Some advantages of using secondary research are that it doesn’t take as much time or cost as much as if someone were to collect the data themselves, whereas if someone were to go out and collect the data themselves, it would be much more time consuming and involve quite a bit more work. Another advantage is that the information that is gathered can be very high quality, but this all depends on where the source is getting the information (Savage 28). Also, one is able to find and analyze information in a very broad way and incorporate multiple aspects into a research project. This is possible because there are so many different views and opinions when using different sources, everything is able to be incorporated into one research project. One very useful advantage to secondary research is that there is always more time for further analysis if it is needed, whereas when gathering information, there is not always time or money to go out and gather more. Lastly, secondary research allows for many interpretations due to the wide range of data that can be found and used (Savage 28).
Some disadvantages to secondary research are, that there is less familiarity with the data that is being collected, some data that is found can be too complex, or not complex enough which might lead to research project that is not detailed enough (Savage 28). Also, there is no control over the data quality of the sources because the data relies on other people, and the biggest problem with secondary research is that the key variable in a research project may be missing. There is a very small chance that a source will have the exact information that is being sought out, which is why data analysis is needed to compare different sources (Savage 28).
Summary of Findings:
For this topic, one would find that using the secondary research method would be the best way to go about making a research project about the affect of internet usage on an individual’s behaviour. This is because, first, it would be very difficult to go out in the field and actually gather this information and get accurate data to support the hypothesis being made. Having the accessibility to his information allows for this type of information to be gathered much more effectively. If someone were to go out to try to gather in data, the process of gathering a proper population, and finding subjects that are affected by internet use would be very complicated and time consuming. Which leads to the next point of secondary research being much more efficient. This is because, unlike going into the field, the information is already gathered, and all that is really needed is for someone to arrange the data in different ways to answer different research questions. This makes the process a lot faster, and also allows for a lot more time to gather more information and add to a research project if needed. This is because the process can always be repeated as many times as seen necessary to the person doing the research project. This would be difficult to do for someone gathering their own research because there is a lot more preparation involved and more subjects would be needed. Secondary research is able to eliminate a lot of the hassle that comes with doing primary research.
Secondary research is also the best way to research internet usage affecting individual’s behaviour because the study itself does not need to be very personal. There may be a point of personal interest, but the information being gathered is very quantitative and can be obtained just as effectively through secondary research as primary research.
Key Learnings:
When choosing the secondary research method, some things become quite clear. First, evaluating a source can be a very tedious process. Making sure that the source is authentic, credible, representative and meaningful takes time. Whether is has to be done by checking where the source has been cited previously, and then from there, checking if the source that cited the source is also reliable and valid. It is difficult to decide sometimes when enough background checking is enough. Also, when trying to find out if the source is valid can be difficult as well. If there are a number of sources with different information pertaining to the same issue, finding out which sources have the most valid information may be difficult, especially if they are all cited by seemingly reliable sources. A problem that may arise also, is when a source is not representative of it’s type of source. The source may still have very useful information, and could end up having a lot of what is needed for a certain research question, but if it is not presented in a clear way, that source may not be used when it should have. This also causes problems when deciding if a source is meaningful, because if the information is not laid out in a clear and comprehensible manner, then the information it is trying to present may not seem like it is useful.
Using just the two sources gathered, some questions may be raised about the research method chosen. First, it would be difficult to gather information on every behavioral change caused by internet use, but is there a way to do this in an efficient way? Also, what ethical issues are involved in obtaining information that was gathered by someone else, and did that person get they’re information from someone else?
Conclusion:
In discussing using secondary research to answer the question of “Does internet usage affect the way people aged 34 and under behave?” and what was learned in the process, it is safe to conclude that secondary research is the best way to approach a question like this. This is largely due to this method being more effective cost and time wise, but also because it allows for a more in depth analysis by gathering information from a number of different sources, and taking different opinions, views and findings and combining them to create one in-depth research project that can best answer the research question.
