Types of Data

what is primary data?

original data that has been collected for a specific purpose/investigation (researcher is collecting the data themselves)

what is a strength of primary data?

the data fits the needs of the research

what is a weakness of primary data?

requires a lot of money and time

what is secondary data?

data collected by someone else, for example, someone else's research or population records

what is a strength of secondary data?

saves money and time

what is a weakness of secondary data?

data may not fit the needs of the research

what is meta-analysis?

• a research technique that uses secondary data

• researchers combine findings of multiple studies with similar aims/hypothesis to gain an overall conclusion

what is a strength of meta-analysis?

allows for a larger and more varied sample

what is a weakness of meta-analysis?

data used may be impacted by researcher bias

what is qualitative data?

data expressed in words, such as feelings, thoughts or opinions of a participant

what are strengths of qualitative data?

• more detailed

• more broader and gives participant chance to report their thoughts/feelings on a subjects

• greater external validity

what are weaknesses of qualitative data?

• hard to analyse

• conclusions often rely on the subjective interpretations of the researcher and these may be subject to bias

what is quantitative data?

data that is expressed in numbers such as scores

what are strengths of quantitative data?

• simple to analyse

• comparisons between groups can be easily drawn

• data is numerical and less open to bias

what are weaknesses of quantitative data?

• data is much narrower in meaning and detail

• may fail to represent 'real life'