity of data.
 Cross tabulation is usually performed on categorical data —
data that can be divided into mutually exclusive groups.
 An example of categorical data is the region of sales for a
product. Typically, region can be divided into categories such as
geographic area (North, South, Northeast, West, etc) or state
(Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, etc). The important thing to
remember about categorical data is that a categorical data point
cannot belong to more than one category.
 Cross tabulations are used to examine relationships within data
that may not be readily apparent. Cross tabulation is especially
useful for studying market research or survey responses. Cross
tabulation of categorical data can be done with through tools
such as SPSS, SAS, and Microsoft Excel.
 An example of cross tabulation
 “No other tool in Excel gives you the flexibility and
analytical power of a pivot table.”
 One simple way to do cross tabulations is Microsoft
Excel’s pivot table feature. Pivot tables are a great way to
search for patterns as they help in easily grouping raw data.

Graphical representation is a visual display of data and statistical results. it is more often and
effective than presenting data in tabular form. There are different types of graphical
representation and which is used depends on the nature of the data and the nature of the
statistical results.
Graphical representation is the visual display of data using plots and charts. it is used in
many academic and professional disciplines but most widely so in the field of
mathematics,medicine and the science. Graphical representation helps to quantify, sort and
present data in a method that is understandable to a large variety of audience.

Several types of mediums are used for expressing graphics, including plots, charts and
diagrams. In mathematics line and dot plots are especially valuable for displaying information.
Line plots which are number lines with the letter “X” placed above numbers to show their
frequency, are used to represent numerical data.
BAR DIAGRAM DEFINITION: “A graph showing the differences in frequencies or percentages
among the categories of a nominal or an ordinal variable. The categories are displayed as
rectangles of equal width with their height proportional to the frequency or percentage of the
category.”

BAR DIAGRAMS  A Bar graph is a chart with rectangular bars with length proportional to the
values that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally.  One axis of the
chart shows the specific categories being compared, and the other axis represents discrete
values.  A bar graph will have two axes. One axis will describe the types of categories being
compared and the other will have numerical values that represent the values of the data.
There are many different types of bar graphs. each type will work best with a different type of
comparison. Simple bar diagram: It represent only one variable. for example
sales,prodution,population figures etc..These are in same width and vary only in heights.It
becomes very easy for readers to study the relationship.It is the most popular in practice.

HISTOGRAM DEFINITION: “A graph showing the differences in frequencies or percentages

among the categories of an interval-ratio variable. The categories are displayed as contiguous
bars, with width proportional to the width of the category and height proportional to the frequency
or percentage of that category”.

PIE DIAGRAM DEFINITION: ‘ A pie chart shows the differences in frequencies or percentages
among the categories of a nominal or an ordinal variable. The categories are displayed as
segments of a circle whose pieces add up to 100% of the total frequencies’.

PIE DIAGRAM  The Pie Chart is a commonly used graphical device for presenting relative
frequency distribution for qualitative data.  First draw a circle then use the relative frequencies
to subdivide the circle into sectors that correspondent to the relative frequency for each class.

Pie Chart is a circular(360 degree) Graphical representation.  Compares sub classes or

categories to the whole class or categories using differently coloured or patterned segments.
It is drawn to depict the total volume of the given attribute using a circle, dividing the circle into
corresponding degrees of angles then represent the sub sets of the data.  Hence it is also
called divided circle diagram.