In the case of statistics, data plays the most important part because without data statistics is of no use as statistics involves the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Data can be collected in two ways one is through primary sources and other is through secondary sources, primary data refers to that data which is collected first hand personally by the individual, in order to understand more about primary data one should look at features of primary data –
Primary Data Characteristics
Tailored according to Requirements
The first and foremost feature of this data is that it can be tailored according to the company’s requirement, hence for example if toy making factory is thinking of making toy trains for kids between 5 to 10 years of age and data available in the market is about total toys purchased by kids between 5 to 10 years and not about the demand for toy train than company will have to collect data about the toy train demand themselves as company’s requirement is such that without getting data from primary sources company’s objective will not be fulfilled.
Expensive
Another characteristic of primary data is that it is very expensive because companies have to pay salary or allowance to individuals who are collecting the data from the market which is way more expensive than buying secondary data which is readily available in the market.
Time Consuming
It takes a lot of time to collect data through primary sources because individuals have to survey themselves which cannot be done overnight and hence if the company has enough time in hand then only it should go for data from primary sources otherwise if company wants data quickly then it should opt for secondary data as it is readily available in the market.
Accurate
In case of data from primary sources the accuracy levels are high as the company themselves have collected data which is not the case with secondary data whether the accuracy of data cannot be established as secondary data come from third sources. In simple words, if the company wants to have accurate data than it should go for primary data.
Subjective and Biased
Primary data can be subjective as each individual has a different perception of things and he or she will collect as well as interpret the data accordingly resulting in different output for different individuals. Since data is collected by individuals chances of its data being biased also rises which puts a question mark on the whole process of collection of data from primary sources. Hence for example, if you give the task of collecting data about smoking hazards to people who smoke regularly than the result will be biased as opposed to you giving that task to nonsmokers.
As one can see from the above that primary data has unique characteristics and that is the reason why any company thinking of collecting data through primary sources should carefully read above points and then take the decision accordingly.