Using primary data sources Chapter 13

1. Acquiring primary data

2. Preparing instruments to collect primary data

PRIMARY data is data that you collect yourself using such methods as:

• direct observation - lets you focus on details of importance to you; lets you see a system in real rather than theoretical use (othen faults are unlikely or trivial in theory but quite real and annoying in practice);
• surveys - written surveys let you collect considerable quantities of detailed data. You have to either trust the honesty of the people surveyed or build in self-verifying questions (e.g. questions 9 and 24 ask basically the same thing but using different words - different answers may indicate the surveyed person is being inconsistent, dishonest or inattentive).
• interviews - slow, expensive, and they take people away from their regular jobs, but they allow in-depth questioning and follow-up questions. They also show non-verbal communication such as face-pulling, fidgetting, shrugging, hand gestures, sarcastic expressions that add further meaning to spoken words. e.g. "I think it's a GREAT system" could mean vastly different things depending on whether the person was sneering at the time! A problem with interviews is that people might say what they think the interviewer wants to hear; they might avoid being honestly critical in case their jobs or reputation might suffer.
• logs (e.g. fault logs, error logs, complaint logs, transaction logs). Good, empirical, objective data sources (usually, if they are used well). Can yield lots of valuable data about system performance over time under different conditions.

Using secondary data sources. Chapter 12

1. Locating secondary data

2. Information sources on the web

3. Evaluating sources

4. Extracting data and keeping records

SECONDARY data is collected from external sources such as:

• TV, radio, internet
• magazines, newspapers
• reviews
• research articles
• stories told by people you know

There's a lot more secondary data than primary data, and secondary data is a whole lot cheaper and easier to acquire than primary data. The problem is that often the reliability, accuracy and integrity of the data is uncertain. Who collected it? Can they be trusted? Did they do any preprocessing of the data? Is it biased? How old is it? Where was it collected? Can the data be verified, or does it have to be taken on faith?

Often secondary data has been pre-processed to give totals or averages and the original details are lost so you can't verify it by replicating the methods used by the original data collectors.

In short, primary data is expensive and difficult to acquire, but it's trustworthy. Secondary data is cheap and easy to collect, but must be treated with caution.

Selecting data sources. chapter 11

1. Determining data sources

2. Evaluating data sources

3. Sampling data sources

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Planning the research. Chapter 10

1. Planning the research

2. The research proposal

STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

A BRIEF GUIDE

Choose your topic. If you can choose your own topic, be sure it is something your are really interested in. Expect your topic to change as you go through the process of finding information. You may even need to change your topic completely if little information exists.

Find background information. With a topic that is new to you, you'll want to begin your search for information with an overview or summary of the topic. Encyclopedias (general or subject specific) provide this information. Encyclopedias will also give you information on special terminology and significant authors or researchers in the field. The Web may also provide you with background information, depending on your topic (and on the requirements of your professor). Be sure to check with your professor before using Web resources.

Find in-depth information. Book materials provide in-depth analyses or interpretations of topics and are often a good place to start your search. The bibliographies in books can lead you to other resources on your topic. Books are available in hardcopy or in electronic format, so you can either search a library's online catalog or search an e-book collection such as NetLibrary. Depending on how narrow or how new your topic is, you may not find book material. Remember that books usually take years to write and get published, so you will need to supplement information from books with more recent material in journal articles or web sites.

Find focused and/or current information. Using online databases licensed by a library provides subject access to information in journal articles. Many narrowly focused topics may only be covered in a journal article. If you are lucky, the online database provides some articles in full text. If not, you need to determine what the library subscribes to in hardcopy and what you need to request via interlibrary loan. Journal articles in scholarly or professional journals usually contain bibliographies or references to additional sources of information. Regardless of your topic, you should be sure to check the journal literature to see what has been published most recently.
The Web also provides a wealth of current information, but you need to be very careful to evaluate the websites you use to gain additional information. A variety of evaluation guides for the Web exist (and many of them are on the Web), so use one as a guide when finding information on the Web.

Shaping your topic. At each step along the way, the information you find may change or focus your topic somewhat differently. That's part of the process. The assumptions you made about the topic and the hypothesis you started with is likely to change as you find out more about your topic.

Planning and delivering an oral report. Chapter 9

1. Preparing and using presentation aids

2. Rehearsing the presentation

3. Managing question-answer sessions

4. Participating in Team Presentations

5. Participating electronic conferences

	While you may never speak before a large audience or to the media, you will be required to deliver speeches and presentations throughout your business career. To prepare for these opportunities to speak to colleagues or customers, you should follow a three-part strategy: plan, write your speech or presentation, and complete it (see Chapter 16 in your textbook). Read the advice of Mark Hill of the University of Wisconsin on giving oral presentations, especially the copy of David A. Patterson's advice on How to Give a Bad Talk. Write a short report in which you combine the advice from your textbook with the advice from Hill's web page to develop a ten-step plan for successful public speaking.

Writing nonroutine reports. Chapter 8

Topics for Discussion.

1. Describe the potential role of nonroutine reports in your business career.

It helps inform my staff and clients very efficient. for. example. If my business going to be relocated that I need to inform my clients and staff nonroutine report.

2. Identify the purposes and characteristics of each of these nonroutine reports:

a) Interview report

Like hiring interview reports. that doesn't routine.

b) Exception report

You don't have every day or routinary exceptions

c) Justification report

You can have justification report when it is necessary not all the time.

d) Feasibility report

e) Staff report

f) Press release

g) Executive summary

h) Business proposal

You propose one kind propose one time

3. What is the general objectives of all proposals?

Report writing.

4. Give an example of a solicited proposal an unsolicited proposal.

5. What is the specific objective of each of following proposals?

a) Investigative/research proposl

b) Productive/service proposal

c) Organizational/operational proposal

6. Identify ethical delimmas that may arise as you prepare nonroutine reports. In your judgement, are you more less likely to face ethical delimmas as you write nontoutine reports than when you prepare routine reports?

7. If you have had writing any of the nonroutine reports described in this chapter, share your experience with your classmates. Who determined that the report should be written? How did you plan report? How did obtain necessary information? What ethical issues did have to consider?

Writing routine reports. Chapter 7

1. Typical Routine reports