What is the difference between primary and secondary data? NUR 630 Topic 6 DQ 1

What is the difference between primary and secondary data? NUR 630 Topic 6 DQ 1

Primary data is information that has originated by the researcher through direct efforts and experience, specifically for the purpose of addressing a research problem. This is also known as first-hand or raw data.  With primary data, the research is usually conducted by an organization or agency, which can become expensive and time-consuming.  Some examples of primary data include surveys, questionnaires, personal interviews and case studies (Surbhi, 2020).  Primary data can be used to drive continuous quality improvement (CQI),  by taking an issue and directly starting to research the issue with the goal of a solution in mind.  Some of the sources that could be used to drive CQI would include questionnaires and surveys.  The researcher would have to personally interview or ask questions of a specific person.  The researcher would have a specific question or questions that would need to be addressed.  In this case, there is no “middle man” between the researcher and the direct questioning.

Secondary data implies second-hand information which is already collected and recorded by any person other than the user for a purpose, not relating to the current research problem. It is the readily available form of data collected from various sources like censuses, government publications, internal records of the organization, reports, books, and journal articles (Surbhi, 2020).  Secondary data is used in CQI for many reasons.  Many of the articles or publications that are used to improve healthcare are secondary sources.  One example of this is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The information that is shared usually has been started by a group of researchers and then passed to other entities in the organization.  Those people then publish their findings in journals where doctors and nurses read the information and place their recommendations for better health into practice.  This is probably the largest group of data that is used in pushing for CQI.  Secondary data tends to be more cost-effective than primary research.

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