DQ 4 Secondary Research - Essay Example

DQ 4: Secondary Research What might be some problems of secondary data that a researcher may face What can be done to ameliorate these problems In this information technology age, there is no shortage of information. In fact there is so much information available to the people, that it is often difficult to find what is required. When we talk about secondary research, it means all the data that is found through secondary sources like books, journals, periodicals etc.Problems of Secondary DataToo much information - As mentioned above, there is no shortage of information available in books, websites etc.

because of this reason a researcher may go though hundreds of such sources and not find one of use. The researcher should therefore use online search engines and indexes.Misleading - Secondary data is often misleading for the researcher as it is that this data had been collected for another purpose. It is merely the interpretation of primary data. The researcher should look from this point of view to understand the difference.Non-updated - Secondary data is collected from old sources. Therefore there sources may not be applicable for current needs.

The researcher should check the date and time of publishing to find if the research still applicable or not. Difference in units of measurement - A researcher may mistakenly use the secondary research in his/her own units of measurement without realizing that they were in different units. The researcher should convert the units into the ones that he/she requires.Accuracy - The quality of secondary data depends on who had collected the data and how it was collected. The researcher has to be sure of the accuracy of the data before using it.

Therefore the researcher should use renowned sources only to maintain the accuracy of the research.Costly - If secondary data is taken from corporate libraries or archives, the researcher would have to spend hefty sums to gain access to such libraries and archives. Non-paid websites and other sources can be used however authenticity and reliability must also be checked for.2. Which, if any, of these problems apply to UWB Explain.UWB is trying to launch a new product and for that purpose it hired a company to conduct primary research to find the trends and demand for the proposed product.

In the case, only primary research is conducted. However some of the primary research like taking samples from secondary sources like telephone dictionaries, voter's list etc. may give wrong samples as this data might be outdated. The timeframe, as pointed out by Ms. Bea Hansen, is clearly important. The sample taken by Best Market, may be wrong as the sample they took from primary sources may be too old, unreliable, differ in units of measurement, misleading or can be completely wrong. Although this is the responsibility of Best Market to date correct and representative samples, their results would matter to UWB.

In the other research conducted in house for the other product used primary research (focus groups). Again the sample chosen for the focus groups coming from secondary sources should be accurate, updated and reliable to give a correct idea of the research done.Reference: Cooper, Donald R. and Schindler, Pamela S. (2003), Business Research Methods, Eighth Edition, pp. 281-283. McGraw Hill