Regardless of the degree of the subject and the research topic you have chosen, the basic requirement and process of all remain the same, that is, “research”. Research itself means looking into a searched content and this implies some proven fact along with some practical figures that reflect the authenticity and reliability of the study. These facts and figures that are required to prove the foundation of the study are known as “data.”

These data are collected according to the demand of the research topic and its study carried out. Also, their collection techniques vary along with the topic in detail, for example, if the topic is like “Changing the Era of HR Policy”, the data requested would be subjective and therefore their technique depends on the same. Whereas if the topic is like “Causes of Performance Review”, then the requested data would be objective and in terms of figures showing different parameters, reasons and factors affecting the performance review of different numbers of employees. So, let’s take a broader look at the different data collection techniques that provide a reliable foundation for your research:

• Primary Technique – Here, the data collected directly by the first-hand source is known as primary data. Self-analysis is a subclassification of primary data collection: as understood; here you get own answers for a set of questions or a study. For example, in-depth personal interviews and questionnaires are self-analyzed data collection techniques, but their limitation lies in the fact that self-response can sometimes be biased or even misleading. On the other hand, the advantage is in the court of the most up-to-date data, since it is collected directly from the source.

• Technical secondary – In this technique, data is collected from previously collected resources, it is called secondary data. Data is collected from articles, newsletters, annual reports, magazines, published documents, government and non-government documents, and case studies. The limitation of these is that they may not be updated or may be manipulated by not being collected by the researcher himself.

Secondary data is easy to collect as it is pre-collected and is preferred when time is short, while primary data is difficult to collect. Therefore, if the researcher wants to obtain updated, reliable and factual data, he should prefer the primary source of collection. But, these data collection techniques vary according to the problem generated in the thesis. So, review your thesis claims first before indulging in data collection.