Primary and secondary data,

Coding of data
By : Mohit Kumar
MBA (Marketing Management)
Submitted to :
Data vs Statistics
 While the terms ‘data’ and ‘statistics’ are often
used interchangeably, in scholarly research there
is an important distinction between them. 
 Data are individual pieces of factual information
recorded and used for the purpose of analysis. It is
the raw information from which statistics are
created.
 Statistics are the results of data analysis - its
interpretation and presentation
 In other words some computation has taken place
that provides some understanding of what the data
means.
 Statistics are often, though they don’t have to be,
presented in the form of a table, chart, or graph. 
Types of data
 Primary Data
 Primary data means the raw data (data without
fabrication or not tailored data) which has just
been collected from the source and has not gone
any kind of statistical treatment like sorting and
tabulation. The term primary data may
sometimes be used to refer to first hand
information.
 Sources of Primary Data
1. Personal Investigation
The researcher conducts the experiment or survey
himself/herself and collected data from it. The
collected data is generally accurate and reliable.
This method of collecting primary data is
feasible only in case of small scale laboratory,
field experiments or pilot surveys and is not
practicable for large scale experiments and
surveys because it take too much time.
 Sources (comtinued)
2. Through Investigators
The trained (experienced) investigators are employed
to collect the required data. In case of surveys, they
contact the individuals and fill in the questionnaires
after asking the required information, where
a questionnaire is an inquiry form having a number
of questions designed to obtain information from the
respondents. This method of collecting data is usually
employed by most of the organizations and its gives
reasonably accurate information but it is very costly
and may be time taking too.
3. Through Questionnaire
The required information (data) is obtained by
sending a questionnaire (printed or soft form) to the
selected individuals (respondents) (by mail) who fill
in the questionnaire and return it to the investigator.
This method is relatively cheap as compared to
“through investigator” method but non-response rate
is very high as most of the respondents don’t bother to
fill in the questionnaire and send it back to
investigator.
Cont’d
4. Through Local Sources
The local representatives or agents are asked to
send requisite information who provide the
information based upon their own experience. This
method is quick but it gives rough estimates only.
5. Through Telephone
The information may be obtained by contacting the
individuals on telephone. Its a Quick and provide
accurate required information.
6. Through Internet
With the introduction of information technology, the
people may be contacted through internet and the
individuals may be asked to provide the pertinent
information. Google survey is widely used as online
method for data collection now a day. There are many
paid online survey services too.
 It is important to go through the primary
data and locate any inconsistent observations
before it is given a statistical treatment.
Secondary Data
 Data which has already been collected by
someone, may be sorted, tabulated and has
undergone a statistical treatment. It is fabricated
or tailored data.
 Sources of Secondary Data
1. Government Organizations
Federal and Provincial Bureau of Statistics, Crop
Reporting Service-Agriculture Department, Census
and Registration Organization etc
2. Semi-Government Organization
Municipal committees, District Councils,
Commercial and Financial Institutions like banks etc.
3. Teaching and Research Organizations
4. Research Journals and Newspaper
5. Internet
Comparison
Coding of data

 Coding of data refers to the process of transforming collected information or observations to a set of
meaningful, cohesive categories. It is a process of summarizing and re-presenting data in order to provide a
systematic account of the recorded or observed phenomenon.
Examples of coding
Example 1
  If you look at the example of Gender, assigning
Male a value of “0” and Female a value of “1” is a
form of coding that allows you to perform
statistical analysis.
Example 2
 If asking someone what their first emotion is after
a sudden loss or grief, you may have to translate
disparate responses like, “I was overwhelmed”, “I
didn’t know what to do”, and “I felt numb” into
simple categories 
Qualitative Data Coding

 Coding is an essential part of qualitative data analysis that ultimately determines the themes that will be
generated.
 The logic you use to code the data must be something that carries over once you have finished the coding
and begin to categorize the data, or search for the relationships between the codes
 Coding is the process of assigning a label to phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that hold important meaning.
This label can be descriptive or summative; it can be lengthy or just a few words.
What are the different types of coding?
Deductive coding 101
 With deductive coding, we make use of pre-
established codes, which are developed before you
interact with the present data.
 This usually involves drawing up a set of codes
based on a research question or previous
research.
 You could also use a code set from the codebook
of a previous study.
Inductive coding 101
o This type of coding involves jumping right into
the data and then developing the codes based on
what you find within the data. 
o  Simply put, with inductive coding, you “go with
the flow” of the data
o This type of coding is usually used when
researchers want to investigate new ideas or
concepts, or when they want to create new
theories. .
Continued

3. A little bit of both… hybrid coding approaches

 If you’ve got a set of codes you’ve derived from a research topic, literature review or a previous study (i.e. a
deductive approach), but you still don’t have a rich enough set to capture the depth of your qualitative data,
you can combine deductive and inductive methods – this is called a hybrid coding approach. 
 To adopt a hybrid approach, you’ll begin your analysis with a set of a priori codes (deductive) and then add
new codes (inductive) as you work your way through the data.
How to code qualitative data

 Both inductive and deductive methods of coding

typically occur in two stages: initial
coding and line by line coding.   in the second stage (line by line coding), you’ll
delve deeper into the data and (re)organise it
 In the initial coding stage, the objective is to get a according to (potentially new) codes. 
general overview of the data by reading through
and understanding it.
 If you’re using an inductive approach, this is also
where you’ll develop an initial set of codes.
Tips & tricks for quality coding

 Avoid using synonyms for codes that are similar,

 Before you begin coding, plan out the steps you will
if not the same. This will allow you to have a more
take and the coding approach and technique(s) you
uniform and accurate coded dataset and will also
will follow to avoid inconsistencies. 
help you to not get overwhelmed by your data.
 When adopting deductive coding, it’s useful to use a
 While coding, make sure that you remind yourself
codebook from the start of the coding process. This
will keep your work organised and will ensure that of your aims and coding method. This will help
you don’t forget any of your codes.  you to avoid directional drift, which happens
when coding is not kept consistent. 
 Whether you’re adopting an inductive or deductive
approach, keep track of the meanings of your codes  If you are working in a team, make sure that
and remember to revisit these as you go along. everyone has been trained and understands how
codes need to be assigned.