Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Research Methods.
Secondary Data
Secondary data prior undertaking primary research
In a social study review of research methods, Patrick McNeill is making evidence of the fact that good social science is based on good evidence and how important the research methods are in sociology and everyday life. McNeill (1990) also argues that "the data that is used by sociologists may be 'primary' or 'secondary'. Primary data is collected by the researcher at first hand, mainly through surveys, interviews, or participant observation. Secondary data is available from some other source, and comes in various forms. It has been produced and processed before receiving the attention of the sociologist" (McNeill, 1990).
In distinguishing secondary data from primary data Malhotra and Birks quotes: "The act of sourcing, evaluating and analysing secondary data can realise great insights for decision-makers. It is also vital to successful problem diagnosis, sample planning and collection of primary data". (Malhotra & Birks, 2006, pp. 83)
Hakim (1982) points out the idea of relying more on secondary data rather than collecting primary data "One advantage of secondary analysis is that it forces the researcher to think more closely about the theoretical aims and substantive issues of the study rather than the practical and methodological problems of collecting new data. The time and effort involved in obtaining funds for and organising a new survey can be devoted instead to the analysis and interpretation of results"(Hakim, 1982, p.16)
Contrasting the primary research with the secondary research the highlighted differences are by how each of them collects the information. Primary research according to Malhotra and Birks (2006, pp.84) is the data generated by a researcher for a particular purpose of addressing "the problem at hand". The secondary data are information that already exists, free sources such as Government, agencies, etc., being collected for other reasons than "the problem at hand". In many cases it happens that the notion of primary and secondary data is misunderstand or confused. Therefore there is the term of "Marketing intelligence" which is defined by Malhotra and Birks as "qualified observations of events and developments in the marketing environment"( Malhotra and Birks 2006, pp.85) which contains the data collected in many instances for other needs than "the problem at hand".
The main characteristic of secondary data are the structure which relies on the specifications and research design; availability; sources that can be generated in-house and from research organization; data source which can be quantitative, but also many issues need qualitative information; source of credibility; terms of reference containing clear definitions of what is being measured; analysis and ethics, which are the in-company data collection.
Further analysis by Hakim (1982) argued an existing dataset of secondary analysis which are presented through interpretations and conclusions. Also the knowledge additional to, presented in a different form firstly as report on ...
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The main characteristic of secondary data are the structure which relies on the specifications and research design; availability; sources that can be generated in-house and from research organization; data source which can be quantitative, but also many issues need qualitative information; source of credibility; terms of reference containing clear definitions of what is being measured; analysis and ethics, which are the in-company data collection.
Further analysis by Hakim (1982) argued an existing dataset of secondary analysis which are presented through interpretations and conclusions. Also the knowledge additional to, presented in a different form firstly as report on the analysis as the complete and most important result. More often researchers like to think that they are original with their ideas; therefore they consider that the relevant data could not be gathered by anyone else. The 'old' data are part of the original research that can often be done in any moment.
Secondary analysis as Stewart & Kamins (1993) argues is considered to be the further analysis which is made on the information available, or which has been already obtained. In reaching the conclusions there is often a possibility to combine several different sources of information, the final result not being suggested by any other source. The difference between Secondary research and primary research is that by doing secondary research the analyst is not responsible for collecting the information, entering the picture after the data collection effort is over. Meanwhile in the primary research the analyst has to face the responsibility of designing the research, the collection of data, doing the further analysis and summarizing the information. There are often situation when secondary and primary research can be substituted by each other.
Advantages of secondary data
In the study of Methodological Foundations of marketing research Churchill and Iacobucci, (2002, pp.196-198) are describing several advantages that secondary data offer. The most significant are the cost for being relatively inexpensive and the time economies in collecting the data. Secondary data are also easily accessible, the researcher's need is simply to search through online resources or library and locate the appropriate source, record the information obtained and analyse it. In case of information that can collected in a field survey, the data collection form has to be designed and pre-tested, also interviewing the staff, and sampling devised plan. The accuracy and omissions of the gathered data must be checked and the data coded and tabulated. Estimating the whole process it can be evaluated as facing higher expenses of money and time. Meanwhile with secondary data the expenses are incurred, but by using the commercial sources of secondary data will be much less expensive.
Beside the cost and time economies Bryman (2004,pp.202) argues the advantages of high quality data and the opportunity for longitudinal analysis. Also the idea of cost and time economics in change for the more time for data analysis "data collection is time consuming, the analysis of data is often squeezed''( Bryman, 2004,pp.202).
Secondary data, according to Newson Smith (1988) can be a substitute for the field research, can be used as a technique and can be used in acquisitions studies.
In the criteria of evaluating secondary data advantages and uses, Malhotra and Birks state a general rule "Examination of available secondary data is a prerequisite to the collection of primary data. Start with secondary data. Proceed the primary data only when the secondary data sources have been exhausted or yield marginal returns"(Malhotra & Birks, 2006, pp.87). This rule can provide valuable insights of secondary data source in the analysis and collection process.
More often Churchill and Iacobucci, (2002, pp.199) point out that secondary data is rarely able to completely solve particular problem, but it can help through secondary data to clarify the problem under investigation, suggesting improved methods and assure the comparison of benchmark data. Giving all these reasons Churchill and Iacobucci consider that "a good marketing research study should begin with secondary data" (Churchill and Iacobucci, 2002, pp.199).
Disadvantages of secondary data and the effect of being minimised
Despite the advantages of secondary data, there are also disadvantages that researchers are facing in gathering data. Gates (2007, pp.94) is describing few limitations in using the secondary data. First of all he is conserving that the lack of availability in many areas of research is most of the times not available secondary research not being able to occur. The lack of relevance, secondary data is not uncommon of being expressed in measures or units, the researcher being not able to be to use the data in analysis. Gates also considers that the inaccuracy in collecting secondary data, can be a result of potential number of errors of sources, such as the codes or analyzes of the collected data. Last but not least the insufficiency of the information, even if the data collected are relevant and accurate, the possibility of being not sufficient can be meet, the researcher not being able in making a final decision, or to bring out the answer in solving the problem.
Another important disadvantage that Rabianski (2003)presents in the article "Primary and Secondary Data: Concepts, Concerns, Errors and Issues" is the manipulation of the data. As a researcher being aware of the originality of the collected data is mandatory. Even though there are agencies that may manipulate or reorganizes the data, this generating adverse conclusions and results of the situation. However, if any suspicion of manipulated data may occur, the data should not be used in research.
In his article "The Use of Secondary Data in Business Ethics Research", Cowton highlights the fact that researchers may not be as effective as they should in collecting and gathering secondary data being worried about the ''poor empiricism'' in ethical research sustaining that ''as a general rule it seems to be the case that researchers are not as aware as they might be of the potential of secondary data for providing valuable insights into a whole range of questions in a cost effective manner''(Cowton, 1998). As a result, researchers can minimise the disadvantages in collecting secondary data by being aware of the value and the quality of the gathered data.
Churchill and Iacobucci, (2002, pp.199) argue are that the secondary data collected may not be able adapting to the problem and also the problems may appear with their accuracy. Accuracy is considered to be a ground rule in the research and the most often faced problem. Also Webb (1992) in his study is describing accuracy as being an important issue in the secondary data sources use. The volume of secondary data available is considered to be too vast and without relevance, being easy to gather a lot of in formations that have no connection to the researched data.
References
McNeill, P., (1990); 'Research Methods' (2nd Edition ed.), London: Routledge
Hakim, C., (1982); 'Secondary Analysis in Social Research', Surrey: Biddles Ltd
Malhotra N.,Birks D., (2006); 'Market Research' , Essex: Pearson Education Ltd
Stewart, D. W., & Kamins, M. A. (1993); 'Secondary Research Information sources and Methods', London: SAGE Publication Ltd
Churchill, Jr. G. A., Iacobucci D., (2002); 'Marketing Research-Methodological Foundation', Eighth Edition, Ohaio: South-Western Thomson Learning
Bryman, A., (2004); 'Social Research Methods', Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press
Smith, N., (1998); 'Consumer Market Research Handbook', Third Edition, London: McGraw-Hill
Gates, M., (2007); 'Marketing Research', Seventh Edition, : John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Webb, J.R., (1992); 'Understanding & Designing Marketing Research', London: Harcourt Brance &Company Ltd.
Cowton, C. J.,(1998); "The Use of Secondary Data in Business Ethics Research", Journal of Business Ethics; Vol. 17: 423-434.
Rabianski, J.S., (2003); "Primary and Secondary Data: Concepts, Concerns, Errors and Issues", The Appraisal Journal;
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