Question

Johannes Kepler served as the assistant to the wealthy astronomer Tycho Brahe. Brahe had collected a lifetime of astronomical observations which he withheld from Kepler because of various reasons. The observations came into Kepler's hands after Brahe's death. Kepler used these observations to derive the laws of planetary motion.

In this case, Brahe's observations can be classified as ___

• A. primary data because Kepler was Brahe's associate and they were both astronomers
• B. primary data because the observations directly served Kepler's research
• C. secondary data because Brahe did not intend Kelper to be in possession of the observation
• D. secondary data because the data was collected by Brahe for his own research and came to Kepler second hand

Answer 1

The correct option is D secondary data because the data was collected by Brahe for his own research and came to Kepler second hand

Any data that is not collected directly by the observer is secondary data. In this case, even though Brahe's observations suited Kepler's research, the data was originally collected by Brahe independently. Hence, Brahe's observations can be classified as secondary data.