Sources of Secondary Data

Secondary data may be either in published or unpublished forms. The nature of the sources of the published data is naturally different from that of the unpublished ones. However, the different sources of the published and unpublished data are depicted here as under:

• Sources of the published data. The sources of the published secondary data can be broadly classified into the following types:
• Official publications of the government authorities
• Official publications of the semi-govt. organisations and local authorities
• Official publications of the foreign government and International Organisations
• Official Publications of Research Institutes
• Reports and Publications of Commercial and Financial Institutes
• Technical Trade Journals
• Reports submitted by economists, research scholar, university bureau and various committees and commissions
• Sources of unpublished data.The sources of the unpublished secondary data are varied and indefinite in number. However, some of these sources may be enumerated as under:
• Records maintained by the private firms.
• Materials retained by the research scholars.
• Confidential records maintained by various departments of governments, chambers of commerce, trade associations, trade unions, labour bureaux etc.
• Administrative records relating to internal activities of an organisation viz. Cost records, Final accounts, Progress reports. Operational budgets, performance records.

Documents relating to registration, permits, licenses, loans etc.