From the course: Writing a Business Report

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Doing primary research

Doing primary research

From the course: Writing a Business Report

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Doing primary research

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- Primary research involves collecting data firsthand. In other words, you collect the information and analyze it yourself. Surveys, questionnaires, interviews and observations are examples. If so much secondary research is available, why would primary research be necessary? For at least three reasons. First, the problem being analyzed may have limited previous studies about it. For example, it might be a problem in only one industry or location. Or, another reason might be that you want to know specifically what your customers want, or even one specific group of your customers, such as Baby Boomers or the Millennials. And third, primary research can help confirm and supplement secondary sources. If you plan to conduct primary research, then you need to be certain that the results meet the same validity, reliability, and credibility criteria as secondary research sources. How can that be achieved? Ask yourself these questions before you begin. What do I want to know? What would be the…

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