Secondary Marketing Research Certificate

Secondary research is an exploration of resources that were created previously in the course of research conducted for other purposes. 

PROs:

• May lead to savings in cost and time
• May provide enough information to resolve your problem
• Source of new ideas
• May be used for benchmarking
• Helps define the problem and formulate hypotheses for primary research

CONs:

• Was created for other purposes and not always meets your needs
• May be out of date
• May be too expensive
• Methodology for data collection and analysis may be weak

• Government (federal, state, local)
• Trade associations
• Organizations (chambers of commerce, unions, non-profits, etc.)
• Market research companies
• Research institutions and universities
• News organizations
• Blogs and social media
• Publishers and aggregators
• Industry experts (through interviews, reports, and white papers)

• Published market studies
• Proprietary reports (industry, company, market, analyst, etc.)
• White papers
• Previous internal focus groups
• Customer surveys and feedback
• Datasets and statistics
• Scholarly articles
• Trade articles
• Magazines, such as Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek
• Newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal or the San Antonio Business Journal
• Web sources  (government, NGOs, intergovernmental organizations, industry groups, research institutions, think tanks, news, expert blogs, social media, etc.)

Access

• Some information may be free and findable using search engines
• A lot of proprietary information is behind the paywall.  Keep in mind that the library provides access to a collection of licensed databases that may have relevant information.

External vs. Internal Data

Many kinds of business data are collected internally in the course of business to facilitate decision-making and considered confidential or proprietary.  These types of data are protected and not available to external parties. Examples include:

• Salesforce records
• Transactions
• Customer records
• Inventory records
• Cost of transportation
• Website visitor records
• Trade secrets
• Financials for private companies

Some proprietary data may be available for purchase, for example, tech companies collect and sell customer online behavior data. 

A quick and critical evaluation of your sources is an important research skill.  This easy-to-remember framework may help:  

What

• What is the purpose of your research project?  What is the expected output, for example, a presentation, report, analysis, research paper, etc.? 
• Are you expected to use any specific sources?
• What sources may have relevant information?
• Is the information you are finding relevant to your topic and research goals?
• How deeply do you need to dig in? How much time do you have and what is the deadline?

How

• Are the sources credible?
• Are the methods of collecting data and analysis disclosed?
• Is the methodology sound?

Who

• 'Who cares' enough to collect particular data or information? This question helps identify relevant sources.
• Is the author qualified to write on a topic?
• What are their credentials and qualifications?
• What are author's affiliations and how these affiliations influence their work and analysis?

When

• Do you need current or historical data?
• When was the information created/updated?  Is it out of date?
• Have any major events happened since the information was published? What is the effect of those events?

Why

• Why was the information created?
• Is there a discernible conflict of interest?
• It the topic presented from alternative viewpoints?
• Is the language neutral or emotionally "loaded"?
• Is it factual or opinion-based?