Secondary data
Topic: Economic Data: Census, NSS, Surveys and Statistical Tools · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Collection of Data"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Use of Statistical Tools"
Meaning
Secondary data have already been collected and processed by another agency. Processing here means checking and tabulating the data. You take them from published sources such as government reports, newspapers, books or websites. They save time and cost, but they may not exactly fit your purpose. Whether data are primary or secondary depends on who is using them.
Example
NCERT's trade table comes from DGCI&S. It shows exports rising from Rs 698 hundred crore to Rs 19,050 hundred crore between 1993-94 and 2013-14. It is secondary data for any student who uses it. A researcher who downloads NSS unit-level data is also using secondary data.
Don't confuse with
- Primary data: these are collected first-hand by the researcher through their own enquiry.
Related concepts
- Primary data
- Survey
- Variable
- Observation
- Questionnaire
- Enumerator
- Informant
- Closed-ended question
- Open-ended question
- Leading question