IT revision, pages 65-71 (textbook)

IT revision

Using and manipulating data:

Sources of data:

• Primary - Primary data is data that the business has collected or produced itself. Primary data can include things like a list of customer details. Primary data and research mustn't be confused as they are slightly different. Primary data can be collected and used for mailing customers regarding special offers etc.
• Secondary - Secondary data is data that is obtained through purchase or being collected by someone who isn't apart from the company. Secondary includes data which is second hand, as it has already been through some sort of data handling process. These can include, government reports, journalist accounts or articles.

Judging and ensuring the reliability of data:

It is becoming increasingly more frequent that news which is read online by people is unreliable or fake. It is, therefore, harder to regulate and filter what is fake and what isn't when it is posted online and on social media accounts. Sites such as wikis are also prone to having fake or unreliable information on them as people can edit pages. However, this is prevented by people having to reference their sources before publishing. Plagiarism is also common, this is when someone takes responsibility/ownership of someone's work which they didn't actually complete. However, serious punishments have prevented this.

The characteristics ad implications of methods of collecting data and opinions:

• Survey - Surveys are carried out in order to gain generic information on specific things across a wide audience base. They can be completed quickly and easily and provide businesses with both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data is data which is based on mainly opinions and categories such as the colour of hair or make of car. Quantitative data is data which is numeric such as height and how often do you watch TV a week. Commonly, surveys have been completed on pen and paper, often in the streets however now it is more common that people can complete them online. This is a much more beneficial way for businesses and customers to get more out of surveys, making it cheaper and much more efficient. Businesses can now advertise online surveys through their website, social media and then further use them to email customers regarding offers and business news.
• Questionnaire - Questionnaires are also a popular form of collecting data. They're similar to surveys however they're more structured and ask questions such as "rank your answers from 1-5". They still do also have questions which allow people to express their opinions. However, one issue with this is that businesses need to ensure people are assured that their answers are kept confidential and used for the purposes they intended. 
• Focus groups - Focus groups are a good way for businesses to gather opinions and feelings on a product or topic. It is much easier for businesses to recognise attitudes and feelings as focus groups are face to face. However, focus groups can take the time to set up and can be hard for people…