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Data Collection Methods: Pros and Cons of Primary and Secondary Data

This document discusses the pros and cons of primary and secondary data collection methods. Secondary data refers to data that has already been collected by others, while primary data involves collecting new data. Secondary data is more convenient as it saves time and resources, and data from government agencies tends to be accurate. However, secondary data may be outdated, incomplete, or collected inconsistently over time. Primary data allows customizing data to specific research needs, but requires more time and money for design, sampling, data collection and analysis. Researchers should determine what data is required to answer their research question and then decide whether existing secondary data can be used or if primary data collection is necessary.

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disha
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102 views

Data Collection Methods: Pros and Cons of Primary and Secondary Data

This document discusses the pros and cons of primary and secondary data collection methods. Secondary data refers to data that has already been collected by others, while primary data involves collecting new data. Secondary data is more convenient as it saves time and resources, and data from government agencies tends to be accurate. However, secondary data may be outdated, incomplete, or collected inconsistently over time. Primary data allows customizing data to specific research needs, but requires more time and money for design, sampling, data collection and analysis. Researchers should determine what data is required to answer their research question and then decide whether existing secondary data can be used or if primary data collection is necessary.

Uploaded by

disha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Data Collection

Methods
Pros and Cons of Primary and Secondary
Data

Where do data come from?

Where do data come from?


Take a step back if were starting from
scratch, how do we collect / find data?
Secondary data
Primary data

Secondary Data
Secondary data data someone else has
collected
This is what you were looking for in your
assignment.

Secondary Data
Examples of Sources
Climatic data from meteorological dept.
Public health departments about health
parameters
Vital Statistics birth, death certificates
Hospital, clinic, school records
Private and semi public ( NGO) databases
Local and state governments
Surveillance data from state government
programs
Central Govt statistics - Census, NSS, etc.

Secondary Data
Limitations
What did you find on the frustrating side
as you looked for data on the states and
other organisations websites?

Secondary Data
Limitations
When was it collected? For how long?
May be out of date for what you want to
analyze.
May not have been collected long enough for
detecting trends.
E.g. Have the new vehicle ownership
statistics (region-wise) taken care of in
revising parking requirements in local byelaws?

Secondary Data
Limitations
Is the data set complete?
There may be missing information on some
observations
Unless such missing information is caught
and corrected for, analysis will be biased.

Secondary Data
Limitations
Are there confounding problems?
Sample selection bias?
Source choice bias?
In time series, did some observations drop
out over time?

Secondary Data
Limitations
Are the data consistent/reliable?
Did variables drop out over time?
Did variables change in definition over time?
E.g. Data on education

Secondary Data
Limitations
Is the information exactly what you
need?
In some cases, may have to use proxy
variables variables that may approximate
something you really wanted to measure.
Are they reliable? Is there correlation to what
you actually want to measure?
E.g. gauging student interest in Architecture
by their ranking on NATA subject to debate

Secondary Data
Advantages
No need to reinvent the wheel.
If someone has already found the data, take
advantage of it.

Secondary Data
Advantages
It will save you time/resources.
Even if you have to pay for access, often it is
cheaper in terms of money than collecting
your own data.
Primary data collection is very time
consuming

Secondary Data
Advantages
It may be very accurate.
When especially a government agency has
collected the data, incredible amounts of
time and money went into it. Its probably
highly accurate!

Secondary Data
Advantages
It has great exploratory value
Exploring research questions and formulating
hypothesis to test.

Primary Data
Primary data data you collect

Primary Data - Examples


Surveys
Focus groups
Questionnaires
Personal interviews
Experiments and observational study

Primary Data - Limitations


Do you have the time and money for:
Designing your collection instrument?
Selecting your population or sample?
Pretesting/piloting the instrument to work out
sources of bias?
Administration of the instrument?
Entry/collation of data?

Primary Data - Limitations


Uniqueness
May not be able to compare to other
populations

Primary Data - Limitations


Researcher error
Sample bias
Other confounding factors

Data collection choice


What you must ask yourself:
Will the data answer my research question?

Data collection choice


To answer that
You much first decide what your research
question is
Then you need to decide what data/variables
are needed to scientifically answer the
question

Data collection choice


If that data exist in secondary form, then
use them to the extent you can, keeping
in mind limitations.
But if it does not, and you are able to
spend time and resources on primary
collection, then it is the method of
choice.

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