10.4 Primary and Secondary Research
Primary Research
Primary sources are texts that arise directly from a particular event or time period. They may be letters, speeches, works of art, works of literature, diaries, direct personal observations, newspaper articles that offer direct observations of current events, survey responses, tweets, other social media posts, original scholarly research (meaning research that the author or authors conduct themselves) or any other content that comes out of direct involvement with an event or a research study.
Primary research is information that has not yet been critiqued, interpreted or analyzed by a second (or third, etc) party.
Primary sources can be popular (if published in newspapers, magazines or websites for the general public) or academic (if written by scholars and published in scholarly journals).
Examples of Primary Sources
- journals, diaries
- blog posts
- a speech
- data from surveys or polls
- scholarly journal articles in which the author(s) discuss the methods and results from their own
- original research/experiments
- photos, videos, sound recordings
- interviews or transcripts
- poems, paintings, sculptures, songs or other works of art
- government documents (such as reports of legislative sessions, laws or court decisions, financial or economic reports, and more)
- newspaper and magazine articles that report directly on current events (although these can also be considered Secondary)
- Investigative journalism (sometimes considered Secondary as well)
The Internet and Primary Research
Primary research involves gathering data for a specific research task. It is based on data that have not been gathered beforehand. Primary research can be either qualitative or quantitative.
Primary research can be used to explore a market and can help develop the hypotheses or research questions that must be answered by further research. Generally, qualitative data are gathered at this stage. For example, online research communities can be used to identify consumer needs that are not being met and brainstorm possible solutions. Further quantitative research can investigate what proportion of consumers share these problems and which potential solutions best meet those needs.
Secondary Research
Secondary sources summarize, interpret, critique, analyze, or offer commentary on primary sources.
In a secondary source, an author’s subject is not necessarily something he or she experienced directly. The author of a secondary source may be summarizing, interpreting or analyzing data or information from someone else’s research or offering an interpretation or opinion on current events. Thus, the secondary source is one step away from the original primary topic/subject/research study.
Secondary sources can be popular (if published in newspapers, magazines or websites for the general public) or academic (if written by scholars and published in scholarly journals).
Examples of Secondary Sources
- book, movie or art reviews
- summaries of the findings from other people’s research
- interpretations or analyses of primary source materials or other people’s research
histories or biographies - political commentary
- newspaper and Magazine articles that mainly synthesize others’ research or primary materials (remember, newspaper and magazine articles can also be considered primary, depending on the content)
The Internet and Secondary Research
Market research based on secondary resources uses data that already exist for analysis. This includes both internal and external data and is useful for exploring existing market and marketing problems.
Research based on secondary data should precede primary data research. It should be used to establish the context and parameters for primary research.
Secondary Data
Uses of secondary data include the following:
- The data can provide enough information to solve the problem at hand, thereby negating the need for further research.
- Secondary data can provide sources for hypotheses that can be explored through primary research.
- Sifting through secondary data is a necessary precursor for primary research, as it can provide information relevant to sample sizes and audience, for example.
- The data can be used as a reference base to measure the accuracy of primary research.
Companies that transact online have a wealth of data that can be mined due to the nature of the Internet. Every action that is performed on the company Website is recorded in the server logs.
Customer communications are also a source of data that can be used, particularly communications with a customer service department. Committed customers who complain, comment, or compliment provide information that can form the foundation for researching customer satisfaction.
Social networks, blogs, and other forms of social media have emerged as forums where consumers discuss their likes and dislikes, and customers can be particularly vocal about companies and products. These data can and should be tracked and monitored to establish consumer sentiment. If a community is established for research purposes, this should be considered primary data, but using social media to research existing sentiments is considered secondary research.
The Internet is an ideal starting point for conducting secondary research based on published data and findings. But with so much information out there, it can be a daunting task to find reliable resources.
The first point of call for research online is usually a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo. Search engines usually have an array of advanced features that can aid online research. For example, Google offers Advanced Search, Google Scholar, and Google Book Search.
Key Takeaways
- The Internet is an ideal way to reach a large number of people at a relatively low cost.
- Market research based on secondary resources uses data that already exist for analysis.
- Research based on secondary data should precede primary data research.
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There are four main uses of secondary data:
- Data can provide enough information to solve the problem, negating the need for further research.
- Secondary data can provide sources for hypotheses that can be explored through primary research.
- Sifting through secondary data is a necessary precursor for primary research, as it can provide information relevant to sample sizes and audiences.
- The data can be used as a reference base to measure the accuracy of primary research.
- Companies that transact online have a wealth of data available to them.
- Social media have emerged as a forum where consumers discuss their likes and dislikes.
Primary Research & Secondary Research: “10.1 Types of Sources: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary” from A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing by Melanie Gagich & Emilie Zickel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—What is a Primary Souce? & What is a Secondary Source? sections used.
“18.3 Primary and Secondary Research” from eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing by Saylor Academy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercical ShareAlike International 3.0 Licence, except where otherwise noted.—Figure 18.2, The Internet and Secondary Research & The Internet and Primary Research sections used.
