Types of Data Flashcards
1) Primary data
Primary data is original data collected firsthand from a source by researchers, specifically for the purpose of the study.
Examples of primary data
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
- Observations
- Experiments
Advantages of primary data
- Relevance - the data is gathered for the purpose of the investigation.
- Currency - the data gathered is likely to be current and reflecting present conditions.
- Greater accuracy - less risk of misinterpretation compared to secondary data.
Disadvantages of primary data
- Costly - research team has to conduct planning and preparation as well as obtain resources.
- Time-consuming - designing studies, gathering data, and analysing results take a lot of time.
- Researcher bias - data collection and interpretation may be influenced by expectations.
2) Secondary data
Secondary data is data collected by someone else for a different purpose and that already exists before the researcher starts an investigation.
Examples of secondary data
- Journal articles
- Books
- Websites
- Government statistics (i.e. census)
Advantages of secondary data
1) Secondary data are cheaper because they already exist.
2) Quick; accessed in a matter of minutes.
3) Easily accessed, minimal effort.
Disadvantages of secondary data
1) They may not match exactly the researcher’s needs or be incomplete; likely to have been gathered for some other purpose.
2) It may be outdated; might have been gathered some time ago. Cultures, for example, change over time, as do people.
3) Meta-analysis
An example of secondary data; a process in which a large number of studies, which have involved the same research question and methods of research, are combined and reviewed together.
Advantage of meta-analysis
As the data comes from a much larger group of participants, the conclusions may be regarded with more confidence.
Disadvantage of meta-analysis
Researcher will only have access to published research in addition, may only select the studies with positive results. As a result, data may be biased.
4) Quantitative data
Quantitative research gathers data in numerical form which can be put into categories, or in rank order, or measured in units of measurement.
Data from:
- Experiments
- (Closed questions) questionnaires
- (Closed questions) interviews
- (Structured) observations
Advantages of quantitative data
1) Simple to analyse.
2) Comparisons easily drawn.
3) More objective, less open to bias.
4) Easily converted to graphs, tables, etc.
Disadvantages of quantitative data
1) Data is rather superficial and ignores the social context.
2) Limits what a participant may wish to express.
3) Narrower in scope.
4) Artificial; may fail to represent ‘real life’.
5) Qualitative data
Qualitative research gathers information that is in narrative form not in numerical form, expressed in words rather than numbers or statistics.
For example, transcripts of:
- Open-ended questionnaires
- Unstructured interviews
- Unstructured observations
- Diary accounts
Advantages of qualitative data
1) Useful for in-depth studies of individuals or groups.
2) Offers richness of detail.
3) It is broader in scope.
4) More meaningful, emphasizing meanings of experiences, descriptions, etc.
4) Offers greater insight.
Disadvantages of qualitative data
1) Harder to analyse, expert knowledge of an area is necessary to try to interpret qualitative data.
2) Difficult to summarise so patterns and comparisons are hard to identify.
3) Subject to researcher bias.
4) Time-consuming to collect and analyse.
