Secondary Data is data or information that is already available.

This data is collected by

a person or organization other than the use of the data.
Advantages of secondary data are that it is cheap and inexpensive. It is easily
accessible. It is already available. It saves time and efforts. It is unobtrusive. It avoid
data collection problems and it provides a basis for comparison.
Disadvantages are related to the credibility of the source who has published this info and
the small nuances that may not fit into your research objectives. Another disadvantage
can be that the data might be outdated. Similarly you have no control over the quality of
data and you do not know how authentic the measures used for data collection have
been.
The main sources of external secondary sources are (1) government (federal, state and
local) (2) trade associations (3) commercial services (4) national and international
institutions.
Government
statistics

These may include all or some of the following:

Population censuses
Social surveys, family expenditure surveys
Import/export statistics
Production statistics
Agricultural statistics.

Trade
associations

Trade associations differ widely in the extent of their data collection and
information dissemination activities. However, it is worth checking with them to
determine what they do publish. At the very least one would normally expect that
they would produce a trade directory and, perhaps, a yearbook.

Commercial
services

Published market research reports and other publications are available from a
wide range of organisations which charge for their information. Typically,
marketing people are interested in media statistics and consumer information
which has been obtained from large scale consumer or farmer panels. The
commercial organisation funds the collection of the data, which is wide ranging
in its content, and hopes to make its money from selling this data to interested
parties.

National and
international
institutions

Bank economic reviews, university research reports, journals and articles are all
useful sources to contact. International agencies such as World Bank, IMF,
IFAD, UNDP, ITC, FAO and ILO produce a plethora of secondary data which can
prove extremely useful to the marketing researcher.

In primary data collection, you collect the data yourself using methods such as interviews and
questionnaires. The key point here is that the data you collect is unique to you and your research and, until
you publish, no one else has access to it.
There are many methods of collecting primary data and the main methods include:

questionnaires

interviews
focus group interviews

observation
case-studies
diaries
critical incidents

this is pass part p 1

nw this is p2

classification of data

from book page no 52 yah may liahk raha ho abi

p3
t

This, of course, makes the assumption that the past will repeat. It also assumes
that any trends Quantitative forecasting techniques are generally more objective
than their qualitative counterparts. Quantitative forecasts can be time-series
forecasts (i.e., a projection of the past into the future) or forecasts based on
associative models (i.e., based on one or more explanatory variables). Time-series
data may have underlying behaviors that need to be identified by the forecaster.
In addition, the forecast may need to identify the causes of the behavior. Some of
these behaviors may be patterns or simply random variations. Among the
patterns are:

Trends, which are long-term movements (up or down) in the data.

Seasonality, which produces short-term variations that are usually related

to the time of year, month, or even a particular day, as witnessed by retail
sales at Christmas or the spikes in banking activity on the first of the
month and on Fridays.

Cycles, which are wavelike variations lasting more than a year that are
usually tied to economic or political conditions.

Irregular variations that do not reflect typical behavior, such as a period of

extreme weather or a union strike.

Random variations, which encompass all non-typical behaviors not

accounted for by the other classifications.

Among the time-series models, the simplest is the nave forecast. A nave
forecast simply uses the actual demand for the past period as the forecasted
demand for the next period., seasonality, or cycles are either reflected in the
previous period's
P4
As spring moves to summer, the forecast should be for warmer and sunnier weather. What is the forecast for
your
business?
Is
the
outlook
sunny
or
cloudy?
Do you know what sales you can expect, whether for a team of sales people or within your own business or
practice? How do you feel about putting together a forecast? How do the others in your business feel? I
wonder
why
you
have
these
feelings?
Forecasting is vital for any business well, accurate forecasting is vital!! This is true for professional
services as well as commercial organisations. How often are your forecasts accurate? Inaccurate
forecasting carries all sorts of hazards. Whether there is a tendency to be too optimistic and sunny with your
forecasts, or too downbeat and understating it, there are potential problems for the business. Are people
encouraged, or allowed, to be pragmatic about their forecasts or do they feel as though they have to tell you
they will do well? Do you tend to think that there are too many factors outside of your control and so it is not
worth
doing
anyway?
Why does it matter? Apart from the reality that sales, whether to existing or new clients, are the lifeblood of
your business! Being too optimistic about potential sales can lead to various issues anticipating revenues
which will not happen, planning resources such as people and products, problems with cash flow, panic
management! The other end of the equation, under-estimating has its own problems too! Although it can feel
good to see sales coming in which were not anticipated, think about the problems they might cause within
your own business. Cash flow problems of a different sort, the need to get the resources at short notice,
quality of customer or client service and response are all probabilities. Becoming more accurate with your
forecasts
will
help
you
run
a
smoother
and
more
profitable
organisation.
How do you approach forecasting sales? Tea leaves, roll of the dice, check the stars or ask others for their
expectations? There are some basic principles to consider or follow and a variety of methods you can use to
help and they should prove more reliable then the ideas above! Although we are presuming you are already
an established business, many of the principles will apply even for new start-ups.
First point look at your records for the previous couple of years and do some analysis.