BTEC Media; Formal Assessment

By Lani Baldwin

Primary Research

DefinitionExperiments, investigations, or tests carried out to acquire data first-hand, rather than being gathered from published sources.

Primary research consists of research collected to show original data. It is often used after the researcher has gained some insight into the issue by collecting secondary data. This can be through numerous forms, including questionnaires, direct observation and telephone interviews and several others.

Secondary Research

DefinitionExamining or reading about someone else's findings/research.

Secondary research involves the summary, organisation and/or combination of existing research rather than primary research, where data is collected for research subjects or experiments.

Quantitative Research

DefinitionThe testing/findings of a person feelings or opinions to determine amounts and proportions.

Quantitative research is doing research in a structured form so that you can produce detailed facts and statistics.

Qualitative Research

Dictionary DefinitionData-gathering techniques that are focussed on the significance of observations made in a study, rather than the numbers, facts or statistics themselves.

Qualitative research seeks out the ‘why’ of a topic, through the analysis of unstructured information.