Biostatistics

Chapter 2

Data Structures, Data Sources and Data Collection

Objectives

After completing this chapter, you can understand the following:

• The definition, meaning and significance of data.
• The different varieties of data.
• Different sources for collecting the data.
• The data-collecting methodology and the process of editing the data.
• The simple methodology to prepare the questionnaire.

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Data is a word of Latin etymology used to describe a collection of natural phenomenal descriptors including the results of experience, observation or experiment, a set of premises or information within a computer system. This may consist of numbers, words or images, particularly as measurements or observations of a set of variables. Experimental ...