Primary research is the gathering of information by the person or persons carrying out the research. Primary research provides up-to-date and hopefully relevant information about the topic being studied.
THE PRIMARY RESEARCH PROCESS AND DIFFERENT METHODS USED
Research is regarded as a cyclical process that generally involves the stages shown in the diagram on the following page.
Primary sources of information allow the learner to access original and unedited information. A primary source requires the learner to interact with the source and extract information. Some examples are shown below:
Surveys/Questionnaires
Survey research is based upon asking questions of people. This can be in the form of a questionnaire or an intensive one to one interview
Questionnaires are usually a paper and pencil exercise that people complete. The completion of a questionnaire can carried out through a mail drop or group activity or as a one to one structure interview.
Observations
There are two principle types of observation participant and non – participant. Observations can be regarded as either structured or unstructured.
What primary sources are available?
A good example of a primary source is a book called, The Diary of Ann Frank.
Secondary research is the use of information that others have collected secondary research is an essential part of primary research as the researcher needs to be fully ware of that other people have studied in relation to their own work.
Secondary sources are second hand and therefore may be biased towards the views of the person or organisation that produced them, also the information may be out of date as the book or article may have been written sometime after the original research was done and the reader is accessing the material after publication therefore information should be treated with caution and if the material is used there should be evidence from different sources to support it.
What secondary sources are available?
The type of information obtained by primary or secondary research can be identified as either qualitative or quantitative.
- Quantitative information describes information or data that is in the form of number, for example, car registration numbers.
- Qualitative information is descriptive and in the form of the written or spoken work.
Further distinctions can occur as a consequence of research involving the study of people. These include cross sectional and longitudinal studies.
Cross Sectional Study
A cross sectional study is based upon the investigation of people at a particular moment in time, for example, finding out different people’s opinions about the coming war.
Longitudinal Research
Longitudinal research studies individuals or groups over a period of time and even in some cases over years, for example studying the development of a baby from birth to six months.
The problem with longitudinal studies in the time required to complete them, for example the person you are carrying out your study on may die.
When researching you must be careful not to copy the other persons work. Plagiarism is the direct copying of someone else’s work and is against copyright law, however it is possible to use someone else’s work as long as the original author is acknowledged.
Task 1
Claire McNeill
707 words
