Acquired source of data

In the context of marketing research while using the secondary data the researcher should keep in mind whether the required data are drawn from the original source, one that generated the data, or an acquired source, one that procured the data from the original source. For example, National Census of Population is an original source, whereas an article published in a business journal in which the census data were used is an acquired source. As a general rule, secondary data should be secured from an original rather than an acquired source because of two reasons. First, an original source is the one that specifies the details of the data collection methodology. Second, an original source is likely to be more accurate and complete than an acquired source of secondary data.