What is Research?

 Western Sydney University States that research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way to generate new concepts, methodologies, and understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis of previous research to the extent that it leads to new and creative outcomes.

Primary research is gathering information that has not been collected before. To collect the information you can do surveys, interviews, and observations. Creating a survey is a quantitative research method. Quantitative research focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people or to explain a particular phenomenon. So, by creating a survey you are collecting data by asking a group of people multiple survey questions. On the other hand, qualitative research is collecting and analysing non-numerical data. An example of this is interviewing people because having an open-ended discussion gives you a better understanding which leads to in-depth information being collected. According to Ivory Research the disadvantage of primary research is that it has a lack of comparison. This mean that because the information you have gathered is unique there is no way in comparing it to others. Therefore, if a mistake has occurred there is not a way you could back up your data without using earlier work. Primary research can be time consuming since you must create surveys and interview people, however the data that is collected has specificity and relevance that secondary data may not have. Using Interviews and questionaries as a method of research provides direct feedback from the customer, allowing you to understand your audience better.

Secondary research is research that has already been collected. As explained by Ivory Research the biggest advantage of secondary research is that it is easier to get than primary research meaning it is less time consuming which saves time. Another pro of secondary research is that it can be used to have a more insightful view of primary data. Examples of secondary research is using google to get data from websites and seeing case studies of the subject. Although gaining information from past analyses is easier to acquire, the information may have a lack of accuracy and can be unreliable. Another disadvantage stated by Relevant Insights is that you might not be able to find the answers you are looking for leading you to use primary research methods.

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