Advantages of Primary Research – Types & Advantages

Are you confused between primary and secondary research? Not sure whether primary research is the right choice for your research project? Don’t panic! This article provides the key advantages of primary research over secondary research so you can make an informed decision.

Primary research is a data collection method where the researcher gathers all the data him/herself without relying on data acquired in previous studies. That means the collected data can be used to investigate a specific problem or a relationship between different variables.

To carry out primary research, a profound analysis is required, which is one of the reasons why primary research tends to be so valuable.

There are many different types of primary research that can be performed, and it is essential to know the differences between them so you can be sure that you are choosing the right method for your research.

Some of the most common primary research methods include surveys, interviews, ethnographic research, and observations.

Primary research is a valuable research tool that allows researchers and academicians to improve the reliability and validity of their research. It not only facilitates your research work but also enables you to make a mark in your area of study. It is most commonly used when writing a dissertation, thesis, report, journal paper or business report.

Primary research provides researchers with a rich source of in-depth knowledge about a particular research topic. For example, a focus group asks specific questions about a topic. It guides the researcher in drafting their research questions and creating other tools for research.

This makes the material highly tailored to the needs of the primary researcher. Similarly, a survey will enable you to collect responses from the participants of the study against your research questions.

To read about the advantages of secondary research

To read about the disadvantages of secondary research

To read about the disadvantages of primary research.

Types of Primary Research

Primary research must be conducted where secondary data is irrelevant or insufficient and where real first hand data is required. There are four specific forms that researchers use for primary research.

• Interviews: Conduct the interview with the participants in small sitting using interview guide
• Focus group discussions: Conduct small groups for discussion on a particular topic.
• Surveys: Using a brief questionnaire, participants were asked about their thoughts about the specific topic.
• Observations: Observing and reckoning the surroundings, for example, people and other phenomena that can be observed.

Advantages of Primary Research

• The data is drawn from first-hand sources and will be highly accurate and, perhaps that is the most significant advantage of primary research. The questions or experimental set-ups can be constructed as a unique method to achieve the research objectives.
• Doing so, ensures that the data you gather is related and relevant to the research you are conducting and is intended to address your research objectives.
• Primary research ought to be directed towards addressing the core problem or objective of the research study. In other words, there is a clearly defined problem and the design of the research, the data collection methods and the final data set can all be tailored to that problem.
• You can be sure that the collected data is aligned with your specific problem, improving the probability that the data will give you the desired responses. In other words, the data you will gather for your research will be concrete and unambiguous, and directly related to your research objectives.
• With primary data collection, you don’t need to modify the data collected (secondary data), by another researcher who may have a slightly different focus, because you are the owner of your own data.
• Maintaining this degree of scrutiny means that the data you collect from primary sources will be more pertinent and therefore more effective for your research. Since you will be in charge of the data, it is easier to regulate the time span, the scope and the volume of the dataset being used.

Conclusion

The main emphasis of primary research will be on the research topic. This research approach enables the researcher to address the problem and find the most appropriate responses. Moreover, this method is valid and has been tested thousands of times, which makes its use more reliable and increases the probability of obtaining valid data.

Once you understand the nature of primary research and what it entails, you can begin to understand the requirements of your own research project and discover how to locate the specific type of data that you need in order to address your research questions and prepare the best possible research work.

Need Help with Primary Research?

If you are a student, a researcher, or a business looking to collect primary data for a report, a dissertation, an essay, or another type of project, feel free to get in touch with us. You can also read about our primary data collection service here. Our experts include highly qualified academicians, doctors, and researchers who are sure to collect authentic, reliable, up to date and relevant sources for your research study.

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