Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data - Essay Example

Data essentially saves on time and expenses. It facilitates in making primary data more specific as gaps and deficiencies within primary data are taken care of through already available secondary data. As an example, secondary data assists in the comprehension of a problem and also provides a basis for comparison of the data that has in essence been collected for the purpose of research (Kiel, 1984). On the other hand, secondary data also has its fair share of disadvantages. Secondary data might not fit within different frameworks and hence the customized feel that primary data can offer seems missing at times.

Thus the marketing research been done under such concerns comes out to be improper and inadequately drawn. At times, the accuracy and genuineness of secondary data might not be authenticated and thus there is a great amount of concern with regards to the market researchers under this facet (Ghauri, 2005). Lastly, as an example, secondary data might be outdated for researches done in the past, which is quite a significant issue when one understands how secondary data can fail within certain research areas.

References Alam, I. (2005). Fieldwork and data collection in qualitative marketing research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 8(1) Ghauri, P. (2005). Analyzing textual data in international marketing research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 8(1) Kiel, G. (1984). Maximizing Marketing Research Effectiveness through Data Analysis. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 2(2)