Types of Research Data
Primary sources are original works or raw data without interpretation or pronouncements that represent an official opinion or position. (Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014).
These sources will contain unfiltered information that was gathered from primary research such as obtaining questionnaires from consumers.
Secondary sources are compilations of the primary sources that may or may not have been discussed elsewhere. When consolidating this information a researcher must conduct a source evaluation to validate the primary sources. Compiling the information from the completed questionnaires and coming to the conclusion of 50% of consumers prefer ketchup on their hotdog.
Tertiary sources can be a more focused summary of secondary sources, represented by indexes, bibliographies, and other finding aids. (Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Such as an index of the cities the consumers live in.
The management dilemma is as follows; the prints made versus prints sold have dropped from the last fiscal year. Within the exploratory research phase, management can data mine internal sources such as last years’ click count, paper ordering trend, and equipment status. They may also look at these same criteria amongst several branches and collaborate with fellow managers that experienced the same type of downturn.
Once this information has been gathered the question is; what should management implement to increase the ratio between prints sold versus prints made? To obtain valid information on how to accomplish this interviews with the production staff is in order. This can be an opportunity to validate the secondary data that was used to come to the management question.
So research questions can be as follows
Should production staff be better trained to 2up letter sized prints?
Should management order only tabloid-sized paper?
Should the printer technician modify the software to default to tabloid-sized paper?
Once the questions have been defined
These sources will contain unfiltered information that was gathered from primary research such as obtaining questionnaires from consumers.
Secondary sources are compilations of the primary sources that may or may not have been discussed elsewhere. When consolidating this information a researcher must conduct a source evaluation to validate the primary sources. Compiling the information from the completed questionnaires and coming to the conclusion of 50% of consumers prefer ketchup on their hotdog.
Tertiary sources can be a more focused summary of secondary sources, represented by indexes, bibliographies, and other finding aids. (Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Such as an index of the cities the consumers live in.
The management dilemma is as follows; the prints made versus prints sold have dropped from the last fiscal year. Within the exploratory research phase, management can data mine internal sources such as last years’ click count, paper ordering trend, and equipment status. They may also look at these same criteria amongst several branches and collaborate with fellow managers that experienced the same type of downturn.
Once this information has been gathered the question is; what should management implement to increase the ratio between prints sold versus prints made? To obtain valid information on how to accomplish this interviews with the production staff is in order. This can be an opportunity to validate the secondary data that was used to come to the management question.
So research questions can be as follows
Should production staff be better trained to 2up letter sized prints?
Should management order only tabloid-sized paper?
Should the printer technician modify the software to default to tabloid-sized paper?
Once the questions have been defined
References: Reference: Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods (12th Edition). New York N. Y. McGraw-Hill (Irwin) Reference: Primary Source. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2013, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sources/