MOD001085 & MOD001086

Undergraduate Major Project

Lecture 6
Using secondary data

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Learning objectives
• Know what secondary data are, and how it can
be incorporated into your research;
• Understand the different types of secondary
data;
• Be aware of the main electronic secondary
sources;
• Know the advantages and disadvantages of
secondary data;

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Learning objectives
• Know how to access secondary data;
• Appreciate how to evaluate secondary
data;
• Understand how to present secondary
data.

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 What are secondary data?
• Secondary data are data that has been
collected by other researchers. Of course,
the researchers could be an individual,
group, or working on behalf of an
organization.

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Reasons for choosing secondary data

• The nature of your chosen topic

• Your university or college’s regulations
(e.g. due to LAIBS regulations you will
need to conduct secondary research)
• Choice of research design
• Undertaking international or cross-
cultural research
• Unable to conduct primary research
Lecture 6: Using secondary data
 Business and secondary data
• Internal - Examples of internal sources
include customer records, sales invoices,
previous market research reports and
minutes from Board meetings.
• External - These include everything from
competitor’s promotional brochures to
government reports.

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

Classification of secondary data
Secondary data

Electronic format Written format

Commercial Academic Commercial Academic

audience audience audience audience
Business
Government Academic directories, Textbooks, lecture
websites, journals, Trade magazines, notes
Multilateral Conference Broadsheet
organizations, papers, newspapers,
Company Book reviews Company reports
websites

Classification of secondary data

Lecture 6: Using secondary data
 Advantages of secondary data
• Less resource intensive
• Can allow for comparative analysis
• Ideal for longitudinal studies
• Easily accessible by other researchers

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Disadvantages of secondary data
• Access is difficult and costly
• May not match your research problem
• Difficult to verify reliability
• Not in a manageable form

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 An example of raw data

Transaction Amount (£)

No.

101293 42.96
101294 20.99
101295 11.50
101296 13.75

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 An example of processed (cooked) data
Date Daily sales achieved Daily Sales target (£) Difference (+ / -)
(£)
Mon 23rd 35,000 34,750 + 250.00
March
Tues 24th 18,345 22,950 -4605
March
Weds 25th 17,234 14,750 +2484
March
Thurs 25th 29,108 28,250 +858
March
Fri 26th 22,400 21,750 +650
March
Sat 27th 39,100 38,250 +850
March
Sun 28th 12,240 11,500 +740
March
TOTAL for 173,427 172,200 +1227
week
Lecture 6: Using secondary data
 Evaluating secondary data
• Purpose
• Scope
• Authority
• Audience
• Format

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Presenting secondary data
• Original form
• Adapted form
• Qualitative
• Quantitative

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Common questions
• You have decided to base your research project
on the current economic crisis. Your leading
research question is ‘How has the current
economic crisis impacted trade between the UK
and US?’ Suggest possible sources of secondary
data that you might use to answer this question.

Lecture 6: Using secondary data

 Common questions
• Does my research project have to be based
entirely on secondary data?
• What are the disadvantages of restricting your
secondary data to that of newspapers only?
• What are the possible advantages of using
secondary data in electronic format?

Lecture 6: Using secondary data