Primary and Secondary Sources of Data
The success of research or research depends on the fact that the researcher is successful in collecting how much actual dependable information and facts about his study-subject. This success depends on the reliability of the sources of information being obtained. Therefore, the importance of the source of information or facts cannot be undermined in the field of social research. Also, these information or facts are not of the same type, there are many differences in them too. It is necessary for a successful researcher to have clear knowledge about these types also. In the absence of a clear knowledge of what kind of information he can get from which source, the researcher will only wander here and there and a lot of his time and labor will be wasted. Therefore, knowledge about the types and sources of information or facts is essential.
Types of Data or Information
Two types of information or facts are needed in social research or research –
(1) Primary facts or information and (2) Secondary facts or information. •
Primary facts or information Primary facts are those basic information or data that a researcher goes to the actual study site (field) and interviews the living people related to the subject or problem or schedule and questionnaire. collects with the help or obtains by direct inspection. Primary facts are primary in the sense that they are collected or inspected by the researcher for the first time with the help of his study equipment.
P . v . According to Young, “Primary data material refers to the information and data which have been collected for the first time and whose collection is the responsibility of the researcher or the surveyor.” Does it himself or gets it done by assistants under his supervision. Such material or facts are obtained on the basis of field work. In this way there are two main sources for collecting primary facts.
Under the first source, those people come who have knowledge about the subject or problem of study or have been in close contact with it for a long time. Another source of primary facts is direct observation. Through such inspections, many important facts related to the life of a community or group can be collected if the researcher is completely impartial during the inspection. Direct observation is an excellent source to collect the facts related to the behavior of the person. Through participatory inspection, very internal and secret matters related to community life can also be known.
Secondary Data or Information
Secondary facts are the information and data that the researcher receives from published and unpublished documents, reports, statistics, manuscripts, papers, diaries, tapes, video cassettes or internet etc. The remarkable feature of secondary facts is that these facts, information or data themselves, the researcher collects to use in his work. P . v . According to Young, “Secondary facts are those which are used once obtained from original sources and whose broadcasting officer is different from the person who first controlled the collection of facts”.
It is clear that secondary facts are those which have not been collected by the researcher himself or his assistants, but who have used the material collected by any person or institution for some other study. The use of this material or facts is not related to its regional compilation and in other words, when a researcher, other researcher, institution, organization or any government or non-government agency uses the material or facts collected for his own study. So for him that material would be secondary material or facts.
Here it would be appropriate to explain it with an example. If a researcher selects some facts from the material published in the form of 2001 census report and uses them for his study, then such facts will be called secondary facts for him. In Kirs study, secondary facts are used when the nature of the subject is such that it is not necessary to collect all the facts afresh and the facts collected by others related to that subject are already available. The researcher also has to use secondary material at times due to his limited resources.
To use the secondary material, it is necessary for the researcher to be efficient and intelligent. This material is very diverse. Therefore, the researcher has to collect the necessary facts from it. There are also two major sources of secondary facts – first personal documents such as autobiography, diary, letters etc. and secondly public documents such as records, books, census reports, reports of specific committees, newspapers and magazines. Published in Information , Newsreel , Computer c . D . or internet website etc.
According to Dberg, inscriptions, stupas, skeletons obtained from various excavations, material objects, etc., facts or information received from historical sources also come under secondary facts.
Distinction between Primary and Secondary Data
Based on the above discussion, the primary and secondary facts
The difference can be explained as
(1) In fact, primary and secondary facts are relative. In a study, which facts will be primary and which facts will be secondary, the facts which are primary for a researcher related to the goal of research. They will be called secondary when used in the study of other researchers.
(2) Primary facts are considered more original than secondary facts. Because they are compiled by the researcher himself according to the need of the study. The relative lack of this originality is found in the secondary facts.
(3) Primary facts are more reliable than secondary facts. Because they are collected by the researcher or investigator in an objective manner himself or under his guidance by any scientific method for testing his hypotheses or keeping in mind the goals of the study-subject. These facts are such that can be verified by other scientists. Here we should not think that secondary facts are of inferior quality as compared to primary facts. That is to say only that the primary facts are comparatively more reliable and authentic.
(4) Primary facts are new because they are collected for the first time on the basis of field work. Whereas secondary facts are old due to being collected under the earlier investigations. This oldness of theirs sometimes makes it difficult to analyze the present.
(5) Primary facts are used for the first time i.e. the facts collected for the first time are used for the first time. When the same facts are used for a second time, they are known as secondary facts.
(6) Primary data are collected under the supervision of the researcher. Whereas secondary facts are collected and used by others.
(7) The researcher himself collects the primary facts according to his study-problem. Therefore, he is able to easily decide which facts are useful for his study, and which are not useful, which should be included in the study and which should be removed. The collectors of secondary facts are sometimes deprived of the compilation of those important facts. Considering it to be meaningless, the compiler of the primary facts did not include them in the study. These differences can be briefly understood as follows.
(1) Originality – considered more original (1) Considered less original. (2) Reliability – more reliable (2) Less reliable in comparison. There are. (3) Form – the primary facts are new (3) – are old because of being compiled. (4) The experiment is done for the first time. (4) is used repeatedly. (5) Compilation – is the researcher’s own direction (5) collected or used by others. _ _ are gone. (6) Requirement – The researcher himself (6) The researcher has to depend entirely on the secondary facts of the study as per the requirement of the facts. compiles.
After a detailed discussion of the types, forms and sources of data, now we will discuss in detail the main techniques of collecting data, these main techniques are as follows.
1. Questionnaire,
2 . Schedule,
3. Interview,
4. Observation.