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Secondary research: definition, methods, & examples.

19 min read This ultimate guide to secondary research helps you understand changes in market trends, customers buying patterns and your competition using existing data sources.

In situations where you’re not involved in the data gathering process ( primary research ), you have to rely on existing information and data to arrive at specific research conclusions or outcomes. This approach is known as secondary research.

In this article, we’re going to explain what secondary research is, how it works, and share some examples of it in practice.

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What is secondary research?

Secondary research, also known as desk research, is a research method that involves compiling existing data sourced from a variety of channels . This includes internal sources (e.g.in-house research) or, more commonly, external sources (such as government statistics, organizational bodies, and the internet).

Secondary research comes in several formats, such as published datasets, reports, and survey responses , and can also be sourced from websites, libraries, and museums.

The information is usually free — or available at a limited access cost — and gathered using surveys , telephone interviews, observation, face-to-face interviews, and more.

When using secondary research, researchers collect, verify, analyze and incorporate it to help them confirm research goals for the research period.

As well as the above, it can be used to review previous research into an area of interest. Researchers can look for patterns across data spanning several years and identify trends — or use it to verify early hypothesis statements and establish whether it’s worth continuing research into a prospective area.

How to conduct secondary research

There are five key steps to conducting secondary research effectively and efficiently:

1.    Identify and define the research topic

First, understand what you will be researching and define the topic by thinking about the research questions you want to be answered.

Ask yourself: What is the point of conducting this research? Then, ask: What do we want to achieve?

This may indicate an exploratory reason (why something happened) or confirm a hypothesis. The answers may indicate ideas that need primary or secondary research (or a combination) to investigate them.

2.    Find research and existing data sources

If secondary research is needed, think about where you might find the information. This helps you narrow down your secondary sources to those that help you answer your questions. What keywords do you need to use?

Which organizations are closely working on this topic already? Are there any competitors that you need to be aware of?

Create a list of the data sources, information, and people that could help you with your work.

3.    Begin searching and collecting the existing data

Now that you have the list of data sources, start accessing the data and collect the information into an organized system. This may mean you start setting up research journal accounts or making telephone calls to book meetings with third-party research teams to verify the details around data results.

As you search and access information, remember to check the data’s date, the credibility of the source, the relevance of the material to your research topic, and the methodology used by the third-party researchers. Start small and as you gain results, investigate further in the areas that help your research’s aims.

4.    Combine the data and compare the results

When you have your data in one place, you need to understand, filter, order, and combine it intelligently. Data may come in different formats where some data could be unusable, while other information may need to be deleted.

After this, you can start to look at different data sets to see what they tell you. You may find that you need to compare the same datasets over different periods for changes over time or compare different datasets to notice overlaps or trends. Ask yourself: What does this data mean to my research? Does it help or hinder my research?

5.    Analyze your data and explore further

In this last stage of the process, look at the information you have and ask yourself if this answers your original questions for your research. Are there any gaps? Do you understand the information you’ve found? If you feel there is more to cover, repeat the steps and delve deeper into the topic so that you can get all the information you need.

If secondary research can’t provide these answers, consider supplementing your results with data gained from primary research. As you explore further, add to your knowledge and update your findings. This will help you present clear, credible information.

Primary vs secondary research

Unlike secondary research, primary research involves creating data first-hand by directly working with interviewees, target users, or a target market. Primary research focuses on the method for carrying out research, asking questions, and collecting data using approaches such as:

• Interviews (panel, face-to-face or over the phone)
• Questionnaires or surveys
• Focus groups

Using these methods, researchers can get in-depth, targeted responses to questions, making results more accurate and specific to their research goals. However, it does take time to do and administer.

Unlike primary research, secondary research uses existing data, which also includes published results from primary research. Researchers summarize the existing research and use the results to support their research goals.

Both primary and secondary research have their places. Primary research can support the findings found through secondary research (and fill knowledge gaps), while secondary research can be a starting point for further primary research. Because of this, these research methods are often combined for optimal research results that are accurate at both the micro and macro level.

Sources of Secondary Research

There are two types of secondary research sources: internal and external. Internal data refers to in-house data that can be gathered from the researcher’s organization. External data refers to data published outside of and not owned by the researcher’s organization.

Internal data

Internal data is a good first port of call for insights and knowledge, as you may already have relevant information stored in your systems. Because you own this information — and it won’t be available to other researchers — it can give you a competitive edge . Examples of internal data include:

• Database information on sales history and business goal conversions
• Information from website applications and mobile site data
• Customer-generated data on product and service efficiency and use
• Previous research results or supplemental research areas
• Previous campaign results

External data

External data is useful when you: 1) need information on a new topic, 2) want to fill in gaps in your knowledge, or 3) want data that breaks down a population or market for trend and pattern analysis. Examples of external data include:

• Government, non-government agencies, and trade body statistics
• Company reports and research
• Competitor research
• Public library collections
• Textbooks and research journals
• Media stories in newspapers
• Online journals and research sites

Three examples of secondary research methods in action

How and why might you conduct secondary research? Let’s look at a few examples:

1.    Collecting factual information from the internet on a specific topic or market

There are plenty of sites that hold data for people to view and use in their research. For example, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, or Wiley Online Library all provide previous research on a particular topic. Researchers can create free accounts and use the search facilities to look into a topic by keyword, before following the instructions to download or export results for further analysis.

This can be useful for exploring a new market that your organization wants to consider entering. For instance, by viewing the U.S Census Bureau demographic data for that area, you can see what the demographics of your target audience are , and create compelling marketing campaigns accordingly.

2.    Finding out the views of your target audience on a particular topic

If you’re interested in seeing the historical views on a particular topic, for example, attitudes to women’s rights in the US, you can turn to secondary sources.

Textbooks, news articles, reviews, and journal entries can all provide qualitative reports and interviews covering how people discussed women’s rights. There may be multimedia elements like video or documented posters of propaganda showing biased language usage.

By gathering this information, synthesizing it, and evaluating the language, who created it and when it was shared, you can create a timeline of how a topic was discussed over time.

3.    When you want to know the latest thinking on a topic

Educational institutions, such as schools and colleges, create a lot of research-based reports on younger audiences or their academic specialisms. Dissertations from students also can be submitted to research journals, making these places useful places to see the latest insights from a new generation of academics.

Information can be requested — and sometimes academic institutions may want to collaborate and conduct research on your behalf. This can provide key primary data in areas that you want to research, as well as secondary data sources for your research.

Advantages of secondary research

There are several benefits of using secondary research, which we’ve outlined below:

• Easily and readily available data – There is an abundance of readily accessible data sources that have been pre-collected for use, in person at local libraries and online using the internet. This data is usually sorted by filters or can be exported into spreadsheet format, meaning that little technical expertise is needed to access and use the data.
• Faster research speeds – Since the data is already published and in the public arena, you don’t need to collect this information through primary research. This can make the research easier to do and faster, as you can get started with the data quickly.
• Low financial and time costs – Most secondary data sources can be accessed for free or at a small cost to the researcher, so the overall research costs are kept low. In addition, by saving on preliminary research, the time costs for the researcher are kept down as well.
• Secondary data can drive additional research actions – The insights gained can support future research activities (like conducting a follow-up survey or specifying future detailed research topics) or help add value to these activities.
• Secondary data can be useful pre-research insights – Secondary source data can provide pre-research insights and information on effects that can help resolve whether research should be conducted. It can also help highlight knowledge gaps, so subsequent research can consider this.
• Ability to scale up results – Secondary sources can include large datasets (like Census data results across several states) so research results can be scaled up quickly using large secondary data sources.

Disadvantages of secondary research

The disadvantages of secondary research are worth considering in advance of conducting research :

• Secondary research data can be out of date – Secondary sources can be updated regularly, but if you’re exploring the data between two updates, the data can be out of date. Researchers will need to consider whether the data available provides the right research coverage dates, so that insights are accurate and timely, or if the data needs to be updated. Also, fast-moving markets may find secondary data expires very quickly.
• Secondary research needs to be verified and interpreted – Where there’s a lot of data from one source, a researcher needs to review and analyze it. The data may need to be verified against other data sets or your hypotheses for accuracy and to ensure you’re using the right data for your research.
• The researcher has had no control over the secondary research – As the researcher has not been involved in the secondary research, invalid data can affect the results. It’s therefore vital that the methodology and controls are closely reviewed so that the data is collected in a systematic and error-free way.
• Secondary research data is not exclusive – As data sets are commonly available, there is no exclusivity and many researchers can use the same data. This can be problematic where researchers want to have exclusive rights over the research results and risk duplication of research in the future.

When do we conduct secondary research?

Now that you know the basics of secondary research, when do researchers normally conduct secondary research?

It’s often used at the beginning of research, when the researcher is trying to understand the current landscape . In addition, if the research area is new to the researcher, it can form crucial background context to help them understand what information exists already. This can plug knowledge gaps, supplement the researcher’s own learning or add to the research.

Secondary research can also be used in conjunction with primary research. Secondary research can become the formative research that helps pinpoint where further primary research is needed to find out specific information. It can also support or verify the findings from primary research.

You can use secondary research where high levels of control aren’t needed by the researcher, but a lot of knowledge on a topic is required from different angles.

Secondary research should not be used in place of primary research as both are very different and are used for various circumstances.

Questions to ask before conducting secondary research

Before you start your secondary research, ask yourself these questions:

• Is there similar internal data that we have created for a similar area in the past?

If your organization has past research, it’s best to review this work before starting a new project. The older work may provide you with the answers, and give you a starting dataset and context of how your organization approached the research before. However, be mindful that the work is probably out of date and view it with that note in mind. Read through and look for where this helps your research goals or where more work is needed.

• What am I trying to achieve with this research?

When you have clear goals, and understand what you need to achieve, you can look for the perfect type of secondary or primary research to support the aims. Different secondary research data will provide you with different information – for example, looking at news stories to tell you a breakdown of your market’s buying patterns won’t be as useful as internal or external data e-commerce and sales data sources.

• How credible will my research be?

If you are looking for credibility, you want to consider how accurate the research results will need to be, and if you can sacrifice credibility for speed by using secondary sources to get you started. Bear in mind which sources you choose — low-credibility data sites, like political party websites that are highly biased to favor their own party, would skew your results.

• What is the date of the secondary research?

When you’re looking to conduct research, you want the results to be as useful as possible , so using data that is 10 years old won’t be as accurate as using data that was created a year ago. Since a lot can change in a few years, note the date of your research and look for earlier data sets that can tell you a more recent picture of results. One caveat to this is using data collected over a long-term period for comparisons with earlier periods, which can tell you about the rate and direction of change.

• Can the data sources be verified? Does the information you have check out?

If you can’t verify the data by looking at the research methodology, speaking to the original team or cross-checking the facts with other research, it could be hard to be sure that the data is accurate. Think about whether you can use another source, or if it’s worth doing some supplementary primary research to replicate and verify results to help with this issue.

We created a front-to-back guide on conducting market research, The ultimate guide to conducting market research , so you can understand the research journey with confidence.

In it, you’ll learn more about:

• What effective market research looks like
• The use cases for market research
• The most important steps to conducting market research
• And how to take action on your research findings

Download the free guide for a clearer view on secondary research and other key research types for your business.

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

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Secondary Research Advantages, Limitations, and Sources

Summary: secondary research should be a prerequisite to the collection of primary data, but it rarely provides all the answers you need. a thorough evaluation of the secondary data is needed to assess its relevance and accuracy..

5 minutes to read. By author Michaela Mora on January 25, 2022 Topics: Relevant Methods & Tips , Business Strategy , Market Research

Secondary research is based on data already collected for purposes other than the specific problem you have. Secondary research is usually part of exploratory market research designs.

The connection between the specific purpose that originates the research is what differentiates secondary research from primary research. Primary research is designed to address specific problems. However, analysis of available secondary data should be a prerequisite to the collection of primary data.

Advantages of Secondary Research

Secondary data can be faster and cheaper to obtain, depending on the sources you use.

Secondary research can help to:

• Answer certain research questions and test some hypotheses.
• Formulate an appropriate research design (e.g., identify key variables).
• Interpret data from primary research as it can provide some insights into general trends in an industry or product category.
• Understand the competitive landscape.

Limitations of Secondary Research

The usefulness of secondary research tends to be limited often for two main reasons:

Lack of relevance

Secondary research rarely provides all the answers you need. The objectives and methodology used to collect the secondary data may not be appropriate for the problem at hand.

Given that it was designed to find answers to a different problem than yours, you will likely find gaps in answers to your problem. Furthermore, the data collection methods used may not provide the data type needed to support the business decisions you have to make (e.g., qualitative research methods are not appropriate for go/no-go decisions).

Lack of Accuracy

Secondary data may be incomplete and lack accuracy depending on;

• The research design (exploratory, descriptive, causal, primary vs. repackaged secondary data, the analytical plan, etc.)
• Sampling design and sources (target audiences, recruitment methods)
• Data collection method (qualitative and quantitative techniques)
• Analysis point of view (focus and omissions)
• Reporting stages (preliminary, final, peer-reviewed)
• Rate of change in the studied topic (slowly vs. rapidly evolving phenomenon, e.g., adoption of specific technologies).
• Lack of agreement between data sources.

Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Research Data

Before taking the information at face value, you should conduct a thorough evaluation of the secondary data you find using the following criteria:

• Purpose : Understanding why the data was collected and what questions it was trying to answer will tell us how relevant and useful it is since it may or may not be appropriate for your objectives.
• Methodology used to collect the data : Important to understand sources of bias.
• Accuracy of data: Sources of errors may include research design, sampling, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• When the data was collected : Secondary data may not be current or updated frequently enough for the purpose that you need.
• Content of the data : Understanding the key variables, units of measurement, categories used and analyzed relationships may reveal how useful and relevant it is for your purposes.
• Source reputation : In the era of purposeful misinformation on the Internet, it is important to check the expertise, credibility, reputation, and trustworthiness of the data source.

Secondary Research Data Sources

Compared to primary research, the collection of secondary data can be faster and cheaper to obtain, depending on the sources you use.

Secondary data can come from internal or external sources.

Internal sources of secondary data include ready-to-use data or data that requires further processing available in internal management support systems your company may be using (e.g., invoices, sales transactions, Google Analytics for your website, etc.).

Prior primary qualitative and quantitative research conducted by the company are also common sources of secondary data. They often generate more questions and help formulate new primary research needed.

However, if there are no internal data collection systems yet or prior research, you probably won’t have much usable secondary data at your disposal.

External sources of secondary data include:

• Published materials
• External databases
• Syndicated services.

Published Materials

Published materials can be classified as:

• General business sources: Guides, directories, indexes, and statistical data.
• Government sources: Census data and other government publications.

External Databases

In many industries across a variety of topics, there are private and public databases that can bed accessed online or by downloading data for free, a fixed fee, or a subscription.

These databases can include bibliographic, numeric, full-text, directory, and special-purpose databases. Some public institutions make data collected through various methods, including surveys, available for others to analyze.

Syndicated Services

These services are offered by companies that collect and sell pools of data that have a commercial value and meet shared needs by a number of clients, even if the data is not collected for specific purposes those clients may have.

Syndicated services can be classified based on specific units of measurements (e.g., consumers, households, organizations, etc.).

The data collection methods for these data may include:

• Surveys (Psychographic and Lifestyle, advertising evaluations, general topics)
• Household panels (Purchase and media use)
• Electronic scanner services (volume tracking data, scanner panels, scanner panels with Cable TV)
• Audits (retailers, wholesalers)
• Direct inquiries to institutions
• Clipping services tracking PR for institutions
• Corporate reports

You can spend hours doing research on Google in search of external sources, but this is likely to yield limited insights. Books, articles journals, reports, blogs posts, and videos you may find online are usually analyses and summaries of data from a particular perspective. They may be useful and give you an indication of the type of data used, but they are not the actual data. Whenever possible, you should look at the actual raw data used to draw your own conclusion on its value for your research objectives. You should check professionally gathered secondary research.

Here are some external secondary data sources often used in market research that you may find useful as starting points in your research. Some are free, while others require payment.

• Pew Research Center : Reports about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research.
• Data.Census.gov : Data dissemination platform to access demographic and economic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Data.gov : The US. government’s open data source with almost 200,00 datasets ranges in topics from health, agriculture, climate, ecosystems, public safety, finance, energy, manufacturing, education, and business.
• Google Scholar : A web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
• Google Public Data Explorer : Makes large, public-interest datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate.
• Google News Archive : Allows users to search historical newspapers and retrieve scanned images of their pages.
• Mckinsey & Company : Articles based on analyses of various industries.
• Statista : Business data platform with data across 170+ industries and 150+ countries.
• Claritas : Syndicated reports on various market segments.
• Mintel : Consumer reports combining exclusive consumer research with other market data and expert analysis.
• MarketResearch.com : Data aggregator with over 350 publishers covering every sector of the economy as well as emerging industries.
• Packaged Facts : Reports based on market research on consumer goods and services industries.
• Dun & Bradstreet : Company directory with business information.

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4 Chapter 5 Secondary Research

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, students must be able to:

• Explain the concept of secondary research
• Highlight the key benefits and limitations of secondary research
• Evaluate different sources of secondary data

What is Secondary Research?

In situations where the researcher has not been involved in the data gathering process (primary research), one may have to rely on existing information and data to arrive at specific research conclusions or outcomes. Secondary research, also known as desk research, is a research method that involves the use of information previously collected for another research purpose.

In this chapter, we are going to explain what secondary research is, how it works, and share some examples of it in practice.

Marketing textbook © 2022  Western Sydney University taken by   Sally Tsoutas Western Sydney University Photographer  is licensed under an   Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Sources of secondary data.

The two main sources of secondary data are:

• Internal sources
• External sources

Internal sources of secondary data exist within the organization. There could be reports, previous research findings, or old documents which may still be used to understand a particular phenomenon. This information may only be available to the organization’s members and could be a valuable asset.

External sources of secondary data lie outside the organization and refer to information held at the public library, government departments, council offices, various associations as well as in newspapers or journal articles.

Benefits of using Secondary Data

It is only logical for researchers to look for secondary information thoroughly before investing their time and resources in collecting primary data.  In academic research, scholars are not permitted to move to the next stage till they demonstrate they have undertaken a review of all previous studies. Suppose a researcher would like to examine the characteristics of a migrant population in the Western Sydney region. The following pieces of information are already available in various reports generated from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ census data:

• Birthplace of residents
• Language spoken at home by residents
• Family size
• Income levels
• Level of education

By accessing such readily available secondary data, the researcher is able to save time, money, and effort. When the data comes from a reputable source, it further adds to the researchers’ credibility of identifying a trustworthy source of information.

Evaluation of Secondary Data

[1] Assessing secondary data is important. It may not always be available free of cost. The following factors must be considered as these relate to the reliability and validity of research results, such as whether:

• the source is trusted
• the sample characteristics, time of collection, and response rate (if relevant) of the data are appropriate
• the methods of data collection are appropriate and acceptable in your discipline
• the data were collected in a consistent way
• any data coding or modification is appropriate and sufficient
• the documentation of the original study in which the data were collected is detailed enough for you to assess its quality
• there is enough information in the metadata or data to properly cite the original source.

In addition to the above-mentioned points, some practical issues which need to be evaluated include the cost of accessing and the time frame involved in getting access to the data is relevant.

The infographic Secondary Sources created by Shonn M. Haren, 2015 is licensed under  a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence [2]

Table 2: differences between primary and secondary research.

• Griffith University n.d., Research data: get started, viewed 28 February 2022,<https://libraryguides.griffith.edu.au/finddata>. ↵
• Shonnmaren n.d., Secondary sources, viewed 28 February 2020, Wikimedia Commons, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Secondary_Sources.png> ↵
• Qualtrics XM n.d., S econdary research: definition, methods and examples , viewed 28 February 2022,  <https://www.qualtrics.com/au/experience-management/research/secondary-research/#:~:text=Unlike%20primary%20research%2C%20secondary%20research,secondary%20research%20have%20their%20places>. ↵

About the author

name: Aila Khan

institution: Western Sydney University

Chapter 5 Secondary Research Copyright © by Aila Khan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Primary vs. Secondary Sources | Difference & Examples

Primary vs. Secondary Sources | Difference & Examples

Published on June 20, 2018 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on May 31, 2023.

When you do research, you have to gather information and evidence from a variety of sources.

Primary sources provide raw information and first-hand evidence. Examples include interview transcripts, statistical data, and works of art. Primary research gives you direct access to the subject of your research.

Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books . Thus, secondary research describes, interprets, or synthesizes primary sources.

Primary sources are more credible as evidence, but good research uses both primary and secondary sources.

Table of contents

What is a primary source, what is a secondary source, primary and secondary source examples, how to tell if a source is primary or secondary, primary vs secondary sources: which is better, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about primary and secondary sources.

A primary source is anything that gives you direct evidence about the people, events, or phenomena that you are researching. Primary sources will usually be the main objects of your analysis.

If you are researching the past, you cannot directly access it yourself, so you need primary sources that were produced at the time by participants or witnesses (e.g. letters, photographs, newspapers ).

If you are researching something current, your primary sources can either be qualitative or quantitative data that you collect yourself (e.g. through interviews , surveys , experiments ) or sources produced by people directly involved in the topic (e.g. official documents or media texts).

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A secondary source is anything that describes, interprets, evaluates, or analyzes information from primary sources. Common examples include:

• Books , articles and documentaries that synthesize information on a topic
• Synopses and descriptions of artistic works
• Encyclopedias and textbooks that summarize information and ideas
• Reviews and essays that evaluate or interpret something

When you cite a secondary source, it’s usually not to analyze it directly. Instead, you’ll probably test its arguments against new evidence or use its ideas to help formulate your own.

Examples of sources that can be primary or secondary

A secondary source can become a primary source depending on your research question . If the person, context, or technique that produced the source is the main focus of your research, it becomes a primary source.

Documentaries

If you are researching the causes of World War II, a recent documentary about the war is a secondary source . But if you are researching the filmmaking techniques used in historical documentaries, the documentary is a primary source .

Reviews and essays

If your paper is about the novels of Toni Morrison, a magazine review of one of her novels is a secondary source . But if your paper is about the critical reception of Toni Morrison’s work, the review is a primary source .

Newspaper articles

If your aim is to analyze the government’s economic policy, a newspaper article about a new policy is a secondary source . But if your aim is to analyze media coverage of economic issues, the newspaper article is a primary source .

To determine if something can be used as a primary or secondary source in your research, there are some simple questions you can ask yourself:

• Does this source come from someone directly involved in the events I’m studying (primary) or from another researcher (secondary)?
• Am I interested in evaluating the source itself (primary) or only using it for background information (secondary)?
• Does the source provide original information (primary) or does it comment upon information from other sources (secondary)?

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Most research uses both primary and secondary sources. They complement each other to help you build a convincing argument. Primary sources are more credible as evidence, but secondary sources show how your work relates to existing research. Tertiary sources are often used in the first, exploratory stage of research.

What do you use primary sources for?

Primary sources are the foundation of original research. They allow you to:

• Make new discoveries
• Provide credible evidence for your arguments
• Give authoritative information about your topic

If you don’t use any primary sources, your research may be considered unoriginal or unreliable.

What do you use secondary sources for?

Secondary sources are good for gaining a full overview of your topic and understanding how other researchers have approached it. They often synthesize a large number of primary sources that would be difficult and time-consuming to gather by yourself. They allow you to:

• Gain background information on the topic
• Support or contrast your arguments with other researchers’ ideas
• Gather information from primary sources that you can’t access directly (e.g. private letters or physical documents located elsewhere)

When you conduct a literature review or meta analysis, you can consult secondary sources to gain a thorough overview of your topic. If you want to mention a paper or study that you find cited in a secondary source, seek out the original source and cite it directly.

Remember that all primary and secondary sources must be cited to avoid plagiarism . You can use Scribbr’s free citation generator to do so!

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
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 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

Common examples of primary sources include interview transcripts , photographs, novels, paintings, films, historical documents, and official statistics.

Anything you directly analyze or use as first-hand evidence can be a primary source, including qualitative or quantitative data that you collected yourself.

Common examples of secondary sources include academic books, journal articles , reviews, essays , and textbooks.

Anything that summarizes, evaluates or interprets primary sources can be a secondary source. If a source gives you an overview of background information or presents another researcher’s ideas on your topic, it is probably a secondary source.

To determine if a source is primary or secondary, ask yourself:

• Was the source created by someone directly involved in the events you’re studying (primary), or by another researcher (secondary)?
• Does the source provide original information (primary), or does it summarize information from other sources (secondary)?
• Are you directly analyzing the source itself (primary), or only using it for background information (secondary)?

Some types of source are nearly always primary: works of art and literature, raw statistical data, official documents and records, and personal communications (e.g. letters, interviews ). If you use one of these in your research, it is probably a primary source.

Primary sources are often considered the most credible in terms of providing evidence for your argument, as they give you direct evidence of what you are researching. However, it’s up to you to ensure the information they provide is reliable and accurate.

Always make sure to properly cite your sources to avoid plagiarism .

A fictional movie is usually a primary source. A documentary can be either primary or secondary depending on the context.

If you are directly analyzing some aspect of the movie itself – for example, the cinematography, narrative techniques, or social context – the movie is a primary source.

If you use the movie for background information or analysis about your topic – for example, to learn about a historical event or a scientific discovery – the movie is a secondary source.

Whether it’s primary or secondary, always properly cite the movie in the citation style you are using. Learn how to create an MLA movie citation or an APA movie citation .

Articles in newspapers and magazines can be primary or secondary depending on the focus of your research.

In historical studies, old articles are used as primary sources that give direct evidence about the time period. In social and communication studies, articles are used as primary sources to analyze language and social relations (for example, by conducting content analysis or discourse analysis ).

If you are not analyzing the article itself, but only using it for background information or facts about your topic, then the article is a secondary source.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2023, May 31). Primary vs. Secondary Sources | Difference & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/primary-and-secondary-sources/

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What is Secondary Research? Types, Methods, Examples

Appinio Research · 20.09.2023 · 13min read

Have you ever wondered how researchers gather valuable insights without conducting new experiments or surveys? That's where secondary research steps in—a powerful approach that allows us to explore existing data and information others collect.

Whether you're a student, a professional, or someone seeking to make informed decisions, understanding the art of secondary research opens doors to a wealth of knowledge.

What is Secondary Research?

Secondary Research refers to the process of gathering and analyzing existing data, information, and knowledge that has been previously collected and compiled by others. This approach allows researchers to leverage available sources, such as articles, reports, and databases, to gain insights, validate hypotheses, and make informed decisions without collecting new data.

Benefits of Secondary Research

Secondary research offers a range of advantages that can significantly enhance your research process and the quality of your findings.

• Time and Cost Efficiency: Secondary research saves time and resources by utilizing existing data sources, eliminating the need for data collection from scratch.
• Wide Range of Data: Secondary research provides access to vast information from various sources, allowing for comprehensive analysis.
• Historical Perspective: Examining past research helps identify trends, changes, and long-term patterns that might not be immediately apparent.
• Reduced Bias: As data is collected by others, there's often less inherent bias than in conducting primary research, where biases might affect data collection.
• Support for Primary Research: Secondary research can lay the foundation for primary research by providing context and insights into gaps in existing knowledge.
• Comparative Analysis : By integrating data from multiple sources, you can conduct robust comparative analyses for more accurate conclusions.
• Benchmarking and Validation: Secondary research aids in benchmarking performance against industry standards and validating hypotheses.

Primary Research vs. Secondary Research

When it comes to research methodologies, primary and secondary research each have their distinct characteristics and advantages. Here's a brief comparison to help you understand the differences.

Primary Research

• Data Source: Involves collecting new data directly from original sources.
• Data Collection: Researchers design and conduct surveys, interviews, experiments, or observations.
• Time and Resources: Typically requires more time, effort, and resources due to data collection.
• Fresh Insights: Provides firsthand, up-to-date information tailored to specific research questions.
• Control: Researchers control the data collection process and can shape methodologies.

Secondary Research

• Data Source: Involves utilizing existing data and information collected by others.
• Data Collection: Researchers search, select, and analyze data from published sources, reports, and databases.
• Time and Resources: Generally more time-efficient and cost-effective as data is already available.
• Existing Knowledge: Utilizes data that has been previously compiled, often providing broader context.
• Less Control: Researchers have limited control over how data was collected originally, if any.

Choosing between primary and secondary research depends on your research objectives, available resources, and the depth of insights you require.

Types of Secondary Research

Secondary research encompasses various types of existing data sources that can provide valuable insights for your research endeavors. Understanding these types can help you choose the most relevant sources for your objectives.

Here are the primary types of secondary research:

Internal Sources

Internal sources consist of data generated within your organization or entity. These sources provide valuable insights into your own operations and performance.

• Company Records and Data: Internal reports, documents, and databases that house information about sales, operations, and customer interactions.
• Sales Reports and Customer Data: Analysis of past sales trends, customer demographics, and purchasing behavior.
• Financial Statements and Annual Reports: Financial data, such as balance sheets and income statements, offer insights into the organization's financial health.

External Sources

External sources encompass data collected and published by entities outside your organization.

These sources offer a broader perspective on various subjects.

• Published Literature and Journals: Scholarly articles, research papers, and academic studies available in journals or online databases.
• Market Research Reports: Reports from market research firms that provide insights into industry trends, consumer behavior, and market forecasts.
• Government and NGO Databases: Data collected and maintained by government agencies and non-governmental organizations, offering demographic, economic, and social information.
• Online Media and News Articles: News outlets and online publications that cover current events, trends, and societal developments.

Each type of secondary research source holds its value and relevance, depending on the nature of your research objectives. Combining these sources lets you understand the subject matter and make informed decisions.

How to Conduct Secondary Research?

Effective secondary research involves a thoughtful and systematic approach that enables you to extract valuable insights from existing data sources. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to navigate the process:

1. Define Your Research Objectives

Before delving into secondary research, clearly define what you aim to achieve. Identify the specific questions you want to answer, the insights you're seeking, and the scope of your research.

2. Identify Relevant Sources

Begin by identifying the most appropriate sources for your research. Consider the nature of your research objectives and the data type you require. Seek out sources such as academic journals, market research reports, official government databases, and reputable news outlets.

3. Evaluate Source Credibility

Ensuring the credibility of your sources is crucial. Evaluate the reliability of each source by assessing factors such as the author's expertise, the publication's reputation, and the objectivity of the information provided. Choose sources that align with your research goals and are free from bias.

4. Extract and Analyze Information

Once you've gathered your sources, carefully extract the relevant information. Take thorough notes, capturing key data points, insights, and any supporting evidence. As you accumulate information, start identifying patterns, trends, and connections across different sources.

5. Synthesize Findings

As you analyze the data, synthesize your findings to draw meaningful conclusions. Compare and contrast information from various sources to identify common themes and discrepancies. This synthesis process allows you to construct a coherent narrative that addresses your research objectives.

6. Address Limitations and Gaps

Acknowledge the limitations and potential gaps in your secondary research. Recognize that secondary data might have inherent biases or be outdated. Where necessary, address these limitations by cross-referencing information or finding additional sources to fill in gaps.

7. Contextualize Your Findings

Contextualization is crucial in deriving actionable insights from your secondary research. Consider the broader context within which the data was collected. How does the information relate to current trends, societal changes, or industry shifts? This contextual understanding enhances the relevance and applicability of your findings.

8. Cite Your Sources

Maintain academic integrity by properly citing the sources you've used for your secondary research. Accurate citations not only give credit to the original authors but also provide a clear trail for readers to access the information themselves.

9. Integrate Secondary and Primary Research (If Applicable)

In some cases, combining secondary and primary research can yield more robust insights. If you've also conducted primary research, consider integrating your secondary findings with your primary data to provide a well-rounded perspective on your research topic.

You can use a market research platform like Appinio to conduct primary research with real-time insights in minutes!

10. Communicate Your Findings

Finally, communicate your findings effectively. Whether it's in an academic paper, a business report, or any other format, present your insights clearly and concisely. Provide context for your conclusions and use visual aids like charts and graphs to enhance understanding.

Remember that conducting secondary research is not just about gathering information—it's about critically analyzing, interpreting, and deriving valuable insights from existing data. By following these steps, you'll navigate the process successfully and contribute to the body of knowledge in your field.

Secondary Research Examples

To better understand how secondary research is applied in various contexts, let's explore a few real-world examples that showcase its versatility and value.

Market Analysis and Trend Forecasting

Imagine you're a marketing strategist tasked with launching a new product in the smartphone industry. By conducting secondary research, you can:

• Access Market Reports: Utilize market research reports to understand consumer preferences, competitive landscape, and growth projections.
• Analyze Trends: Examine past sales data and industry reports to identify trends in smartphone features, design, and user preferences.
• Benchmark Competitors: Compare market share, customer satisfaction, and pricing strategies of key competitors to develop a strategic advantage.
• Forecast Demand: Use historical sales data and market growth predictions to estimate demand for your new product.

Academic Research and Literature Reviews

Suppose you're a student researching climate change's effects on marine ecosystems. Secondary research aids your academic endeavors by:

• Reviewing Existing Studies: Analyze peer-reviewed articles and scientific papers to understand the current state of knowledge on the topic.
• Identifying Knowledge Gaps: Identify areas where further research is needed based on what existing studies still need to cover.
• Comparing Methodologies: Compare research methodologies used by different studies to assess the strengths and limitations of their approaches.
• Synthesizing Insights: Synthesize findings from various studies to form a comprehensive overview of the topic's implications on marine life.

Competitive Landscape Assessment for Business Strategy

Consider you're a business owner looking to expand your restaurant chain to a new location. Secondary research aids your strategic decision-making by:

• Analyzing Demographics: Utilize demographic data from government databases to understand the local population's age, income, and preferences.
• Studying Local Trends: Examine restaurant industry reports to identify the types of cuisines and dining experiences currently popular in the area.
• Understanding Consumer Behavior: Analyze online reviews and social media discussions to gauge customer sentiment towards existing restaurants in the vicinity.
• Assessing Economic Conditions: Access economic reports to evaluate the local economy's stability and potential purchasing power.

These examples illustrate the practical applications of secondary research across various fields to provide a foundation for informed decision-making, deeper understanding, and innovation.

Secondary Research Limitations

While secondary research offers many benefits, it's essential to be aware of its limitations to ensure the validity and reliability of your findings.

• Data Quality and Validity: The accuracy and reliability of secondary data can vary, affecting the credibility of your research.
• Limited Contextual Information: Secondary sources might lack detailed contextual information, making it important to interpret findings within the appropriate context.
• Data Suitability: Existing data might not align perfectly with your research objectives, leading to compromises or incomplete insights.
• Outdated Information: Some sources might provide obsolete information that doesn't accurately reflect current trends or situations.
• Potential Bias: While secondary data is often less biased, biases might still exist in the original data sources, influencing your findings.
• Incompatibility of Data: Combining data from different sources might pose challenges due to variations in definitions, methodologies, or units of measurement.
• Lack of Control: Unlike primary research, you have no control over how data was collected or its quality, potentially affecting your analysis. Understanding these limitations will help you navigate secondary research effectively and make informed decisions based on a well-rounded understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

Secondary research is a valuable tool that businesses can use to their advantage. By tapping into existing data and insights, companies can save time, resources, and effort that would otherwise be spent on primary research. This approach equips decision-makers with a broader understanding of market trends, consumer behaviors, and competitive landscapes. Additionally, benchmarking against industry standards and validating hypotheses empowers businesses to make informed choices that lead to growth and success.

As you navigate the world of secondary research, remember that it's not just about data retrieval—it's about strategic utilization. With a clear grasp of how to access, analyze, and interpret existing information, businesses can stay ahead of the curve, adapt to changing landscapes, and make decisions that are grounded in reliable knowledge.

How to Conduct Secondary Research in Minutes?

In the world of decision-making, having access to real-time consumer insights is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity. That's where Appinio comes in, revolutionizing how businesses gather valuable data for better decision-making. As a real-time market research platform, Appinio empowers companies to tap into the pulse of consumer opinions swiftly and seamlessly.

• Fast Insights: Say goodbye to lengthy research processes. With Appinio, you can transform questions into actionable insights in minutes.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Harness the power of real-time consumer insights to drive your business strategies, allowing you to make informed choices on the fly.
• Seamless Integration: Appinio handles the research and technical complexities, freeing you to focus on what truly matters: making rapid data-driven decisions that propel your business forward.

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Secondary Research: Definition, Methods, Sources, Examples, and More

Table of Contents

What is Secondary Research? Secondary Research Meaning

Secondary research involves the analysis and synthesis of existing data and information that has been previously collected and published by others. This method contrasts with primary research , which entails the direct collection of original data from sources like surveys, interviews, and ethnographic studies.

The essence of secondary research lies in its efficiency and accessibility. Researchers who leverage secondary sources, including books, scholarly articles, government reports, and market analyses, gather valuable insights without the need for time-consuming and costly data collection efforts. This approach is particularly vital in marketing research, where understanding broad market trends and consumer behaviors is essential, yet often constrained by budgets and timelines. Secondary research serves as a fundamental step in the research process, providing a solid foundation upon which additional, targeted research can be built.

Secondary research enables researchers to quickly grasp the landscape of existing knowledge, identify gaps in the literature, and refine their research questions or business strategies accordingly. In marketing research, for instance, secondary research aids in understanding competitive landscapes, identifying market trends, and benchmarking against industry standards, thereby guiding strategic decision-making.

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When to Use Secondary Research

Choosing between secondary and primary research methods depends significantly on the objectives of your study or project. Secondary research is particularly beneficial in the initial stages of research planning and strategy, offering a broad understanding of the topic at hand and helping to pinpoint areas that may require more in-depth investigation through primary methods.

In academic contexts, secondary research is often used to build a theoretical foundation for a study, allowing researchers to position their work within the existing body of knowledge. Professionally, it serves as a cost-effective way to inform business strategies, market analyses, and policy development, providing insights into industry trends, consumer behaviors, and competitive landscapes.

Combining secondary research with primary research methods enhances the comprehensiveness and validity of research findings. For example, secondary research might reveal general trends in consumer behavior, while subsequent primary research could delve into specific consumer motivations and preferences, offering a more nuanced understanding of the market.

Key considerations for integrating secondary research into your research planning and strategy include:

• Research Objectives : Clearly defining what you aim to discover or decide based on your research.
• Availability of Data : Assessing the extent and relevance of existing data related to your research question.
• Budget and Time Constraints : Considering the resources available for conducting research, including time, money, and personnel.
• Research Scope : Determining the breadth and depth of the information needed to meet your research objectives.

Secondary research is a powerful tool when used strategically, providing a cost-effective, efficient way to gather insights and inform decision-making processes across academic and professional contexts.

How to Conduct Secondary Research

Conducting secondary research is a systematic process that involves several key steps to ensure the relevance, accuracy, and utility of the information gathered. Here's a step-by-step guide to effective secondary research:

• Identifying Research Objectives, Topics, and Questions : Begin with a clear understanding of what you aim to achieve with your research. This includes defining your research objectives, topics, and specific questions you seek to answer. This clarity guides the entire research process, ensuring that you remain focused on relevant information.
• Finding Relevant Data Sources : Search for secondary data sources that are likely to contain the information you need. This involves exploring a variety of sources such as academic journals, industry reports, government databases, and news archives. Prioritize sources known for their credibility and authority in the subject matter.
• Collecting and Verifying Existing Data : Once you've identified potential sources, collect the data that pertains to your research questions. Pay close attention to the publication date, authorship, and the methodology used in collecting the original data to ensure its relevance and reliability.
• Data Compilation and Analysis : Compile the collected data in a structured format that allows for analysis. Employ analytical methods suited to your research objectives, such as trend analysis, comparative analysis, or thematic analysis, to draw insights from the data.

The success of secondary research hinges on the critical evaluation of sources for their credibility, relevance, and timeliness. It's essential to approach this process with a discerning eye, acknowledging the limitations of secondary data and the potential need for further investigation through primary research.

Types of Secondary Research Methods with Examples

Secondary research methods offer a range of approaches for leveraging existing data, each providing value in extracting insights relevant to various business and academic needs. Understanding the unique advantages of each method can guide researchers in choosing the most appropriate approach for their specific objectives.

Literature Reviews

Literature reviews synthesize existing research and publications to identify trends, gaps, and consensus within a field of study. This method provides a comprehensive overview of what is already known about a topic, saving time and resources by building on existing knowledge rather than starting from scratch.

Real-World Example : A marketing firm conducting a literature review on consumer behavior in the digital age might uncover a trend towards increased mobile shopping. This insight leads to a strategic recommendation for a retail client to prioritize mobile app development and optimize their online store for mobile users, directly impacting the client's digital marketing strategy.

Data Mining

Data mining involves analyzing large sets of data to discover patterns, correlations, or trends that are not immediately apparent. This method can uncover hidden insights from the data that businesses can use to inform decision-making, such as identifying new market opportunities or optimizing operational efficiencies.

Real-World Example : Through data mining of customer purchase histories and online behavior data, a retail company identifies a previously unnoticed correlation between the purchase of certain products and the time of year. Utilizing this insight, the company adjusts its inventory levels and marketing campaigns seasonally, significantly boosting sales and customer satisfaction.

Meta-Analysis

Meta-analysis aggregates and systematically analyzes results from multiple studies to draw general conclusions about a research question. This method provides a high level of evidence by combining findings, offering a powerful tool for making informed decisions based on a broader range of data than any single study could provide.

Real-World Example : A pharmaceutical company uses meta-analysis to combine findings from various clinical trials of a new drug. The meta-analysis reveals a statistically significant benefit of the drug that was not conclusive in individual studies. This insight supports the company's application for regulatory approval and guides the development of marketing strategies targeting specific patient demographics.

Data Analysis

Secondary data analysis applies statistical techniques to analyze existing datasets, offering a cost-effective way to gain insights without the need for new data collection. This method can identify trends, patterns, and relationships that inform strategic planning and decision-making.

Real-World Example : An investment firm analyzes historical economic data and stock market trends using secondary data analysis. They identify a recurring pattern preceding market downturns. By applying this insight to their investment strategy, the firm successfully mitigates risk and enhances portfolio performance for their clients.

Content Analysis

Content analysis systematically examines the content of communication mediums to understand messages, themes, or biases . This qualitative method can reveal insights into public opinion, media representation, and communication strategies, offering valuable information for marketing, public relations, and media strategies.

Real-World Example : A technology company employs content analysis to review online customer reviews and social media mentions of its products. The analysis uncovers a common concern among customers about the usability of a product feature. Responding to this insight, the company revises its product design and launches a targeted communication campaign to address the concerns, improving customer satisfaction and brand perception.

Historical Research

Historical research examines past records and documents to understand historical contexts and trends, offering insights that can inform future predictions, strategy development, and understanding of long-term changes. This method is particularly valuable for understanding the evolution of markets, industries, or consumer behaviors over time.

Real-World Example : A consultancy specializing in sustainable business practices conducts historical research into the adoption of green technologies in the automotive industry. The research identifies key drivers and barriers to adoption over the decades. Leveraging these insights, the consultancy advises new green tech startups on strategies to overcome market resistance and capitalize on drivers of adoption, significantly impacting their market entry strategy.

Each of these secondary research methods provides distinct advantages and can yield valuable insights for businesses and researchers. By carefully selecting and applying the most suitable method(s), organizations can enhance their understanding of complex issues, inform strategic decisions, and achieve competitive advantage.

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Examples of Secondary Sources in Research

Secondary sources are crucial for researchers across disciplines, offering a wealth of information that can provide insights, support hypotheses, and inform strategies. Understanding the unique value of different types of secondary sources can help researchers effectively harness this wealth of information. Below, we explore various secondary sources, highlighting their unique contributions and providing real-world examples of how they can yield valuable business insights.

Books provide comprehensive coverage of a topic, offering depth and context that shorter pieces might miss. They are particularly useful for gaining a thorough understanding of a subject's historical background and theoretical framework.

Example : A corporation exploring the feasibility of entering a new international market utilizes books on the country's cultural and economic history. This deep dive helps the company understand market nuances, leading to a tailored market entry strategy that aligns with local consumer preferences and cultural norms.

Scholarly Journals

Scholarly journals offer peer-reviewed, cutting-edge research findings, making them invaluable for staying abreast of the latest developments in a field. They provide detailed methodologies, rigorous data analysis, and discussions of findings in a specific area of study.

Example : An investment firm relies on scholarly articles to understand recent advancements in financial technology. Discovering research on blockchain's impact on transaction security and efficiency, the firm decides to invest in fintech startups specializing in blockchain technology, positioning itself ahead in the market.

Government Reports

Government reports deliver authoritative data on a wide range of topics, including economic indicators, demographic trends, and regulatory guidelines. Their reliability and the breadth of topics covered make them an essential resource for informed decision-making.

Example : A healthcare provider examines government health reports to identify trends in public health issues. Spotting an increase in lifestyle-related diseases, the provider expands its wellness programs, directly addressing the growing demand for preventive care services.

Market Research Reports

Market research reports provide insights into industry trends, consumer behavior, and competitive landscapes. These reports are invaluable for making informed business decisions, from product development to marketing strategies.

Example : A consumer goods company reviews market research reports to analyze trends in eco-friendly packaging. Learning about the positive consumer response to sustainable packaging, the company redesigns its packaging to be more environmentally friendly, resulting in increased brand loyalty and market share.

White Papers

White papers offer in-depth analysis or arguments on specific issues, often highlighting solutions or innovations. They are a key resource for understanding complex problems, technological advancements, and industry best practices.

Example : A technology firm exploring the implementation of AI in customer service operations consults white papers on AI applications. Insights from these papers guide the development of an AI-powered customer service chatbot, enhancing efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Private Company Data

Data from private companies, such as annual reports or case studies, provides insight into business strategies, performance metrics, and operational challenges. This information can be instrumental in benchmarking and strategic planning.

Example : By analyzing competitor annual reports, a retail chain identifies a gap in the market for affordable luxury products. This insight leads to the launch of a new product line that successfully captures this underserved segment, boosting the company's revenue and market positioning.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Research

Secondary research offers a foundation upon which organizations can build their knowledge base, informing everything from strategic planning to day-to-day decision-making. However, like any method, it comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Understanding these can help researchers and businesses make the most of secondary research while being mindful of its limitations.

Advantages of Secondary Research

• Cost-Effectiveness : Secondary research is often less expensive than primary research, as it involves the analysis of existing data, eliminating the need for costly data collection processes like surveys or experiments.
• Time Efficiency : Accessing and analyzing existing data is generally faster than conducting primary research, allowing organizations to make timely decisions based on available information.
• Broad Scope of Data : Secondary research provides access to a wide range of data across different geographies and time periods, enabling comprehensive market analyses and trend identification.
• Basis for Primary Research : It can serve as a preliminary step to identify gaps in existing research, helping to pinpoint areas where primary research is needed.

Disadvantages of Secondary Research

• Relevance and Specificity : Existing data may not perfectly align with the current research objectives, leading to potential mismatches in relevance and specificity.
• Data Quality and Accuracy : The quality and accuracy of secondary data can vary, depending on the source. Researchers must critically assess the credibility of their sources to ensure the reliability of their findings.
• Timeliness : Data may be outdated, especially in fast-moving sectors where recent information is crucial for making informed decisions.
• Limited Control Over Data : Researchers have no control over how data was collected and processed, which may affect its suitability for their specific research needs.

Secondary research, when approached with an understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, has the potential be a powerful tool. By effectively navigating its advantages and limitations, businesses can lay a solid foundation for informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Primary vs. Secondary Research: A Comparative Analysis

When undertaking a research project, understanding the distinction between primary and secondary research is pivotal. Both forms of research serve their own purposes and can complement each other in providing a comprehensive overview of a given topic.

What is Primary Research?

Primary research involves the collection of original data directly from sources. This method is firsthand and is specific to the researcher's questions or hypotheses.

The main advantage of primary research is its specificity and relevancy to the particular issue or question at hand. It offers up-to-date and highly relevant data that is directly applicable to the research objectives.

Example : A company planning to launch a new beverage product conducts focus groups and survey research to understand consumer preferences. Through this process, they gather firsthand insights on flavors, packaging, and pricing preferences specific to their target market.

What is Secondary Research?

Secondary research involves the analysis of existing information compiled and collected by others. It includes studies, reports, and data from government agencies, trade associations, and other organizations.

Secondary research provides a broad understanding of the topic at hand, offering insights that can help frame primary research. It is cost-effective and time-saving, as it leverages already available data.

Example : The same company explores industry reports, academic research, and market analyses to understand broader market trends, competitor strategies, and consumer behavior within the beverage industry.

Comparative Analysis

Synergistic Use in Research

The most effective research strategies often involve a blend of both primary and secondary research. Secondary research can serve as a foundation, helping to inform the development of primary research by identifying gaps in existing knowledge and refining research questions.

Understanding the distinct roles and benefits of primary and secondary research is crucial for any successful research project. By effectively leveraging both types of research, researchers can gain a deeper, more nuanced understanding of their subject matter, leading to more informed decisions and strategies. Remember, the choice between primary and secondary research should be guided by your research objectives, resources, and the specificity of information required.

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Secondary Research: Definition, Methods and Examples.

In the world of research, there are two main types of data sources: primary and secondary. While primary research involves collecting new data directly from individuals or sources, secondary research involves analyzing existing data already collected by someone else. Today we’ll discuss secondary research.

One common source of this research is published research reports and other documents. These materials can often be found in public libraries, on websites, or even as data extracted from previously conducted surveys. In addition, many government and non-government agencies maintain extensive data repositories that can be accessed for research purposes.

LEARN ABOUT: Research Process Steps

While secondary research may not offer the same level of control as primary research, it can be a highly valuable tool for gaining insights and identifying trends. Researchers can save time and resources by leveraging existing data sources while still uncovering important information.

What is Secondary Research: Definition

Secondary research is a research method that involves using already existing data. Existing data is summarized and collated to increase the overall effectiveness of the research.

One of the key advantages of secondary research is that it allows us to gain insights and draw conclusions without having to collect new data ourselves. This can save time and resources and also allow us to build upon existing knowledge and expertise.

When conducting secondary research, it’s important to be thorough and thoughtful in our approach. This means carefully selecting the sources and ensuring that the data we’re analyzing is reliable and relevant to the research question . It also means being critical and analytical in the analysis and recognizing any potential biases or limitations in the data.

LEARN ABOUT: Level of Analysis

Secondary research is much more cost-effective than primary research , as it uses already existing data, unlike primary research, where data is collected firsthand by organizations or businesses or they can employ a third party to collect data on their behalf.

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Secondary Research Methods with Examples

Secondary research is cost-effective, one of the reasons it is a popular choice among many businesses and organizations. Not every organization is able to pay a huge sum of money to conduct research and gather data. So, rightly secondary research is also termed “ desk research ”, as data can be retrieved from sitting behind a desk.

The following are popularly used secondary research methods and examples:

1. Data Available on The Internet

One of the most popular ways to collect secondary data is the internet. Data is readily available on the internet and can be downloaded at the click of a button.

This data is practically free of cost, or one may have to pay a negligible amount to download the already existing data. Websites have a lot of information that businesses or organizations can use to suit their research needs. However, organizations need to consider only authentic and trusted website to collect information.

2. Government and Non-Government Agencies

Data for secondary research can also be collected from some government and non-government agencies. For example, US Government Printing Office, US Census Bureau, and Small Business Development Centers have valuable and relevant data that businesses or organizations can use.

There is a certain cost applicable to download or use data available with these agencies. Data obtained from these agencies are authentic and trustworthy.

3. Public Libraries

Public libraries are another good source to search for data for this research. Public libraries have copies of important research that were conducted earlier. They are a storehouse of important information and documents from which information can be extracted.

The services provided in these public libraries vary from one library to another. More often, libraries have a huge collection of government publications with market statistics, large collection of business directories and newsletters.

4. Educational Institutions

Importance of collecting data from educational institutions for secondary research is often overlooked. However, more research is conducted in colleges and universities than any other business sector.

The data that is collected by universities is mainly for primary research. However, businesses or organizations can approach educational institutions and request for data from them.

5. Commercial Information Sources

Local newspapers, journals, magazines, radio and TV stations are a great source to obtain data for secondary research. These commercial information sources have first-hand information on economic developments, political agenda, market research, demographic segmentation and similar subjects.

Businesses or organizations can request to obtain data that is most relevant to their study. Businesses not only have the opportunity to identify their prospective clients but can also know about the avenues to promote their products or services through these sources as they have a wider reach.

Learn More: Data Collection Methods: Types & Examples

Key Differences between Primary Research and Secondary Research

Understanding the distinction between primary research and secondary research is essential in determining which research method is best for your project. These are the two main types of research methods, each with advantages and disadvantages. In this section, we will explore the critical differences between the two and when it is appropriate to use them.

How to Conduct Secondary Research?

We have already learned about the differences between primary and secondary research. Now, let’s take a closer look at how to conduct it.

Secondary research is an important tool for gathering information already collected and analyzed by others. It can help us save time and money and allow us to gain insights into the subject we are researching. So, in this section, we will discuss some common methods and tips for conducting it effectively.

Here are the steps involved in conducting secondary research:

1. Identify the topic of research: Before beginning secondary research, identify the topic that needs research. Once that’s done, list down the research attributes and its purpose.

2. Identify research sources: Next, narrow down on the information sources that will provide most relevant data and information applicable to your research.

3. Collect existing data: Once the data collection sources are narrowed down, check for any previous data that is available which is closely related to the topic. Data related to research can be obtained from various sources like newspapers, public libraries, government and non-government agencies etc.

4. Combine and compare: Once data is collected, combine and compare the data for any duplication and assemble data into a usable format. Make sure to collect data from authentic sources. Incorrect data can hamper research severely.

4. Analyze data: Analyze collected data and identify if all questions are answered. If not, repeat the process if there is a need to dwell further into actionable insights.

Advantages of Secondary Research

Secondary research offers a number of advantages to researchers, including efficiency, the ability to build upon existing knowledge, and the ability to conduct research in situations where primary research may not be possible or ethical. By carefully selecting their sources and being thoughtful in their approach, researchers can leverage secondary research to drive impact and advance the field. Some key advantages are the following:

1. Most information in this research is readily available. There are many sources from which relevant data can be collected and used, unlike primary research, where data needs to collect from scratch.

2. This is a less expensive and less time-consuming process as data required is easily available and doesn’t cost much if extracted from authentic sources. A minimum expenditure is associated to obtain data.

3. The data that is collected through secondary research gives organizations or businesses an idea about the effectiveness of primary research. Hence, organizations or businesses can form a hypothesis and evaluate cost of conducting primary research.

4. Secondary research is quicker to conduct because of the availability of data. It can be completed within a few weeks depending on the objective of businesses or scale of data needed.

As we can see, this research is the process of analyzing data already collected by someone else, and it can offer a number of benefits to researchers.

Disadvantages of Secondary Research

On the other hand, we have some disadvantages that come with doing secondary research. Some of the most notorious are the following:

1. Although data is readily available, credibility evaluation must be performed to understand the authenticity of the information available.

2. Not all secondary data resources offer the latest reports and statistics. Even when the data is accurate, it may not be updated enough to accommodate recent timelines.

3. Secondary research derives its conclusion from collective primary research data. The success of your research will depend, to a greater extent, on the quality of research already conducted by primary research.

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In conclusion, secondary research is an important tool for researchers exploring various topics. By leveraging existing data sources, researchers can save time and resources, build upon existing knowledge, and conduct research in situations where primary research may not be feasible.

There are a variety of methods and examples of secondary research, from analyzing public data sets to reviewing previously published research papers. As students and aspiring researchers, it’s important to understand the benefits and limitations of this research and to approach it thoughtfully and critically. By doing so, we can continue to advance our understanding of the world around us and contribute to meaningful research that positively impacts society.

QuestionPro can be a useful tool for conducting secondary research in a variety of ways. You can create online surveys that target a specific population, collecting data that can be analyzed to gain insights into consumer behavior, attitudes, and preferences; analyze existing data sets that you have obtained through other means or benchmark your organization against others in your industry or against industry standards. The software provides a range of benchmarking tools that can help you compare your performance on key metrics, such as customer satisfaction, with that of your peers.

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• What is Secondary Research? | Definition, Types, & Examples

What is Secondary Research? | Definition, Types, & Examples

Published on 20 January 2023 by Tegan George .

Secondary research is a research method that uses data that was collected by someone else. In other words, whenever you conduct research using data that already exists, you are conducting secondary research. On the other hand, any type of research that you undertake yourself is called primary research .

Secondary research can be qualitative or quantitative in nature. It often uses data gathered from published peer-reviewed papers, meta-analyses, or government or private sector databases and datasets.

Table of contents

When to use secondary research, types of secondary research, examples of secondary research, advantages and disadvantages of secondary research, frequently asked questions.

Secondary research is a very common research method, used in lieu of collecting your own primary data. It is often used in research designs or as a way to start your research process if you plan to conduct primary research later on.

Since it is often inexpensive or free to access, secondary research is a low-stakes way to determine if further primary research is needed, as gaps in secondary research are a strong indication that primary research is necessary. For this reason, while secondary research can theoretically be exploratory or explanatory in nature, it is usually explanatory: aiming to explain the causes and consequences of a well-defined problem.

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Secondary research can take many forms, but the most common types are:

Statistical analysis

Literature reviews, case studies, content analysis.

There is ample data available online from a variety of sources, often in the form of datasets. These datasets are often open-source or downloadable at a low cost, and are ideal for conducting statistical analyses such as hypothesis testing or regression analysis .

Credible sources for existing data include:

• The government
• Government agencies
• Non-governmental organizations
• Educational institutions
• Businesses or consultancies
• Libraries or archives
• Newspapers, academic journals, or magazines

A literature review is a survey of preexisting scholarly sources on your topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant themes, debates, and gaps in the research you analyse. You can later apply these to your own work, or use them as a jumping-off point to conduct primary research of your own.

Structured much like a regular academic paper (with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion), a literature review is a great way to evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject. It is usually qualitative in nature and can focus on  a person, group, place, event, organisation, or phenomenon. A case study is a great way to utilise existing research to gain concrete, contextual, and in-depth knowledge about your real-world subject.

You can choose to focus on just one complex case, exploring a single subject in great detail, or examine multiple cases if you’d prefer to compare different aspects of your topic. Preexisting interviews , observational studies , or other sources of primary data make for great case studies.

Content analysis is a research method that studies patterns in recorded communication by utilizing existing texts. It can be either quantitative or qualitative in nature, depending on whether you choose to analyse countable or measurable patterns, or more interpretive ones. Content analysis is popular in communication studies, but it is also widely used in historical analysis, anthropology, and psychology to make more semantic qualitative inferences.

Secondary research is a broad research approach that can be pursued any way you’d like. Here are a few examples of different ways you can use secondary research to explore your research topic .

Secondary research is a very common research approach, but has distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of secondary research

Advantages include:

• Secondary data is very easy to source and readily available .
• It is also often free or accessible through your educational institution’s library or network, making it much cheaper to conduct than primary research .
• As you are relying on research that already exists, conducting secondary research is much less time consuming than primary research. Since your timeline is so much shorter, your research can be ready to publish sooner.
• Using data from others allows you to show reproducibility and replicability , bolstering prior research and situating your own work within your field.

Disadvantages of secondary research

Disadvantages include:

• Ease of access does not signify credibility . It’s important to be aware that secondary research is not always reliable , and can often be out of date. It’s critical to analyse any data you’re thinking of using prior to getting started, using a method like the CRAAP test .
• Secondary research often relies on primary research already conducted. If this original research is biased in any way, those research biases could creep into the secondary results.

Many researchers using the same secondary research to form similar conclusions can also take away from the uniqueness and reliability of your research. Many datasets become ‘kitchen-sink’ models, where too many variables are added in an attempt to draw increasingly niche conclusions from overused data . Data cleansing may be necessary to test the quality of the research.

A systematic review is secondary research because it uses existing research. You don’t collect new data yourself.

The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

• If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts, and meanings, use qualitative methods .
• If you want to analyse a large amount of readily available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how they are generated, collect primary data.
• If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to test a hypothesis by systematically collecting and analysing data, while qualitative methods allow you to explore ideas and experiences in depth.

Sources for this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

George, T. (2023, January 20). What is Secondary Research? | Definition, Types, & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 5 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/secondary-research-explained/

Largan, C., & Morris, T. M. (2019). Qualitative Secondary Research: A Step-By-Step Guide (1st ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

Peloquin, D., DiMaio, M., Bierer, B., & Barnes, M. (2020). Disruptive and avoidable: GDPR challenges to secondary research uses of data. European Journal of Human Genetics , 28 (6), 697–705. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-020-0596-x

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Integrated Primary & Secondary Research

5 Types of Secondary Research Data

Secondary sources allow you to broaden your research by providing background information, analyses, and unique perspectives on various elements for a specific campaign. Bibliographies of these sources can lead to the discovery of further resources to enhance research for organizations.

There are two common types of secondary data: Internal data and External data. Internal data is the information that has been stored or organized by the organization itself. External data is the data organized or collected by someone else.

Internal Secondary Sources

Internal secondary sources include databases containing reports from individuals or prior research. This is often an overlooked resource—it’s amazing how much useful information collects dust on an organization’s shelves! Other individuals may have conducted research of their own or bought secondary research that could be useful to the task at hand. This prior research would still be considered secondary even if it were performed internally because it was conducted for a different purpose.

External Secondary Sources

A wide range of information can be obtained from secondary research. Reliable databases for secondary sources include Government Sources, Business Source Complete, ABI, IBISWorld, Statista, and CBCA Complete. This data is generated by others but can be considered useful when conducting research into a new scope of the study. It also means less work for a non-for-profit organization as they would not have to create their own data and instead can piggyback off the data of others.

Examples of Secondary Sources

Government sources.

A lot of secondary data is available from the government, often for free, because it has already been paid for by tax dollars. Government sources of data include the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the National Centre for Health Statistics.

For example, through the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly surveys individuals to gain information about them (Bls.gov, n.d). These surveys are conducted quarterly, through an interview survey and a diary survey, and they provide data on expenditures, income, and household information (families or single). Detailed tables of the Expenditures Reports include the age of the reference person, how long they have lived in their place of residence and which geographic region they live in.

Syndicated Sources

A syndicated survey is a large-scale instrument that collects information about a wide variety of people’s attitudes and capital expenditures. The Simmons Market Research Bureau conducts a National Consumer Survey by randomly selecting families throughout the country that agree to report in great detail what they eat, read, watch, drive, and so on. They also provide data about their media preferences.

Other Types of Sources

Gallup, which has a rich tradition as the world’s leading public opinion pollster, also provides in-depth reports based on its proprietary probability-based techniques (called the Gallup Panel), in which respondents are recruited through a random digit dial method so that results are more reliably generalizable. The Gallup organization operates one of the largest telephone research data-collection systems in the world, conducting more than twenty million interviews over the last five years and averaging ten thousand completed interviews per day across two hundred individual survey research questionnaires (GallupPanel, n.d).

Attribution

This page contains materials taken from:

Bls.gov. (n.d). U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/

Define Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence. (2020). Retrieved July 23, 2020, from http://sgba-resource.ca/en/process/module-8-evidence/define-quantitative-and-qualitative-evidence/

GallupPanel. (n.d). Gallup Panel Research. Retrieved from http://www.galluppanel.com

Secondary Data. (2020). Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/advertising-campaigns-start-to-finish/s08-03-secondary-data.html

An Open Guide to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Copyright © 2023 by Andrea Niosi and KPU Marketing 4201 Class of Summer 2020 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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What is secondary research?

Last updated

7 February 2023

Reviewed by

Cathy Heath

In this guide, we explain in detail what secondary research is, including the difference between this research method and primary research, the different sources for secondary research, and how you can benefit from this research method.

Analyze your secondary research

Bring your secondary research together inside Dovetail, tag PDFs, and uncover actionable insights

• Overview of secondary research

Secondary research is a method by which the researcher finds existing data, filters it to meet the context of their research question, analyzes it, and then summarizes it to come up with valid research conclusions.

This research method involves searching for information, often via the internet, using keywords or search terms relevant to the research question. The goal is to find data from internal and external sources that are up-to-date and authoritative, and that fully answer the question.

Secondary research reviews existing research and looks for patterns, trends, and insights, which helps determine what further research, if any, is needed.

• Secondary research methods

Secondary research is more economical than primary research, mainly because the methods for this type of research use existing data and do not require the data to be collected first-hand or by a third party that you have to pay.

Secondary research is referred to as ‘desk research’ or ‘desktop research,’ since the data can be retrieved from behind a desk instead of having to host a focus group and create the research from scratch.

Finding existing research is relatively easy since there are numerous accessible sources organizations can use to obtain the information they need. These  include:

The internet:  This data is either free or behind a paywall. Yet, while there are plenty of sites on the internet with information that can be used, businesses need to be careful to collect information from trusted and authentic websites to ensure the data is accurate.

Government agencies: Government agencies are typically known to provide valuable, trustworthy information that companies can use for their research.

The public library: This establishment holds paper-based and online sources of reliable information, including business databases, magazines, newspapers, and government publications. Be mindful of any copyright restrictions that may apply when using these sources.

Commercial information: This source provides first-hand information on politics, demographics, and economic developments through information aggregators, newspapers, magazines, radio, blogs, podcasts, and journals. This information may be free or behind a paywall.

Educational and scientific facilities: Universities, colleges, and specialized research facilities carry out significant amounts of research. As a result, they have data that may be available to the public and businesses for use.

• Key differences between primary research and secondary research

Both primary and secondary research methods provide researchers with vital, complementary information, despite some major differences between the two approaches.

Primary research involves gathering first-hand information by directly working with the target market, users, and interviewees. Researchers ask questions directly using surveys , interviews, and focus groups.

Through the primary research method, researchers obtain targeted responses and accurate results directly related to their overall research goals.

Secondary research uses existing data, such as published reports, that have already been completed through earlier primary and secondary research. Researchers can use this existing data to support their research goals and preliminary research findings.

Other notable differences between primary and secondary research  include:

Relevance: Primary research uses raw data relevant to the investigation's goals. Secondary research may contain irrelevant data or may not neatly fit the parameters of the researcher's goals.

Time: Primary research takes a lot of time. Secondary research can be done relatively quickly.

Researcher bias: Primary research can be subject to researcher bias.

Cost: Primary research can be expensive. Secondary research can be more affordable because the data is often free. However, valuable data is often behind a paywall. The piece of secondary research you want may not exist or be very expensive, so you may have to turn to primary research to fill the information gap.

• When to conduct secondary research

Both primary and secondary research have roles to play in providing a holistic and accurate understanding of a topic. Generally, secondary research is done at the beginning of the research phase, especially if the topic is new.

Secondary research can provide context and critical background information to understand the issue at hand and identify any gaps, that could then be filled by primary research.

• How to conduct secondary research

Researchers usually follow several steps for secondary research.

1. Identify and define the research topic

Before starting either of these research methods, you first need to determine the following:

Topic to be researched

Purpose of this research

For instance, you may want to explore a question, determine why something happened, or confirm whether an issue is true.

At this stage, you also need to consider what search terms or keywords might be the most effective for this topic. You could do this by looking at what synonyms exist for your topic, the use of industry terms and acronyms, as well as the balance between statistical or quantitative data and contextual data to support your research topic.

It’s also essential to define what you don’t want to cover in your secondary research process. This might be choosing only to use recent information or only focusing on research based on a particular country or type of consumer. From there, once you know what you want to know and why you can decide whether you need to use both primary and secondary research to answer your questions.

2. Find research and existing data sources

Once you have determined your research topic , select the information sources that will provide you with the most appropriate and relevant data for your research. If you need secondary research, you want to determine where this information can likely be found, for example:

Trade associations

Government sources

Create a list of the relevant data sources , and other organizations or people that can help you find what you need.

3. Begin searching and collecting the existing data

Once you have narrowed down your sources, you will start gathering this information and putting it into an organized system. This often involves:

Checking the credibility of the source

Setting up meetings with research teams

Signing up for accounts to access certain websites or journals

One search result on the internet often leads to other pieces of helpful information, known as ‘pearl gathering’ or ‘pearl harvesting.’ This is usually a serendipitous activity, which can lead to valuable nuggets of information you may not have been aware of or considered.

4. Combine the data and compare the results

Once you have gathered all the data, start going through it by carefully examining all the information and comparing it to ensure the data is usable and that it isn’t duplicated or corrupted. Contradictory information is useful—just make sure you note the contradiction and the context. Be mindful of copyright and plagiarism when using secondary research and always cite your sources.

Once you have assessed everything, you will begin to look at what this information tells you by checking out the trends and comparing the different datasets. You will also investigate what this information means for your research, whether it helps your overall goal, and any gaps or deficiencies.

5. Analyze your data and explore further

In the final stage of conducting secondary research, you will analyze the data you have gathered and determine if it answers the questions you had before you started researching. Check that you understand the information, whether it fills in all your gaps, and whether it provides you with other insights or actions you should take next.

If you still need further data, repeat these steps to find additional information that can help you explore your topic more deeply. You may also need to supplement what you find with primary research to ensure that your data is complete, accurate, transparent, and credible.

• The advantages of secondary research

There are numerous advantages to performing secondary research. Some key benefits are:

Quicker than primary research: Because the data is already available, you can usually find the information you need fairly quickly. Not only will secondary research help you research faster, but you will also start optimizing the data more quickly.

Plenty of available data: There are countless sources for you to choose from, making research more accessible. This data may be already compiled and arranged, such as statistical information,  so you can quickly make use of it.

Lower costs:  Since you will not have to carry out the research from scratch, secondary research tends to be much more affordable than primary research.

Opens doors to further research:  Existing research usually identifies whether more research needs to be done. This could mean follow-up surveys or telephone interviews with subject matter experts (SME) to add value to your own research.

• The disadvantages of secondary research

While there are plenty of benefits to secondary research are plenty, there are some issues you should be aware of. These include:

Credibility issues: It is important to verify the sources used. Some information may be biased and not reflect or hide, relevant issues or challenges. It could also be inaccurate.

No recent information:  Even if data may seem accurate, it may not be up to date, so the information you gather may no longer be correct. Outdated research can distort your overall findings.

Poor quality: Because secondary research tends to make conclusions from primary research data, the success of secondary research will depend on the quality and context of the research that has already been completed. If the research you are using is of poor quality, this will bring down the quality of your own findings.

Research doesn’t exist or is not easily accessible, or is expensive: Sometimes the information you need is confidential or proprietary, such as sales or earnings figures. Many information-based businesses attach value to the information they hold or publish, so the costs to access this information can be prohibitive.

Should you complete secondary research or primary research first?

Due to the costs and time involved in primary research, it may be more beneficial to conduct secondary market research first. This will save you time and provide a picture of what issues you may come across in your research. This allows you to focus on using more expensive primary research to get the specific answers you want.

What should you ask yourself before using secondary research data?

Check the date of the research to make sure it is still relevant. Also, determine the data source so you can assess how credible and trustworthy it is likely to be. For example, data from known brands, professional organizations, and even government agencies are usually excellent sources to use in your secondary research, as it tends to be trustworthy.

Be careful when using some websites and personal blogs as they may be based on opinions rather than facts. However, these sources can be useful for determining sentiment about a product or service, and help direct any primary research.

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• Harvard Library
• Research Guides
• Faculty of Arts & Sciences Libraries

Library Research Guide for the History of Science: Introduction

• What is a Secondary Source?
• Background and Context/Biography
• Exploring Your Topic
• Using HOLLIS

Page Contents

Recognizing secondary sources, find secondary sources, finding bibliographies.

• What is a Primary Source?
• Exploring the Special Collections at Harvard
• Citing Sources & Organizing Research
• Recognizing Secondary Sources
• Finding Secondary Sources

Secondary sources were created by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you’re researching. For a historical research project, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles.

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may contain pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources.

Some types of secondary source include:  Textbooks; journal articles; histories; criticisms; commentaries; encyclopedias 

Examples of secondary sources include:

• A scholarly article about water and bathing in Mexico City, 1850-1920
• A book about the psychological effects of WWI
• A 2019 U.S. government document examining the work of African Americans at two Manhattan Project sites
• An NPR piece on race and vaccine skepticism

For a historical research project, secondary sources are usually scholarly books and articles, but as you can see from this list there are other possibilties.

History of Science, Technology and Medicine (Harvard Login)  (1975- ) is an index of books, book chapters, and journal articles. Some social sciences material is included. 

• HSTM is an amalgamation of four separate indexes with four different subject term systems; study the results of keyword searches to be sure that you know the proper subject terms for your topic in each of the, possibly four, relevant component databases. For example, the Wellcome Bibliography uses "Contraception" but the Isis Current Bibliography uses "Birth control".
• If you want to limit the coverage of your sources to a particular era, put one of these terms in a search box:  Antiquity or Ancient - “Greek and Roman” - “Middle Ages” or medieval - 13th  century - 14th century - 15 th  century - 16 th  century - 17th century - 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
• More detailed information about the use of this complex database.

ISISCB Bibliographic Resources in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine  indexes the Isis Current Bibliography.  Search results extend back to 1970.  It also offers a browse of the  Isis Cumulative Bibliographies  (1913-1975).  Search ISISCB Explore

PubMed (Harvard Login for full text access)  (1947- ) is the National Library of Medicine's index to biomedical journal articles.

• To limit to historical sources, attach the phrase (in"") "historical article" to your search. Example: "Psychology, clinical" and "historical article".
• Be sure to look for MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) on pertinent records by scrolling down past the abstracts. (Not all records in PubMed have MeSH terms.) Subject headings can help you get to more relevant records and/or can be helpful keyword suggestions.

America: History and Life (Harvard login)  is the primary bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Historical Abstracts (Harvard Login)  is a reference guide to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life, above).

• Both allow coverage date limitations as well as publication date limitations, Can usually use LC terms, not always 

Bibliography of British and Irish History (Harvard Login)  provides bibliographic data on historical writing dealing with the British Isles, and with the British empire and commonwealth, during all periods for which written documentation is available - from 55BC to the present.

• At the link above, choose BBIH from the top row of options.

The Forest History Society Research Portal  offers over 45,000 citations to published items on environmental history, over 30,000 photographs, and other material.

Web of Science Citation Indexes (Harvard Login)  (for historical articles1956- ) includes articles in all areas of science. You can use the Cited Reference Search in Web of Science to find secondary source articles that cite a specified secondary or primary source article or book. More information .

Library Guide to the History of Science Your guide to the History of Science at Harvard. It has more extensive lists of resources and tools than this introductory guide does.

There may already be a detailed list of sources, a bibliography, for your topic. Bibliographies don't always come at the end of a paper- many are independent works of their own, full of recommended sources on any given topic.

For example:

• Microbes and Minie Balls: An Annotated Bibliography of Civil War Medicine (Print Only) , by F. R. Freemon. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993, 253 pp.                          
• Annotated Bibliography on Medical Research in the South Pacific (Harvard login for HathiTrust full text), by Norman-Taylor, William, South Pacific Commission, 1963. 371pp.

Look for specialized subject bibliographies: search, e.g., <"science and state" AND China AND bibliography>   in HOLLIS  and WorldCat (advanced search). Note:The word Bibliography must be searched as a Subject keyword.

If you find an older article or book in a bibliography, you can use the Cited Reference Search in Web of Science to find more recent articles by seeing who has cited it.   If you have a bibliography of primary sources, then the Web of Science can be used to find secondary sources that cite a specified primary source. See Searching the Citation Indexes (Web of Science) .

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Secondary Data: Analysis, Benefits, Importance, and Sources

Competently using data has proven to be the path towards success for many entities across different fields. In business, it meant competitive advantage, innovation, and profit. However, in order to achieve all these benefits, companies need to understand and take advantage of different kinds of data analysis and handling practices. One important distinction to be aware of is between primary data analysis and secondary data analysis. The importance of collecting new data is often and rightly stressed. So, let’s look closer at why it’s vital to utilize secondary data as well, and what benefits can come from analyzing secondary data.

What is secondary data?

As mentioned, when businesses collect data themselves, it’s considered primary data. So, what makes up secondary data? Simply because of the fact that it has already been collected by a primary source and is now being used by someone else (a secondary source) for their own purposes. 

Likewise, primary research is when the data is collected by researchers themselves and is essentially new data. Conversely, secondary research or secondary data analysis is when analysts utilize data from previous research or outside primary sources instead of collecting data themselves.

Therefore, secondary data is any data that is already available before the research begins. Secondary data collection involves getting or buying data that has already been produced or recorded, instead of producing new data. More specifically, secondary data is information originally created and used by a primary source for a specific purpose that is then collected and analyzed by a second party. 

Secondary data sources

Primary research is done with the data collected from authentic sources. This means that, for example, researchers conduct interviews or carry out field tests to get the data for the analysis.

Sources of secondary data, on the other hand, don’t need to be authentic. Any source information collected for whichever purpose can be a source for secondary data analysis. Naturally, this means that there are many such sources.

For businesses and other organizations, all these sources can be divided into internal and external. Internal sources are those that come from within the organization. For example, researchers may use existing data from accounting, customer feedback, or operational reports when doing marketing research to improve a firm’s marketing strategies. This data is still secondary as it was originally recorded for other purposes, but as it originates within the same company as the marketing research itself, it’s internal data.

All other sources, those that are outside of the organization, are external sources of secondary data. Of course, this group of sources is extensive and varies immensely. Here are some of the most common examples of such sources.

• Public legal sources and government publications (including public libraries and their sources for administrative data, as well as census data)
• Media (either broadcasted, printed, or otherwise released by TV, newspaper, or information from other media companies)
• Literature and literature review (including releases from academic publishers , like Cambridge University Press or Sage Publications)
• Industry reports and other published market or industry research
• Professional data providers
• International organizations

Primary data vs. secondary data

The difference between primary and secondary data is not only source type or whether they have been used before. These two types of data usually differ in their features which have important implications when choosing which type of analysis to conduct.

Data collected for primary research is raw data that can be structured according to the goals of the analysis. Secondary data usually has already been structured or processed, often more than once, thus at first, it is presented for analysis in a form that was meant to suit something else.

Qualitative data is more often used in primary research. Secondary research is more associated with quantitative data, such as administrative data or census data, often studied by social scientists. However, there are also valid qualitative data research methods that can be applied for secondary data in marketing research or other business-relevant analysis. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of secondary data analysis as compared to primary research

Advantages of secondary research

Saving time and effort.

Collecting secondary data for research is much faster and easier than primary data collection. This allows researchers to save time by going straight to the analysis process. Additionally, researchers stay focused on the research goals without having to worry about finding and utilizing primary sources, which can be a lot of work on its own.

Cost-effectiveness

Secondary research is generally the cheaper option. It is quite costly to organize focus groups, hire people to question persons of interest, or build and maintain various sensors able to record large amounts of data. Meanwhile, secondary data may cost next to nothing to get as all the data one could use is already available and often easily accessible from free institutions like public libraries. Even when such data is not enough and one has to turn to data providers or otherwise spend money to acquire secondary data, it’s still cheaper than primary data collection.

Cleaned and structured data

Secondary data has often been cleaned before using it for primary purposes. This means that the data already ascends to at least some data quality standards. There may be many quality issues with just gathered primary data. Thus researchers have to put additional resources to clean it. Additionally, secondary data is usually structured, which, as mentioned, may not suit the particular requirements of secondary research at hand, but it does bring some organization and readability, which can prove time-saving.

The large volume of data

Finally, there’s only so much primary data that researchers can collect before having to start the actual analysis. With secondary data, there’s no such limit. There is more information available in secondary sources than one could handle in a lifetime of data analysis. Thus, secondary data researchers certainly don’t have many restrictions on what sources to choose from.

Disadvantages of secondary research

Differing requirements.

The biggest among the disadvantages of secondary data research is that one can’t quite be sure that the data will suit the goals of the research exactly. Primary data analysts can gather exactly what they need. Secondary researchers, on the other hand, work with what they were able to find from what is available.

Control over the collection process

Secondary data analysts can’t be completely sure that the data was collected according to rigid standards and therefore is valid and representative. They may check the source and try to find out as much about the collection as possible, but there will always be a degree of uncertainty.

Lacking uniqueness

Primary researchers work on unique data that no one else has had before. Therefore they have a greater chance of arriving at unique insights. Secondary data analysis can be unique too, but only for as long as no one else uses the same data for the same research purposes.

Five Metrics for evaluating and analyzing secondary data

The first step of secondary data analysis is the evaluation of data. Although, as mentioned, it’s impossible to have complete quality control over secondary data, researchers can still exercise some control. The following criteria are crucial when evaluating secondary data in order to determine their suitability for the analysis at hand.

• Reliability of the source How trusty is the data source? Is it a reputable data provider or an established publisher? Researchers should also check to find out as much as possible about the circumstances of data collection .
• Relevance Not all trustworthy information is relevant data for a particular analysis. Researchers must first establish clear analysis goals to determine data relevance and then check what kind of information particular data sources hold.
• Overall quality Of course, analysts need to pay attention to any errors, redundancies, or other possible issues with the data they’re considering for usage. Poor data quality costs businesses between $9.7 million and $14.2 million every year. 
• Freshness How new is the data? When was it last updated? Outdated information may no longer answer the questions raised by the analysis goals.
• Accessibility The format of the data and how it is accessed are also pivotal for data analysis. The easier it is to access data, the more efficient and reliable secondary research will be.

The importance of secondary data analysis in business

For years business heads and data analysts have been lamenting the fact that most data never get to be analyzed. For example, a few years ago, it was estimated that only about 0.5% of all data is ever analyzed and utilized.

Having this in mind, one can’t help but wonder whether it’s worth spending money on additional data production when so much existing data never gets used. Of course, primary research is often necessary, for example, when new qualitative data is required, but it is equally important not to overlook the potential of secondary data.

Especially when it comes to secondary quantitative data, the large volumes of public web data already available would suggest first going for secondary research. Thus, combining the two research methods is the surest way for businesses to benefit from data analysis.

Wrapping up

Researchers can either collect new data for analysis or get secondary data from some of the many diverse sources. Whichever path is chosen, the key to success and business benefits is, as always, attention to data quality and choosing the right method for the right goals.

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Secondary Market Research: What It Is and How to Do It Fast

Secondary market research is cost-effective. There’s no professional training needed. And it’s a great place to find inspiration and ideas for growth, or explore a topic deeper before making strategic decisions. When you think about it, it’s how most types of research start out.

Whether you’re digging around on a rival’s website, reading industry news, or snooping on social media, it all counts.

So, sit back and take ten to discover everything you need to know about the what, why, and how to do secondary market research right.

For good measure, I’ve included examples of secondary market research and a detailed review of secondary research methods. 

What is secondary market research?

By definition, secondary market research uses pre-existing data collected or published by a third party. It’s mainly used to establish key facts about a market, product, or service. It’s also known as desk-based research , and all you need is an internet connection to get started. There are plenty of places to obtain secondary data for free. These include internal and external sources, such as company sales and analytics data, industry or government reports, and published market research surveys .

To save time:

Choose the right secondary market research methods from the onset. And use a methodical approach to help you analyze a topic, spot trends, and decide whether further primary market research is worth it, or not.

Why is secondary market research important?

Finding cost and time-efficient ways to do market research is key. By leveraging prior efforts, you can build on existing research, uncover insights, and make informed decisions faster. 

This type of market research presents a huge window of opportunity! As long as you’re willing to invest the time needed to gather and analyze the data. Particularly when you consider how much data is out there, and is never reviewed.

https://x.com/forrester/status/902218053768933377

Examples of secondary market research

All secondary market research types can be split into two subsets; internal and external.

• Internal sources come from data held within your organization.

These examples of secondary market research are for your eyes only. And because it’s data your rivals won’t be able to benefit from, it’s one of the most valuable activities you can do.

2. External sources come from outside your business.

External secondary research examples can be accessed by almost anyone, being openly available by nature.

By choosing the right secondary market research methods, you can significantly cut your research time and increase your speed to insight. 

In June this year, over 500 business leaders and analysts shared their go-to sources of secondary market research with me via a survey on the HARO platform . The key ranking factors were speed, value, and ROI.

With these findings, I’ve collated a list of the best types of secondary market research.

Internal examples of secondary market research

1. Website and mobile app analytics

Think Google Analytics or your mobile app intelligence software . Both show data about people who interact with your business online. They can also help you understand the device split between desktop and mobile .

2. Customer data

Here, you get exclusive insights into your audience demographics.  This is first-hand information about how people use your product or service, their likes, dislikes, and more.

3. Previously conducted research

Perhaps your business used analysts or carried out research in the past. So, even if it seems unrelated, it may be relevant to your research,

4. Historical marketing or campaign information 

Things like conversions, website traffic , sales, and marketing data. It’s all going to help you build a picture that’ll impact your research.

External examples of secondary market research

Government and non-government agencies.

Whether you want to view global or country-specific data, there’s lots of free information here. See below for a quick guide to some of the best secondary data sources in the US.

• Congressional Research Service – Information is authoritative, objective, and timely. Topics include economy, finance, commerce, technology, and policy. Sources include infographics, reports, and posts.
• US Census Bureau – Produces more stats than any other agency in the US. Tables, articles, studies, and reports show current and historical data.
• US Small Business Administration – If you’re a small business, the SBA website is a goldmine. Use it to access reports and other data that are ideal for secondary market research purposes.

Read More: Get Growing with Small Business Market Research

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics – As an independent national statistical agency, it produces timely, unbiased reports that are highly relevant to modern-day economic and social issues. Its data retrieval tool is a game-changer for fast access to relevant data.
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics – Access reports about transportation, economics, IT, airlines, geographic information systems, safety, and more. View trends and annual reports, or use the ask-a-librarian live-chat service.
• US Government Publishing Office – View Federal Government reports from three branches: the White House, US passport office, and congress publications. It’s also home to the complete catalog of past and present government publications.
• Childstats.gov – If you’re in a business geared toward families, this is a great place to find valuable stats and trends relating to family characteristics, health, behavior, economic security, and education.
• Internal Revenue Service – Get comprehensive stats using this tax stats link. Great for income data, easily sorted by zip code. Access publications, articles, tables, and reports that measure elements of the tax system.

Competitor websites and apps

Your rival’s websites and apps are a goldmine for secondary research. Define your competitors; then take the following actions for each. Also, ensure you set up a systematic way to collect and record what you find.

• Sign-up for their newsletters or subscribe to their blog.
• Do they offer a free trial, consultation, or product demo – go ahead and try it out.
• Review their products or services; look at the add-ons or upgrades on offer.
• If a rival has an app, download it to get a feel for what they offer and what works (or not).
• Record their price points, discounts, offers, and pricing model.
• What type of customer support do they offer; email, phone, live chat? Note any service level agreements (SLAs) they promise to customers.
• Read their customer and employee reviews with a fine toothcomb: note both pros and cons.
• Look at what social media channels they’re active on. View their activities, engagement, and size of their following.

While it seems like a lot, you can uncover some genuine pearls of wisdom about your target audience’s likes and dislikes. You can also use this data to inform pricing, positioning, social, and marketing tactics .

Read more: how to do competitive analysis right.

Using the industry analysis feature, I see the industry leaders and rising stars. When I look at who is gaining the most unique visitors with the longest visit duration; there’s a clear leader with above-average stats. By expanding and clicking compare, I see the competitive landscape , including marketing and social channels, keywords, ads, traffic, and engagement metrics for all. 

Commercial and Trade Association Reports

Whatever your business, there’s bound to be a trade association that provides relevant intel about your sector. Here are a few links to save time if you’re in the US. Google trade associations in your region to see what’s available for anyone outside the US.

• The Directory of Associations
• The National Trade and Professional Associations Directory
• The Encyclopedia of Associations

Online Media

Use the media to find out about stories and trends in any sector. But don’t just make it a one-and-done thing – sign-up for Google news alerts to be alerted to new things as they happen. You can create alerts in seconds based on competitors’ names, products, industries, popular keywords, and more.

Market Research Intelligence Tools

Get instant access to the most up-to-date insights about rivals, markets, or keywords for any audience or product. Another reason to use market research intelligence tools like Similarweb is the high dependency of data. It comes from reliable sources and is always up to date. You can instantly access web and mobile app intelligence from within a single platform, then drill down into any market to get actionable data – with key insights, trends, market intel, audience data, and more.

Traffic and engagement metrics are a gold mine when it comes to doing secondary research. Here’s a static shot of Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence in action. Here, you can quickly compare sites, and see in an instant who is winning in any market, and how they’re doing it. 

Research Associations

Many research associations will charge you for their data, but if you find a timely and relevant report, it could be money well spent. Some of the most prominent players include IBIS World , Gartner , Statista , Forrester , and Dun & Bradstreet .  

Educational Institutions

When you consider how academic research papers and journals are researched, you know their value. If you find one connected to your topic, you get instant confidence in the credibility of that data.

See below – there are many other examples of secondary market research using external data.

As this article is about how to do secondary market research fast, I’ve highlighted the most compelling examples of secondary research data.

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Pros and cons of secondary research

As with all things in life, there are good and bad aspects to consider. Knowing the best route requires some consideration. So, ask yourself these questions before deciding if secondary market research is right for you – and whether it will help you achieve your research goals:

• What do you want to learn from your research?
• Are there actions or decisions you can take from the data?
• How is the data relevant to your research questions ?
• Is information the most up-to-date there is?
• Could there be a quicker way to do this?

Always keep your research questions front of mind. It’ll help you determine if you’re using the best secondary market research methods, and keep you focused on the end result.

Advantages of secondary market research

• It can be quick to conduct.
• No professional training is needed to do it.
• Low-to-no cost.
• Data is easy to access.
• Initial findings shape future research efforts.
• Gain a broad understanding of a topic fast.

Disadvantages of secondary market research

• Data can quickly become outdated.
• Lack of control over the research methodologies used.
• Topics aren’t always relevant to the researcher’s needs.
• Extra steps are needed to validate the credibility of the research.
• Data is not proprietary and offers little advantage compared to primary research.

For all the benefits secondary market research offers, it’s impossible to ignore the disadvantages. Things like credibility, reliability, relevance, and timeliness all matter when you want to uncover insights to give you a competitive edge.

That’s where we come in.

The Ultimate Tool for Secondary Market Research

Similarweb Research Intelligence is the only external secondary market research method that gives you all the pros and none of the cons. If you want to know what a successful example of secondary market research looks like; it’s this.

• It’s dynamic and updates on the fly – so you always get the most up-to-date information.
• Data collection methodologies are transparent, trustworthy, and reliable.
• Refine results to exactly match the research needs.
• The presentation of data is clear via an easy-to-use, intuitive platform.

Use it to uncover the most critical insights you need to succeed. Data about your rivals, market, product, topic-specific keywords, marketing effectivity, demographics, and consumer journey tracking – all from a single platform, and from the comfort of your desk.

How to do secondary market research in five steps

As you can see, there are many ways to approach it and even more secondary market research methods to choose from. One thing this post promised, was to show you how to do it better and faster. So without further ado, here are five quick steps to follow.

1 – Define research needs and establish goals.

2 – Choose the best sources of secondary market research.

3 – Access, collate, and verify research data.

4 – Analyze, compare, and identify trends.

5 – Confirm if the research questions are answered. If not, repeat steps 1-4 using different sources, or consider primary market research as an alternative.

The difference between primary and secondary market research methods

Wrapping up…

Many believe that doing secondary market research is a quick, cost-effective route to uncover insights that fuel growth. So, whether it’s through diversification, slicker marketing, or new product development. But with credible constraints about the relevance and timeliness of secondary research methods and their data, choosing your tools has never been so important.

We might be biased, but for relevant, timely, trustworthy information that’s always on-point, Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence is ideal. It’s the quickest way to get information about a target market , product, or audience. So, to get started doing secondary market research fast, sign-up for a free trial on the site today.

What are secondary market research methods?

The most widely used secondary market research methods include: the internet, government and agency reports, research journals, trade associations, media outlets, libraries, digital intelligence tools, competitor data, internal sales or customer data, and website or app analytics .

How is secondary market research used?

Secondary market research provides a background from existing data. Organizations can save time and money by identifying key perspectives, facts, and figures to support a topic of interest. It adds credibility and helps shape further primary research.

Should you do primary or secondary market research first?

Because primary market research requires more resources, it’s best to use secondary market research first. Doing so gives you a clearer understanding of a research topic and can help you shape any further research stages before you invest money.

What are primary research and secondary market research?

Primary and secondary market research are two types of market research. Primary research refers to data that’s collected first-hand, such as a survey or interview. Secondary research uses existing data to explore a topic, such as the internet or journals.

by Liz March

Digital Research Specialist

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Secondary Research: Meaning, Sources, Advantages, Disadvantages

Updated: July 8, 2024 · Reviewed by: Ahmad Nasrudin

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission if you purchase through our links. This helps support our work.

What’s it:  Secondary research, or desk research, is a type of research using external data sources, not original data sources. In other words, you are not first hand and therefore have no control over the accuracy of the data. For example, you don’t know whether the data is representative or not.

Secondary research is different from primary research. For the latter, you take it from the original source. For consumer research, for example, you might survey or interview consumers. We call the data collected as primary data. You have control over data quality because you develop a methodology for data collection, including sampling.

There are many examples of secondary research sources. You can take from company reports, research agency reports, government agency publications, news articles, and so on.

Secondary research is a valuable step. You save time, money, and effort by not having to retrieve data directly. You may use all the secondary data if they answer your hypothesis. Or, you may collect some data you need and collect it directly for the rest of the data. Of course, that saves more money than having to extract all the data from the original source.

Secondary research sources

There are many examples of data sources for secondary research. It varies depending on the research objectives. For example, data sources could come from:

• Research company reports.  Examples are   Nielsen ,  Euromonitor International ,  Kantar ,  Gartner , and Ipsos or consulting agencies such as  McKinsey ,  Boston Consulting Group , and   Bain & Company .
• Academic textbooks or journals.  They are usually poor in data with more qualitative information. They are usually useful in developing hypotheses as well as research methodologies. For example, you may have several alternative variables to research buying behavior but don’t know which ones are significant. Well, textbooks and academic journals can help you in this case.
• Government publications.  The central statistical agency is an example. You can find a variety of valuable data there, including demographic, geographic, economic data, and so on.
• Trade association (business association).  They are associations for domestic companies or companies from various countries. For international associations, the  International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA)  is an example. Usually, they present regular reports on the state of the markets in which their members operate.
• Media . Business newspapers and magazines are valuable sources for gathering data. They may be printed or digital. Usually, they present some data to support the articles they write. Some may be free, while for others, you may need to subscribe. The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Financial Times are notable examples.
• Company report.  There are many reporting sources you can use. They may be annual reports, company financial reports, public expose materials, press releases, and prospectuses.

Advantages of secondary research 

Advantages of secondary research are:

Easy, cheap, and fast . You don’t have to be involved in developing complicated data collection methods. You also don’t have to run surveys or interviews to collect data. You just sit at the table and look it up on the internet.

More varied . You can collect data from a variety of sources. Besides, you can compare these various data and choose which ones support your argument.

Good starting point.  It is useful to help plan primary research. For example, you can collect some secondary data to answer some of your hypotheses and collect other data through primary research. In other cases, for consumer research, you may need secondary data on demographics and geography to determine a representative sample.

Disadvantages of secondary research

The main drawbacks of secondary research are:

Inaccurate . You don’t know how the data is retrieved, whether it is accurate or not. For example, a data provider might use an unrepresentative sample and therefore be biased if you use it to conclude about the population.

Expired . More lag time between data collection and data publication. Thus, the data may no longer be relevant to current conditions. The data provider does not update it regularly, so data is unavailable for several years.

Less relevant.  Secondary data is to meet the needs of the provider, not for you. Thus, they may be less relevant to answering your research hypotheses.

• Sampling: Meaning, Concepts and Methods
• Market Research: Meaning, Why It Matters, Types, And Processes
• Abstract: Meaning, Content, and Why it Matters
• Primary Research: Methods, Advantages, and Disadvantages

About Ahmad Nasrudin

Introverted writer with a passion for storytelling. Leveraged analytical skills from financial background (equity research, credit risk) at a leading rating agency to enhance writing with a unique statistical and macroeconomic perspective. Learn more about me

10 Secondary Data Sources

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

Secondary data refers to any research data that is not collected for the purpose of your own study, but is repurposed and reanalyzed within your study.

In Dissertation Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Guide , Philip Adu and Anthony Miles (2023) provide a succinct scholarly definition:

Secondary data is defined as data collected for a purpose other than the problem at hand, and secondary analysis is usually undertaken by researchers who did not conduct the primary data collection .

The most common times when we would use secondary data is in literature reviews and meta-analyses, where we collect, collate, compare, analyze, and synthesize other people’s data to identify research trends, allowing us to understand the landscape of research on a topic. This can help researchers to identify research gaps. ( See more times we would conduct secondary research here ).

Below is a list of common sources of secondary data.

Secondary Data Sources

1. academic journal articles.

Academic journal articles are scholarly papers published in academic journals. They usually report on original research, review existing literature, or present theoretical analyses in various academic fields.

When researchers use academic journal articles, they are accessing the data, analyses, or findings of other researchers. The original data collected and analyzed by the authors of these articles becomes secondary data when it is reused or reanalyzed by other researchers.

Typically, researchers will use academic journal articles as secondary data sources when they are used in literature reviews and meta-analyses.

In these situations, researchers will synthesize and analyze the findings of multiple studies to draw broader conclusions, identify trends, or discover research gaps in a specific field. This process allows them to build upon existing knowledge without conducting original data collection.

2. Government Publications

Government publications are a treasure trove of secondary data. These can include documents such as reports, policy papers, statistics, and research findings issued by government bodies or agencies.

These publications often contain data collected by government agencies for purposes such as policy development, monitoring, and administrative functions.

When this data is used by researchers for a different purpose than its original intent, it becomes secondary data.

For example, researchers might utilize government publications to gain insights into policy impacts, demographic trends, and socio-economic conditions.

Researchers rely on the credibility and the comprehensive nature of government data to support their findings or to compare with data from other sources, but should still always check the methodological rigor of those studies.

3. Industry Reports

Industry reports are research reports produced by market research firms, industry analysts, or trade associations. They tend to provide detailed analysis on industry trends, market size, competitive landscapes, and consumer behaviors.

These reports compile data gathered from various sources like surveys, market analysis, and business operations. This compiled data can be used as secondary data for researchers who did not participate in the original data collection process, but can leverage that data for their own studies.

Industry reports save researchers time and resources as they provide consolidated and analyzed data relevant to a specific industry.

4. Census Data

Census data refers to the information collected during national or regional censuses, which are typically conducted by governments at regular intervals (often every five or ten years).

This data generally includes demographic information such as age, gender, ethnicity, employment status, and housing conditions of the population.

While government use this data to inform public spending distributions and infrastructure planning, it’s analyzed by researchers for a range of other purposes, given the fact this is detailed and authoritative cross-sectional data on populations. This allows researchers to identify trends, make comparisons across regions and time periods, and support policy development and academic studies.

5. Historical Records

Historical records encompass a wide range of documents and materials that provide information about past events, people, and societies. These can include government records and curated artifacts.

When researchers use historical records, they are accessing data that was originally created or collected for purposes other than their current research inquiry. These records serve as secondary data because they are being repurposed to extract information and insights about the past.

Researchers in fields such as history, anthropology, and sociology use historical records to understand the context and events of the past.

These records are vital for reconstructing historical narratives, understanding cultural and societal changes, and analyzing historical events and trends.

Researchers rely on the authenticity and preservation of these records to conduct accurate and insightful historical analysis.

6. Public Opinion Polls

Public opinion polls are surveys conducted to gauge the public’s views, attitudes, or perceptions on various topics, ranging from politics and social issues to consumer products and services.

Public opinion polls become secondary data when researchers use the collected survey data for purposes other than the original intent of the poll. The initial purpose of these polls is to understand the current views of a specific population at a specific time.

Researchers use data from public opinion polls to analyze trends in public attitudes, understand societal changes, or validate hypotheses in social science research. This data is especially useful in fields like political science, marketing, and sociology.

7. Health Records

Health records consist of detailed information about an individual’s medical history, diagnoses, treatments, and health outcomes. These records are typically maintained by healthcare providers, hospitals, and clinics.

These records are considered secondary data when researchers use them for studies or analyses beyond their initial purpose of individual patient care and treatment. The data in these records was primarily collected for clinical purposes and patient management.

Researchers use health records to conduct epidemiological studies, public health research, and to analyze healthcare outcomes. These records provide invaluable data for understanding disease patterns, treatment effectiveness, and healthcare disparities. By analyzing this data, researchers can identify risk factors for diseases, assess the impact of healthcare interventions, and contribute to the development of evidence-based medical practices and policies.

However, accessing health records comes with a range of ethical issues , which are tightly regulated, which makes accessing this data difficult.

8. Trade and Economic Indexes

Trade and economic indexes are statistical measures that track economic performance, market trends, and trade activities. Examples include the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and various stock market indices.

While the data is not collected by academic reseasrchers, and not intended for them, researchers often use these indexes to study economic trends, evaluate policy impacts, and understand market behaviors.

In economics, finance, and business studies, these indexes are crucial for analyzing economic health, forecasting market trends, and making investment decisions.

By examining changes in these indexes, researchers can infer about inflation, economic growth, and consumer behavior, thus enabling informed decision-making in various economic and business contexts.

9. Policy Documents

Policy documents are formal records that outline the principles, plans, and objectives of specific policies implemented by governments, organizations, or institutions. These documents can include legislation, regulatory guidelines, strategic plans, and governmental directives.

Policy documents are considered secondary data when researchers use them to analyze or evaluate the impact and effectiveness of certain policies, analyze their ideological leanings via discourse analysis, and so on. Whenever the research is relied upon and used for purposes rather than for their original purpose of policy implementation and guidance, we consider them to be secondary data soureces.

By analyzing these documents, researchers can understand the rationale behind policies, their intended objectives, and their real-world impacts.

This analysis can inform future policy development, offer critiques of current policies, and contribute to the academic discourse on governance and policy-making.

10. Market Research Data

Market research data includes information gathered about consumers, market trends, competitors, and industry dynamics. This data is collected through methods like surveys, focus groups, sales analysis, and consumer feedback.

Market research data becomes secondary when researchers use it for purposes other than its initial marketing or business objectives. The primary purpose of collecting this data is to inform business strategies, product development, and marketing tactics.

Nevertheless, researchers utilize market research data to understand consumer behavior, analyze market trends, and study economic patterns.

By analyzing this secondary data, researchers can identify market opportunities, forecast consumer trends, and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies.

This secondary use of market research data is crucial for businesses and policymakers to make informed decisions that align with consumer needs and market conditions.

Primary vs Secondary Data

Primary data is collected firsthand for specific research objectives , offering highly relevant and controlled information, but it can be time-consuming and expensive to gather.

Secondary data, on the other hand, is pre-existing data collected for other purposes, which is less costly and quicker to access but may not be as precisely tailored to the specific research needs and can vary in accuracy and relevance (Cameron & Price, 2009).

Here is a table comparing primary data to secondary data:

Benefits and Limitations of Secondary Data

Secondary data can be attractive to research students because it helps them to skip the process of original data gathering (complete with complications like passing ethical review boards), allowing them to focus on data analysis and evaluation processes.

However, ideally, that’s not why you’d lean toward secondary data. Instead, a stronger reason to conduct a secondary research project is to help progress knowledge in a topic area by identifying trends in the area, and revealing previously unidentified insights that are burried in datasets (Rodriguez, Crossman & Bordia, 2021).

Below is a table comparing other possible benefits and limitations:

Adu, P., & Miles, D. A. (2023). Dissertation Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Up Your Research in the Social Sciences . London: Taylor & Francis.

Cameron, S., & Price, D. (2009).  Business Research Methods: A Practical Approach . Kogan Page.

Kenett, R. S., & Shmueli, G. (2016).  Information Quality: The Potential of Data and Analytics to Generate Knowledge.  Wiley.

Kumar, R. (2010).  Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners . SAGE Publications.

Rodriguez, L., Crossman, J., & Bordia, S. (2021). An interdisciplinary approach to secondary qualitative data analysis: what why and how. In  Handbook of qualitative research methodologies in workplace contexts  (pp. 133-156). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Wilson, J. (2021).  Understanding Research for Business Students: A Complete Student’s Guide . SAGE Publications.

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Chapter Objectives Structure Of The Chapter The nature of secondary sources of information The problems of secondary sources Sources of information Internal sources of secondary information External sources of secondary information The information super-highway Chapter Summary Key Terms Review Questions Chapter References

· To convince the reader of the benefits of beginning any marketing research with a thorough search of secondary sources of data · To articulate the advantages of secondary data · To highlight the potential errors which can be hidden within secondary data · To outline some of the main internal and external sources of data available to commercial enterprises, and · To help the reader to recognise the transition, in marketing research, from a dependence upon published sources of secondary data to electronically stored secondary data.

· Secondary data may be available which is entirely appropriate and wholly adequate to draw conclusions and answer the question or solve the problem. Sometimes primary data collection simply is not necessary. · It is far cheaper to collect secondary data than to obtain primary data. For the same level of research budget a thorough examination of secondary sources can yield a great deal more information than can be had through a primary data collection exercise. · The time involved in searching secondary sources is much less than that needed to complete primary data collection. · Secondary sources of information can yield more accurate data than that obtained through primary research. This is not always true but where a government or international agency has undertaken a large scale survey, or even a census, this is likely to yield far more accurate results than custom designed and executed surveys when these are based on relatively small sample sizes. · It should not be forgotten that secondary data can play a substantial role in the exploratory phase of the research when the task at hand is to define the research problem and to generate hypotheses. The assembly and analysis of secondary data almost invariably improves the researcher's understanding of the marketing problem, the various lines of inquiry that could or should be followed and the alternative courses of action which might be pursued. · Secondary sources help define the population. Secondary data can be extremely useful both in defining the population and in structuring the sample to be taken. For instance, government statistics on a country's agriculture will help decide how to stratify a sample and, once sample estimates have been calculated, these can be used to project those estimates to the population.

· Sales by territory · Sales by customer type · Prices and discounts · Average size of order by customer, customer type, geographical area · Average sales by sales person and · Sales by pack size and pack type, etc.

"You should never begin a half-hearted search with the assumption that what is being sought is so unique that no one else has ever bothered to collect it and publish it. On the contrary, assume there are scrolling secondary data that should help provide definition and scope for the primary research effort."

1. How do Dillon et al. advise researchers to begin their search for secondary data? 2. Name the four types of on-line database mentioned in the textbook. 3. Briefly list the main advantages of secondary data given in the textbook. 4. Why should the reliability of published statistics vary over time? 5. What sort of information would a full-text database contain? 6. Give the full meaning of the abbreviation CD-ROM.

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HIST 34203: British History 1688 - Present

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What are secondary sources?

Secondary Sources 

• Secondary sources often analyze primary sources to argue/ support a thesis statement.
• Secondary sources interpret the significance or meaning of an historical event or phenomenon; person; a movement; or a place.
• Secondary sources are often created by someone not present when the event took place or removed from the event.
• Secondary sources are produced and disseminated in a variety of formats including books, scholarly journal articles, conference proceedings, dissertations, documentaries, and reference works.
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The following resources contain primary source and educational materials for furthering your research.

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Information about Irish immigration and the Irish American experience through primary sources, articles, and lessons plans from other libraries and cultural institutions.

• American Irish Historical Society Library External The Society’s library houses more than 10,000 volumes, the most complete private collection of Irish and American Irish history and literature in the United States.
• Irish American Cultural Institute External Founded in 1962, the Irish American Cultural Institute (IACI) promotes an intelligent appreciation of Ireland and the role and contributions of the Irish in America. The IACI is strictly apolitical and nonsectarian, and is the only Irish American organization that has as its patron, the President of Ireland.
• Irish American Heritage Museum External The Irish American Heritage Museum is committed to the basic tenet that preserving one’s heritage is vital to providing a cultural and historical foundation to future generations of Americans. Its mission is to preserve and tell the story of the contributions of the Irish people and their culture in America, inspiring individuals to examine the importance of their own heritage as part of the American cultural mosaic.
• Irish American Journey: Irish Immigration to America External Irish American Journey advances Irish American culture, Irish American heritage, and greater understanding of the Irish American experience through the lens of Irish immigration and Irish American history.
• Irish History (Irish Studies): Primary Sources from Boston College Libraries External A guide to primary sources available in the Burns Library and online.
• Irish Immigrant Letters Home, from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania External Digital images and transcription of The Curtis Family Letters, in which students can explore the reasons for Irish emigration from Ireland and the impact that immigration had on the family.
• The Irish in America (1867) by John Francis Maguire – an excerpt External From W. W. Norton.
• Lesson plan from American Social History Project External Several primary source documents as project materials from the Center for Media and Learning.
• Molly Maguires Records | Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission "Molly Maguires" Records - The actual existence of the Molly Maguires as a coordinated secret society or terrorist organization is still debated by historians. Records at the Pennsylvania State Archives concerning the Molly Maguires fall under two main categories. The Record Groups contain government records relating to the incident, while Manuscript Groups contain primarily personal papers and photos that were acquired from private donors.
• New York Times: Irish-Americans External Selected current and historical news articles from the New York Times.
• New York University: Archives of Irish America External The Archives of Irish America is a repository of primary research materials at New York University that aims to transform our understanding of the Irish migration experience and the distillation of American Irish ethnicity over the past century.
• RootsIreland External Search for Irish Ancestors with the most extensive and easily searchable database of Catholic Church records anywhere online or commission research from one of their Genealogy Centres.

Secondary and Primary Sources

• Historical newspapers (List of all applicable databases) (e.g., America’s Historical Newspapers, ProQuest, NewspaperARCHIVE)
• FamilySearch External This link opens in a new window The collections of FamilySearch include documents such as civil registration records; church records; and probate, census, land, tax, and military records. The collection also contains compiled sources such as family histories, clan and lineage genealogies, oral pedigrees, and local histories.
• PERSI (Periodical Source Index) External This link opens in a new window Connects you to the material and journal records from the databases of over 8,000 genealogy and history societies from all over the world.
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