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Primary research is information collected first hand from the certain individual either for qualitative reasons or quantitative reasons. This type of research is helpful in collecting qualitative data especially people's preferences and opinions
PRIMARY RESEARCH
There are different methods and techniques in accumulating this type of research such as :
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Observation - Observing your audience/consumers behaviour could give you insight on how they react to certain subjects that are important in your research. Examples of this would be people watching how many of a certain car goes by. This method is the most beneficial to markets that are retail because it is visible and obvious what these shops/stalls are selling to the customer. Observation isn’t a common technique to receive research in these later years because it takes a long amount of time to collect a sufficient amount of information as well as possibilities of inaccurate data due to the observer’s action. This could be the individual being biased or as time goes on there is a lack of effort.
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Surveys - Surveys are a good way to receive specific information rather than broad. They usually involve figuring out a certain group of peoples preferences, likes and dislikes, thoughts etc. Majority of surveys are sent out online this is because it’s the most time efficient way to get their questions from the creators devices to the publics’. Surveys are a good way to collect primary research in most things, especially for small businesses as it is a great method to quickly understand their customers' point of view.
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Interviews - This is a less time efficient method but it can benefit the researcher massively. Being face to face with the interviewee gives you the ability to witness the tone of the respondent and their fully detailed answers. Also an additional improvised question or two if it becomes relevant to what the subject’s view is. Interviews can be used for any form of businesses trying to understand their customers’ opinions.
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Focus Groups - Much like an interview but with a group of people this method also allows the interviewer to hear answers first hand. It is a good way to bring people of different opinions and interests together to compare and evaluate. This is more time saving in comparison to one to one interviews but still to receive a mass amount of research it is required to have multiple focus groups.
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Secondary research is research that has already been produced and published for the use of others to read and learn from. It is beneficial when trying to collect quantitative data rather than qualitative data, as it is easier to rely on statistics and numbers.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
There are different methods and techniques in accumulating this type of research such as :
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Internet - The internet is a source of many useful websites filled with information needed to complete any individual research. It is obviously very efficient and helpful in the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of sites at your disposal that will provide you with almost all the data you need. In my opinion the internet is one of the best methods to extract quantitative secondary research but qualitative not so much. This is because it is preferable to receive peoples opinions first hand as it is so much more reliable.
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Libraries - Libraries is a great method in receiving secondary research, especially for information that was researched prior. Libraries usually contain government information for your local area/country, this could be important in any research conducted.
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Newspapers, journals, magazines, radio and TV stations - These are good sources in researching about your local area, they can provide you with economical facts, politics, local incidents etc. They are very trustworthy and are easy to get a hold of, they always show a high level of description about people's thoughts and opinions.