[Year 12 Its] Primary vs Secondary Data Sources

[Mike Brookes]

Don't you love it when older definitions are stretched to cover "new 
technology"?
It is also possible that the data in the computer could be processed and 
the information that it represents is still primary.

A hypothetical situation:
Several people witness a bank robbery. Thinking to earn money from the 
local newspaper, they all rush home, fire up the trusty computer and 
type a letter to the editor. In typing the letter many words are moved 
round, changed, spell checked, grammar checked and re-formatted. The 
finished file is then sent via the net to the newspaper. The bits and 
bytes of data that represent each witness's account of what happened 
have undergone a fair amount of processing but the the email at the 
newspaper office is still a primary source of information because it is 
from a direct witness.

A reporter at the newspaper is too lazy to go round to the source of the 
crime and figures it would be too late anyway. Said reporter reads the 
emails and notices similarities and differences between the emails. 
Reporter reckons that details that match in several emails are probably 
correct and synthesizes an account based on these emails. This report 
receives similar editing to the emails. The reporter's account is 
Secondary information, not because of the processing, but because the 
reporter did not have first hand knowledge of the situation.

Mike Brookes
Chief cook and bottlewasher
Copperfield College

Robert Timmer-Arends wrote:
> I agree Charmaine, it depends on whether the data has been interpreted or
> re-worked
> 
> hence I would qualify this statement somewhat (as per BJ Winzer)
> 
> 
>>Computer output - wouldn't that be secondary data?  It's been
>>processed, either automatically or manually.  I'm thinking that
>>primary = "raw" data, so if it undergoes any process then it's not raw
>>any more.
> 
> 
> If the computer output is only what was input (input > store > retrieve >
> output) then it is still primary data. Going through a computer does not
> automatically qualify data as 'secondary' - it depends on what happens to it
> on the way through!
> 
> Regards
> Robert T-A
> 
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