To obtain secondary data is one of the easiest forms of research. Its reason is that if you want to obtain secondary data, you will have to re-analyze, interpret and review the past data. Anyhow, the researchers have to specify the results of past data in the current research. If we will compare it with primary research, we know that the researchers have to show less involvement in gathering the data. Moreover, the researchers have to spend less money and time to gather the data. Anyhow, you can’t gather real-time data by using this research method. Here, we will discuss the steps to obtain secondary data in marketing research.
Develop the Research Questions
If you want to obtain secondary data in marketing research, first of all, you will have to develop the research questions. You can begin this step by typing any kind of question. In some cases, your supervisors may provide a list of the research questions. Anyhow, you will have to develop this list by yourself in most cases. Here, you will have to specify your research area. In this case, we have to do marketing research. We can add this question to the list for illustration or discussion. After identifying the general topics, you should try to read the gap in the literature by reading the existing papers.
Here, you can investigate the questions that you have not covered in your research paper. Now, you can easily find out interesting questions to obtain secondary data. These questions will also provide an idea of what you are looking for in the research paper. You should also try to know what is out there. Moreover, you should also try to know either you can get access to it or not. For this reason, you will have to do a quick internet search. Sometimes, you can also get access to enough data by getting help from the librarian. It is also the best way to reveal a wealth of options for your marketing research.
Identify the Secondary Data Set
Before starting the research process, you will have to know what is covered relevant to a topic and what is missing. Here, you will have to consider the data that you have previously covered. At this point, you will have to review the research questions. Moreover, you will have to specify the research questions. Here, you can discover either you have perfectly reusable data or not. This thing will provide enough help to give a thorough answer to a question. Now, you will have to discover useful data for your marketing research. You can do it by reviewing the literature in your interest areas.
To obtain secondary data for marketing research, you will have to identify organizations, agencies and other people’s researches. For this reason, you will have to discover useful secondary data sets. Now, you will have to contact the original authors because you will have to get their permission to use their data. You should also make sure that this secondary data set is also fit for your research question. After establishing the secondary data sets, you should try to find the reasons to rely on this data. This data should also contribute to further investigation.
Evaluate the Secondary Data Set
The dissertation writing services company to obtain secondary data in marketing research, you should evaluate secondary data set. First of all, you should evaluate the aim of the original study. Now, you will have to compare the research questions and aims of the original research with your research. No doubt, the author of the original research has written it by keeping in mind a different research question. Therefore, you must consider this difference. Secondly, you should try to know who has collected the original data. This thing will provide an idea about the authenticity of the data. Before collecting the data, you should make sure that they should have sufficient professional background.
Thirdly, you should also gather necessary information about the research. If professionals have published this research, they will provide easy access to this data. Now, you should try to know data collection measures and their validity. You should also prepare an outline for the data relevancy for the research. Fourthly, you should also note the data collection time. For example, if this data is collected a long time ago, it is outdated. You don’t reuse this data in your research paper. At last, you should look at the data collection methodology. This methodology will also provide an idea about the reliability and validity of the data methods.
Prepare and Analyze Secondary Data
If you want to obtain secondary data in marketing research, you should show familiarity with the original research. That’s why you will have to prepare the secondary data set. Here, you should prepare a list of all the variables that you can use in your research. After completing this list, you can easily address the missing data. Moreover, you can easily recode the missing variables. Here, you can also follow the reverse-score technique. It will provide an idea about the higher degree of assessment.
When you will follow the reverse-score technique, you may have to create new variables. Now, you should move towards the final step. It is to analyze the data. To obtain secondary data, you should find out a suitable data analysis technique. At last, you can easily analyze the data set by using statistical analysis. It means that you will have to combine the qualitative and quantitative techniques for the data analysis process. For example, if you will have to reuse an interview, you should simply recode it by applying a thematic analysis technique.
Conclusion
After reading this guide, you can easily obtain secondary data in marketing research. Here, you will have to collect the data from the existing research rather than conducting new research. While collecting the secondary data, you should check its publication date. If you will collect the data without checking its publication date, you may lose the authenticity of the data. Anyhow, by following this data collection technique, you will have to re-analyze and interpret the existing data. The researcher himself is not bound to gather this data. He can also get help from someone else to complete the data collection method.
