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Primary Research
Primary Research is creating technical information yourself. Primary research sources could
include competitor employees, former employees, competitor vendors and suppliers. It can
involve questionnaires, surveys or interviews with individuals or small groups. There are seven
major categories of primary research; observations, inspections, experiments, field research,
interviews, inquiry letters, and questionnaires.
Advantages Disadvantages
Quick and cheap if the sample is small Over-reliance on statistical analysis loses
individual meanings and case study data
Coding leads to multiple comparisons among
variables
Closed questions may constrain the data
response
Computer cod able results in quick analysis
and repetition
Respondents may interpret the questions
differently, thus making comparison of the
answers difficult
Verifiable by replication of interviewees and
re-questioning of respondents
Researchers may bias the data by question
framing and concept definition
Allows generalization to a wider range of
population
It is not sure that if people are responding
honestly

Secondary Research
Secondary research is collecting information that other people have already discovered or
created. It is also called as 'desk research'. Secondary research includes published research
reports in a library, surveys and the Internet. It also includes scientific reports generated by
medical councils, universities and government. Secondary research involves searching online
catalogs, reference works, periodical indexes, news paper indexes and abstract services.

Advantages Disadvantages
Cheap and accessible e.g. a University Library Lack of consistency of perspective
The only resource in most of the cases Biases and inaccuracies cannot be checked
The only best way to examine large-scale Published statistics raise more questions than
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trends answers they provide
Published texts, Media and Personal
documents are secondary research.
The concern over whether any data can be
totally separated from the context of its
collection

Comparison
Primary Research Secondary Research
Original data collection By yourself By someone else (a random
person)
Examples Surveys, interviews, focus
groups ,observations and
interviews
It involves looking for existing
data
Quantitative or Qualitative
analysis
Can be either quantitative or
qualitative
Can be either quantitative or
qualitative
Key Benefits Specific to needs & can
control the quality
Usually cheap and quick way
Key Disadvantages It cost more and takes longer
time
Data can be too old and/ or not
specific enough for your needs

Why do we use secondary research?
Secondary research is important because it lets other to use of other unknown researchers. It is
also cheaper, quick and time-saving compared to primary research. As much as secondary
research is recommended, it is important to recognize the ownership of various copyrights to
avoid infringement and plagiarism. Although workplace research often focuses on primary
research, you will almost always need to do secondary research as well. Some topics call for
research in a library or in e-books provided on internet. Researcher might need specialized
handbooks or access to registered online subscription services that are not freely available on the
Internet. Secondary research is less expensive than primary research; it is accurate, useful,
specific and close to customized research.