primary & secondary market research

primary research is original research conducted by you (or someone you hire) to collect data specifically for your current objective. You might conduct a survey, run an interview or a focus group, observe behavior, or do an experiment. You are going to be the person who obtains this raw data directly and it will be collected specifically for your current research need. Conversely, secondary research involves searching for existing data that was originally collected by someone else. You might look in journals, libraries, or go to online sources like the US census. You will apply what you find to your personal research problem, but the data you are finding was not originally collected by you, nor was it obtained for the purpose you are using it for. I hope that makes sense. If not, read on for some examples and a little more detail.
Secondary Market Research
Sometimes called “desk research” (because it can be done from behind a desk), this technique involves research and analysis of existing research and data; hence the name, “secondary research.” Conducting secondary research may not be so glamorous, but it often makes a lot of sense of start here. Why? Well, for one thing, secondary research is often free. Second, data is increasingly available thanks to the Internet; the US Census and the CDC (health data), for example, are two great sources of data that has already been collected by someone else. Your job as a secondary researcher is to seek out these sources, organize and apply the data to your specific project, and then summarize/visualize it in a way that makes sense to you and your audience. So, that’s what secondary market research is all about. The downside, of course, is that you may not be able to find secondary market research information specific enough (or recent enough) for your objectives. If that’s the case, you’ll need to conduct your own primary research (hey, what a perfect segway!).

Sources of Secondary Data
Secondary data