This is when someone research's something using existing information that has already been gathered by other people or organisations. For example, looking in books, journals, archives, photo libraries, and searching on the Internet. These are all examples of secondary research.
Here is an example of secondary research:
BARB is a primary research website, which I used to find out certain information about certain TV programmes and channels.
I also used RAJAR to find my own secondary research about radio stations . It is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. They use primary research to find out this information.
Many media organisations use information that has been gathered and analysed by another company to add to and support. Sometimes they even use the information to replace their own primary research.
There are many advantages of using secondary research for example:
- The ease of access.
- The low in costs.
- Broadness of information
And many more. There are also many disadvantages of using secondary research, for example:
- The quality of research.
- Incomplete information.
- Research being out-of-date.
