Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
7
Collection of Data
Research is a process of knowing the unknown
things for the betterment of humanity. In the
process, explorations of the different sources of
information are carried out by a researcher to
expose the so long unexposed truth. Thus, infor-
mation is the prerequisite for achieving the
objectives of any research program. Information
may be qualitative or quantitative/numerical.
Data refers to different kinds of numerical infor-
mation. In any research program, a researcher is
always in search of a suitable mechanism/process
for the collection of information. Thus, data col-
lection plays a vital role in any research program.
Depending upon the research design, in particu-
lar, the objective of a research program and the
types of information required are fixed. The next
task is data collection. Depending upon the
sources of information, data may be (1) primary
or (2) secondary.
1. Primary Data
Primary data are those data which are col-
lected by a researcher afresh and for the first
time with specific research objectives in mind.
Thus, primary data are original in nature.
2. Secondary Data
Secondary data are those data which are col-
lected by someone, an agency, an organization,
etc., but are being used by some other users. So
secondary data are not collected by a user
himself/herself; rather the user is using the
information generated by some other users.
Weather data is the primary data to the depart-
ment of meteorology, as a part of their manda-
tory duties, but when this meteorological
information is used by any researcher as an
auxiliary or supportive information to facilitate
the findings of a research program, then this
data becomes secondary. Secondary informa-
tion might have undergone a thorough statisti-
cal process to some extent. But primary data
are raw in nature; that's why sometimes these
are known as raw data, which definitely require
processing. As a result, the methods of collec-
tion of these two types of data differ signifi-
cantly. In case of primary data, the method for
collection is required, whereas in secondary
data, it requires a mere compilation.
7.1
Methods of Collection
of Primary Data
As it has already been mentioned, the primary
data are original in nature and collected with
specific objectives in mind. Thus, the methods of
the collection of primary data play a vital role in a
research process. It requires an efficient planning
and execution. Depending upon the type of a
research design, primary data may be obtained
from experimental fields or through a survey
type of study. Experiment is an investigation to
explore the hidden fact under the objectives. On
the other hand, in a descriptive type of research,
the information is collected through a sample sur-
vey technique or a census survey method from the
existing area under study. Among the several
methods of collection of primary data, the follow-
ing methods are mostly used: (a)
observation
