1.

importance of Data and Data collection

Whichever industry you work in, or whatever your interests, you will almost certainly
have come across a story about how “data” is changing the face of our world. It might
be part of a study helping to cure a disease, boost a company’s revenue, make a
building more efficient or be responsible for those targeted ads you keep seeing. In
general, data is simply another word for information. But in computing and business
(most of what you read about in the news when it comes to data – especially if it’s about
Big Data), data refers to information that is machine-readable as opposed to human-
readable. Good data allows organizations to establish baselines, benchmarks, and
goals to keep moving forward. Because data allows you to measure, you will be able to
establish baselines, find benchmarks and set performance goals.
Data collection is the base and the foundation, required to get that analyzed
knowledge for making your business decisions. It is the proccess on what your whole
market research depends on. Data collection is getting all the possible required raw
data to derive some information and lastly to extract the knowledge or the statistics
required to develope your strategy. It is too important as the way you conduct the
research or the way you gather the data and the sources you go for are what going to
lead you to a right path or either a wrong path in your research. All the data collected
through it is what considered for the analytics and so on. This raw data may contain the
unwanted data so the filteration has to be done precisely.
2. identify and explain the importance of Data collection and techniques
There are basically two methods of data collection: data generation through a designed
experiment and collecting data that already exist. Data generation through a
designed experiment  is a controlled study whose purpose is to control as many
factors as possible to isolate the effects of a particular factor. Designed experiments
must be carefully set up to achieve their purposes. The variables in a designed
experiment that are controlled are called the explanatory variables or are sometimes
called the factors. Factors have values that can be changed by the researcher and are
considered as possible causes. The designed experiment analyzes the effects of the
factors on the response variable. Response variables are not part of a controlled
environment and have values that are measured by the researcher.
Secondary data tends to be readily available and inexpensive to obtain. In addition,
administrative data tends to have large samples, because the data collection is
comprehensive and routine. What’s more, administrative data (and many types of
secondary data) are collected over a long period. That allows researchers to detect
change over time. The researchers could also examine secondary data in addition to
the information provided by their primary data (i.e. survey results). They could look at
workers’ compensation lost-time claims data to determine the amount of time workers
were receiving wage replacement benefits. With a combination of these two data
sources, the researchers may be able to determine which factors predict a shorter work
absence among injured workers. This information could then help improve return to
work for other injured workers. The type of data researchers choose can depend on
many things including the research question, their budget, their skills and available
resources. Based on these and other factors, they may choose to use primary data,
secondary data–or both.
3. Why problem formulation is critical importance in data collection.
Even before data collection can begin, the purpose for which the data collection is being
conducted must be clarified. Enter, problem formulation. The importance of problem
formulation cannot be overstated- it comes first in any research project ideally speaking.
The problem formulation is based on the rationale you reached through your explorative
search and may be the first thing you write related to your thesis. The aim of a  problem
formulation is also to set a framework for your research and a good problem
formulation is essential for completing a good study. When your problem formulation
has taken its final form, you are ready to develop an overall research objective and a
number of specific objectives stating exactly what actions will be taken in order to
address your stated problem.