Primary and Secondary Data

Interviews involves the direct questions or formal questions asked to the participants to get jobs, college and

Data is a group of information that are used for various purposes like analysis, evaluations and to arrive at certain results or conclusions. Data reporting is a process where data is extracted form a source or many sources and then converted into a format that can be used for a purpose.

Data is facts and numbers that hasn’t been modified or analysed for example times and numbers. When data is by itself it has no meaning to it however information by itself does have a meaning.

Questionnaires are “a series of questions asked to individuals to obtain statistically useful information about a given topic” (Bryant, L, 2014). There are different types of questionnaires that include face to face, phone, post and online.

INTERVIEWS: Interviews are usually taken for people when they are looking for jobs or looking places in college and universities. There are many advantages of interviews, one being that they will be able to get good information and some data, also they will develop their communication skills too when talking to the other individual. However there are also many weaknesses such as, time consuming, the person being interviewed could be lying and also the questions may not be clear. Another weakness is that there could be a language barrier between the two

Data is defined as useful raw material which is intended to be useful for both the originator and for the intended receiver. Data consists largely of facts and figures ideal for communicating the intended meaning. This data can be interpreted and can be categorised as follows;

A questionnaire is research which involves a number of different questions to gather information from the people who are filling it in. Questionnaires are designed as a way to find out what people are thinking. An advantage of questionnaires is that it is very practical because it is quick to collect information from the people filling out the questionnaire. Another advantage of questionnaires is that the same questions is asked to everyone filling the questionnaire out so easy to sum up. The final advantage to questionnaires is that large information can be collected. There are also some disadvantages to questionnaires which is that there is no way of telling how much though someone who is filling the questionnaire out has put it. Another disadvantage is that the person filling it out may forget what has happened to fill it out so it won’t be reliable. The final disadvantage to questionnaires is that there is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being.

Data is the form of input, which can be produced into information. For example, 5000 could be the value of a piece of data that a business has. By adding context to this, for example if an organisation sold 1000 sandwiches in a week; this becomes information, which will influence important decisions

Interviews can provide much more information and detail as the interviewer can spend far longer with the person and ask them questions based on their responses.

Data comprises of factual information. Data are the facts from which information is derived. Data is not necessarily informative on its own but needs to be structured, interpreted, analysed and contextualised. Once data undergoes this process, it transforms in to information. Information should be accessible and understood by the reader without needing to be interpreted or manipulated in any way.

“Problems researched with the use of appropriate methods greatly enhance the value of the research.” (Sekaran, 2003) Data can be collected through interviews, questionnaires, observations, and through other techniques, like projective tests. In even more detail, interviews can be conducted in a variety of different ways such as over the phone, through the computer, interviews through the electronic media, and face-to-face. Questionnaires can be conducted personally or administered electronically. “Interviewing, administering questionnaires, and observing people and phenomena are the three main data collection methods in survey research.” (Sekaran, 2003) As stated before, data can be collected in many different ways; however the value of the research is only greatly enhanced when personal opinions and bias is left out of the collection of data.

In this composition the multiple-source secondary data can be found in the form of books, government publications and articles

“Data is plural of datum, which is the dates, numbers, ages, symbols, letters, and words that represent basic facts and observations about people, processes, measurements, and conditions.” To be useful, data must be accurate.

Primary and secondary sources are ways in which data can be retrieved. As Serakan (2006) stated, “Primary data refer to information obtained by the researcher on the variables of interest for the specific purpose of the study”. Various evidence suggesting to what methods of primary research can be conducted and which are most effective for the previously mentioned problem description are stated in this chapter.

In survey method research, participants answer questions administered through interviews or questionnaires. After participants answer the questions, researchers describe the responses given. In order for the survey to be both reliable and valid it is important that the questions are constructed properly. Questions should be written so they are clear and easy to comprehend.