COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA

The secondary data may be obtained from the following sources:
· Official, e.g. the publications of the Statistical Division, Ministry of Finance, the Federal and Provincial
Bureaus of Statistics, Ministries of Food, Agriculture, Industry, Labour, etc.
· Semi-Official, e.g., State Bank of Pakistan, Railway Board, Central Cotton Committee, Boards of Economic
Inquiry, District Councils, Municipalities, etc.
· Publications of Trade Associations, Chambers of Commerce, etc
· Technical and Trade Journals and Newspapers
· Research Organizations such as universities, and other institutions
Let us now consider the POPULATION from which we will be collecting our data. In this context, the first important
question is: Why do we have to resort to Sampling?
The answer is that: If we have available to us every value of the variable under study, then that would be an ideal and a
perfect situation. But, the problem is that this ideal situation is very rarely available --- very rarely do we have access to
the entire population.
The census is an exercise in which an attempt is made to cover the entire population. But, as you might know, even the
most developed countries of the world cannot afford to conduct such a huge exercise on an annual basis!
More often than not, we have to conduct our research study on a sample basis. In fact, the goal of the science of
Statistics is to draw conclusions about large populations on the basis of information contained in small samples.