There are essentially two types of data; these are primary data and secondary data. While primary data involves data collected directly by the researcher, secondary data are those that already exist when the researcher decided to embark on the research.
Primary data will include those collected directly by the researcher through the issue of questionnaire, conducting interviews whether over the phone or face to face, directly observing phenomena in the field and recording the outcome etc.
On the other hand, secondary data include those the researcher draws from government or research publications, reports and publications from organizations both profit and non-for-profit.
For example, a researcher working on employee behaviour will likely collect data from primary by issuing questionnaires, conducting interviews with the concerned employees and/or observing them at work.
On the other hand, a researcher working on the financial performance of bank(s) will likely collect data from secondary sources like the Annual Financial Reports of the concerned bank(s) and those collected and published by financial regulators and/or monitors.
The choice of data source depends on the nature of the research and the topic. Some researchers will consciously pick or formulate a topic for which they are sure they can easily collect the necessary data.
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