Difference between Primary and Secondary Data?

Primary data can be received first hand from things like interviews where a person collecting the data sits face to face with the respondent, while secondary data can be obtained from things like a journal and newspaper amongst others. The difference between primary and secondary data is that Primary data is collected firsthand by a researcher through experiments, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and taking measurements, while the secondary data is readily available and is available to the public through publications, journals and newspapers.
Primary data are those which are collected for a specific purpose directly from the field of enquiry, and thus original in nature. Primary data provides a statistician with detailed information. Such data are published by the authorities themselves as Government, Civil bodies, Trade Associations etc. Individuals such as Economists and institutions like Banks and other allied bodies can collect primary data for a specific purpose, by engaging trained investigators.

Secondary data are such numerical information which has been already collected by some agency for a specific purpose and are subsequently compiled from that source for application in a different connection.

Methods of Collecting Primary Data: Primary data are collected by the following methods:

Personal Investigation: The researcher conducts the survey him/herself and collects data from it. The data collected in this way is usually accurate and reliable. This method of collecting data is only applicable in case of small research projects. Through Investigation: Trained investigators are employed to collect the data. These investigators contact the individuals and fill in uestionnaire after as!ing the re uired information. "ost of the organi#ing implied this method. Collection through Questionnaire: The researchers get the data from local representation or agents that are based upon their own e$perience. This method is uic! but gives only rough estimate.

Through Telephone: The researchers get information through telephone this method is uic! and give accurate information.

Applications of Statistics in Business And Management

Today's good decisions are driven by data. In all aspects of our lives and importantly in the business conte!t an ama"ing diversity of data is available for inspection and analytical insight. Business managers and professionals are increasingly required to #ustify decisions on the basis of data. They need statistical model$based decision support systems. Statistical s%ills enable them to intelligently collect analy"e and interpret data relevant to their decision$ma%ing. Statistical concepts and statistical thin%ing enable them to&

Solve problems in a diversity of conte!ts. Add substance to decisions. 'educe guesswor%.

In competitive environment business managers must design quality into products and into the processes of ma%ing the products. They must facilitate a process of never$ending improvement at all stages of manufacturing and service. This is a strategy that employs statistical methods particularly statistically designed e!periments and produces processes that provide high yield and products that seldom fail. Moreover it facilitates development of robust products that are insensitive to changes in the environment and internal component variation. (arefully planned statistical studies remove hindrances to high quality and productivity at every stage of production. This saves time and money. It is well recogni"ed that quality must be engineered into products as early as possible in the design process. )ne must %now how to use carefully planned cost$effective statistical

e!periments to improve optimi"e and ma%e robust products and processes. Statistical models are currently used in various fields of business and science. *owever the terminology differs from field to field. +or e!ample the fitting of models to data called calibration history matching and data assimilation are all synonymous with parameter estimation. There are five ma#or reasons to study statistics& The first reason is to be able to effectively conduct research. ,ithout the use of statistics it would be very difficult to ma%e decisions based on the data collected from a research pro#ect. +or e!ample in the study cited in (hapter )ne is the difference in recorded absenteeism between psychiatric and obstetrics nurses large enough to conclude that there is meaningful difference in absenteeism between the two units- There are two possibilities& The first possibility is that the difference between the two groups is a result of chance factors. In reality the two #obs have appro!imately the same amount of absenteeism. The second possibility is that there is a real difference between the two units with the psychiatric unit being more nurses missing wor%. ,ithout statistics we have no way of ma%ing an educated decision between the two possibilities. Statistics however provides us with a tool to ma%e an educated decision. ,e will be able to decide which of the two possibilities is more li%ely to be true. ,e will base this decision on our %nowledge of probability and inferential statistics. A second point about research should be made. It is e!tremely important for a researcher to %now what statistics they want to use before they collect their data. )therwise data might be collected that is uninterpretable. .nfortunately when this happens it results in a loss of data time and money. /ow many a student may by saying to themselves& 0But I never plan on doing any research.0 ,hile you may never plan to be involved in research it may find its way into your life. (ertainly it you decide to continue your education and wor% on a masters or doctoral degree involvement in research will result from that decision. Secondly more and more wor% places are conducting internal research or are becoming part of broader research studies. Thus you may find yourself assigned to one of these studies. +inally many classes on the undergraduate level may require you to conduct research 1for e!ample a research methods or e!perimental psychology

course2. In each of these instances a %nowledge of measurements and statistics will be invaluable. The second reason to study statistics is to be able to read #ournals. Most technical #ournals you will read contain some form of statistics. .sually you will find them in something called the results section. ,ithout an understanding of statistics the information contained in this section will be meaningless. An understanding of basic statistics will provide you with the fundamental s%ills necessary to read and evaluate most results sections. The ability to e!tract meaning from #ournal articles and the ability to critically evaluate research from a statistical perspective are fundamental s%ills that will enhance your %nowledge and understanding in related coursewor%. The third reason is to further develop critical and analytic thin%ing s%ills. Most students completing high school and introductory undergraduate coursewor% have at their disposal a variety of critical thin%ing and analytic s%ills. The study of statistics will serve to enhance and further develop these s%ills. To do well in statistics one must develop and use formal logical thin%ing abilities that are both high level and creative. The fourth reason to study statistics is to be an informed consumer. 3i%e any other tool statistics can be used or misused. 4es it is true that some individuals do actively lie and mislead with statistics. More often however well meaning individuals unintentionally report erroneous statistical conclusions. If you %now some of the basic statistical concepts you will be in a better position to evaluate the information you have been given. The fifth reason to have a wor%ing %nowledge of statistics is to %now when you need to hire a statistician. Most of us %now enough about our cars to %now when to ta%e it into the shop. .sually we don't attempt the repair ourselves because we don't want to cause any irreparable damage. Also we try to %now enough to be able to carry on an intelligible conversation with the mechanic 1or we ta%e someone with us who can2 to insure that we don5t get a whole new engine 1big buc%s2 when all we need is a new fuel filter 1a few buc%s2. ,e should be the same way about hiring a statistician. (onducting research is time consuming and e!pensive. If you are in over your statistical head it does not ma%e sense to ris% an entire pro#ect by attempting to compute the data analyses yourself. It is very east to compute incomplete or inappropriate statistical analysis of one5s data. As with the mechanic discussed above it is also important to have enough statistical

savvy to be able to discuss your pro#ect and the data analyses you want computed with the statistician you hire. In other words you want to be able to ma%e sure that your statistician is on the right trac%.

%oefficient of &ariation is the percentage variation in mean' standard deviation being considered as the total variation in the mean. (f we wish to compare the variability of two or more series' we can use the coefficient of variation. The series of data for which the coefficient of variation is large indicates that the group is more variable and it is less stable or less uniform. Formula for Coefficient of Variance %oefficient of &ariation %& ) Standard Deviation / "ean