ABSTRACT
Statistics by its very nature deals with numbers which report the results of various observations. Primary data are those which the individual collects himself. There is no distinction among reporting the observations of feeding trials, measuring product color in the processing plant, recording observed defects of raw material received, observing consumer behavior in a retail store, using a questionnaire to determine consumer acceptance, or reporting the results of a taste panel. In contrast to primary data, secondary data are published or recorded data. In other words, the researcher has no control over the gathering and recording of the data. Secondary data are someone else’s primary data. The term variable has become virtually all-inclusive in statistics. In a very narrow sense it refers to something being observed that exhibits variation.
