Page 138 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Notes
Example: Size of the retail establishments, for instance, can be expressed in terms of gross
sales, profits, square feet area and number of employees. Consumer incomes can be expressed in
variables the individual, family, household etc. Secondary data available may not fit in easily.
Assume that the class intervals are quite different from those which are needed.

Example: Data available with respect to age group is as follows:
<18 year

18-24 years
25-34 years
35-44 years

Suppose the company needs a classification less than 20, 20-30 and 30-40, the above classification
of secondary data cannot be used.

Problem of Accuracy

The accuracy of secondary data available is highly questionable. A number of errors are possible
in the collection and analysis of the data. Accuracy of secondary data depends upon:
(a) Who has collected the data?
(b) How is the data collected?
(a) Who has collected the data: The reliability of the source determines the accuracy of the
data. Assume that a publisher of a private periodical conducts a survey of his readers. The
main aim of the survey is to find out the opinion of readers about advertisements appearing
in it. This survey is done by the publisher in the hope that other firms will buy this data
before inserting advertisements.

Assume that a professional MR agency has conducted a similar survey and has sold its
syndicated data on many periodicals.
If you are an individual who wants information on a particular periodical you buy the
data from MR agency rather from the periodical's publisher. The reason for this is trust of
the MR agency. The reasons for trusting the MR agency are as follows:

1. Being an independent agency there is no bias. The MR agency is likely to provide an
unbiased data.
2. The data quality of MR agency will be good since they are professionals.

(b) How the data collected?
1. What instruments were used?
2. What type of sampling was done?
3. How large was the sample?

4. What was the time period of data collection? Example: days of the week, time of the
day.

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