Data Collection and

Analysis
Types of Data
Primary data: This is data collected originally for
the first time. Being fresh from the field of
investigation, it is very often termed as raw data.

Secondary data: It is that which is in actual

existence in accessible records, being already
collected and treated statistically by those
maintaining the records.
Methods of Collecting Primary Data
• Primary data can be collected by any of
the following methods:
– Direct personal interview
•More accurate and reliable
•Permits explanation of questions
•Response rate is high
•Evaluation of the reliability of respondents can be
done
 Method is time consuming and result can be
adversely effective by personal biases
• Telephone survey:
– Less time consuming in comparison of previous method
– It can be applied on extensive field of enquiry
 Method excluded when the respondent do not have telephone and
also personal bias is involved
• Indirect personal interview:
– In this method data is collected from the third person who is directly or
indirectly concerned with the enquiry
 This method highly depends upon the knowledge, character of the
respondent as well as ability of interviewer
• Information received through local agent:
– In this method data collection is done by local agents commonly known
as correspondents. These agents collect information and transmit to the
investigator.
 This method is useful if the purpose of investigation is to obtain rough
and approximate estimates
• Mailed questionnaire method:
– In this method questionnaires are sent by post to the
 respondent containing a number of questions pertaining the field
of enquiry
– The method is very cost effective and personal bias of the investigator
is removed
 This method depend upon the respondents i.e whether the
respondents are educated or not, respondents are interested in
giving the information or not and so on
• Questionnaire sent through enumerators:
– Enumerators are agents who go to the respondents with the
questionnaire and ask questions to them
– This is generally used by large public enterprises, research institutions
etc
– More reliable
– Technique is useful even if respondent is illiterate
– Accuracy of the information can be effectively check by the respondent
 The success of the method depends upon the efficiency of the
enumerators
 Secondary Data
• The sources of secondary data are broadly classified into two groups :
– Published Source
• There are number of national/international agencies which
collect and publish data related to business, production,
consumption etc
• eg: Publication of Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(I.C.A.R), Newspaper and periodicals like Economic Times,
Statesman Year Book
• Unpublished Sources:
– Many private firms also maintain records for their own organization
and may not like to release their data.
– Research scholar and researcher in the University and Research
Institute may also give statistical data.
 Questionnaire Method
Questionnaire is described as “a document that contains a set of questions ,
the answers of which are to be provided personally by the respondents”.
Questionnaire is the structured set of questions usually sent by mail , though
sometimes it is delivered by hand also.
Designing a Questionnaire

•Covering letter.
•Number of questions should be as small as possible.
•Questions should be logically arranged.
•Questions of sensitive nature should be avoided.
•Difficult words should be avoided as far as possible.
• One should avoid combining two questions into one.
•Questions lacking specificity should be avoided.
•Answer to questions should not require calculations.
•Instructions to the informants.
•Questions should be capable of objective answers.
 Classification
• Classification is the process of arranging
data into sequences and groups according
to their common characteristics, or
separating them into different but related
parts.
 Presentation of data
• Bar diagram
• Pie Chart
• Histogram
• Frequency polygon
• Ogive
1.Bar Diagram:
It comprises a series of bars of equal width. The bars stand on a common
base line, the heights of the bars being proportional to the frequency of the
Interval.

The following data gives the distribution of 215 MBA students at a mgmt
institute acc to edu. Qual.

Educational Qualification No. of Students

B.Tech 55
B.Com 70
B.Sc 25
B.A 45
C.A 20
2. Subdivided Bar Chart:

In the below example the information about the cities

from where the students have graduated is also given.
Educational
Qualification Metro Large Medium

B.tech 15 25 15

B.com 35 20 15

B.Sc 10 10 5

B.A 15 10 20

C.A 10 5 5
3. Multiple Bar Chart:
Two or more bars are placed together for each entity to give
comparative assessment.

We consider the following data giving sales of top market

brands among pain killers in India.
Pain Killer 2005 2006
Voveran 16.5 23.2
Calpol 13.2 18.2
Nise 15.2 18.6
Combiflam 9.4 14.1
Dolonex 6.8 10.3
Sumo 5.1 7.4
Volini 6.9 9.6
Moov 3.8 4.9
Nimulid 3.5 4.9
PIE Chart:
It is the most popular chart for presenting the whole into
parts. It is a circular chart divided into sectors representing
relative magnitude of various components.
A pie chart is obtained by dividing a circle into sectors such
that these sectors have center angles proportional to different
components given in the data. The total angle at the center is
360 degree.
The following data gives the sources of funds in govt. of India’s budget for the year
2007-2008.

Sources of funds Percentage of Size of segment

total (degree)
Excise 17 61.2
Customs 12 43.2
Corporate Tax 21 75.6
Income tax 13 46.8
Service tax 7 25.2
Others 30 108