Innovative Data Sources

In addition to traditional data sources, such as information gathered during surveys, data can be collected from a variety of alternative sources.

Read First

• Primary data is the main type of information that comes to mind when people talk about collecting data. It consists of gathering data through surveys, interviews, or experiments.
• Occasionally, researchers find that data has already been collected, sometimes by the government and sometimes by a third party. Previously collected information that the field team then makes use of is known as secondary data.
• Any source of data, such as secondary data, that is not collected first-hand is an innovative data source.
• Examples of secondary data include administrative and monitoring data, geospatial data, and many more discussed in below.

Acquiring Secondary Data

The easiest way to acquire secondary data is to simply inquire if the government of the country in which the research is conducted possesses it, whatever its content is and however it is stored. Of course,