Secondary research, often known as desk research, is a type of study that includes accumulating data from a range of sources. Internal sources (for example, in-house research) and, more typically, external sources are included (such as government statistics, organizational bodies, and the internet)
Secondary research is available in a variety of formats, including published datasets, reports, and survey results, and may be found on the internet, in libraries, and museums.
The data is normally free — or available for a fee — and is obtained through surveys, phone interviews, observation, face-to-face interviews, and other methods. Researchers gather, verify, analyze, and incorporate secondary research companies to assist them to corroborate study goals for the research period.
Secondary research has several advantages, which we’ve listed below:
- Data that is easily and quickly accessible
Several data sources have been pre-collected for usage, both in person at local libraries and online via the internet. This data is generally filtered by filters or downloaded into a spreadsheet format, so accessing and using it requires no technical knowledge.
- Faster research speeds
You don’t need to do primary research because the data has already been released and made available to the public. This can make the study process easier and faster by allowing you to get began with the data right away.
- Modest financial and time expenditures
Because most secondary data sources are free or have a low cost to the researcher, total research costs are kept low. Furthermore, by reducing preliminary research expenditures, the researcher’s time costs are reduced.
Three Real-Life Applications of Secondary Research Methodologies
Secondary research can be done in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Consider the following examples:
1. Gathering factual information about a given topic or industry from the internet
There are several websites where users may examine and use data for their studies. Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and the Wiley Online Library, for example, all give past research on a certain topic. Researchers may sign up for a free account and utilize the search features to look into a topic by keyword, then download or export the findings for additional study.
This might be handy for researching a market opportunity that your company is interested in joining. You may understand what the demographics of your target audience are by looking at the U.S. Census Bureau demographic statistics for that location, and design appealing marketing campaigns based on that information.
2. Finding out what your target audience thinks about a given issue
Secondary sources may be used to learn about historical perspectives on an issue, such as opinions on women’s rights in the United States. Qualitative reports and interviews on how individuals addressed women’s rights can be found in textbooks, news stories, reviews, and journal entries. Multimedia components, such as video or recorded propaganda posters with biased language usage, may be present.
You may generate a chronology of how an issue was discussed through time by gathering this information, synthesizing it, and analyzing the language, who developed it, and when it was shared.
3. When you’re looking for the most up-to-date information on a topic
Schools and universities, for example, produce a lot of research-based studies on younger audiences or their academic specialties. Students’ theses can also be submitted to research journals, making these venues valuable for seeing the most recent findings from a new generation of academics. Requests for information might be made, and academic institutions may seek to collaborate and do research on your behalf.
To summarize,
Purchasing secondary market research for any secondary research companies, as opposed to original market research, might be dangerous. As a result, organizations need to choose solid, dependable, and tried-and-true research providers. Choosing the ‘correct’ secondary research partner has gotten increasingly difficult as the amount of secondary data provided via digital platforms has grown.