Types of Data

Types of Data

Data can be primarily divided into two types – qualitative data and quantitative data. Qualitative data only describes an item example coconut tree, palm tree, etc or language spoken – Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English, etc. Quantitative data on the other hand has numerical value to the item, example, marks obtained - 45, 70, 60, 90, 25, etc.

Data can also be divided based on the source or method of collection as the primary data and secondary data. The primary data are those statistical materials which the investigator collects by going from door to door for the purpose of his/her study. On the other hand, the secondary data refer to already collected and recorded data which the investigator had collected from published or unpublished sources.