Collection of Data

MS 206
Data Classification
 Primary Data
 Information that is obtained directly from first-

hand sources by means of surveys, observation

or experimentation
 Collected specifically for the purpose of the

investigation at hand
 Secondary Data
 Statistics not gathered for the immediate study

at hand but for some other purpose

 Information compiled for some purpose other

than the current investigation

 Tertiary Data
 Interpretation of a secondary source
Primary Data
 Original works of research
 YOUR original research
 Raw data without interpretation
 More authentic
 Information provided has not been filtered or
interpreted by a second party
Advantages and Disadvantages
 Advantages
 Answers a specific research question
 Data are likely to be current
 Secrecy can be maintained
 Disadvantages
 Expensive
 Quality declines if interview/survey is lengthy
 Difficulty in recruiting participants for research
Secondary Data
 Data gathered and recorded by someone else prior
to and for a purpose other than the current project
 May be published or unpublished
 Sources:
 Statistics
 Mass media
 Published work
 Others
 Is often:
 Historical
 Already assembled
 Needs no access to subjects
 Evaluating Secondary Data

Does the data help to

answer questions
set out in the
problem definition?
Applicability
to project
objectives Does the data apply to
the time period of
interest?

Does the data apply to

the population of
interest?
 Evaluating Secondary Data (continued)

Do the other terms

and variable
classifications
Applicability presented apply?
to project
objectives
Are the units of
measurement
comparable?

Is it possible to go to the
Accuracy original source of data?
of the data
 Is the cost of data
acquisition worth it?

Accuracy Is there a possibility

of the data of bias?

Can the accuracy of

data collection be
verified?
Objectives for Secondary Data
Studies
 Fact Finding
 Identifying consumption patterns
 Tracking trends
 Identify consumer behavior
 Trend analysis
 Environmental scanning
 Model Building
 Estimating market potential
 Forecasting sales
 Selecting target markets
 Data Based Marketing
 Practice of maintaining a customer data base
 Names and addresses
 Past purchases
 Responses to past efforts
Internal Data
 Created, recorded or generated by the researcher’s
organization
 Accounting information
 Sales information
 Customer complaints
 HR information
External Data
 Created, recorded, or generated by an entity other
than the researcher’s organization
 Government
 Trade associations
 Newspapers and journals
 Libraries
 Internet
 Vendors
 Producers
 Books and periodicals
 Government sources
 Media sources
 Commercial sources
Advantages and Disadvantages
 Advantages
 Inexpensive
 Obtained rapidly
 Information is not otherwise accessible
 Disadvantages
 Uncertain accuracy
 Data not consistent with needs
 Inappropriate units of measurement
 Time period inappropriate (dated)