Secondary Research is the collection of data that has already been collected/researched, as opposed to primary research, which involves gathering information first-hand. It is usually conducted by someone else and can be used in conjunction with primary research, as they can support one another depending on the type of research. For example someone may use secondary research to investigate the population of a City 100 years ago and primary research to find out what it is today. Secondary research can be gathered from a a variety of sources, including newspapers, magazines, journals, the internet, government statistics and libraries. These are examples of external sources. However, if someone has to gather a company's data, he will use internal sources, such as sales reports, accounting records and other documents. What sources a person is using to gather data and information will depend on what they are researching. Government websites also contain data on a wide range of things, such as domestic and international markets, company stock and ratings for radio and TV. Some companies will purposely collect data for a wide range of things to then sell (this will change the research from primary to secondary for the purchasing participant).
Secondary research is used when a researching individual or group requires data that is readily available and is more useful than conducting primary research. All secondary research is from the past and so in many cases is used to compare more modern data (primary research). Some examples of this are various statistics about a country such as mortality rates and population size. A company may also review its monetary situation by comparing older financial reports to newer ones. The NRS (National Readership Survey) is a company that publishes the size and nature of the audiences for over 250 of Britain's biggest newspapers and magazines. It provides the most valued print-based research in the UK. The estimated readership figures can be very helpful for someone looking to launch a new magazine or newspaper, as they can see if there is a 'gap in the market', by looking to see how many similar titles are currently being sold and how well they do.
This is an example of a statistics table from the NRS covering the website and print of national and regional newspapers.
Secondary research is used when a researching individual or group requires data that is readily available and is more useful than conducting primary research. All secondary research is from the past and so in many cases is used to compare more modern data (primary research). Some examples of this are various statistics about a country such as mortality rates and population size. A company may also review its monetary situation by comparing older financial reports to newer ones. The NRS (National Readership Survey) is a company that publishes the size and nature of the audiences for over 250 of Britain's biggest newspapers and magazines. It provides the most valued print-based research in the UK. The estimated readership figures can be very helpful for someone looking to launch a new magazine or newspaper, as they can see if there is a 'gap in the market', by looking to see how many similar titles are currently being sold and how well they do.
A huge benefit of secondary research is that it has already been conducted - saving money and time for the researcher. It is also very easily to get as there are many resources that allow this, such as the internet, libraries and old magazines and newspapers. Some information may also be only available from certain sources and impossible for someone to obtain on their own, such as historical statistics relating to a wide range of things. Most of the research- depending on the source, is usually reliable and accurate. Secondary research may also directly answer and provide information for something that is being researched. This can depend on the level of detail that is needed and the type of secondary sources that are being used.
However, there are many disadvantages to secondary research. One is that it may not be very reliable, though this depends on the source. If someone is researching information to represent the present, the data may be out of date and too old to accurately represent something. The sources must always be checked for secondary research as they could be biased. Inaccuracies cannot always be checked however, as if the data is years old the resources to check its reliability may not be available. The data may be vague and not clear on what it is saying and so must not be used as a definitive information collection.
This is an example of a statistics table from the NRS covering the website and print of national and regional newspapers.
This is an example of a downloadable slide from the website, displaying statistics in a graphic style.
