Sources of Collecting Secondary Data

  • Government Publications: Government publishes different documents which consists of different varieties of information or data published by the Ministries, Central and State Governments in India as their routine activity. As the government publishes these Statistics, they are fairly reliable to the investigator. Examples of Government publications on Statistics are the Annual Survey of Industries, Statistical Abstract of India, etc.
  • Semi-Government Publications: Different Semi-Government bodies also publish data related to health, education, deaths and births. These kinds of data are also reliable and used by different informants. Some examples of semi-government bodies are Metropolitan Councils, Municipalities, etc.
  • Publications of Trade Associations: Various big trade associations collect and publish data from their research and statistical divisions of different trading activities and their aspects. For example, data published by Sugar Mills Association regarding different sugar mills in India.
  • Journals and Papers: Different newspapers and magazines provide a variety of statistical data in their writings, which are used by different investigators for their studies.
  • International Publications: Different international organizations like IMF, UNO, ILO, World Bank, etc., publish a variety of statistical information which are used as secondary data.
  • Publications of Research Institutions: Research institutions and universities also publish their research activities and their findings, which are used by different investigators as secondary data. For example, National Council of Applied Economics, the Indian Statistical Institute, etc.

2. Unpublished Sources

Another source of collecting secondary data is unpublished sources. The data in unpublished sources is collected by different government organizations and other organizations. These organizations usually collect data for their self-use and are not published anywhere. For example, research work done by professors, professionals, teachers and records maintained by business and private enterprises. 

Sources of Data Collection | Primary and Secondary Sources

Data Collection refers to the systematic process of gathering, measuring, and analyzing information from various sources to get a complete and accurate picture of an area of interest. Different sources of data collection include Primary Sources and Secondary Sources.

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Data is a collection of measurements and facts and a tool that helps an individual or a group of individuals reach a sound conclusion by providing them with some information. It helps the analyst understand, analyze, and interpret different socio-economic problems like unemployment, poverty, inflation, etc. Besides understanding the issues, it also helps in determining the reasons behind the problem to find possible solutions for them. Data not only includes theoretical information but some numerical facts too that can support the information. The collection of data is the first step of the statistical investigation and can be gathered through two different sources, namely, primary sources and secondary sources....

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Principle Difference between Primary and Secondary Data

Difference in Objective: The primary data collected by the investigator is always for the specific objective. Therefore, there is no need to make any adjustments for the purpose of the study. However, the secondary data collected by the investigator has already been collected by someone else for some other purpose. Therefore, the investigator has to make necessary adjustments to the data to suit the main objective of the present study. Difference in Originality: As the primary data is collected from the beginning from the source of origin, the data is original. However, the secondary data is already present somewhere and hence is not original. Difference in Cost of Collection: The cost of collecting primary data is higher than the cost of collecting secondary data in terms of time, effort and money. It is because the data is being collected for the first time from the source of origin. However, the cost of collecting secondary data is less as the data is gathered from published or unpublished sources....

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