PRIMARY DATA 1 1. INTRODUCTION OF PRIMARY DAT A Sources of information are generally categorised as primary, secondary or tertiary depending on their originality and their proximity to the source or origin!or example, scientific information mo"es through a dissemination cycleInitially, findings might #e communicated informally #y email, then presented at meetings #efore #eing formally pu#lished as a primary source$nce pu#lished, they %ill then #e indexed in a #i#liographic data#ase, and repac&aged and commented upon #y others in secondary sourcesThe designations of primary, secondary and tertiary differ#et%een disciplines or su#'ects, particularly #et%een %hat can generally #e defined as the sciences and the humanitiesPrimary sources for critic studying the literature of the Second (orld (ar are different from those for a research scientist in"estigating a ne% drug for arthritisThe critic)s primary sources are the poems, stories, and films of the eraThe research scientist)s primary sources are the results of la#oratory tests and the medical records of patients treated %ith the drugYo u should al%ays chec& %ith your lecturer or tutor if in dou#tPrimary data are information collected #y a researcher specifically for a research assignmentIn other %ords, primary data are information that a company must gather #ecause no one has compiled and pu#lished the information in a forum accessi#le to the pu#lic*ompanies generally ta&e the time and allocate the resources re+uired to gather primary data only %hen a +uestion, issue or pro#lem presents itself that is sufficiently important or uni+ue that it %arrants the expenditure necessary to gather the primary dataPrimary data are original in nature and directly related to the issue or pro#lem and current dataPrimary data are the data %hich the researcher collects through "arious methods li&e inter"ie%s, sur"eys, +uestionnaires etcMEANING OF PRIMARY DATA