Research Methods

Primary

This is collecting 'primary' data such as questionnaires, direct observation, telephone interviews etc

Advantages

• Addresses specific issues
• Can be controlled to fit to what needs to be discovered in the research

Disadvantages

• Time consuming
• Can be lied on/ not taken seriously
• Expensive

Secondary

This is a summary of existing research processing already collected data such as research reports, company websites , magazine articles etc

Advantages

• Low expense
• It is much quicker to carry out - data has already been found

Disadvantage

• Data may be out of date leading to - inaccurate results
• The data may not be about exactly the same issue/topic the researcher wants

Qualitative

This type of research finds the why and how through analysis of information. This could be through interview transcripts, survey responses, emails, notes, feedback forms, photos and videos etc

Quantitative

This is asking peoples opinions using a structure to find facts and statistics. This could be through surveys or questionnaires