Secondary Data with Australian Tourism-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss the criteria for evaluating secondary data sources. Use two secondary data sources to apply the criteria. Answer: Evaluation of Secondary Data Sources Secondary data are the data, which have been already collected by the person or organization other than the researcher (Johnston, 2017). These data are easily and inexpensively available from the journals, books, government publications through internet. However, it is important for the researcher to evaluate the secondary data before using it in his or her research work, in order to ensure its validity and accuracy. Criteria for evaluating secondary data sources are mentioned below (Cope, 2014). Specifications A secondary data set, which is valid, reliable and generalize able for the research work will be considered as a good secondary data. Error Assessing a data set by comparing it from different source is necessary for evaluation. It will reduce the both primary and secondary errors. Currency Frequency and time lag need to be considered while evaluating a data set. A data set that updates within minimal time interval will be considered as a good source of secondary data. Objectives For a project, relevant secondary is necessary. Thus, if a data set used by the researcher fits all the requirement of the project, then it can be considered as a good source of data. Nature A secondary data will be considered as a good data source, if it can be reconfigured to increase the usefulness. Dependability It is good to obtain secondary data from an authentic and credible source so that the researcher can depend on it. Examples As a source of secondary data, websites like Australian Bureau of Statistics can be used because it fits with all the above-mentioned criteria of evaluation. Being the government publication, it is dependable, and using the key words, it can be customized for the different purpose. Another source of secondary data is structured or semi-structured interviews, observations and surveys. Unlike the previous example, these can be biased depending upon the motive of the researcher; however, the chances of errors are low in these cases. Current Tourism market of Australia - The tourism industry of Australia provides a significant contribution towards the overall employment and economic activity of the country. With rise in domestic and international tourists, tourism industry of Australia has been growing at a large scale since 2009 (Ruhanen, Mclennan Moyle, 2013). Figure 1: Growth in domestic and international visitors Source: (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014) According to the Figure 1, it can be seen that, there were considerable growth in both the domestic as well as international visitors since 2009. More interestingly, the figure envisages that growth of international visitors is rising at 8% annual growth, which is a very good sign for the tourism industry of Australia. Figure 2: International trade in tourism Source: (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014) Over the period Australian tourism export has grown at a steady rate, however the tourism imports also rose simultaneously, making the balance of trade fall (Forsyth, Dwyer Spurr, 2014). Rise in tourism imports is the main reason behind this contradictory situation of balance of trade. According to figure 2, trade deficit is almost 9,000 million US$ and if the recent trend persist in future, then the trade balance will deteriorate. Figure 3: share of consumption of selected products Source: (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014) Figure 3 shows the share of consumption of selected products by the tourists in Australia. From figure 3, it can clearly be seen that apart from transportation cost, hotels and food industry enjoys the most of the share of consumption. Due to growth in tourism in Australia, hotels and restaurants imports more regional food crops to attract more visitors that making the fall in balance of trade as depicted by the figure 2. Figure 4: Industry growth at current prices Source: (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014) Well, at last it would be deal to focus on the growth of tourism industry of Australia. From figure 4, it can be derived that tourism industry in Australia has been growing at a 4% annual rate making it a significant contributor in GDP of the country. Compared to other industries in Australia, fluctuation in tourism is comparatively low that envisage the steady growth of the tourism industry. References: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2014).Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, 2013-14. Canberra: ABS. Cope, D. G. (2014, January). Methods and meanings: credibility and trustworthiness of qualitative research. InOncology nursing forum(Vol. 41, No. 1). Forsyth, P., Dwyer, L., Spurr, R. (2014). Is Australian tourism suffering Dutch disease?.Annals of Tourism Research,46, 1-15. Johnston, M. P. (2017). Secondary data analysis: A method of which the time has come.Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries,3(3), 619-626. Ruhanen, L. M., Mclennan, C. L. J., Moyle, B. D. (2013). Strategic issues in the Australian tourism industry: A 10-year analysis of national strategies and plans.Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,18(3), 220-240.