Primary data
Primary data is obtained directly fromfirst-hand sources by means of surveys, observation or experimentation.
Primary data is any data which is usedsolely for the purpose for which it was originally collected.
Secondary data
Secondary data is data that has been collected or researched recently.
The data collected is useful as it allows the researcher to see the other opinions on their area of study
It has already been collected for some other purpose but can also be used for the purpose in hand.
An important distinction is made here since information collected for one purpose by a business and then, at a later date, used again for another purpose would no longer be primary data.
The Problem with using secondary data
Primary data is preferable to secondary data since data collected for a specific purpose is likely to be better than data acquired for some other purpose.
Some of the problems with secondary dataare:
The data has been collected by someoneelse. There is no control over how it was collected.
Is the data up to date?
The data may be incomplete
What is the data?? Is it actual,seasonally adjusted, estimated or a projection?
The reason for collecting the data may be unknown.
Discrete data is non-continuous data.
Discrete data can only take certain values for example the number of students taking a course (there wouldn’t behalf a student).
Discrete data is counted.
Continuous data is unbroken data that has no gaps.
Continuous data can take on any value(within a range) for example time or distance.
Continuous data is measured.
