The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources of Data

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The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources of Data

Primary data is data, which is collected by the researcher themselves.

This kind of data is new, original research information.

Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to

what actually happened and is hands on. A primary source reflects the

individual viewpoint of a participant or observer. Primary sources are

first-hand information from a person who witnessed or participated in

an event. Examples of primary data are:

* Interviews

* Questionnaires

*Observations

Secondary research is using information that has already been produced

by other people. A secondary source is used by a person usually not

present at the event and relying on primary source documents for

information. Secondary sources usually analyse and interpret. Finding

out about research that already exits will help form new research.

Examples of secondary data:

Internet

Books/ Magazines

Newspapers

Office statistics

The government statistics service

The office of national statistics

Centre for applied social surveys

The distinctions between primary and secondary sources can be

ambiguous. An individual document may be a primary source in one

context and a secondary source in another. Time is a defining element.

For example, a recent newspaper article is not usually a primary

source; but a newspaper article from the 1860's may be a primary

source for civil war research.

Explain the concept of validity

Validity is how truthful something is and whether a piece of research

has the ability to test or research what it set out to measure. The

word validity mainly refers to the data collection and whether it is

true. If a questionnaire, which was aimed at young girls was carried

out the validity would look at the results and think how truthful they

were. The questionnaire might not have been answered by who it was

aimed at so would not be truthful. So maybe the researcher would need

to chose a method that you know who is answering it (e.

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