Secondary research is publicly known as desk research. In this method, researchers utilize the existing data which is also recognized as secondary data.
The next step is that this existing data is briefed and put out in a way that it improves the overall efficiency of your research You need to gather data in this method from various sources such as internet, libraries, other researches or even government documents.
This method is cost-efficient compared to other procedures such as primary research. The reason lies in the fact that secondary research uses the data that already is available.
However, in primary research the information is rather collected by the researcher or their needed information is gathered with a help from other people and researchers.
Researchers use secondary research to highlight the data items that they have gathered from various resources. While primary research can cost a lot, there are some online services out there such as Voxco that benefits researchers in carrying out their researches throughout surveys.
One of the reasons why many companies use secondary research is because of the economical nature of this method. This method enables companies to spend little amount of money and get reliable results.
Therefore, this is why secondary research is usually called desk research, since you can gather the information needed for your research simply by sitting behind your desk.
Here are some popular methods used in secondary research:
Internet
Without a doubt, this is the most known asd popular way of gathering data for this. The information is freely available and can be easily downloaded into your device of choice for further use! This information are usually free of cost or accessible at an insignificant price over the internet. Websites encompass tones of data that can be beneficial for different companies and businesses.
One hitch here is that you need to be careful about the source you get your information from since not all the resources can be trusted. Most of the helpful data is mainly collected through market research agencies that use online surveys and marketing tools accessible over the internet.
Data from non-government and government organizations:
You can also collect your desired data from organizations that are connected to government or not. A good example would be the U.S Census Bureau. It is pivotal and reliable demographic data that can be beneficial for researchers in that field.
Sometimes researchers may need to pay a fee to be able to download this data form this kind of agencies, but they can be reassured that this data is trust-worthy, reliable and accurate since it has been collected through reliable research methods.