CHAPTER -FIVE

THE SOURCES AND COLLECTION OF DATA

Introduction

Data is the raw material of problem solving and decision making. Effective data collection is
pivotal in the research process. Data provides the basis for beginning to address and investigate
research and consultancy problems. Data, however, is different to Information and the difference
is important. Ultimately, the researcher is interested in information rather than data. However,
information stems from raw data and as such data is essential to the problem-solving process.
The researcher must know not only what data is required, but also the principal methods,
approaches and techniques for collecting data such that the most appropriate data collection
techniques can be used. What then are the principal types of data, how may we classify data and
data collection methods, and what are the principle ways and techniques of collecting data as part
of a research exercise?
5.1. TYPES AND SOURCE OF DATA

Data comes in a wide variety of shapes and forms. When it comes to types of data, we can
distinguish between the following major categories:
5.2.1. PRIMARY VERSUS SECONDARY DATA

One of the most fundamental distinctions between types or categories of data is that of primary
versus secondary data.
PRIMARY DATA: does not actually exist until and unless it is generated through the research
process as part of the consultancy or dissertation or project. As we shall see, primary data is
closely related to, and has implications for, the methods and techniques of data collection. For
example primary data will often be collected through techniques such as experimentation,
interviewing, observation and surveys.
SECONDARY DATA: on the other hand, is information which already exists in some form or
other but which was not primarily collected, at least initially, for the purpose of the consultancy
exercise at hand. In fact, secondary data is often the start point for data collection in as much as it
is the first type of data to be collected. Because of this, and the importance and potential value of
secondary data, we shall consider this type of data and its collection.
We shall also see that secondary data comprises both internal and external data sources
encompassing internal company information such as databases, reports, and company analyses
and so on, and external data sources such as published reports, government surveys, competitor
information and increasingly, internet and web-based sources of information.
5.2. SOURCES OF DATA
There are two sources of data: these are primary sources and secondary sources.
PRIMARY SOURCES: it is source of data that provide first hand information for the use of
immediate purpose and collected from primary sources. That is the data collected from primary

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sources are new data which had not existed before and for which the researcher received full
credit.
SECONDARY SOURCES: individuals or agencies which provide data originally collected for
other purpose by them or by others and usually they are published or unpublished materials,
records, reports, magazines, market reports, etc. data which is not originated by the investigator
himself but which he gets from some one’s records. Here compared to primary data, which is
costly but accurate and more reliable, a secondary data is less costly and less accurate.
5.3. COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA

We can obtain primary data either through observation or through direct communication with
respondents in one form or another. This means that there are several methods of collecting
primary data. The most common are:

I, Observation Method
II, Interview Method
III, Questionnaire Method
IV, Schedule Method
I, Observation Method: is the most commonly used method especially in studies relating to
behavioural sciences (Psychology, Sociology, anthropology, etc). Under the observation
method, the information is collected by way of investigator’s own direct observation without
asking from the respondent. The main advantage of this method is that subjective bias is
eliminated, if observation is done accurately. Secondly, the information obtained under this
method relates to what is currently happening; it is not complicated by either past behaviour or
future intentions or attitudes. Thirdly’ this method is independent of respondents’ willingness to
respond and as such is relatively less demanding of active cooperation on the part of respondents
as happens to be the case in the interview or the questionnaire method. This method is
particularly suitable in studies which deal with subjects (i.e., respondents) who are not capable of
giving verbal reports of their feelings for one reason or the other.

However, observation method has various limitations.

 It is expensive method
 The information provided by this method is very limited
 Sometimes unforeseen factors may interfere with the observational task
While using this method, the researcher should keep in mind things like: what should be
observed? How the observation should be recorded? Or how the accuracy of the observation can
be ensured?

II, Interview Method: this method of collecting data involves presentation of oral- verbal
questions and reply interms of oral-verbal responses. This method can be used through personal
interviews and, if possible through telephone interviews.

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Personal Interviews: it is an oral questioning of respondents either individually or in group
(focus group). Personal interview method requires a person known as the interviewer asking
questions generally in a face to face contact to the person or persons. The method of collecting
information through personal interviews is usually carried out in a structured way. As such we
call the interviews as structured interviews. Such interviews involve the use of a set
predetermined question and of highly standardized techniques of recording. Thus, the
interviewer in a structured interview follows a rigid procedure laid down, asking questions in a
form and order prescribed. As against it, the unstructured interviews are characterized by a
flexibility of approach to questioning.

Unstructured interview do not follow a system of pre-determined questions and standardized

techniques of recording information. In a non-structured interview, the interviewer is allowed
much greater freedom to ask, in case of need, supplementary questions or at times he may omit
certain questions if the situation so requires. He may change the sequence of questions. He has
relatively greater freedom while recording the responses to include some aspects and exclude
others. But this sort of flexibility results in lack of comparability one interview with another and
the analysis of unstructured responses becomes much more difficult and time consuming than
that of structured responses obtained from structured interviews. Unstructured interviews also
demand deep knowledge and greater skill on the part of the interviewer.

Advantages of Personal Interview

a) More information and that too great depth can be obtained.
b) Interviewer by his own skill can overcome the resistance, if any, of the respondents.
c) There is greater flexibility under this method as the opportunity to restructure questions is
always there, especially in the case of unstructured interviews.
d) The language of the interview can be adapted to the ability or education level of the
person interviewed and as such misinterpretations concerning questions can be avoided.
e) It offers a lot of flexibility in allowing the interviewer to explain questions, to probe
(investigate) more deeply in to the answers provided.
f) It is useful in situations where great depth study is required.
g) In face-to-face interview, the interviewer can see and assess the respondents’ non verbal
behaviors.
Weaknesses of Personal Interview:
a) It tends to be relatively expensive and time consuming especially when large and
widely spread geographical sample is taken and hence not ideal to large group of
informants.
b) There remains the possibility of bias of interviewer as well as that of the
respondent.
c) Certain type of respondents (officials, VIPs, etc) may not be easily approachable
under this method and to that extent the data may prove inadequate.

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 d) This method is relatively time consuming, especially when the sample is large.
Preconditions and Basic Tenets of Interviewing

For successful implementation of the interview method, interviewers should be carefully

selected, trained and briefed. They should be honest, sincere, hardworking, and impartial must
possess the technical competence and necessary practical competence. The interviewers
approach must be friendly, polite, conversational and unbiased.

The Telephone Interview: this method of collecting information consists in contacting

respondents through telephone itself. It is similar to the personal interview, but uses telephone
instead of personal interaction. It is not a very widely used method, but plays important part in
industrial surveys, particularly in developed nations.

Advantages:
i. It is more flexible in comparison to mailing method
ii. It is faster than other methods, i.e., quick way of obtaining information.
iii. It is cheaper than personal interviewing method; here the cost per response is relatively
low.
iv. No field staff is required etc.
Weakness of Telephone Interview:
i. Little time is given to respondents to respond.
ii. Surveys are restricted to respondents who have telephone facilities.
iii. Extensive geographical coverage may get restricted by cost considerations.
iv. It is not suitable for intensive surveys where comprehensive answers are required to
various questions.
v. Questions have to be short and to the point; probes are difficult to handle.
III, Collection of Data through Questionnaire Method

This method of data collection is quite popular, particularly in case of big inquiries. In this
method a questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons concerned with a request to
answer the questions and return the questionnaire. Questionnaires are groups or sequences of
questions designed to collect data upon a subject/ sample. The questionnaire is mailed to
respondents who are expected to read and understand the questions and write down the reply in
the space provided in the questionnaire itself. The respondents have to answer the questions on
their own.

The Advantages of This Method Are:

 There is low cost even when the population is large and widely spread.
 It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in respondents’ own words.
 Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers.
 Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached conveniently.

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  Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made more dependable and
reliable.
The Disadvantages of This Method Are:
 Low rate of return of the study filled in questionnaires.
 It can b e used only when respondents are educated and cooperating.
 The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.
 There is inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending the approach once the
questionnaires have been dispatched.
 There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omissions of replies.
 This method is the slowest of all.
IV, Schedule Method

This method of data collection is very much like collection of data through questionnaire, with
little difference which lies in the fact that schedules (document containing a set of questions) are
being filled by the enumerators / research workers/ assistants/ data collectors who are especially
appointed for the purpose. These enumerators along with schedules go to respondents, put to
them the questions from the document in the order the questions are listed and record the replies
in the space provided.

5.4. COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data means data that are already available i.e., they refer to the data which have
already been collected and analyzed by someone else. When the researcher utilizes secondary
data, then he has to look into various sources from where he/she can obtain them

5.4.1. WHAT TO LOOK FOR AS SECONDARY DATA AND WHERE TO FIND IT

5.4.1.1. What is secondary data?
Secondary data is data, which the researcher did not collect for themselves directly from
respondents or subjects. This means that secondary data was not collected with the researcher’s
purpose and objectives in mind. It may have been collected:

 By other researchers, perhaps in the process of academic studies (could be available in

journal articles, or published doctoral theses or conference proceedings) or

 In the process of normal operations (e.g. an organization’s “grey” material-information it

publishes internally such as sales figures, information about product launches, company
minutes etc, or an individual’s personal diary or learning log)

 By institutions, whose job is to collect data (e.g. government or regional offices of

statistics and information, international bodies whose purpose is information collection
eg academic, media and professional bodies set up for the purpose of collecting
information and data directly and from these government or international body).
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 For many business research studies, especially qualitative ones, it will be difficult to find
exactly the kind of data needed, since it is unlikely you would be doing the research were it
not for the fact that it hadn’t been done before. So most studies will need to design collection
methods for primary data. However, there is a vast amount of secondary data out there, much
of it surprisingly accessible over the web, which may save us considerable time or give us a
useful benchmark or context in which to set up our research design or a way of triangulating
our results.

Where your research relates to a national or international level of operation, it is likely that
national and international statistics will form part or all of your study, since these studies take
time and money to achieve. Much of this kind of data. E.g. census data will be available free
over the web or free from government offices. Secondary data may be documentary, survey
or multiple sources, i.e. a mix of documents and surveys. Access to Secondary data implies
two things-first of all you know how to find it and second you have permission to use it.

5.4.2. THE CONTRIBUTION OF SECONDARY DATA TO BUSINESS RESEARCH

A. Broad Data Groupings Available
Survey secondary data will usually have been analyzed for its original purpose and could be a
national periodic compulsory census, a regular e.g. annual survey or a one-off survey. You
should be aware that this may not be raw data, i.e. some filtering and data decisions will have
had to be made (e.g. coding of non-responses, grouping of data etc).

B. Contextual Background
Much business research will require an awareness of industry, national or sector context (for
example if you are conducting primary research in healthcare organization, it will be useful to set
the context for this by comparing national or international healthcare statistics, or you may be
reviewing your local area’s labour force want to see how this relates to your country’s or other
country’s labour force statistics).

C. Quick and Cheap Data

Secondary data is often cost-free and, especially if it can be gained over the web or from your
local/ university library, this should be quick to find. Since you are not in touch with the data
respondents, you do not overload them with subsequent research questionnaires and you, as the
researcher, cannot affect their responses (which may be the case in primary research).
D.longitudinal and cross-cultural data sources

Much National and international data is collected on periodic basis over time, so allows
longitudinal research studies-not normally possible through primary research in view of cost and
time constraints. Similarly cross cultural studies can use large survey data, when conducting this
primary research is particularly complex.

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5.4.3. The Disadvantages of Secondary Data in Business Research
i. Difference of purpose-Because the original researcher had a different purpose and
constraints from your current project, there may be inconsistencies or elements of the
research which are not compatible with your own. This could include currency,
terminology, samples, market changes, boundary changes, new discoveries or
technology since the research was carried out etc.
ii. Cost or access constraint-For secondary data, this problem arises mostly when
searching for corporate data, either directly from companies or via agencies for
market research data.
iii. Aggregation and presentation of data-Other researchers, working for other research
purpose, will often aggregate data in a way, which is not useful for your own
research; the presentation of the data will depend on the purpose of the original
research too.
iv. Data quality-From this study, you will be getting an idea of the attention to detail
and careful planning and thought, which goes into good quality research. This is one
thing which is difficult to check when using secondary data. Instead, the best we can
usually do is to ensure the credibility and professionalism of the source institution,
rather than the data. Be particularly careful when using secondary data from internet
sources, where organizations are not known to you, as anyone can put up false data
on the web without challenge. This also leads us to be particularly cautious about
references sources. A further step in assessing data quality will be to critically
evaluate the research methods used to collect the secondary data. it is often
reasonable to contact the data source to establish their methods, if you are considering
using their publicly available data. Government sources usually publish detailed
technical background alongside the data to enable you to interpret the data
appropriately.
v. Measurement validity- here we cannot expect secondary data to be some kind of
“truth”. The data will reflect the purposes, and pre-conceptions, of original
researchers.
vi. Data coverage-does the secondary data cover the exact population in which you are
interested? Are there any unwanted exclusions or inclusions, which may affect the
way you use this data?
vii. Data use-unless you are simply going to quote from the secondary data as
background information, you are likely to want to download or enter secondary data
to run statistical analysis of some kind. Some data will be in a format ready for this
and some may not.

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