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Market research can be classified as either primary or secondary research. The difference is quite simple, yet there is often confusion around this topic.

In a nutshell, primary research is original research conducted by you (or someone you hire) to collect data specifically for your current objective. You might conduct a survey, run an interview or a focus group, observe behavior, or do an experiment. You are going to be the person who obtains this raw data directly and it will be collected specifically for your current research need. Conversely, secondary research involves searching for existing data that was originally collected by someone else. You might look in journals, libraries, or go to online sources like the US census. You will apply what you find to your personal research problem, but the data you are finding was not originally collected by you, nor was it obtained for the purpose you are using it for. I hope that makes sense. If not, read on for some examples and a little more detail.

Secondary Market Research
Sometimes called "desk research" (because it can be done from behind a desk), this technique involves research and analysis of existing research and data; hence the name, "secondary research." Conducting secondary research may not be so glamorous, but it often makes a lot of sense of start here. Why? Well, for one thing, secondary research is often free. Second, data is increasingly available thanks to the Internet; the US Census and the CDC (health data), for example, are two great sources of data that has already been collected by someone else. Your job as a secondary researcher is to seek out these sources, organize and apply the data to your specific project, and then summarize/visualize it in a way that makes sense to you and your audience. So, that's what secondary market research is all about. The downside, of course, is that you may not be able to find secondary market research information specific enough (or recent enough) for your objectives. If that's the case, you'll need to conduct your own primary research (hey, what a perfect segway!).

Sources of Secondary Data
Secondary data comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There are plenty of raw data sources like the US Census, Data.gov, the stock market, and countless others. Internal company data like customer details, sales figures, employee timecards, etc. can also be considered secondary data. Published articles, including peer-reviewed journals, newspapers, magazines, and even blog postings like this count as secondary data sources. Don't forget legal documents like patents and company annual filings. Social media data is a new source of secondary data. For example, the New York Times collected Twitter traffic during the 2009 Super Bowl and produced this stunning visualization of comments throughout the game. Secondary data is all around us and is more accessible than even. It is increasingly possible to obtain behavioral data from secondary sources, which can be more powerful and reliable than self-reported data (via surveys and focus groups).

Here's one more incredible example of what can be done with secondary data-this time using publicly available blog posts. The video below is a talk by Jonathan Harris of the "We Feel Fine" project. If you have a moment, check it out.

Primary Market Research
Primary research is research that is conducted by you, or someone you pay to do original research on your behalf. In the case of primary research, you are generating your own data from scratch as opposed to finding other people's data. You might choose to gather this data by running a survey, interviewing people, observing behavior, or by using some other market research method. Here's a quick example that explains primary vs. secondary market research.

Both primary and secondary research can be either qualitative or quantitative in nature. I hope this tutorial on the differences between primary and secondary research has been helpful. If I missed something or if you have something to add, please do so with a comment below.

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Market research can be classified as either primary or secondary research. The difference is quite simple, yet there is often confusion around this topic. In a nutshell, primary research is original research conducted by you (or someone you hire) to collect data specifically for your current objective.

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Research, an art of scientific investigation. It is a methodical search for relevant information or facts on a particular topic. It aims at discovering the answers to questions by applying scientific procedures. It is very helpful in the collection of authentic data. There are two kinds of research, i.e. primary research and secondary research. Primary research is one that involves the gathering of fresh data. On the contrary, Secondary research is a research method which involves the use of data, already collected through primary research. The main difference between primary and secondary research lies in the sources of data collection.

Content: Primary Research Vs Secondary Research

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison

Primary Research

Secondary Research

Definition of Primary Research

A type of research, wherein the research aims at acquiring new and original data by primary sources, is known as Primary Data. As the term 'primary' implies 'first and foremost' and when it is linked with research, it means an in-depth exploration of facts by the researcher himself and that too with the one to one communication with the people, who know about the subject.

It is a bit difficult to conduct primary research because it requires a lot of time, money, resources and some prior information about the subject. With a view to getting needed information, the researcher has to start from scratch. The research can be performed through interviews, questionnaires, observations, etc.

Definition of Secondary Research

The research which involves analysis, interpretation and summarization of primary research, is called secondary research. In finer terms, the research in which data is obtained from readily available sources is secondary. As the data available is already analysed and interpreted, the researcher only needs to figure out the data of his choice, i.e. the relevant information for the project.

In this type of research, the researcher uses information gathered by government agencies, associations, labour unions media sources and so on. The data assembled is primarily published in newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, journals, reports, encyclopaedias etc.

Key Differences Between Primary and Secondary Research

You can find out the difference between primary and secondary research, in the following points in detail:

1. Research conducted to gather first-hand information, for the current problem is called Primary Research. Secondary Research is one that involves the use of information obtained originally by primary research.

2. Primary Research is based on raw data, whereas secondary research is based on analysed and interpreted information.

3. The primary research, the data is collected by the researcher himself or by the person hired by him. As against this, the secondary research, the data collection is performed by someone else.

4. The primary research process is very involved which deeply explores the topic. Conversely, the secondary research process is fast and easy, which aims at gaining broad understanding about the subject.

5. In primary research, as the researcher conducts the research, the data collected is always specific to the needs of the researcher. As opposed to secondary research, wherein the data lacks particularity, i.e. it may or may not be as per the requirements of the researcher.

6. Primary research is an expensive process; wherein high cost is involved in the exploration of data and facts from various sources. Unlike Secondary research, is an economical process wherein the low cost is involved in acquiring pertinent information because the data is already collected by someone else.

7. Primary research consumes a lot of time as the research is done from scratch. However, in the case of secondary research, the collection of data is already done, the research takes comparatively less time.

Conclusion

Both primary and secondary research have their advantages and disadvantages. While primary data is need-specific and quality is also up to the mark, but it is expensive and consumes more time. Secondary research, on the other hand, is cheap, and the data collection is easy, but it is also possible that the data may be outdated and does not suit your requirements. So, before choosing any of these two, first examine your requirements, sources, costs, etc. to choose the best research type for your project.

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Difference Between Primary and Secondary Research (with Comparison Chart) - Key Differences

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Research, an art of scientific investigation. It is a methodical search for relevant information or facts on a particular topic. It aims at discovering the answers to questions by applying scientific procedures. It is very helpful in the collection of authentic data. There are two kinds of research, i.e.

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Research is the most widely used tool to increase and brush-up the stock of knowledge about something and someone. In the field of marketing, business, sociology, psychology, science & technology, economics, etc. there are two standard ways of conducting research, i.e. qualitative research or quantitative research. While the qualitative research relies on verbal narrative like spoken or written data, the quantitative research uses logical or statistical observations to draw conclusions.

In a qualitative research, there are only a few non-representative cases are used as a sample to develop an initial understanding. Unlike, quantitative research in which a sufficient number of representative cases are taken to consideration to recommend a final course of action.

There is a never-ending debate on, which research is better than the other, so in this article, we are going to shed light on the difference between qualitative and quantitative research.

Content: Qualitative Research Vs Quantitative Research

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison

Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research

Definition of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is one which provides insights and understanding of the problem setting. It is an unstructured, exploratory research method that studies highly complex phenomena that are impossible to elucidate with the quantitative research. Although, it generates ideas or hypothesis for later quantitative research.

Qualitative research is used to gain an in-depth understanding of human behaviour, experience, attitudes, intentions, and motivations, on the basis of observation and interpretation, to find out the way people think and feel. It is a form of research in which the researcher gives more weight to the views of the participants. Case study, grounded theory, ethnography, historical and phenomenology are the types of qualitative research.

Definition of Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a form of research that relies on the methods of natural sciences, which produces numerical data and hard facts. It aims at establishing cause and effect relationship between two variables by using mathematical, computational and statistical methods. The research is also known as empirical research as it can be accurately and precisely measured.

The data collected by the researcher can be divided into categories or put into rank, or it can be measured in terms of units of measurement. Graphs and tables of raw data can be constructed with the help quantitative research, making it easier for the researcher to analyse the results.

Key Differences Between Qualitative And Quantitative Research

The differences between qualitative and quantitative research are provided can be drawn clearly on the following grounds:

1. Qualitative research is a method of inquiry that develops understanding on human and social sciences, to find the way people think and feel. A scientific and empirical research method that is used to generate numerical data, by employing statistical, logical and mathematical technique is called quantitative research.

2. Qualitative research is holistic in nature while quantitative research is particularistic.

3. The qualitative research follows a subjective approach as the researcher is intimately involved, whereas the approach of quantitative research is objective, as the researcher is uninvolved and attempts to precise the observations and analysis on the topic to answer the inquiry.

4. Qualitative research is exploratory. As opposed to quantitative research which is conclusive.

5. The reasoning used to synthesise data in qualitative research is inductive whereas in the case of quantitative research the reasoning is deductive.

6. Qualitative research is based on purposive sampling, where a small sample size is selected with a view to get a thorough understanding of the target concept. On the other hand, quantitative research relies on random sampling; wherein a large representative sample is chosen in order to extrapolate the results to the whole population.

7. Verbal data are collected in qualitative research. Conversely, in quantitative research measurable data is gathered.

8. Inquiry in qualitative research is a process-oriented, which is not in the case of quantitative research.

9. The hypothesis is generated in qualitative research by inductive reasoning. On the contrary, the hypothesis is tested by deductive research in quantitative reasoning.

10. Elements used in the analysis of qualitative research are words, pictures, and objects while that of quantitative research is numerical data.

11. Qualitative Research is conducted with the aim of exploring and discovering ideas used in the ongoing processes. As opposed to quantitative research the purpose is to examine cause and effect relationship between variables.

12. Lastly, the methods used in qualitative research are in-depth interviews, focus groups, etc. In contrast, the methods of conducting quantitative research are structured interviews and observations.

13. Qualitative Research develops the initial understanding whereas quantitative research recommends a final course of action.

Conclusion

An ideal research is one, which is conducted by considering both the methods, together. Although, there are some particular areas which require, only one type of research which mainly depends on the information required by the researcher. While qualitative research tends to be interpretative, quantitative research is concrete.

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Difference Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research (With Comparison Chart) - Key Differences

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Research is the most widely used tool to increase and brush-up the stock of knowledge about something and someone. In the field of marketing, business, sociology, psychology, science & technology, economics, etc. there are two standard ways of conducting research, i.e. qualitative research or quantitative research.

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Thank you for your interest in submitting a paper to IJMR. Detailed manuscript submission guidelines for the journal can be found here and are intended to provide advice for prospective authors on the types of papers we publish, and to help authors increase their chances of being accepted for publication.

Please submit your manuscript online here in MS Word or LaTeX. Templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of SAGE's Author Gateway.

If you have any questions or difficulties, please contact the editorial office at ijmr.queries@sagepub.co.uk.

All papers are assessed by the Editor and 'double-blind' reviewed by two referees. There are three types of paper: full academic articles, and shorter Forum and Viewpoint pieces. To assess which category your paper belongs please see the detailed Guidelines for Authors.

For further information about the review process this Viewpoint written by Agnes Nairn, an Executive Editorial Board member, may be helpful.
Open Access (OA)
The IJMR is a subscription-only journal but does operate a hybrid gold open access option, to enable those authors with specific OA funding mandates to submit to the journal. Authors will be required to pay a one-off article processing charge (APC) covering the costs of the peer review, copy editing and proofreading process. Once the APC has been paid, authors can post the final, published version of their article on a website, institutional repository or other free public server, without embargo. The APC charge for the IJMR is US$3,000.

Articles are eligible for the OA option only after the article has been accepted for publication. We would request that any authors requiring the OA option alert the journal's Editor as soon as possible after acceptance has been confirmed. For any further queries about this option please contact ijmr.queries@sagepub.co.uk.
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Before submission to the journal authors can share their preprint anywhere at any time. However, we ask that once submitted to IJMR, articles are not under consideration by any other journal or publication.
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Once the Contribution has been accepted for publication, you may post the accepted version (version 2) of the Contribution on your own personal website, your department's website or the repository of your institution without any restrictions.

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The final pdf version of Gold open access articles can be shared anywhere at any time.

These articles are also open access on the journal's website.

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You may use the published Contribution (version 3) for your own teaching needs or to supply on an individual basis to research colleagues, provided that such supply is not for commercial purposes.

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Go to the IJMR website

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International Journal of Market Research (IJMR) | Market Research Society | Market Research Society

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Thank you for your interest in submitting a paper to IJMR. Detailed manuscript submission guidelines for the journal can be found here and are intended to provide advice for prospective authors on the types of papers we publish, and to help authors increase their chances of being accepted for publication.

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Square One: Saskatchewan's Business Resource Centre

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Uploaded by Square One: Saskatchewan's Business Resource Centre on 2015-08-19.

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This screen-capture video lesson considers marketing research, and collection information about customer needs.

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GfK - A life without market research #LifeWithoutMarketResearch

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Ethics Guidelines

Good ethical practice in social research is vital to:

protect research subjects,

ensure high quality research,

reassure funders,

help to maintain the good reputation of our sector, and

comply with legislation.

To help you maintain good practice, we have created these Ethics Guidelines (pdf).

SRA members with a research ethics issue/concern can put it to our Ethics Forum.

Further sources of information on social research ethics
The SRA was a key partner in the development of a Code of Practice for the European Commission - the RESPECT project. Download a copy of the RESPECT code (pdf).

The website of the Association of Research Ethics Committees ( AREC).

The guidance and links on the website of King's College London.

The Market Research Society website, featuring their code of conduct, and details of their ethics forum that meets regularly to consider topical issues.

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Ethics Guidelines Good ethical practice in social research is vital to: protect research subjects, ensure high quality research, reassure funders, help to maintain the good reputation of our sector, and comply with legislation. To help you maintain good practice, we have created these Ethics Guidelines (pdf).

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Ethical Considerations of Marketing Research

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Marketing research has experienced a resurgence with the widespread use of the Internet and the popularity of social networking. It is easier than ever before for companies to connect directly with ...