Q1. a. List the data sources used by Clare in this research.

b. Which are secondary data and which are primary data?

c. Give reasons for your answers.

a) Data sources used by Clare

1. Department of Trade papers

2. Department of Health papers (Ministry Of Health Papers)
3. The Patent Office papers
4. Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
5. Newspapers
6. Journal articles
7. Annual report and accounts
8. Papers Report

b) Secondary sources:
1. Journal articles
2. Newspapers
3. Annual report and accounts
4. Stock Papers Report
Primary Sources:

1. Department of Trade papers

2. Department of Health papers(Ministry Of Health Papers)
3. The Patent Office papers
4. Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)

c) Primary data is the data that is collected for the first time through personal experiences,
evidence, observation, surveys or other means. It is firsthand information that is used for
specific purpose and has never been published before. If a person extracts data from
secondary source for his/her own specific purpose or objective, it’s also considered as
primary data.

Clare used four above mentioned primary sources to collect data, because in order to
answer her research question regarding innovation of the UK pharmaceutical industry in the
1960s, her objective was to measure the companies’ research productivity and that could
be done by identifying the drugs those companies launched on the market between 1960
and 1969, the companies’ R&D expenditure and the number of scientists employed in R&D
 departments.Therefore the above mentioned primary sources helped her get an idea about
the research productivity of her chosen companies.

However, secondary data is the data that has already been collected through primary
sources for general purpose, published and made readily available for researchers to use for
their own research. So in this research Clare has used the four above mentioned secondary
sources, which were established to examine the industry in the 1950s and the 1960s and
provided rich treasure trove of information and useful background to Clare to help her
achieve her research objective.

2. What other methods (if any) might Clare have used to find the information she needed?

b. Give reasons for your answer.

1. Interviews from the people working in the same industry.

2. Interviews from the people retired from the same industry.
3. Company histories(case histories which are specific not a general company history).
4. IMS (International Medical Statistics), JAMA(Journal of the American Medical
Association), is the source from which we can gain access to medical statistics and drugs
related information.

b. Clare could have used the above mentioned methods to find the needed information
such as the current and retired employees of the Pharmaceutical industry could provide her
first hand, quality data about the industry using their personal experience and could suggest
some other sources to acquire accurate information. Company case histories could be a
great source to gain correct data about the company and IMS, JAMA source provide
updated information of pharmaceutical industry. Through these methods of data sources
she could have been able to further optimize and improve her research study.

3. Outline the problems Clare faces in using these data.

1. Study was conducted in 2003, and from 1960s till 2003 the industry has changed a lot,
like some companies merged into one, some sold their pharmaceuticals divisions to
other companies and the information that was once valid is completely invalid as sites
had been closed down and cannot be used for research purposes which may have made
difficult for Clare to track down information.
2. The study was conducted in 2003 and because of 30 year closure rule most the
information was available while some of it was archives boxed up(locked)and moved
around, which makes it was a bit difficult for Clare to gain information. (Archives of
information)
 3. The information that she requires is so scattered and the way she’s trying to get
information from a large number of sources can be problem itself and she won’t be able
to achieve her objective as her objective is of current time but the information is
according to the old times to answer the research questions.
4. As Claire wanted information of 1960s, but that time Transparency of information was a
great issue, as firms used to keep their data secret, so Claire had to face issues while
accessing the past data of the companies, since it was not easily available.
5. Companies are trying to portray a good picture of their side due to which sometimes
important information gets hidden and to create public relation campaign and hype
(inflated figures) but it is not necessarily true.

4. What lessons can you draw from Clare’s research experience?

1. Framing the research questions correctly (we should form our research questions
according to the context in which we are doing the research)
2. To use many resources to build up the data to answer your research questions and
objective.
3. If you have data available from the government organization, you should use it because
that will be more reliable.
4. Time frame should be limited for conducting research as past data might not be easily
accessible or valid.
5. Clare’s decision of exploring number of employees in the R&D department of the
companies was not going with her research objective and she would not get its answer
based on this false assumption. The lesson we learn is that we should not base our
research on false assumptions because on the face of it something may look different
than the reality.