1. The document discusses sources of data for quantitative analysis, including internal sources, external sources, and surveys. 2. It outlines the steps a decision maker should take before collecting data, including developing clear objectives and determining what data is required. 3. The document covers primary and secondary sources of data. Secondary data includes data that has already been collected from primary sources and made available for other researchers, while primary data is collected directly from sources.

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Subject:
Quantitative techniques in Business
Course instructor:
Sahar Idrees
Class
BS COMMERCE
Department:
Commerce
Lecture 4

2. 2
SOURCES OF DATA
■ Data may be obtained from
■ Internal sources
■ External sources
■ Surveys and experiments

3. SOURCES OF DATA
■ Before collection of data , a decision
maker needs to:
a. Prepare a clear and concise statement of
purpose
b. Develop a set of meaningful measurable
specific objective
c. Determine the type of analyses needed
d. Determine what data is required

4. SOURCES OF DATA, CONTINUED
■ Primary Data Collection
■ Experimental Design
■ Conduct Survey
■ Observation (focus group)
■ Secondary Data Compilation/Collection
■ Mostly governmental or industrial, but also
individual sources

5. WHERE DO DATA COME FROM?
■ Take a step back – if we’re starting from
scratch, how do we collect / find data?
■ Secondary data
■ Primary data
Primary data is the type of data that is collected by
researchers directly from main sources. while secondary data
is the data that has already been collected through primary
sources and made readily available for researchers to use for
their own research.

6. SECONDARY DATA
■ Secondary data – data someone else
has collected
■ This is what you were looking for in your
assignment.

7. SECONDARY DATA – EXAMPLES OF
SOURCES
1. County health departments
2. Vital Statistics – birth, death certificates
3. Hospital, clinic, school nurse records
4. Private and foundation databases
5. City and county governments
6. Surveillance data from state government programs
7. Federal agency statistics - Census, NIH, etc.

8. SECONDARY DATA – LIMITATIONS
■ 1)What did you find on the frustrating
side as you looked for data on the
state’s websites?

9. SECONDARY DATA – LIMITATIONS
2)When was it collected? For how long?
■ May be out of date for what you want to analyze.
■ May not have been collected long enough for
detecting trends.
■ E.g. Have new anti corruption laws impacted Russia’s
government accountability ratings?

10. SECONDARY DATA – LIMITATIONS
■ 3)Is the data set complete?
■ There may be missing information on some
observations
■ Unless such missing information is caught
and corrected for, analysis will be biased.

11. SECONDARY DATA – LIMITATIONS
■ 4)Are there confounding problems?
■ Sample selection bias?
■ Source choice bias?
■ In time series, did some observations drop
out over time?

12. SECONDARY DATA – LIMITATIONS
■ 5)Are the data consistent/reliable?
■ Did variables drop out over time?
■ Did variables change in definition over
time?
■ E.g. number of years of education versus
highest degree obtained.

13. SECONDARY DATA – LIMITATIONS
■ 6)Is the information exactly what you need?
■ In some cases, may have to use “proxy variables” – variables that
may approximate something you really wanted to measure. Are
they reliable? Is there correlation to what you actually want to
measure?
■ E.g. gauging student interest in U.W. by their ranking on FAFSA –
subject to gamesmanship.

14. SECONDARY DATA – ADVANTAGES
■ 1)No need to reinvent the wheel.
■ If someone has already found the data,
take advantage of it.

15. SECONDARY DATA – ADVANTAGES
■ It will save your money.
■ Even if you have to pay for access, often it
is cheaper in terms of money than
collecting your own data. (more on this
later.)

16. SECONDARY DATA – ADVANTAGES
■ It will save your time.
■ Primary data collection is very time
consuming. (More on this later, too!)

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Reference books: Quantitative Analysis for Management; Render,
Barry and Ralph M. Stair Jr., 7th Ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey,
2000
Quantitative Methods for Business: Anderson, David R., Sweeney,
Dennis J, and Williams, Thomas A., 9th Ed., South Western College
Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2003.