Understanding Primary and Secondary Research

About Primary and Secondary Research

Source: Hong Kong University    http://www4.caes.hku.hk/acadgrammar/report/resproc/methods.htm

	Primary Research	Secondary Research
Definition - What is it NSW HSC Online (2013)	“Primary research is the research you generate by asking questions, conducting trials and collating results. This research can take the form of quantitative or qualitative research” “Primary research is new research, carried out to answer specific issues or questions. It can involve questionnaires, surveys or interviews with individuals or small groups”.- Source- Learning Marketing	“Secondary research is based on the findings from other people's research. It involves the gathering of the results of other's research from books, reports or the Internet. Selections or summaries are made of the research allowing   for evidence to be gathered to support your conclusions”
Business Studies Len Nixon-UTS Handout 2013	-It involves seeking out information should what the business does, how it operates; success or failure, and strategies used to achieve its goals and objectives. -Interviews and questionaries can be used as the means of obtaining the information necessary to undertake the task.  -Note: Primary research is not just using documents produced by the business. Many other fields use the primary research to directly support their conclusions	It is the use of existing information. The library is the good place to obtain this information. Newspaper, internet sources, magazines and trade publications are useful to consult as a means of building an understanding or a profile of the business. Also, any document generated by your business can be used as secondary sources of information
Common Methods /Resources available	Social surveys:        Questionnaire surveys        Interviews: informal or structured Observation:        Participant (overt) or covert (masked identity) Primary data collection methods include observations, interviews and trials	Published statistics:        census, housing and social security data Published texts:        theoretical work, secondary analyses by          ‘experts’ and reports Media:        documentaries for example, as a source of        information Personal documents:        diaries
Advantages	Social Surveys Quick and cheap if the sample is small ·  Computer codable for quick analysis and repetition ·  Coding enables multiple comparisons among variables ·  Allows generalization to a larger population ·  Verifiable by replication and re-questioning of interviewees/respondents	Cheap and accessible - especially a University Library Often the only resource, for example historical documents Only way to examine large-scale trends  using internal data :      It is right there and readily available, probably from          one’s own PC.      It is very cost-effective, probably free.      The data is structured in a way that suits the         business in terms of matching one’s preferred      segments using external data:      It is a cost-effective way of understanding one’s        industry relative to commissioning one’s own      primary research.      It is written by industry experts and is more likely       to be objective.
Disadvantages	Social Surveys •          Using a large sample can be time-consuming •          Over-reliance on computed (statistical) analysis loses individual meanings and case study data •          Closed questions may constrain the data (pre-empting a richer range of response) •          Respondents may interpret the questions differently. This makes comparison of the answers difficult •          Researchers can bias the data by concept definition and question framing •          It is impossible to check if people are responding honestly •          Response rate may be low and selection non-random. This affects the validity of any inferred generalisations	Lack of consistency of perspective Biases and inaccuracies cannot be checked Published statistics often raise more questions than they answer The concern over whether any data can be totally separated from the context of its collection using internal data       it only shows trends among current customers, and         not get any industry information. using external data:      As it has been collected for other purposes it may      not be an exact match for requirements.      need to check the quality of the data. Some      researchers are better and more thorough than     others. Need to buy reports from a reputable       company.

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