Identify Data for Decision Making

: Data for Decision Making There are several key questions to ask yourself in anticipation of finalizing a data collection strategy: What is the value and purpose of the data you wish to collect in the context of the management problem or opportunity? What exactly do you want to know to help you make an informed judgment? The big question is this: Where and how can you efficiently and effectively find the right information? There are two types of data to consider; these are commonly referred to as primary or secondary data. Primary data is data that you collect yourself. While you will not be collecting data for the course project, if you do propose collecting primary data you should justify the feasibility of doing so based on time, cost, and ability to access participants and other units of observation. Secondary data is data that was collected and documented by someone else in an earlier time. Examples of secondary data include government publications, website information, books, journal articles, and organizational records and documents. The Walden Library webinar “Introduction to Business and IT Statistics Research” is well worth watching. The webinar may be helpful to your developing an understanding of your options in the type of information you are looking for and where to find it, which may help you to manage the data collection process.​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​ Basically, this webinar is an overview of different kinds of statistics and secondary data that you can find, and how to find them. Examples of the many resources included in the webinar are American FactFinder for population, housing, economic and geographic information; Nexis Uni for company profiles and industry information; Reference USA for business and consumer data; Guide Star for nonprofits; County Business Patterns from the United States Census Bureau;