← Years 5–6 Data & Information

Primary and secondary data sources

Primary data is data you collect yourself, like a survey. Secondary data was collected by someone else, like data from a website or database.

Part of: 5-6 Digital Technologies Vic Curric - Data, Information and Privacy — Module 12, VCE Applied Computing - U1O1 - Data analysis — Module 2, VCE Data Analytics - U3O1 - Data Analytics — Module 38, VCE Data Analytics - U3O2 - Analysis and Design — Module 2, 7-8 Digital Technologies: Acquiring, storing and validating data — Module 1, 9-10 Digital Technologies: Acquiring, storing and validating data — Module 1, ACARA Digital Technologies Years 7–8 — Acquiring and Storing Data — Module 2, ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10 — Acquiring and Validating Data — Module 8, QCE Digital Solutions Unit 2 — Data-Driven Problems and Solution Requirements — Module 3, QCE Digital Solutions Unit 2 — Data and Programming Techniques — Module 12, QCE Digital Solutions Unit 4 — Complex Digital Data Exchange Problems and Solution Requirements — Module 103

Understanding Primary and secondary data sources in Years 5–6 Data & Information

What it does: You collected the measurements yourself, so the data is primary data. The Bureau or website collected the rainfall data, not you, so it is secondary data. Secondary data comes from other people, such as websites, databases and books. Primary data lets you choose the question. It often takes longer than using secondary data.

Common mistakes: A survey the student runs themselves is primary data, not secondary. The line should be kind = "primary". Data from a website that someone else collected is secondary data. The line should be kind = "secondary".

Class: _____________________  ·  Name: _____________________  ·  Date: _________

Free printable worksheet with full answer key — or add this module to a class and your students practise it interactively.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 11–20) and word search (Modules 1–20).

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Learning
Duo
Your class asks 20 students which pet they like best and writes down the answers. What kind of data is this?
Secondary dataPrimary data
Matches
My class survey results = secondary data
↓
A survey you ran yourself is primary data, not secondary data. You collected it first-hand.
Applying
Meanings
Term
primary data vs secondary data
Meaning
Primary data is data you collect yourself, like a survey. Secondary data was collected by someone else, like data from a website or database.
Practice
primary data = I collect it myself
Testing
Gaps
Data you collect yourself is data.
Check Answer
Spots
2collected_by = "me"
3kind = "secondary"

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Quick Questions

1. Your class asks 20 students which pet they like best and writes down the answers. What kind of data is this?
A. Primary data ✓
B. Secondary data
Your class collected the answers itself with a survey, so it is primary data.
2. You download a table of Australian rainfall from the Bureau of Meteorology website. What kind of data is this?
A. Primary data
B. Secondary data ✓
Someone else collected the rainfall data and you found it on a website, so it is secondary data.
3. Which one is a way to collect primary data?
A. Measuring how tall each plant grows with a ruler ✓
B. Copying plant heights from a book
Measuring the plants yourself gives you primary data. A book holds data that someone else collected.
4. True or false: Secondary data is data that someone else collected before you used it.
A. False
B. True ✓
Secondary data comes from other people, such as websites, databases and books.
5. You use a stopwatch to time how long your friends take to run 50 metres. Which type of data is the list of times?
A. Primary data ✓
B. Secondary data
You made the measurements yourself, so the times are primary data.

Match the Pairs

Primary data → Data you collect yourself, such as answers from your own class survey
Secondary data → Data that someone else collected, such as a table from a website or database
You measure how tall every student in your class is with a tape measure → source = "primary"
You download rainfall numbers from a weather website to use in your project → source = "secondary"
My class survey results = secondary data → A survey you ran yourself is primary data, not secondary data. You collected it first-hand.
Data from a database = primary data → Data from a database or website was collected by someone else, so it is secondary data, not primary.

Key Term

primary data vs secondary data
Primary data is data you collect yourself, like a survey. Secondary data was collected by someone else, like data from a website or database.

Fill in the Blanks

1. Data you collect yourself is primary data.
Hint: Type the word for data that you collect yourself.
2. Data from someone else is secondary data.
Hint: Type the word for data that another person collected.
3. Running a survey gives you primary data.
Hint: Type the data collection method where you ask people questions.
4. A website or database holds secondary data.
Hint: Type the name for an organised store of data that someone else made.
5. Before using secondary data, check that you can trust the source.
Hint: Type the word for where the data came from.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A source = "class survey"
B collected_by = "me"
C kind = "secondary"
D print(kind)
Line C — A survey the student runs themselves is primary data, not secondary. The line should be kind = "primary".
Question 2
A source = "ABS website"
B collected_by = "someone else"
C kind = "primary"
D print(kind)
Line C — Data from a website that someone else collected is secondary data. The line should be kind = "secondary".
Question 3
A if collected_by == "me":
B kind == "primary"
C else:
D kind = "secondary"
Line B — A single = stores a value in a variable. Two == only compares values. The line should be kind = "primary".
Question 4
A source = "random blog"
B author = "unknown"
C date = "none"
D trust = "high"
Line D — A source with no known author and no date should not be trusted much. The line should be trust = "low".
Question 5
A source = "my own survey"
B kind = "secondary"
C print(kind)
Line A — The kind is secondary, so the source must be collected by someone else, such as a weather website. A survey you ran yourself would be primary.

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