EXPLORE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF DATA, READ AND MAKE MEANING

PRACTICAL -1

EXPLORE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF DATA, READ AND MAKE MEANING

Data

Data are basic values or facts. Note that the term 'data' is considered plural in the scientific community, as in 'the data are collected', not 'the data is collected'; however, not everyone follows this, so sometimes you'll see data used as singular.

Every task a computer carries out works with data in some way. Without data, a computer would be pretty useless. It is, therefore, important to understand how to represent and organize data.  Data is one of the most important and vital aspect of any research studies. Researchers conducted in different fields of study can be different in methodology but every research is based on data which is analyzed and interpreted to get information. Data is the basic unit in statistical studies. Statistical information like census, population variables, health statistics, and road accidents records are all developed from data.

DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

There are two sources of data collection techniques. Primary and Secondary data collection techniques, Primary data collection uses surveys, experiments or direct observations. Secondary data collection may be conducted by collecting information from a diverse source of documents or electronically stored information, census and market studies are examples of a common sources of secondary data. This is also referred to as "data mining."

 PRIMARY DATA

 Primary data means original data that has-been collected specially for the purpose in mind. It means someone collected the data from the original source first hand. Data collected this way is called primary data. Primary data has not been published yet and is more reliable, authentic and objective. Primary data has not been changed or altered by human beings; therefore its validity is greater than secondary data.

·         Survey

·        Questionnaire 

·        Interview

·        Observations

SECONDARY DATA

 Secondary data is the data that has been already collected by and readily available from other sources. When we use Statistical Method with Primary Data from another purpose for our purpose we refer to it as Secondary Data. It means that one purpose Primary Data is another purposes Secondary Data. So that secondary data is data that is being reused. Such data are more quickly obtainable than the primary data. These secondary data may be obtained from many sources, including literature, industry surveys, compilations from computerized databases and information systems, and computerized or mathematical models of environmental processes.

·         Published Printed Sources   

·        Books

·        Journals/periodicals

·        Published Electronic Sources

·        E-journals

·        General Websites

·        We blogs

Comparison between Data and Information:

	DATA	INFORMATION
Definition (Oxford Dictionaries)	Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis	Facts provided or learned about something or someone Data as processed, stored, or transmitted by a computer
Refers to	Raw Data	Analyzed Data
Description	Qualitative Or Quantitative Variables that can be used to make ideas or conclusions	A group of data which carries news and meaning
Analysis	Not analyzed	Always analyzed
In the form of	Numbers, letters, or a set of characters.	Ideas and inferences
Collected via	Measurements, experiments, etc.	Linking data and making inferences
Represented in	A structure, such as tabular data, data tree, a data graph, etc.	Language, ideas, and thoughts based on the data
Meaning	Carries no specific meaning	Carries meaning that has been assigned by interpreting data
Dependency	Does not depend on Information	Without Data information cannot be processed

I have taken the following data of the poverty in India rural as well as in urban areas

After representation through graph we can say that poverty ratio found more in rural area as compare to urban area.

CONCLUSION

In simple terms, data is unorganized information and information is processed data. These two terms are so closely intertwined that it is quite common for people to juxtapose them. In the technical glossary, data means input, used to generate output, i.e. information.

Data are those facts and descriptions from which information can be extracted. Data alone has no certain meaning, i.e. until and unless the data is explained and interpreted, it is just a collection of numbers, words and symbols. Unlike information, which does not lack meaning in fact they can be understood by the users in normal diligence.