Secondary research
Secondary research is research that has already been collected. In other words, it already exists. Secondary data sources include:
- documents
- letters
- diaries
- official statistics, such as government reports or organisations which collect and publish data
- journals
- books
- internet sites
- historical data and information
The main advantage of secondary information is that it has already been collected by someone else, and therefore is often available at little or no cost. However, it is not always presented in the form the researcher would want. This is because it may have originally been collected for another purpose. This means that secondary research generally needs to be adapted before it can be used in specific research projects.
Researchers must always evaluate the credibility of secondary sources. This can be done by applying credibility criteria such as RURU.
Since 1801, the government has collated and produced a huge amount of statistical information about the UK’s economy, society and population. The data collected includes information on:
- death rates
- birth rates
- fertility rates
- divorce rates
- employment rates
- crime rates
- suicide rates
- economic information
Some researchers choose to use a combination of primary and secondary sources. This is called Also known as triangulation. A technique that uses at least two sources to check the credibility and validity of information. or Also known as methodological pluralism. A technique that uses at least two sources to check the credibility and validity of information..
This means that researchers can compare different data sources and methods to cross-check information. This helps to confirm findings, which will make the conclusions more robust and reliable.
Example
Researchers might be investigating customer satisfaction levels of the service offered by a bus company.
If they had found secondary evidence to suggest that the majority of travellers were happy with the service, they could then carry out primary research to check if the secondary evidence was robust.
If the primary research found that seven out of ten respondents were happy with the bus company's service, this would confirm that the secondary research is reliable.
