Key Idea: Before a business spends money on an idea, it finds out what its customers think. This topic is how it asks them, where else it can look, who it asks, and what kind of answers it gets.
Primary research
- New data collected for the business's own question.
- Surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations.
- Up to date and on point, but slow and costly.
Secondary research
- Data someone else already collected.
- Market analyses, academic journals, government publications, media articles, online content.
- Quick and cheap, but may be out of date or not quite on point.
Who and what kind
- Sampling: quota, random or convenience.
- Quantitative: numbers you can count. Qualitative: opinions and reasons.
- Use both: the numbers say how many, the words say why.
The words to know
| Word | Means | Do not confuse with |
|---|---|---|
| Primary market research | collecting new information first-hand for a specific purpose | secondary research, which uses existing data |
| Focus group | a small group discussing a product, led by a moderator | a survey, which asks many people set questions |
| Secondary market research | using information that has already been collected by someone else | cheap primary research |
| Sample | the part of the population that is asked | the whole population |
| Quota sampling | choosing set numbers of people from each group | random sampling, where everyone has an equal chance |
| Convenience sampling | asking whoever is easiest to reach | random sampling |
| Qualitative research | research that collects opinions, feelings and reasons | quantitative research, which collects numbers |
Name the method, say what it gives the business, then show it in the case: what the business wants to know and whether this method can tell it. For a sample, ask who was left out: that is where the bias is.
Exam-style question
Before signing the lease on Station Road, Marco used the 2021 census, which shows 8,400 people living within a ten-minute walk, and the rail company's figure of 4,200 passengers a day. Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for Lena's Bakery Ltd of using secondary market research.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: A survey can collect numbers or opinions; a focus group mostly collects opinions. 'Primary' and 'secondary' are about who collected the data; 'qualitative' and 'quantitative' are about what kind of data it is. Say which one the question asks about.
Tap each card to check yourself.
Primary or secondary: counting people who pass Station Road between 6.30 and 9.00? Primary. Observation: the bakery collects the data itself.
One disadvantage of a focus group? It is small, so the views may not represent all customers, and one loud member can sway the rest.
Kofi's staff ask Market Square customers at 7 a.m. Which sampling method? Convenience. They ask whoever is there, so people who never visit that shop are left out.
Why use quota sampling? It makes sure each group, such as office workers, residents and students, is in the sample in the right proportions.
Qualitative or quantitative: '62% said yes'? Quantitative. It is a number that can be counted and compared.
Name two secondary sources. Any two: market analyses, academic journals, government publications, media articles, online content.
Exam tips
- Primary is collected by the business; secondary was collected by someone else.
- Match the method to the question: numbers for how many, words for why.
- For a sample, say who was left out.
- Qualitative and quantitative describe the data, not who collected it.
- Tie every advantage and disadvantage to what the business in the case wants to know.