1. Name: Munira Mohamed
Subject: Media creative production
Date of submission: 20th September
Introduction
In the report I will be discussing the different secondary and primary research methods . I will be
discussing the advantages and the disadvantages of these methods. Research methods are ways of
collecting valuable data for research.
There are two major types of research methods qualitative research and quantitative research.
Researchers select qualitative or quantitative methods to gain a broad sample of data. This is
important as it can make the researcher gain a more effective amount of research. Qualitative is the
feedback and collecting data in the form of words, personal opinions and issue. Quantitative is the
more like the amount and collecting numerical data.
Primary research
Primary research is the process of collecting information directly from individuals who have access
to it. There are various types of primary research that can be used for example people may use
survey’s, questionnaire, focus group, sampling.
 Survey
A survey is a questionnaire that is sent by mail. Survey is very helpful as it is a very cheap
way to collect data that would be helpful for the researcher’s research. A survey be written
in words but it collects quantitative data, lots of numbers and statistics. The disadvantages
of a survey is that people may seem to ignore the questionnaire as they may see it as junk
mail as it may be not be as important as their other mails. Also people may not have time to
go through the survey. However, the advantage far outweighs the disadvantages as survey
as there are many helpful people who are able to complete the survey. Survey would be
used when data is needed; it helps to collect information on an extensive range of things,
including personal facts. For example a phone company would want idea of what makes a
good phone, so they’ll send survey to collect data.
 Sampling
Sampling is a way of gaining a customer’s feedback on a the product. This is an efficient way
for the research to gain a good perspective of the people views. Sampling is very reliable, as
it is an easy way of getting a customer’s view. The disadvantages of sampling are that people
may have a bad impression in the product, which can give the company or the restaurant a
bad name. This may lead to un-efficient research. Sampling is used to indicate how much

2. data to collect. For example a bread shop would want people to taste their product before
they sell their product.
 Questionnaire
Questionnaire is written questions with a choice of answer. Making a questionnaire
is a wide advantage as it can help gain a wide amount of feedback by the public. The
main advantage of a questionnaire is that it can be giving to someone to fill it out
and give back the same time. However the disadvantages of this are that they may
not be reliable, giving an inaccurate data. Questionnaire could be used for nameless
feedback. For example a hair salon would want to get information from the public of
which kind of hair styles are the best.
 Interviews
An interview is meeting of people face to face. The reason for interviews are to get a
examine problems in an in depth way, notice how individuals reflect and feel about a
topic and why they hold certain views etc. The advantages of this are that they are
useful to get detailed information about individual feelings. The disadvantages of
this are they can be expensive. Another disadvantage for an interview is that it is
very time consuming. Interviews can also be used as a qualitative research method.
For example a business has a new product and wants to get feedback from others, so
they interview random people to get different opinions.
Secondary research
Secondary research is the process of collecting information from something that
already exists. There various ways of gaining data from secondary research such as
the internet, newspaper, magazine and company reports.
 Internet
The internet is worldwide network that provides information. An advantage of using

3. the internet is that it is easy to download. Also the internet is a quick way of finding
information. The disadvantage of the internet is that the information may not be
very reliable. Internet can be used when different types of Information are needed.
For example, a student may want to get quick information of the internet for their
homework.
 Newspaper
Newspaper is printed publication that contains information that the public need to
know. The advantage of a newspaper is that it provides a good amount of
information that would help the public with data. The disadvantage of a newspaper
is that newspaper can be biased. Newspaper can be used when public views are
needed, for example people experiences. For example the current issue that the
country has and the things like current affairs.
 Library
A library is a place where there are all kinds of books. The library is a good way of
collecting information as it gives an immense amount of information and it’s very
reliable. The disadvantage of a library is that their time restrictions, this gives there
search a certain amount of time to gather enough information. Another
disadvantage is that it may cost a lot as it cost money for library card to borrow a
book. Library can be used when old history information is needed for the research.
For example a history teacher may want to get historical information from the
library.
 Searching archive
Searching archive is a collection of documents that is a long term storage device. The
advantage of this is that data is already collected so it takes less time. The
disadvantage of this is that it can’t control for variables, data may be missing,
limited. Searching archive is needed when there’s no time and information is need
quickly. For example birth, death etc.
Conclusion
This report displays the difference between the primary and secondary research and
also shows the advantages and disadvantages of each methods, it also gives out the
definition of what primary and secondary research are and the definitions of each
method. This report can help with my work on the course as it gives me information
on the things that I’ll be doing in this course.