Primary Research

Primary research is where a researcher uses questionnaires, focus groups, surveys and interviews to find out information about a certain subject. Questionnaires can be answered with both facts and opinions depending on the question. The information found is usually qualitative but when collected can be changed to quantitative. A survey is very similar to a questionnaire but the intention is to find quantitative information. Surveys usually contain tick boxes which makes it quicker than questionnaires. Focus groups is where a researcher gathers a group of people and then asks the group about a certain subject, finding qualitative information. The researcher is usually looking for opinions in this process. Primary researchers use interviews to find out certain peoples opinions.

In the media, news teams use interviews to find out the opinions of a certain subject. In publications they use questionnaires to find out what the public like about their publication and how they could improve.  Some producers and directors gather people from the public to watch their demo, pilot or short film and then they talk about it in a focus group, so that the producer can improve their work. In a work place a questionnaire may be given out so that higher authorities get the chance to find out how the work place can be improved.

When writing a factual publication, authors use primary research a long with secondary research to find out information. This publication then can be used as secondary research.Primary research takes a lot of time and money so secondary research is more popular. Despite of this the information found is more reliable in Primary Research. When conducting a survey or interview you can easily control the information received. The researcher can also decide how much information can be collected.

The problem with Primary research is that it takes a lot of time, during this time several aspect may change that could make the information out of date. Sometimes the information found has nothing to do with the enquiry.