What is primary data?

What is primary data?

• A. Information obtained first hand by the researcher; it is field research.
• B. Information already collected by previous researchers (desk research).
• C. Data from meta-analysis.
• D. It is impossible to know.

Answer: (A)

Primary data means information collected directly by the researcher for their own study, gathered firsthand through methods like experiments, surveys, interviews, observations, or field measurements. Because it’s created specifically for the research question, the researcher controls how it’s collected, which helps ensure the data directly address the aims and can be designed to minimize bias. This is different from secondary data, which comes from information someone else collected for a different purpose and is used secondhand. Meta-analysis combines results from many previous studies, so it isn’t original data collected for the current study. The idea that we can’t know the information is incorrect because primary data provides new, directly obtained evidence.

Primary data means information collected directly by the researcher for their own study, gathered firsthand through methods like experiments, surveys, interviews, observations, or field measurements. Because it’s created specifically for the research question, the researcher controls how it’s collected, which helps ensure the data directly address the aims and can be designed to minimize bias. This is different from secondary data, which comes from information someone else collected for a different purpose and is used secondhand. Meta-analysis combines results from many previous studies, so it isn’t original data collected for the current study. The idea that we can’t know the information is incorrect because primary data provides new, directly obtained evidence.