MKF5912 Marketing Research

Week 4 Mini-Task: Secondary Data Sources

FEEDBACK

Good to read all those interesting discussions of this week's Mini Task that involved
collection, analysis, and use of secondary data. Thanks all who contributed resulting in
a wide variety of scenario being provided to enhance our understanding of this week's
learning objective. You were all certainly on the right track which is very encouraging.

Collection and analysis of secondary data help in defining marketing research problem
and developing an approach. Thus, before collecting primary data, the researcher should
locate and analyse relevant secondary data, which is an essential component of a
successful research design. Secondary data also facilitates in sample design and in
deciding on primary research methods to be used. In some projects, research may be
largely confined to analysis of secondary data because some routine problems may be
addressed based only on secondary data only. The huge explosion of secondary data
sources available may provide sufficient data to solve a particular marketing research
problem.

Secondary data offer several advantages over primary data as it is easily accessible,
relatively inexpensive and quickly obtained. Some secondary data, such as those
provided by a national census, are available on topics that would not be feasible for
individual firm s to collect the primary data. Although it is rare for secondary data to
provide all the answers to a non-routine research problem, such data is useful in a
variety of ways as it helps in:
- Diagnosing of the research problem
- Developing of a research approach to the problem
- Developing a sampling plan
- Formulating appropriate research design (for example, by identifying the key
variables to measure or understand)
- Answering certain research questions and testing some hypotheses
- Interpreting primary data with more insight, and
- Validating qualitative research findings.

Whilst the collection, analysis, and use of secondary data in managerial decision
making is common, such use must be balanced against the collection, analysis, and use
of primary data which is collected for specific research purposes, and therefore
addresses specific research problems or opportunities. In this case examination of
available secondary data is a prerequisite to the collection of primary data.

MKF5912 1 of 2 Department of Marketing

Thus, the general rule regarding the use of secondary data is:
• Start with secondary data and proceed to primary data only when the secondary
data sources have been exhausted or yield marginal returns.
Failure to do this simple principle runs the risk of misusing valuable company resources
on research studies involving primary research that yields no greater insight into a
research problem or opportunity than what secondary data sources could have provided
at a fraction of the cost.

Thank you for your contributions. Looking forward for your next mini-tasks.

Regards,
Stanislav

MKF5912 2 of 2 Department of Marketing