Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
government/private/industrial/business/research/
voluntary organizations. These are generally
found in journals, booklets, books, monograms,
technical reports, etc. In India, each and every
state government and central government along
with their different establishments publishes dif-
ferent data on various aspects. Before utilizing
any secondary data, a researcher should be very
much careful about the originality or authenticity
of the data. In many of the cases, it is found that
the data on the same aspect in various organiza-
tions has been reported in different ways. So the
reliability, accuracy, and adoptability of the data
are the most important features. The sources
of secondary data may be under published or
unpublished. The published data are generally
available from various publications of the
central/provincial/local bodies, publications of
different international bodies or organizations,
technical/scientific/trade journal, and books/
monographs/magazines/newspaper published by
various government/nongovernment/business/
voluntary establishments. Reports and documents
prepared by different research scholars, univer-
sities, and establishments also serve as good
sources of secondary data. Among the unpub-
lished sources of information are diaries, letters,
biographies, autobiographies, and other relevant
unpublished documents.
Before using a secondary data, a researcher
must be careful whether to use or not to use
the available secondary data. This can be judged
on the basis of parameters like reliability, suit-
ability, and adequacy. Reliability refers to
the characteristic features of the sources of
information. A researcher should be clear about
the following essential points: (1)
be verified under the given situations. The
original objective, scope, and nature of data
collection must be scrutinized thoroughly.
7.3
Case Study
Case study refers to an in-depth study on various
qualitative and quantitative aspects of a particular
community, social unit, institution, etc. The main
emphasis of this type of study is to study the units
under considerations vertically rather than hori-
zontally. For intensive investigation, this type of
method of data collection is generally used. Min-
ute details of the selected unit are studied inten-
sively. Being exhaustive and intensive in nature, a
case study method enables a researcher to under-
stand fully the behavioral pattern of the concerned
unit. Understanding the relationship of a social
unit with the social factors and the forces involved
in the surrounding environment is the major aim
of case studies.
7.4
Criteria for Selections
of Appropriate Method
of Data Collection
So far, we have discussed the different methods of
collections of primary and secondary data. Among
the competitive methods of data collection, a
researcher must optimally select the method for
a specific research program. In doing so, a
researcher is required to follow the following
aspects of a research program: (1)
the nature,
scope, and objective of the study
,(2)
availability
who collected
of fund
,(3)
availability of time
,(4)
availability of
the data
, (3)
what were the methods of data collection
, (2)
where the data was collected
technical person
, and (5)
precision required
.
,
were the required methods followed properly
(4)
,
7.4.1 Nature, Scope, and Objective
of the Study
(5)
what
is the time of data collection
, and
(6)
were the data collected at the desired level
of accuracy?
A researcher must be aware about
the fact that whether the secondary data available
are suitable for the present research purpose.
That means the adoptability of the data must
The nature, scope, and objective of a study
decide the type of information required for the
purpose. Whether
a
research
program is
