secondary research methodology dissertation

Library Guides

Dissertations 4: methodology: methods.

• Introduction & Philosophy
• Methodology

Primary & Secondary Sources, Primary & Secondary Data

When describing your research methods, you can start by stating what kind of secondary and, if applicable, primary sources you used in your research. Explain why you chose such sources, how well they served your research, and identify possible issues encountered using these sources.  

Definitions  

There is some confusion on the use of the terms primary and secondary sources, and primary and secondary data. The confusion is also due to disciplinary differences (Lombard 2010). Whilst you are advised to consult the research methods literature in your field, we can generalise as follows:  

Secondary sources 

Secondary sources normally include the literature (books and articles) with the experts' findings, analysis and discussions on a certain topic (Cottrell, 2014, p123). Secondary sources often interpret primary sources.  

Primary sources 

Primary sources are "first-hand" information such as raw data, statistics, interviews, surveys, law statutes and law cases. Even literary texts, pictures and films can be primary sources if they are the object of research (rather than, for example, documentaries reporting on something else, in which case they would be secondary sources). The distinction between primary and secondary sources sometimes lies on the use you make of them (Cottrell, 2014, p123). 

Primary data 

Primary data are data (primary sources) you directly obtained through your empirical work (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2015, p316). 

Secondary data 

Secondary data are data (primary sources) that were originally collected by someone else (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2015, p316).   

Comparison between primary and secondary data   

Use  

Virtually all research will use secondary sources, at least as background information. 

Often, especially at the postgraduate level, it will also use primary sources - secondary and/or primary data. The engagement with primary sources is generally appreciated, as less reliant on others' interpretations, and closer to 'facts'. 

The use of primary data, as opposed to secondary data, demonstrates the researcher's effort to do empirical work and find evidence to answer her specific research question and fulfill her specific research objectives. Thus, primary data contribute to the originality of the research.    

Ultimately, you should state in this section of the methodology: 

What sources and data you are using and why (how are they going to help you answer the research question and/or test the hypothesis. 

If using primary data, why you employed certain strategies to collect them. 

What the advantages and disadvantages of your strategies to collect the data (also refer to the research in you field and research methods literature). 

Quantitative, Qualitative & Mixed Methods

The methodology chapter should reference your use of quantitative research, qualitative research and/or mixed methods. The following is a description of each along with their advantages and disadvantages. 

Quantitative research 

Quantitative research uses numerical data (quantities) deriving, for example, from experiments, closed questions in surveys, questionnaires, structured interviews or published data sets (Cottrell, 2014, p93). It normally processes and analyses this data using quantitative analysis techniques like tables, graphs and statistics to explore, present and examine relationships and trends within the data (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015, p496). 

Qualitative research  

Qualitative research is generally undertaken to study human behaviour and psyche. It uses methods like in-depth case studies, open-ended survey questions, unstructured interviews, focus groups, or unstructured observations (Cottrell, 2014, p93). The nature of the data is subjective, and also the analysis of the researcher involves a degree of subjective interpretation. Subjectivity can be controlled for in the research design, or has to be acknowledged as a feature of the research. Subject-specific books on (qualitative) research methods offer guidance on such research designs.  

Mixed methods 

Mixed-method approaches combine both qualitative and quantitative methods, and therefore combine the strengths of both types of research. Mixed methods have gained popularity in recent years.  

When undertaking mixed-methods research you can collect the qualitative and quantitative data either concurrently or sequentially. If sequentially, you can for example, start with a few semi-structured interviews, providing qualitative insights, and then design a questionnaire to obtain quantitative evidence that your qualitative findings can also apply to a wider population (Specht, 2019, p138). 

Ultimately, your methodology chapter should state: 

Whether you used quantitative research, qualitative research or mixed methods. 

Why you chose such methods (and refer to research method sources). 

Why you rejected other methods. 

How well the method served your research. 

The problems or limitations you encountered. 

Doug Specht, Senior Lecturer at the Westminster School of Media and Communication, explains mixed methods research in the following video:

LinkedIn Learning Video on Academic Research Foundations: Quantitative

The video covers the characteristics of quantitative research, and explains how to approach different parts of the research process, such as creating a solid research question and developing a literature review. He goes over the elements of a study, explains how to collect and analyze data, and shows how to present your data in written and numeric form.

Link to quantitative research video

Some Types of Methods

There are several methods you can use to get primary data. To reiterate, the choice of the methods should depend on your research question/hypothesis. 

Whatever methods you will use, you will need to consider: 

why did you choose one technique over another? What were the advantages and disadvantages of the technique you chose? 

what was the size of your sample? Who made up your sample? How did you select your sample population? Why did you choose that particular sampling strategy?) 

ethical considerations (see also tab...)  

safety considerations  

validity  

feasibility  

recording  

procedure of the research (see box procedural method...).  

Check Stella Cottrell's book  Dissertations and Project Reports: A Step by Step Guide  for some succinct yet comprehensive information on most methods (the following account draws mostly on her work). Check a research methods book in your discipline for more specific guidance.  

Experiments 

Experiments are useful to investigate cause and effect, when the variables can be tightly controlled. They can test a theory or hypothesis in controlled conditions. Experiments do not prove or disprove an hypothesis, instead they support or not support an hypothesis. When using the empirical and inductive method it is not possible to achieve conclusive results. The results may only be valid until falsified by other experiments and observations. 

For more information on Scientific Method, click here . 

Observations 

Observational methods are useful for in-depth analyses of behaviours in people, animals, organisations, events or phenomena. They can test a theory or products in real life or simulated settings. They generally a qualitative research method.  

Questionnaires and surveys 

Questionnaires and surveys are useful to gain opinions, attitudes, preferences, understandings on certain matters. They can provide quantitative data that can be collated systematically; qualitative data, if they include opportunities for open-ended responses; or both qualitative and quantitative elements. 

Interviews  

Interviews are useful to gain rich, qualitative information about individuals' experiences, attitudes or perspectives. With interviews you can follow up immediately on responses for clarification or further details. There are three main types of interviews: structured (following a strict pattern of questions, which expect short answers), semi-structured (following a list of questions, with the opportunity to follow up the answers with improvised questions), and unstructured (following a short list of broad questions, where the respondent can lead more the conversation) (Specht, 2019, p142). 

This short video on qualitative interviews discusses best practices and covers qualitative interview design, preparation and data collection methods. 

Focus groups   

In this case, a group of people (normally, 4-12) is gathered for an interview where the interviewer asks questions to such group of participants. Group interactions and discussions can be highly productive, but the researcher has to beware of the group effect, whereby certain participants and views dominate the interview (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2015, p419). The researcher can try to minimise this by encouraging involvement of all participants and promoting a multiplicity of views. 

This video focuses on strategies for conducting research using focus groups.  

Check out the guidance on online focus groups by Aliaksandr Herasimenka, which is attached at the bottom of this text box. 

Case study 

Case studies are often a convenient way to narrow the focus of your research by studying how a theory or literature fares with regard to a specific person, group, organisation, event or other type of entity or phenomenon you identify. Case studies can be researched using other methods, including those described in this section. Case studies give in-depth insights on the particular reality that has been examined, but may not be representative of what happens in general, they may not be generalisable, and may not be relevant to other contexts. These limitations have to be acknowledged by the researcher.     

Content analysis 

Content analysis consists in the study of words or images within a text. In its broad definition, texts include books, articles, essays, historical documents, speeches, conversations, advertising, interviews, social media posts, films, theatre, paintings or other visuals. Content analysis can be quantitative (e.g. word frequency) or qualitative (e.g. analysing intention and implications of the communication). It can detect propaganda, identify intentions of writers, and can see differences in types of communication (Specht, 2019, p146). Check this page on collecting, cleaning and visualising Twitter data.

Extra links and resources:  

Research Methods  

A clear and comprehensive overview of research methods by Emerald Publishing. It includes: crowdsourcing as a research tool; mixed methods research; case study; discourse analysis; ground theory; repertory grid; ethnographic method and participant observation; interviews; focus group; action research; analysis of qualitative data; survey design; questionnaires; statistics; experiments; empirical research; literature review; secondary data and archival materials; data collection. 

Doing your dissertation during the COVID-19 pandemic  

Resources providing guidance on doing dissertation research during the pandemic: Online research methods; Secondary data sources; Webinars, conferences and podcasts; 

• Virtual Focus Groups Guidance on managing virtual focus groups

5 Minute Methods Videos

The following are a series of useful videos that introduce research methods in five minutes. These resources have been produced by lecturers and students with the University of Westminster's School of Media and Communication. 

Case Study Research

Research Ethics

Quantitative Content Analysis 

Sequential Analysis 

Qualitative Content Analysis 

Thematic Analysis 

Social Media Research 

Mixed Method Research 

Procedural Method

In this part, provide an accurate, detailed account of the methods and procedures that were used in the study or the experiment (if applicable!). 

Include specifics about participants, sample, materials, design and methods. 

If the research involves human subjects, then include a detailed description of who and how many participated along with how the participants were selected.  

Describe all materials used for the study, including equipment, written materials and testing instruments. 

Identify the study's design and any variables or controls employed. 

Write out the steps in the order that they were completed. 

Indicate what participants were asked to do, how measurements were taken and any calculations made to raw data collected. 

Specify statistical techniques applied to the data to reach your conclusions. 

Provide evidence that you incorporated rigor into your research. This is the quality of being thorough and accurate and considers the logic behind your research design. 

Highlight any drawbacks that may have limited your ability to conduct your research thoroughly. 

You have to provide details to allow others to replicate the experiment and/or verify the data, to test the validity of the research. 

Bibliography

Cottrell, S. (2014). Dissertations and project reports: a step by step guide. Hampshire, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lombard, E. (2010). Primary and secondary sources.  The Journal of Academic Librarianship , 36(3), 250-253

Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2015).  Research Methods for Business Students.  New York: Pearson Education. 

Specht, D. (2019).  The Media And Communications Study Skills Student Guide . London: University of Westminster Press.  

• << Previous: Introduction & Philosophy
• Next: Ethics >>
• Last Updated: Sep 14, 2022 12:58 PM
• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/methodology-for-dissertations

CONNECT WITH US

How to Analyse Secondary Data for a Dissertation

Secondary data refers to data that has already been collected by another researcher. For researchers (and students!) with limited time and resources, secondary data, whether qualitative or quantitative can be a highly viable source of data.  In addition, with the advances in technology and access to peer reviewed journals and studies provided by the internet, it is increasingly popular as a form of data collection.  The question that frequently arises amongst students however, is: how is secondary data best analysed?

The process of data analysis in secondary research

Secondary analysis (i.e., the use of existing data) is a systematic methodological approach that has some clear steps that need to be followed for the process to be effective.  In simple terms there are three steps:

• Step One: Development of Research Questions
• Step Two: Identification of dataset
• Step Three: Evaluation of the dataset.

Let’s look at each of these in more detail:

Step One: Development of research questions

Using secondary data means you need to apply theoretical knowledge and conceptual skills to be able to use the dataset to answer research questions.  Clearly therefore, the first step is thus to clearly define and develop your research questions so that you know the areas of interest that you need to explore for location of the most appropriate secondary data.

Step Two: Identification of Dataset

This stage should start with identification, through investigation, of what is currently known in the subject area and where there are gaps, and thus what data is available to address these gaps.  Sources can be academic from prior studies that have used quantitative or qualitative data, and which can then be gathered together and collated to produce a new secondary dataset.  In addition, other more informal or “grey” literature can also be incorporated, including consumer report, commercial studies or similar.  One of the values of using secondary research is that original survey works often do not use all the data collected which means this unused information can be applied to different settings or perspectives.

Key point: Effective use of secondary data means identifying how the data can be used to deliver meaningful and relevant answers to the research questions.  In other words that the data used is a good fit for the study and research questions.

Step Three: Evaluation of the dataset for effectiveness/fit

A good tip is to use a reflective approach for data evaluation.  In other words, for each piece of secondary data to be utilised, it is sensible to identify the purpose of the work, the credentials of the authors (i.e., credibility, what data is provided in the original work and how long ago it was collected).  In addition, the methods used and the level of consistency that exists compared to other works. This is important because understanding the primary method of data collection will impact on the overall evaluation and analysis when it is used as secondary source. In essence, if there is no understanding of the coding used in qualitative data analysis to identify key themes then there will be a mismatch with interpretations when the data is used for secondary purposes.  Furthermore, having multiple sources which draw similar conclusions ensures a higher level of validity than relying on only one or two secondary sources.

A useful framework provides a flow chart of decision making, as shown in the figure below.

Following this process ensures that only those that are most appropriate for your research questions are included in the final dataset, but also demonstrates to your readers that you have been thorough in identifying the right works to use.

Writing up the Analysis

Once you have your dataset, writing up the analysis will depend on the process used.  If the data is qualitative in nature, then you should follow the following process.

Pre-Planning

• Read and re-read all sources, identifying initial observations, correlations, and relationships between themes and how they apply to your research questions.
• Once initial themes are identified, it is sensible to explore further and identify sub-themes which lead on from the core themes and correlations in the dataset, which encourages identification of new insights and contributes to the originality of your own work.

Structure of the Analysis Presentation

Introduction.

The introduction should commence with an overview of all your sources. It is good practice to present these in a table, listed chronologically so that your work has an orderly and consistent flow. The introduction should also incorporate a brief (2-3 sentences) overview of the key outcomes and results identified.

The body text for secondary data, irrespective of whether quantitative or qualitative data is used, should be broken up into sub-sections for each argument or theme presented. In the case of qualitative data, depending on whether content, narrative or discourse analysis is used, this means presenting the key papers in the area, their conclusions and how these answer, or not, your research questions. Each source should be clearly cited and referenced at the end of the work. In the case of qualitative data, any figures or tables should be reproduced with the correct citations to their original source. In both cases, it is good practice to give a main heading of a key theme, with sub-headings for each of the sub themes identified in the analysis.

Do not use direct quotes from secondary data unless they are:

• properly referenced, and
• are key to underlining a point or conclusion that you have drawn from the data.

All results sections, regardless of whether primary or secondary data has been used should refer back to the research questions and prior works. This is because, regardless of whether the results back up or contradict previous research, including previous works shows a wider level of reading and understanding of the topic being researched and gives a greater depth to your own work.

Summary of results

The summary of the results section of a secondary data dissertation should deliver a summing up of key findings, and if appropriate a conceptual framework that clearly illustrates the findings of the work. This shows that you have understood your secondary data, how it has answered your research questions, and furthermore that your interpretation has led to some firm outcomes.

You may also like

How To Do Secondary Research or a Literature Review: Introduction

• Introduction
• Step 1: Develop topic
• Step 2: Develop your search strategy
• Step 3. Document search strategy and organize results
• Systematic Literature Review Tips

What is Secondary Research?

Secondary research, also known as a literature review , preliminary research , historical research , background research , desk research , or library research , is research that analyzes or describes prior research. Rather than generating and analyzing new data, secondary research analyzes existing research results to establish the boundaries of knowledge on a topic, to identify trends or new practices, to test mathematical models or train machine learning systems, or to verify facts and figures. Secondary research is also used to justify the need for primary research as well as to justify and support other activities. For example, secondary research may be used to support a proposal to modernize a manufacturing plant, to justify the use of newly a developed treatment for cancer, to strengthen a business proposal, or to validate points made in a speech.

Why Is Secondary Research Important?

Because secondary research is used for so many purposes in so many settings, all professionals will be required to perform it at some point in their careers. For managers and entrepreneurs, regardless of the industry or profession, secondary research is a regular part of worklife, although parts of the research, such as finding the supporting documents, are often delegated to juniors in the organization. For all these reasons, it is essential to learn how to conduct secondary research, even if you are unlikely to ever conduct primary research.

Secondary research is also essential if your main goal is primary research. Research funding is obtained only by using secondary research to show the need for the primary research you want to conduct. In fact, primary research depends on secondary research to prove that it is indeed new and original research and not just a rehash or replication of somebody else’s work.

• How to Write a Literature Review Paper? Abstract: This paper discusses the question about how to write a literature review paper (LRP). It stresses the primary importance of adding value, rather than only providing an overview, and it then discusses some of the reasons for (or not) actually writing an LRP, including issues relating to the nature and scope of the paper. It also presents different types of LRPs, advises on reporting the methodology used for the selection of papers for review, and the structure of an LRP. An important conclusion is that the heterogeneity in LRPs is very large. This paper also presents some of the aspects that the authors feel are important structural and contextual considerations that help produce high-quality review papers.
• CARS Approach to Successful Research Writing The CARS approach has been adopted by many universities worldwide as a model or framework for crafting introductions to research papers and proposals, including the literature review.

• Doing a Systematic Review in Health Sciences Although written for students in the health sciences, this how-to article is useful for students in all subject areas who want to learn how to do effective secondary research.

What Is a Literature Review?

A literature review ("lit review" for short) is a specific type of secondary research used mainly in academic or scholarly settings. It consists of a compilation of the relevant scholarly materials (not popular materials such as news articles or general websites) on your subject, which you then read, synthesize, and cite as needed within your assignment, paper, thesis, or dissertation. See the chart below for the types of sources that are typically included in a lit review. For a systematic literature review, widely used in the sciences or engineering, see additional tips on the Systematic Literature Review tab.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions detailing one strategy for completing a literature review. Librarians can also help you with the lit review process. Contact your subject librarian to make a research appointment.

*If any suggestions on this guide conflict with specific assignment instructions, follow your instructor's (or adviser's) instructions.

Examples of lit reviews

Below are some examples of lit reviews from journal articles.

• Bayesian study of relativisit open an dhidden charm in anisotropic lattice QCD The literature review is embedded in the introduction, found on pages 1-2 (before the Methods section).
• Neuroticism modulates brain visuo‐vestibular and anxiety systems during a virtual rollercoaster task This Psychology-style literature review is found within the introduction, on pages 716-717.

Ask a Research Librarian

Make a research appointment.

Schedule a personalized one-on-one research appointment with one of Galvin Library's research specialists.

• Next: Step 1: Develop topic >>
• Last Updated: Nov 27, 2023 12:15 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.iit.edu/litreview

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation
• What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips

What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips

Published on August 25, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 20, 2023.

Your research methodology discusses and explains the data collection and analysis methods you used in your research. A key part of your thesis, dissertation , or research paper , the methodology chapter explains what you did and how you did it, allowing readers to evaluate the reliability and validity of your research and your dissertation topic .

It should include:

• The type of research you conducted
• How you collected and analyzed your data
• Any tools or materials you used in the research
• How you mitigated or avoided research biases
• Why you chose these methods
• Your methodology section should generally be written in the past tense .
• Academic style guides in your field may provide detailed guidelines on what to include for different types of studies.
• Your citation style might provide guidelines for your methodology section (e.g., an APA Style methods section ).

Table of contents

How to write a research methodology, why is a methods section important, step 1: explain your methodological approach, step 2: describe your data collection methods, step 3: describe your analysis method, step 4: evaluate and justify the methodological choices you made, tips for writing a strong methodology chapter, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about methodology.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Your methods section is your opportunity to share how you conducted your research and why you chose the methods you chose. It’s also the place to show that your research was rigorously conducted and can be replicated .

It gives your research legitimacy and situates it within your field, and also gives your readers a place to refer to if they have any questions or critiques in other sections.

You can start by introducing your overall approach to your research. You have two options here.

Option 1: Start with your “what”

What research problem or question did you investigate?

• Aim to describe the characteristics of something?
• Explore an under-researched topic?
• Establish a causal relationship?

And what type of data did you need to achieve this aim?

• Quantitative data , qualitative data , or a mix of both?
• Primary data collected yourself, or secondary data collected by someone else?
• Experimental data gathered by controlling and manipulating variables, or descriptive data gathered via observations?

Option 2: Start with your “why”

Depending on your discipline, you can also start with a discussion of the rationale and assumptions underpinning your methodology. In other words, why did you choose these methods for your study?

• Why is this the best way to answer your research question?
• Is this a standard methodology in your field, or does it require justification?
• Were there any ethical considerations involved in your choices?
• What are the criteria for validity and reliability in this type of research ? How did you prevent bias from affecting your data?

Once you have introduced your reader to your methodological approach, you should share full details about your data collection methods .

Quantitative methods

In order to be considered generalizable, you should describe quantitative research methods in enough detail for another researcher to replicate your study.

Here, explain how you operationalized your concepts and measured your variables. Discuss your sampling method or inclusion and exclusion criteria , as well as any tools, procedures, and materials you used to gather your data.

Surveys Describe where, when, and how the survey was conducted.

• How did you design the questionnaire?
• What form did your questions take (e.g., multiple choice, Likert scale )?
• Were your surveys conducted in-person or virtually?
• What sampling method did you use to select participants?
• What was your sample size and response rate?

Experiments Share full details of the tools, techniques, and procedures you used to conduct your experiment.

• How did you design the experiment ?
• How did you recruit participants?
• How did you manipulate and measure the variables ?
• What tools did you use?

Existing data Explain how you gathered and selected the material (such as datasets or archival data) that you used in your analysis.

• Where did you source the material?
• How was the data originally produced?
• What criteria did you use to select material (e.g., date range)?

The survey consisted of 5 multiple-choice questions and 10 questions measured on a 7-point Likert scale.

The goal was to collect survey responses from 350 customers visiting the fitness apparel company’s brick-and-mortar location in Boston on July 4–8, 2022, between 11:00 and 15:00.

Here, a customer was defined as a person who had purchased a product from the company on the day they took the survey. Participants were given 5 minutes to fill in the survey anonymously. In total, 408 customers responded, but not all surveys were fully completed. Due to this, 371 survey results were included in the analysis.

• Information bias
• Omitted variable bias
• Regression to the mean
• Survivorship bias
• Undercoverage bias
• Sampling bias

Qualitative methods

In qualitative research , methods are often more flexible and subjective. For this reason, it’s crucial to robustly explain the methodology choices you made.

Be sure to discuss the criteria you used to select your data, the context in which your research was conducted, and the role you played in collecting your data (e.g., were you an active participant, or a passive observer?)

Interviews or focus groups Describe where, when, and how the interviews were conducted.

• How did you find and select participants?
• How many participants took part?
• What form did the interviews take ( structured , semi-structured , or unstructured )?
• How long were the interviews?
• How were they recorded?

Participant observation Describe where, when, and how you conducted the observation or ethnography .

• What group or community did you observe? How long did you spend there?
• How did you gain access to this group? What role did you play in the community?
• How long did you spend conducting the research? Where was it located?
• How did you record your data (e.g., audiovisual recordings, note-taking)?

Existing data Explain how you selected case study materials for your analysis.

• What type of materials did you analyze?
• How did you select them?

In order to gain better insight into possibilities for future improvement of the fitness store’s product range, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 returning customers.

Here, a returning customer was defined as someone who usually bought products at least twice a week from the store.

Surveys were used to select participants. Interviews were conducted in a small office next to the cash register and lasted approximately 20 minutes each. Answers were recorded by note-taking, and seven interviews were also filmed with consent. One interviewee preferred not to be filmed.

• The Hawthorne effect
• Observer bias
• The placebo effect
• Response bias and Nonresponse bias
• The Pygmalion effect
• Recall bias
• Social desirability bias
• Self-selection bias

Mixed methods

Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. If a standalone quantitative or qualitative study is insufficient to answer your research question, mixed methods may be a good fit for you.

Mixed methods are less common than standalone analyses, largely because they require a great deal of effort to pull off successfully. If you choose to pursue mixed methods, it’s especially important to robustly justify your methods.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Next, you should indicate how you processed and analyzed your data. Avoid going into too much detail: you should not start introducing or discussing any of your results at this stage.

In quantitative research , your analysis will be based on numbers. In your methods section, you can include:

• How you prepared the data before analyzing it (e.g., checking for missing data , removing outliers , transforming variables)
• Which software you used (e.g., SPSS, Stata or R)
• Which statistical tests you used (e.g., two-tailed t test , simple linear regression )

In qualitative research, your analysis will be based on language, images, and observations (often involving some form of textual analysis ).

Specific methods might include:

• Content analysis : Categorizing and discussing the meaning of words, phrases and sentences
• Thematic analysis : Coding and closely examining the data to identify broad themes and patterns
• Discourse analysis : Studying communication and meaning in relation to their social context

Mixed methods combine the above two research methods, integrating both qualitative and quantitative approaches into one coherent analytical process.

Above all, your methodology section should clearly make the case for why you chose the methods you did. This is especially true if you did not take the most standard approach to your topic. In this case, discuss why other methods were not suitable for your objectives, and show how this approach contributes new knowledge or understanding.

In any case, it should be overwhelmingly clear to your reader that you set yourself up for success in terms of your methodology’s design. Show how your methods should lead to results that are valid and reliable, while leaving the analysis of the meaning, importance, and relevance of your results for your discussion section .

• Quantitative: Lab-based experiments cannot always accurately simulate real-life situations and behaviors, but they are effective for testing causal relationships between variables .
• Qualitative: Unstructured interviews usually produce results that cannot be generalized beyond the sample group , but they provide a more in-depth understanding of participants’ perceptions, motivations, and emotions.
• Mixed methods: Despite issues systematically comparing differing types of data, a solely quantitative study would not sufficiently incorporate the lived experience of each participant, while a solely qualitative study would be insufficiently generalizable.

Remember that your aim is not just to describe your methods, but to show how and why you applied them. Again, it’s critical to demonstrate that your research was rigorously conducted and can be replicated.

1. Focus on your objectives and research questions

The methodology section should clearly show why your methods suit your objectives and convince the reader that you chose the best possible approach to answering your problem statement and research questions .

2. Cite relevant sources

Your methodology can be strengthened by referencing existing research in your field. This can help you to:

• Show that you followed established practice for your type of research
• Discuss how you decided on your approach by evaluating existing research
• Present a novel methodological approach to address a gap in the literature

3. Write for your audience

Consider how much information you need to give, and avoid getting too lengthy. If you are using methods that are standard for your discipline, you probably don’t need to give a lot of background or justification.

Regardless, your methodology should be a clear, well-structured text that makes an argument for your approach, not just a list of technical details and procedures.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Measures of central tendency
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles

Methodology

• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Thematic analysis
• Cohort study
• Peer review
• Ethnography

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Conformity bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Availability heuristic
• Attrition bias

Methodology refers to the overarching strategy and rationale of your research project . It involves studying the methods used in your field and the theories or principles behind them, in order to develop an approach that matches your objectives.

Methods are the specific tools and procedures you use to collect and analyze data (for example, experiments, surveys , and statistical tests ).

In shorter scientific papers, where the aim is to report the findings of a specific study, you might simply describe what you did in a methods section .

In a longer or more complex research project, such as a thesis or dissertation , you will probably include a methodology section , where you explain your approach to answering the research questions and cite relevant sources to support your choice of methods.

In a scientific paper, the methodology always comes after the introduction and before the results , discussion and conclusion . The same basic structure also applies to a thesis, dissertation , or research proposal .

Depending on the length and type of document, you might also include a literature review or theoretical framework before the methodology.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

Reliability and validity are both about how well a method measures something:

• Reliability refers to the  consistency of a measure (whether the results can be reproduced under the same conditions).
• Validity   refers to the  accuracy of a measure (whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure).

If you are doing experimental research, you also have to consider the internal and external validity of your experiment.

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population . Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research. For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

In statistics, sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, November 20). What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved November 28, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/methodology/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, what is a theoretical framework | guide to organizing, what is a research design | types, guide & examples, qualitative vs. quantitative research | differences, examples & methods, what is your plagiarism score.

• Teesside University Student & Library Services
• Learning Hub Group

Research Methods

Secondary research.

• Primary Research

What is Secondary Research?

Advantages and disadvantages of secondary research, secondary research in literature reviews, secondary research - going beyond literature reviews, main stages of secondary research, useful resources, using material on this page.

• Quantitative Research This link opens in a new window
• Qualitative Research This link opens in a new window
• Being Critical This link opens in a new window
• Subject LibGuides This link opens in a new window

Secondary research

Secondary research uses research and data that has already been carried out. It is sometimes referred to as desk research. It is a good starting point for any type of research as it enables you to analyse what research has already been undertaken and identify any gaps. 

You may only need to carry out secondary research for your assessment or you may need to use secondary research as a starting point, before undertaking your own primary research .

Searching for both primary and secondary sources can help to ensure that you are up to date with what research has already been carried out in your area of interest and to identify the key researchers in the field.

"Secondary sources are the books, articles, papers and similar materials written or produced by others that help you to form your background understanding of the subject. You would use these to find out about experts’ findings, analyses or perspectives on the issue and decide whether to draw upon these explicitly in your research." (Cottrell, 2014, p. 123).

Examples of secondary research sources include:.

• journal articles
• official statistics, such as government reports or organisations which have collected and published data

Primary research  involves gathering data which has not been collected before. Methods to collect it can include interviews, focus groups, controlled trials and case studies. Secondary research often comments on and analyses this primary research.

Gopalakrishnan and Ganeshkumar (2013, p. 10) explain the difference between primary and secondary research:

"Primary research is collecting data directly from patients or population, while secondary research is the analysis of data already collected through primary research. A review is an article that summarizes a number of primary studies and may draw conclusions on the topic of interest which can be traditional (unsystematic) or systematic".

Secondary Data

As secondary data has already been collected by someone else for their research purposes, it may not cover all of the areas of interest for your research topic. This research will need to be analysed alongside other research sources and data in the same subject area in order to confirm, dispute or discuss the findings in a wider context.

"Secondary source data, as the name infers, provides second-hand information. The data come ‘pre-packaged’, their form and content reflecting the fact that they have been produced by someone other than the researcher and will not have been produced specifically for the purpose of the research project. The data, none the less, will have some relevance for the research in terms of the information they contain, and the task for the researcher is to extract that information and re-use it in the context of his/her own research project." (Denscombe, 2021, p. 268)

In the video below Dr. Benedict Wheeler (Senior Research Fellow at the European Center for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter Medical School) discusses secondary data analysis. Secondary data was used for his research on how the environment affects health and well-being and utilising this secondary data gave access to a larger data set.

As with all research, an important part of the process is to critically evaluate any sources you use. There are tools to help with this in the  Being Critical  section of the guide.

Louise Corti, from the UK Data Archive, discusses using secondary data  in the video below. T he importance of evaluating secondary research is discussed - this is to ensure the data is appropriate for your research and to investigate how the data was collected.

There are advantages and disadvantages to secondary research:

Advantages:

• Usually low cost
• Easily accessible
• Provides background information to clarify / refine research areas
• Increases breadth of knowledge
• Shows different examples of research methods
• Can highlight gaps in the research and potentially outline areas of difficulty
• Can incorporate a wide range of data
• Allows you to identify opposing views and supporting arguments for your research topic
• Highlights the key researchers and work which is being undertaken within the subject area
• Helps to put your research topic into perspective

Disadvantages

• Can be out of date
• Might be unreliable if it is not clear where or how the research has been collected - remember to think critically
• May not be applicable to your specific research question as the aims will have had a different focus

Literature reviews 

Secondary research for your major project may take the form of a literature review . this is where you will outline the main research which has already been written on your topic. this might include theories and concepts connected with your topic and it should also look to see if there are any gaps in the research., as the criteria and guidance will differ for each school, it is important that you check the guidance which you have been given for your assessment. this may be in blackboard and you can also check with your supervisor..

The videos below include some insights from academics regarding the importance of literature reviews.

Secondary research which goes beyond literature reviews

For some dissertations/major projects there might only be a literature review (discussed above ). For others there could be a literature review followed by primary research and for others the literature review might be followed by further secondary research. 

You may be asked to write a literature review which will form a background chapter to give context to your project and provide the necessary history for the research topic. However, you may then also be expected to produce the rest of your project using additional secondary research methods, which will need to produce results and findings which are distinct from the background chapter t o avoid repetition .

Remember, as the criteria and guidance will differ for each School, it is important that you check the guidance which you have been given for your assessment. This may be in Blackboard and you can also check with your supervisor.

Although this type of secondary research will go beyond a literature review, it will still rely on research which has already been undertaken. And,  "just as in primary research, secondary research designs can be either quantitative, qualitative, or a mixture of both strategies of inquiry" (Manu and Akotia, 2021, p. 4) .

Your secondary research may use the literature review to focus on a specific theme, which is then discussed further in the main project. Or it may use an alternative approach. Some examples are included below.  Remember to speak with your supervisor if you are struggling to define these areas.

Some approaches of how to conduct secondary research include:

• A systematic review is a structured literature review that involves identifying all of the relevant primary research using a rigorous search strategy to answer a focused research question.
• This involves comprehensive searching which is used to identify themes or concepts across a number of relevant studies. 
• The review will assess the q uality of the research and provide a summary and synthesis of all relevant available research on the topic.
• The systematic review  LibGuide goes into more detail about this process (The guide is aimed a PhD/Researcher students. However, students on other levels of study may find parts of the guide helpful too).
• Scoping reviews aim to identify and assess available research on a specific topic (which can include ongoing research). 
• They are "particularly useful when a body of literature has not yet been comprehensively reviewed, or exhibits a complex or heterogeneous nature not amenable to a more precise systematic review of the evidence. While scoping reviews may be conducted to determine the value and probable scope of a full systematic review, they may also be undertaken as exercises in and of themselves to summarize and disseminate research findings, to identify research gaps, and to make recommendations for the future research."  (Peters et al., 2015) .
• This is designed to  summarise the current knowledge and provide priorities for future research.
• "A state-of-the-art review will often highlight new ideas or gaps in research with no official quality assessment." (Baguss, 2020) .
• "Bibliometric analysis is a popular and rigorous method for exploring and analyzing large volumes of scientific data." (Donthu et al., 2021)
• Quantitative methods and statistics are used to analyse the bibliographic data of published literature. This can be used to measure the impact of authors, publications, or topics within a subject area.

The bibliometric analysis often uses the data from a citation source such as Scopus or Web of Science .

• This is a technique used to combine the statistic results of prior quantitative studies in order to increase precision and validity.
• "It goes beyond the parameters of a literature review, which assesses existing literature, to actually perform calculations based on the results collated, thereby coming up with new results" (Curtis and Curtis, 2011, p. 220)

(Adapted from: Grant and Booth, 2009, cited in Sarhan and Manu, 2021, p. 72 )

• Grounded Theory is used to create explanatory theory from data which has been collected.
• "Grounded theory data analysis strategies can be used with different types of data, including secondary data." ( Whiteside, Mills and McCalman, 2012 )
• This allows you to use a specific theory or theories which can then be applied to your chosen topic/research area.
• You could focus on one case study which is analysed in depth, or you could examine more than one in order to compare and contrast the important aspects of your research question.
• "Good case studies often begin with a predicament that is poorly comprehended and is inadequately explained or traditionally rationalised by numerous conflicting accounts. Therefore, the aim is to comprehend an existent problem and to use the acquired understandings to develop new theoretical outlooks or explanations."  ( Papachroni and Lochrie, 2015, p. 81 )

Main stages of secondary research for a dissertation/major project

In general, the main stages for conducting secondary research for your dissertation or major project will include:

Click on the image below to access the reading list which includes resources used in this guide as well as some additional useful resources.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License .

• << Previous: Primary Research
• Next: Quantitative Research >>
• Last Updated: Aug 11, 2022 3:41 PM
• URL: https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/researchmethods

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation
• What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips

What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips

Published on 25 February 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 10 October 2022.

Your research methodology discusses and explains the data collection and analysis methods you used in your research. A key part of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper, the methodology chapter explains what you did and how you did it, allowing readers to evaluate the reliability and validity of your research.

It should include:

• The type of research you conducted
• How you collected and analysed your data
• Any tools or materials you used in the research
• Why you chose these methods
• Your methodology section should generally be written in the past tense .
• Academic style guides in your field may provide detailed guidelines on what to include for different types of studies.
• Your citation style might provide guidelines for your methodology section (e.g., an APA Style methods section ).

Table of contents

How to write a research methodology, why is a methods section important, step 1: explain your methodological approach, step 2: describe your data collection methods, step 3: describe your analysis method, step 4: evaluate and justify the methodological choices you made, tips for writing a strong methodology chapter, frequently asked questions about methodology.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Your methods section is your opportunity to share how you conducted your research and why you chose the methods you chose. It’s also the place to show that your research was rigorously conducted and can be replicated .

It gives your research legitimacy and situates it within your field, and also gives your readers a place to refer to if they have any questions or critiques in other sections.

You can start by introducing your overall approach to your research. You have two options here.

Option 1: Start with your “what”

What research problem or question did you investigate?

• Aim to describe the characteristics of something?
• Explore an under-researched topic?
• Establish a causal relationship?

And what type of data did you need to achieve this aim?

• Quantitative data , qualitative data , or a mix of both?
• Primary data collected yourself, or secondary data collected by someone else?
• Experimental data gathered by controlling and manipulating variables, or descriptive data gathered via observations?

Option 2: Start with your “why”

Depending on your discipline, you can also start with a discussion of the rationale and assumptions underpinning your methodology. In other words, why did you choose these methods for your study?

• Why is this the best way to answer your research question?
• Is this a standard methodology in your field, or does it require justification?
• Were there any ethical considerations involved in your choices?
• What are the criteria for validity and reliability in this type of research ?

Once you have introduced your reader to your methodological approach, you should share full details about your data collection methods .

Quantitative methods

In order to be considered generalisable, you should describe quantitative research methods in enough detail for another researcher to replicate your study.

Here, explain how you operationalised your concepts and measured your variables. Discuss your sampling method or inclusion/exclusion criteria, as well as any tools, procedures, and materials you used to gather your data.

Surveys Describe where, when, and how the survey was conducted.

• How did you design the questionnaire?
• What form did your questions take (e.g., multiple choice, Likert scale )?
• Were your surveys conducted in-person or virtually?
• What sampling method did you use to select participants?
• What was your sample size and response rate?

Experiments Share full details of the tools, techniques, and procedures you used to conduct your experiment.

• How did you design the experiment ?
• How did you recruit participants?
• How did you manipulate and measure the variables ?
• What tools did you use?

Existing data Explain how you gathered and selected the material (such as datasets or archival data) that you used in your analysis.

• Where did you source the material?
• How was the data originally produced?
• What criteria did you use to select material (e.g., date range)?

The survey consisted of 5 multiple-choice questions and 10 questions measured on a 7-point Likert scale.

The goal was to collect survey responses from 350 customers visiting the fitness apparel company’s brick-and-mortar location in Boston on 4–8 July 2022, between 11:00 and 15:00.

Here, a customer was defined as a person who had purchased a product from the company on the day they took the survey. Participants were given 5 minutes to fill in the survey anonymously. In total, 408 customers responded, but not all surveys were fully completed. Due to this, 371 survey results were included in the analysis.

Qualitative methods

In qualitative research , methods are often more flexible and subjective. For this reason, it’s crucial to robustly explain the methodology choices you made.

Be sure to discuss the criteria you used to select your data, the context in which your research was conducted, and the role you played in collecting your data (e.g., were you an active participant, or a passive observer?)

Interviews or focus groups Describe where, when, and how the interviews were conducted.

• How did you find and select participants?
• How many participants took part?
• What form did the interviews take ( structured , semi-structured , or unstructured )?
• How long were the interviews?
• How were they recorded?

Participant observation Describe where, when, and how you conducted the observation or ethnography .

• What group or community did you observe? How long did you spend there?
• How did you gain access to this group? What role did you play in the community?
• How long did you spend conducting the research? Where was it located?
• How did you record your data (e.g., audiovisual recordings, note-taking)?

Existing data Explain how you selected case study materials for your analysis.

• What type of materials did you analyse?
• How did you select them?

In order to gain better insight into possibilities for future improvement of the fitness shop’s product range, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 returning customers.

Here, a returning customer was defined as someone who usually bought products at least twice a week from the store.

Surveys were used to select participants. Interviews were conducted in a small office next to the cash register and lasted approximately 20 minutes each. Answers were recorded by note-taking, and seven interviews were also filmed with consent. One interviewee preferred not to be filmed.

Mixed methods

Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. If a standalone quantitative or qualitative study is insufficient to answer your research question, mixed methods may be a good fit for you.

Mixed methods are less common than standalone analyses, largely because they require a great deal of effort to pull off successfully. If you choose to pursue mixed methods, it’s especially important to robustly justify your methods here.

Next, you should indicate how you processed and analysed your data. Avoid going into too much detail: you should not start introducing or discussing any of your results at this stage.

In quantitative research , your analysis will be based on numbers. In your methods section, you can include:

• How you prepared the data before analysing it (e.g., checking for missing data , removing outliers , transforming variables)
• Which software you used (e.g., SPSS, Stata or R)
• Which statistical tests you used (e.g., two-tailed t test , simple linear regression )

In qualitative research, your analysis will be based on language, images, and observations (often involving some form of textual analysis ).

Specific methods might include:

• Content analysis : Categorising and discussing the meaning of words, phrases and sentences
• Thematic analysis : Coding and closely examining the data to identify broad themes and patterns
• Discourse analysis : Studying communication and meaning in relation to their social context

Mixed methods combine the above two research methods, integrating both qualitative and quantitative approaches into one coherent analytical process.

Above all, your methodology section should clearly make the case for why you chose the methods you did. This is especially true if you did not take the most standard approach to your topic. In this case, discuss why other methods were not suitable for your objectives, and show how this approach contributes new knowledge or understanding.

In any case, it should be overwhelmingly clear to your reader that you set yourself up for success in terms of your methodology’s design. Show how your methods should lead to results that are valid and reliable, while leaving the analysis of the meaning, importance, and relevance of your results for your discussion section .

• Quantitative: Lab-based experiments cannot always accurately simulate real-life situations and behaviours, but they are effective for testing causal relationships between variables .
• Qualitative: Unstructured interviews usually produce results that cannot be generalised beyond the sample group , but they provide a more in-depth understanding of participants’ perceptions, motivations, and emotions.
• Mixed methods: Despite issues systematically comparing differing types of data, a solely quantitative study would not sufficiently incorporate the lived experience of each participant, while a solely qualitative study would be insufficiently generalisable.

Remember that your aim is not just to describe your methods, but to show how and why you applied them. Again, it’s critical to demonstrate that your research was rigorously conducted and can be replicated.

1. Focus on your objectives and research questions

The methodology section should clearly show why your methods suit your objectives  and convince the reader that you chose the best possible approach to answering your problem statement and research questions .

2. Cite relevant sources

Your methodology can be strengthened by referencing existing research in your field. This can help you to:

• Show that you followed established practice for your type of research
• Discuss how you decided on your approach by evaluating existing research
• Present a novel methodological approach to address a gap in the literature

3. Write for your audience

Consider how much information you need to give, and avoid getting too lengthy. If you are using methods that are standard for your discipline, you probably don’t need to give a lot of background or justification.

Regardless, your methodology should be a clear, well-structured text that makes an argument for your approach, not just a list of technical details and procedures.

Methodology refers to the overarching strategy and rationale of your research. Developing your methodology involves studying the research methods used in your field and the theories or principles that underpin them, in order to choose the approach that best matches your objectives.

Methods are the specific tools and procedures you use to collect and analyse data (e.g. interviews, experiments , surveys , statistical tests ).

In a dissertation or scientific paper, the methodology chapter or methods section comes after the introduction and before the results , discussion and conclusion .

Depending on the length and type of document, you might also include a literature review or theoretical framework before the methodology.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to test a hypothesis by systematically collecting and analysing data, while qualitative methods allow you to explore ideas and experiences in depth.

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population. Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research.

For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

Statistical sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population. There are various sampling methods you can use to ensure that your sample is representative of the population as a whole.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2022, October 10). What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved 28 November 2023, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/methodology/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to write a dissertation proposal | a step-by-step guide, what is a literature review | guide, template, & examples, what is a theoretical framework | a step-by-step guide.

How To Write The Methodology Chapter

The what, why & how explained simply (with examples).

By: Jenna Crossley (PhD) | Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | September 2021 (Updated April 2023)

So, you’ve pinned down your research topic and undertaken a review of the literature – now it’s time to write up the methodology section of your dissertation, thesis or research paper. But what exactly is the methodology chapter all about – and how do you go about writing one? In this post, we’ll unpack the topic, step by step .

Overview: The Methodology Chapter

• The purpose  of the methodology chapter
• Why you need to craft this chapter (really) well
• How to write and structure the chapter
• Methodology chapter example
• Essential takeaways

What (exactly) is the methodology chapter?

The methodology chapter is where you outline the philosophical underpinnings of your research and outline the specific methodological choices you’ve made. The point of the methodology chapter is to tell the reader exactly how you designed your study and, just as importantly, why you did it this way.

Importantly, this chapter should comprehensively describe and justify all the methodological choices you made in your study. For example, the approach you took to your research (i.e., qualitative, quantitative or mixed), who  you collected data from (i.e., your sampling strategy), how you collected your data and, of course, how you analysed it. If that sounds a little intimidating, don’t worry – we’ll explain all these methodological choices in this post .

Why is the methodology chapter important?

The methodology chapter plays two important roles in your dissertation or thesis:

Firstly, it demonstrates your understanding of research theory, which is what earns you marks. A flawed research design or methodology would mean flawed results. So, this chapter is vital as it allows you to show the marker that you know what you’re doing and that your results are credible .

Secondly, the methodology chapter is what helps to make your study replicable. In other words, it allows other researchers to undertake your study using the same methodological approach, and compare their findings to yours. This is very important within academic research, as each study builds on previous studies.

The methodology chapter is also important in that it allows you to identify and discuss any methodological issues or problems you encountered (i.e., research limitations ), and to explain how you mitigated the impacts of these. Every research project has its limitations , so it’s important to acknowledge these openly and highlight your study’s value despite its limitations . Doing so demonstrates your understanding of research design, which will earn you marks. We’ll discuss limitations in a bit more detail later in this post, so stay tuned!

Need a helping hand?

How to write up the methodology chapter

First off, it’s worth noting that the exact structure and contents of the methodology chapter will vary depending on the field of research (e.g., humanities, chemistry or engineering) as well as the university . So, be sure to always check the guidelines provided by your institution for clarity and, if possible, review past dissertations from your university. Here we’re going to discuss a generic structure for a methodology chapter typically found in the sciences.

Before you start writing, it’s always a good idea to draw up a rough outline to guide your writing. Don’t just start writing without knowing what you’ll discuss where. If you do, you’ll likely end up with a disjointed, ill-flowing narrative . You’ll then waste a lot of time rewriting in an attempt to try to stitch all the pieces together. Do yourself a favour and start with the end in mind .

Section 1 – Introduction

As with all chapters in your dissertation or thesis, the methodology chapter should have a brief introduction. In this section, you should remind your readers what the focus of your study is, especially the research aims . As we’ve discussed many times on the blog, your methodology needs to align with your research aims, objectives and research questions. Therefore, it’s useful to frontload this component to remind the reader (and yourself!) what you’re trying to achieve.

In this section, you can also briefly mention how you’ll structure the chapter. This will help orient the reader and provide a bit of a roadmap so that they know what to expect. You don’t need a lot of detail here – just a brief outline will do.

Section 2 – The Methodology

The next section of your chapter is where you’ll present the actual methodology. In this section, you need to detail and justify the key methodological choices you’ve made in a logical, intuitive fashion. Importantly, this is the heart of your methodology chapter, so you need to get specific – don’t hold back on the details here. This is not one of those “less is more” situations.

Let’s take a look at the most common components you’ll likely need to cover. 

Methodological Choice #1 – Research Philosophy

Research philosophy refers to the underlying beliefs (i.e., the worldview) regarding how data about a phenomenon should be gathered , analysed and used . The research philosophy will serve as the core of your study and underpin all of the other research design choices, so it’s critically important that you understand which philosophy you’ll adopt and why you made that choice. If you’re not clear on this, take the time to get clarity before you make any further methodological choices.

While several research philosophies exist, two commonly adopted ones are positivism and interpretivism . These two sit roughly on opposite sides of the research philosophy spectrum.

Positivism states that the researcher can observe reality objectively and that there is only one reality, which exists independently of the observer. As a consequence, it is quite commonly the underlying research philosophy in quantitative studies and is oftentimes the assumed philosophy in the physical sciences.

Contrasted with this, interpretivism , which is often the underlying research philosophy in qualitative studies, assumes that the researcher performs a role in observing the world around them and that reality is unique to each observer . In other words, reality is observed subjectively .

These are just two philosophies (there are many more), but they demonstrate significantly different approaches to research and have a significant impact on all the methodological choices. Therefore, it’s vital that you clearly outline and justify your research philosophy at the beginning of your methodology chapter, as it sets the scene for everything that follows.

Methodological Choice #2 – Research Type

The next thing you would typically discuss in your methodology section is the research type. The starting point for this is to indicate whether the research you conducted is inductive or deductive .

Inductive research takes a bottom-up approach , where the researcher begins with specific observations or data and then draws general conclusions or theories from those observations. Therefore these studies tend to be exploratory in terms of approach.

Conversely , d eductive research takes a top-down approach , where the researcher starts with a theory or hypothesis and then tests it using specific observations or data. Therefore these studies tend to be confirmatory in approach.

Related to this, you’ll need to indicate whether your study adopts a qualitative, quantitative or mixed  approach. As we’ve mentioned, there’s a strong link between this choice and your research philosophy, so make sure that your choices are tightly aligned . When you write this section up, remember to clearly justify your choices, as they form the foundation of your study.

Methodological Choice #3 – Research Strategy

Next, you’ll need to discuss your research strategy (also referred to as a research design ). This methodological choice refers to the broader strategy in terms of how you’ll conduct your research, based on the aims of your study.

Several research strategies exist, including experimental , case studies , ethnography , grounded theory, action research , and phenomenology . Let’s take a look at two of these, experimental and ethnographic, to see how they contrast.

Experimental research makes use of the scientific method , where one group is the control group (in which no variables are manipulated ) and another is the experimental group (in which a specific variable is manipulated). This type of research is undertaken under strict conditions in a controlled, artificial environment (e.g., a laboratory). By having firm control over the environment, experimental research typically allows the researcher to establish causation between variables. Therefore, it can be a good choice if you have research aims that involve identifying causal relationships.

Ethnographic research , on the other hand, involves observing and capturing the experiences and perceptions of participants in their natural environment (for example, at home or in the office). In other words, in an uncontrolled environment.  Naturally, this means that this research strategy would be far less suitable if your research aims involve identifying causation, but it would be very valuable if you’re looking to explore and examine a group culture, for example.

As you can see, the right research strategy will depend largely on your research aims and research questions – in other words, what you’re trying to figure out. Therefore, as with every other methodological choice, it’s essential to justify why you chose the research strategy you did.

Methodological Choice #4 – Time Horizon

The next thing you’ll need to detail in your methodology chapter is the time horizon. There are two options here: cross-sectional and longitudinal . In other words, whether the data for your study were all collected at one point in time (cross-sectional) or at multiple points in time (longitudinal).

The choice you make here depends again on your research aims, objectives and research questions. If, for example, you aim to assess how a specific group of people’s perspectives regarding a topic change over time , you’d likely adopt a longitudinal time horizon.

Another important factor to consider is simply whether you have the time necessary to adopt a longitudinal approach (which could involve collecting data over multiple months or even years). Oftentimes, the time pressures of your degree program will force your hand into adopting a cross-sectional time horizon, so keep this in mind.

Methodological Choice #5 – Sampling Strategy

Next, you’ll need to discuss your sampling strategy . There are two main categories of sampling, probability and non-probability sampling.

Probability sampling involves a random (and therefore representative) selection of participants from a population, whereas non-probability sampling entails selecting participants in a non-random  (and therefore non-representative) manner. For example, selecting participants based on ease of access (this is called a convenience sample).

The right sampling approach depends largely on what you’re trying to achieve in your study. Specifically, whether you trying to develop findings that are generalisable to a population or not. Practicalities and resource constraints also play a large role here, as it can oftentimes be challenging to gain access to a truly random sample. In the video below, we explore some of the most common sampling strategies.

Methodological Choice #6 – Data Collection Method

Next up, you’ll need to explain how you’ll go about collecting the necessary data for your study. Your data collection method (or methods) will depend on the type of data that you plan to collect – in other words, qualitative or quantitative data.

Typically, quantitative research relies on surveys , data generated by lab equipment, analytics software or existing datasets. Qualitative research, on the other hand, often makes use of collection methods such as interviews , focus groups , participant observations, and ethnography.

So, as you can see, there is a tight link between this section and the design choices you outlined in earlier sections. Strong alignment between these sections, as well as your research aims and questions is therefore very important.

Methodological Choice #7 – Data Analysis Methods/Techniques

The final major methodological choice that you need to address is that of analysis techniques . In other words, how you’ll go about analysing your date once you’ve collected it. Here it’s important to be very specific about your analysis methods and/or techniques – don’t leave any room for interpretation. Also, as with all choices in this chapter, you need to justify each choice you make.

What exactly you discuss here will depend largely on the type of study you’re conducting (i.e., qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods). For qualitative studies, common analysis methods include content analysis , thematic analysis and discourse analysis . In the video below, we explain each of these in plain language.

For quantitative studies, you’ll almost always make use of descriptive statistics , and in many cases, you’ll also use inferential statistical techniques (e.g., correlation and regression analysis). In the video below, we unpack some of the core concepts involved in descriptive and inferential statistics.

In this section of your methodology chapter, it’s also important to discuss how you prepared your data for analysis, and what software you used (if any). For example, quantitative data will often require some initial preparation such as removing duplicates or incomplete responses . Similarly, qualitative data will often require transcription and perhaps even translation. As always, remember to state both what you did and why you did it.

Section 3 – The Methodological Limitations

With the key methodological choices outlined and justified, the next step is to discuss the limitations of your design. No research methodology is perfect – there will always be trade-offs between the “ideal” methodology and what’s practical and viable, given your constraints. Therefore, this section of your methodology chapter is where you’ll discuss the trade-offs you had to make, and why these were justified given the context.

Methodological limitations can vary greatly from study to study, ranging from common issues such as time and budget constraints to issues of sample or selection bias . For example, you may find that you didn’t manage to draw in enough respondents to achieve the desired sample size (and therefore, statistically significant results), or your sample may be skewed heavily towards a certain demographic, thereby negatively impacting representativeness .

In this section, it’s important to be critical of the shortcomings of your study. There’s no use trying to hide them (your marker will be aware of them regardless). By being critical, you’ll demonstrate to your marker that you have a strong understanding of research theory, so don’t be shy here. At the same time, don’t beat your study to death . State the limitations, why these were justified, how you mitigated their impacts to the best degree possible, and how your study still provides value despite these limitations .

Section 4 – Concluding Summary

Finally, it’s time to wrap up the methodology chapter with a brief concluding summary. In this section, you’ll want to concisely summarise what you’ve presented in the chapter. Here, it can be a good idea to use a figure to summarise the key decisions, especially if your university recommends using a specific model (for example, Saunders’ Research Onion ).

Importantly, this section needs to be brief – a paragraph or two maximum (it’s a summary, after all). Also, make sure that when you write up your concluding summary, you include only what you’ve already discussed in your chapter; don’t add any new information.

Methodology Chapter Example

In the video below, we walk you through an example of a high-quality research methodology chapter from a dissertation. We also unpack our free methodology chapter template so that you can see how best to structure your chapter.

Wrapping Up

And there you have it – the methodology chapter in a nutshell. As we’ve mentioned, the exact contents and structure of this chapter can vary between universities , so be sure to check in with your institution before you start writing. If possible, try to find dissertations or theses from former students of your specific degree program – this will give you a strong indication of the expectations and norms when it comes to the methodology chapter (and all the other chapters!).

Also, remember the golden rule of the methodology chapter – justify every choice ! Make sure that you clearly explain the “why” for every “what”, and reference credible methodology textbooks or academic sources to back up your justifications.

If you need a helping hand with your research methodology (or any other component of your research), be sure to check out our private coaching service , where we hold your hand through every step of the research journey. Until next time, good luck!

Psst… there’s more (for free)

This post is part of our dissertation mini-course, which covers everything you need to get started with your dissertation, thesis or research project. 

You Might Also Like:

45 Comments

highly appreciated.

This was very helpful!

Thanks ,it is a very useful idea.

Thanks ,it is very useful idea.

Thank you very much. I must say the information presented was succinct, coherent and invaluable. It is well put together and easy to comprehend. I have a great guide to create the research methodology for my dissertation.

Highly clear and useful.

I understand a bit on the explanation above. I want to have some coach but I’m still student and don’t have any budget to hire one. A lot of question I want to ask.

Thank you so much. This concluded my day plan. Thank you so much.

Thanks it was helpful

Great information. It would be great though if you could show us practical examples.

Thanks so much for this information. God bless and be with you

Thank you so so much. Indeed it was helpful

This is EXCELLENT!

I was totally confused by other explanations. Thank you so much!.

justdoing my research now , thanks for the guidance.

Thank uuuu! These contents are really valued for me!

This is powerful …I really like it

Highly useful and clear, thank you so much.

Highly appreciated. Good guide

That was helpful. Thanks

This is very useful.Thank you

Very helpful information. Thank you

This is exactly what I was looking for. The explanation is so detailed and easy to comprehend. Well done and thank you.

Great job. You just summarised everything in the easiest and most comprehensible way possible. Thanks a lot.

Thank you very much for the ideas you have given this will really help me a lot. Thank you and God Bless.

Such great effort …….very grateful thank you

Please accept my sincere gratitude. I have to say that the information that was delivered was congruent, concise, and quite helpful. It is clear and straightforward, making it simple to understand. I am in possession of an excellent manual that will assist me in developing the research methods for my dissertation.

Thank you for your great explanation. It really helped me construct my methodology paper.

thank you for simplifieng the methodoly, It was realy helpful

Very helpful!

Thank you for your great explanation.

The explanation I have been looking for. So clear Thank you

Thank you very much .this was more enlightening.

helped me create the in depth and thorough methodology for my dissertation

Thank you for the great explaination.please construct one methodology for me

I appreciate you for the explanation of methodology. Please construct one methodology on the topic: The effects influencing students dropout among schools for my thesis

This helped me complete my methods section of my dissertation with ease. I have managed to write a thorough and concise methodology!

its so good in deed

wow …what an easy to follow presentation. very invaluable content shared. utmost important.

Peace be upon you, I am Dr. Ahmed Khedr, a former part-time professor at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. I am currently teaching research methods, and I have been dealing with your esteemed site for several years, and I found that despite my long experience with research methods sites, it is one of the smoothest sites for evaluating the material for students, For this reason, I relied on it a lot in teaching and translated most of what was written into Arabic and published it on my own page on Facebook. Thank you all… Everything I posted on my page is provided with the names of the writers of Grad coach, the title of the article, and the site. My best regards.

A remarkably simple and useful guide, thank you kindly.

I real appriciate your short and remarkable chapter summary

Bravo! Very helpful guide.

Only true experts could provide such helpful, fantastic, and inspiring knowledge about Methodology. Thank you very much! God be with you and us all!

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Root out friction in every digital experience, super-charge conversion rates, and optimize digital self-service

Uncover insights from any interaction, deliver AI-powered agent coaching, and reduce cost to serve

Increase revenue and loyalty with real-time insights and recommendations delivered straight to teams on the ground

Know exactly how your people feel and empower managers to improve employee engagement, productivity, and retention

Take action in the moments that matter most along the employee journey and drive bottom line growth

Whatever they’re are saying, wherever they’re saying it, know exactly what’s going on with your people

Get faster, richer insights with qual and quant tools that make powerful market research available to everyone

Run concept tests, pricing studies, prototyping + more with fast, powerful studies designed by UX research experts

Track your brand performance 24/7 and act quickly to respond to opportunities and challenges in your market

Explore the platform powering Experience Management

• Free Account
• For Digital
• For Customer Care
• For Human Resources
• For Researchers
• Financial Services
• All Industries

Popular Use Cases

• Customer Experience
• Employee Experience
• Employee Exit Interviews
• Net Promoter Score
• Voice of Customer
• Customer Success Hub
• Product Documentation
• Training & Certification
• XM Institute
• Popular Resources
• Customer Stories

Market Research

• Artificial Intelligence
• Partnerships
• Marketplace

The annual gathering of the experience leaders at the world’s iconic brands building breakthrough business results, live in Salt Lake City.

• English/AU & NZ
• Español/Europa
• Español/América Latina
• Português Brasileiro
• REQUEST DEMO
• Experience Management
• Secondary Research

Try Qualtrics for free

Secondary research: definition, methods, & examples.

19 min read This ultimate guide to secondary research helps you understand changes in market trends, customers buying patterns and your competition using existing data sources.

In situations where you’re not involved in the data gathering process ( primary research ), you have to rely on existing information and data to arrive at specific research conclusions or outcomes. This approach is known as secondary research.

In this article, we’re going to explain what secondary research is, how it works, and share some examples of it in practice.

Free eBook: The ultimate guide to conducting market research

What is secondary research?

Secondary research, also known as desk research, is a research method that involves compiling existing data sourced from a variety of channels . This includes internal sources (e.g.in-house research) or, more commonly, external sources (such as government statistics, organizational bodies, and the internet).

Secondary research comes in several formats, such as published datasets, reports, and survey responses , and can also be sourced from websites, libraries, and museums.

The information is usually free — or available at a limited access cost — and gathered using surveys , telephone interviews, observation, face-to-face interviews, and more.

When using secondary research, researchers collect, verify, analyze and incorporate it to help them confirm research goals for the research period.

As well as the above, it can be used to review previous research into an area of interest. Researchers can look for patterns across data spanning several years and identify trends — or use it to verify early hypothesis statements and establish whether it’s worth continuing research into a prospective area.

How to conduct secondary research

There are five key steps to conducting secondary research effectively and efficiently:

1.    Identify and define the research topic

First, understand what you will be researching and define the topic by thinking about the research questions you want to be answered.

Ask yourself: What is the point of conducting this research? Then, ask: What do we want to achieve?

This may indicate an exploratory reason (why something happened) or confirm a hypothesis. The answers may indicate ideas that need primary or secondary research (or a combination) to investigate them.

2.    Find research and existing data sources

If secondary research is needed, think about where you might find the information. This helps you narrow down your secondary sources to those that help you answer your questions. What keywords do you need to use?

Which organizations are closely working on this topic already? Are there any competitors that you need to be aware of?

Create a list of the data sources, information, and people that could help you with your work.

3.    Begin searching and collecting the existing data

Now that you have the list of data sources, start accessing the data and collect the information into an organized system. This may mean you start setting up research journal accounts or making telephone calls to book meetings with third-party research teams to verify the details around data results.

As you search and access information, remember to check the data’s date, the credibility of the source, the relevance of the material to your research topic, and the methodology used by the third-party researchers. Start small and as you gain results, investigate further in the areas that help your research’s aims.

4.    Combine the data and compare the results

When you have your data in one place, you need to understand, filter, order, and combine it intelligently. Data may come in different formats where some data could be unusable, while other information may need to be deleted.

After this, you can start to look at different data sets to see what they tell you. You may find that you need to compare the same datasets over different periods for changes over time or compare different datasets to notice overlaps or trends. Ask yourself: What does this data mean to my research? Does it help or hinder my research?

5.    Analyze your data and explore further

In this last stage of the process, look at the information you have and ask yourself if this answers your original questions for your research. Are there any gaps? Do you understand the information you’ve found? If you feel there is more to cover, repeat the steps and delve deeper into the topic so that you can get all the information you need.

If secondary research can’t provide these answers, consider supplementing your results with data gained from primary research. As you explore further, add to your knowledge and update your findings. This will help you present clear, credible information.

Primary vs secondary research

Unlike secondary research, primary research involves creating data first-hand by directly working with interviewees, target users, or a target market. Primary research focuses on the method for carrying out research, asking questions, and collecting data using approaches such as:

• Interviews (panel, face-to-face or over the phone)
• Questionnaires or surveys
• Focus groups

Using these methods, researchers can get in-depth, targeted responses to questions, making results more accurate and specific to their research goals. However, it does take time to do and administer.

Unlike primary research, secondary research uses existing data, which also includes published results from primary research. Researchers summarize the existing research and use the results to support their research goals.

Both primary and secondary research have their places. Primary research can support the findings found through secondary research (and fill knowledge gaps), while secondary research can be a starting point for further primary research. Because of this, these research methods are often combined for optimal research results that are accurate at both the micro and macro level.

Sources of Secondary Research

There are two types of secondary research sources: internal and external. Internal data refers to in-house data that can be gathered from the researcher’s organization. External data refers to data published outside of and not owned by the researcher’s organization.

Internal data

Internal data is a good first port of call for insights and knowledge, as you may already have relevant information stored in your systems. Because you own this information — and it won’t be available to other researchers — it can give you a competitive edge . Examples of internal data include:

• Database information on sales history and business goal conversions
• Information from website applications and mobile site data
• Customer-generated data on product and service efficiency and use
• Previous research results or supplemental research areas
• Previous campaign results

External data

External data is useful when you: 1) need information on a new topic, 2) want to fill in gaps in your knowledge, or 3) want data that breaks down a population or market for trend and pattern analysis. Examples of external data include:

• Government, non-government agencies, and trade body statistics
• Company reports and research
• Competitor research
• Public library collections
• Textbooks and research journals
• Media stories in newspapers
• Online journals and research sites

Three examples of secondary research methods in action

How and why might you conduct secondary research? Let’s look at a few examples:

1.    Collecting factual information from the internet on a specific topic or market

There are plenty of sites that hold data for people to view and use in their research. For example, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, or Wiley Online Library all provide previous research on a particular topic. Researchers can create free accounts and use the search facilities to look into a topic by keyword, before following the instructions to download or export results for further analysis.

This can be useful for exploring a new market that your organization wants to consider entering. For instance, by viewing the U.S Census Bureau demographic data for that area, you can see what the demographics of your target audience are , and create compelling marketing campaigns accordingly.

2.    Finding out the views of your target audience on a particular topic

If you’re interested in seeing the historical views on a particular topic, for example, attitudes to women’s rights in the US, you can turn to secondary sources.

Textbooks, news articles, reviews, and journal entries can all provide qualitative reports and interviews covering how people discussed women’s rights. There may be multimedia elements like video or documented posters of propaganda showing biased language usage.

By gathering this information, synthesizing it, and evaluating the language, who created it and when it was shared, you can create a timeline of how a topic was discussed over time.

3.    When you want to know the latest thinking on a topic

Educational institutions, such as schools and colleges, create a lot of research-based reports on younger audiences or their academic specialisms. Dissertations from students also can be submitted to research journals, making these places useful places to see the latest insights from a new generation of academics.

Information can be requested — and sometimes academic institutions may want to collaborate and conduct research on your behalf. This can provide key primary data in areas that you want to research, as well as secondary data sources for your research.

Advantages of secondary research

There are several benefits of using secondary research, which we’ve outlined below:

• Easily and readily available data – There is an abundance of readily accessible data sources that have been pre-collected for use, in person at local libraries and online using the internet. This data is usually sorted by filters or can be exported into spreadsheet format, meaning that little technical expertise is needed to access and use the data.
• Faster research speeds – Since the data is already published and in the public arena, you don’t need to collect this information through primary research. This can make the research easier to do and faster, as you can get started with the data quickly.
• Low financial and time costs – Most secondary data sources can be accessed for free or at a small cost to the researcher, so the overall research costs are kept low. In addition, by saving on preliminary research, the time costs for the researcher are kept down as well.
• Secondary data can drive additional research actions – The insights gained can support future research activities (like conducting a follow-up survey or specifying future detailed research topics) or help add value to these activities.
• Secondary data can be useful pre-research insights – Secondary source data can provide pre-research insights and information on effects that can help resolve whether research should be conducted. It can also help highlight knowledge gaps, so subsequent research can consider this.
• Ability to scale up results – Secondary sources can include large datasets (like Census data results across several states) so research results can be scaled up quickly using large secondary data sources.

Disadvantages of secondary research

The disadvantages of secondary research are worth considering in advance of conducting research :

• Secondary research data can be out of date – Secondary sources can be updated regularly, but if you’re exploring the data between two updates, the data can be out of date. Researchers will need to consider whether the data available provides the right research coverage dates, so that insights are accurate and timely, or if the data needs to be updated. Also, fast-moving markets may find secondary data expires very quickly.
• Secondary research needs to be verified and interpreted – Where there’s a lot of data from one source, a researcher needs to review and analyze it. The data may need to be verified against other data sets or your hypotheses for accuracy and to ensure you’re using the right data for your research.
• The researcher has had no control over the secondary research – As the researcher has not been involved in the secondary research, invalid data can affect the results. It’s therefore vital that the methodology and controls are closely reviewed so that the data is collected in a systematic and error-free way.
• Secondary research data is not exclusive – As data sets are commonly available, there is no exclusivity and many researchers can use the same data. This can be problematic where researchers want to have exclusive rights over the research results and risk duplication of research in the future.

When do we conduct secondary research?

Now that you know the basics of secondary research, when do researchers normally conduct secondary research?

It’s often used at the beginning of research, when the researcher is trying to understand the current landscape . In addition, if the research area is new to the researcher, it can form crucial background context to help them understand what information exists already. This can plug knowledge gaps, supplement the researcher’s own learning or add to the research.

Secondary research can also be used in conjunction with primary research. Secondary research can become the formative research that helps pinpoint where further primary research is needed to find out specific information. It can also support or verify the findings from primary research.

You can use secondary research where high levels of control aren’t needed by the researcher, but a lot of knowledge on a topic is required from different angles.

Secondary research should not be used in place of primary research as both are very different and are used for various circumstances.

Questions to ask before conducting secondary research

Before you start your secondary research, ask yourself these questions:

• Is there similar internal data that we have created for a similar area in the past?

If your organization has past research, it’s best to review this work before starting a new project. The older work may provide you with the answers, and give you a starting dataset and context of how your organization approached the research before. However, be mindful that the work is probably out of date and view it with that note in mind. Read through and look for where this helps your research goals or where more work is needed.

• What am I trying to achieve with this research?

When you have clear goals, and understand what you need to achieve, you can look for the perfect type of secondary or primary research to support the aims. Different secondary research data will provide you with different information – for example, looking at news stories to tell you a breakdown of your market’s buying patterns won’t be as useful as internal or external data e-commerce and sales data sources.

• How credible will my research be?

If you are looking for credibility, you want to consider how accurate the research results will need to be, and if you can sacrifice credibility for speed by using secondary sources to get you started. Bear in mind which sources you choose — low-credibility data sites, like political party websites that are highly biased to favor their own party, would skew your results.

• What is the date of the secondary research?

When you’re looking to conduct research, you want the results to be as useful as possible , so using data that is 10 years old won’t be as accurate as using data that was created a year ago. Since a lot can change in a few years, note the date of your research and look for earlier data sets that can tell you a more recent picture of results. One caveat to this is using data collected over a long-term period for comparisons with earlier periods, which can tell you about the rate and direction of change.

• Can the data sources be verified? Does the information you have check out?

If you can’t verify the data by looking at the research methodology, speaking to the original team or cross-checking the facts with other research, it could be hard to be sure that the data is accurate. Think about whether you can use another source, or if it’s worth doing some supplementary primary research to replicate and verify results to help with this issue.

We created a front-to-back guide on conducting market research, The ultimate guide to conducting market research , so you can understand the research journey with confidence.

In it, you’ll learn more about:

• What effective market research looks like
• The use cases for market research
• The most important steps to conducting market research
• And how to take action on your research findings

Download the free guide for a clearer view on secondary research and other key research types for your business.

Related resources

Market intelligence 10 min read, marketing insights 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, qualitative vs quantitative research 13 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, primary vs secondary research 14 min read, request demo.

Ready to learn more about Qualtrics?

• Home »

find your perfect postgrad program Search our Database of 30,000 Courses

Dissertation methodology.

What Is The Methodology?

This is the section of your dissertation that explains how you carried out your research, where your data comes from, what sort of data gathering techniques you used, and so forth. Generally, someone reading your methodology should have enough information to be able to create methods very similar to the ones you used to obtain your data, but you do not have to include any questionnaires, reviews, interviews, etc that you used to conduct your research here. This section is primarily for explaining why you chose to use those particular techniques to gather your data. Read more about postgraduate research projects here .

Scientific Approach

The information included in the dissertation methodology is similar to the process of creating a science project: you need to present the subject that you aim to examine, and explain the way you chose to go about approaching your research. There are several different types of research , and research analysis, including primary and secondary research, and qualitative  and quantitative analysis, and in your dissertation methodology, you will explain what types you have employed in assembling and analysing your data.

Explain Your methods

This aspect of the methodology section is important, not just for detailing how your research was conducted, but also how the methods you used served your purposes, and were more appropriate to your area of study than other methods. For example, if you create and use a series of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ survey questions, which you then processed into percentages per response, then the quantitative method of data analysis to determine the results of data gathered using a primary research method. You would then want to explain why this combination was more appropriate to your topic than say, a review of a book that included interviews with participants asking open-ended questions: a combination of secondary research and qualitative data analysis.

Writing A Dissertation Methodology

It's important to keep in mind that your dissertation methodology is about description: you need to include details that will help others understand exactly what you aimed to do, how you went about doing it, and why you chose to do it that way. Don’t get too bogged down in listing methods and sources, and forget to include why and how they were suitable for your particular research. Be sure you speak to your course advisor about what specific requirements there may be for your particular course. It is possible that you may need to include more or less information depending on your subject. The type of research you conducted will also determine how much detail you will need to include in the description of your methods. If you have created a series of primary research sources, such as interviews, surveys, and other first hand accounts taken by either yourself or another person active during the time period you are examining, then you will need to include more detail in specifically breaking down the steps you took to both create your sources and use them in conducting your research. If you are using secondary sources when writing your dissertation methodology, or books containing data collected by other researchers, then you won’t necessarily need to include quite as much detail in your description of your methods, although you may want to be more thorough in your description of your analysis.

Research Techniques

You may also want to do some research into research techniques – it sounds redundant, but it will help you identify what type of research you are doing, and what types will be best to achieve the most cohesive results from your project. It will also help you write your dissertation methodology section, as you won’t have to guess when it comes to whether documents written in one time period, re-printed in another, and serialised in book form in a third are primary, secondary, or tertiary sources. Read more on dissertation research here .

Whether or not you have conducted your research using primary sources, you will still want to be sure that you include relevant references to existing studies on your topic. It is important to show that you have carefully researched what data already exists, and are seeking to build on the knowledge that has already been collected. As with all of your dissertation, be sure that you’ve fully supported your research with a strong academic basis. Use research that has already been conducted to illustrate that you know your subject well.

Draft As You Go

Because your dissertation methodology is basically an explanation of your research, you may want to consider writing it – or at least drafting it – as you gather your data. If you are on a PhD course, or a longer masters course, then you may be able to finish researching before you begin writing but it doesn’t hurt to start working on it early that way you can keep on  top of what you need to do. Analysing your own methods of research may help you spot any errors in data collection, interpretation or sources.

Dissertation Methodology Structure Example

There are several ways that you can structure your dissertation methodology, and the following headings are designed to further give you a better idea of what you may want to include, as well as how you might want to present your findings. By referring to this example you should be able to effectively structure your dissertation methodology.

Research Overview: where you reiterate the topic of your research.  

Research Design: How you’ve set up your project, and what each piece of it aims to accomplish. Data Collection: What you used to collect the data (surveys, questionnaires, interviews, trials, etc.). Don’t forget to includes sample size and any attempts to defeat bias.

Data Analysis: Finally, what does your data mean in the context of your research? Were your results conclusive or not? Remember to include what type of data you were working with (qualitative or quantitative? Primary or secondary sources?) and how any variables, spurious or otherwise factor into your results.

Related articles

Planning A Good Research Project

PhD By Publication  

Qualitative Research V Quantitative Research

Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research

Top Tips When Writing Your Dissertation

Everything You Need To Know About Your Research Project

Choosing A Dissertation Topic

How To Edit Your Own Postgraduate Writing

How To Effectively Conduct Postgraduate Research

Top Tips For Easy Postgraduate Research

Postgrad Solutions Study Bursaries

Exclusive bursaries Open day alerts Funding advice Application tips Latest PG news

Sign up now!

Take 2 minutes to sign up to PGS student services and reap the benefits…

• The chance to apply for one of our 5 PGS Bursaries worth £2,000 each
• Fantastic scholarship updates
• Latest PG news sent directly to you.

A Four-Step Guide to Conducting Secondary Research For Your Dissertation

Secondary research is a useful strategy to obtain data and support your ideas when conducting research for your dissertation. It will always be challenging to write a large project like a dissertation all by yourself (professional essay service, 2019). In dissertation secondary research, a specific study subject or topic is investigated utilizing published data sources, such as books, journals, and internet databases. Although conducting secondary research may seem simple, it necessitates a systematic approach to guarantee that you locate and utilize the most relevant and trustworthy sources.

Table of Contents

What Secondary Research Is Used For?

One of the main purposes of secondary research is to thoroughly grasp the body of material that already exists on a certain topic. It frequently serves as a framework for the study and helps contextualize a research topic or hypothesis. Researchers can also find gaps in the literature and areas that need more inquiry by using secondary sources.

Another purpose of secondary research is, secondary research can provide useful insights into the research methodology and analytical techniques employed by other researchers, which can inform the design and implementation of the current study.

Types Of Secondary Research

Dissertation secondary research can be split into two major categories: qualitative and quantitative. While quantitative research is used to gather and analyze numerical data, qualitative research examines individuals’ or groups’ subjective experiences and viewpoints. Other sorts of secondary research fall under these broad categories, including:

literature review: A literature review critically evaluates the body of writing already written about a certain subject. It entails locating, analysing, and synthesizing the pertinent literature to present a thorough overview of the subject field.

Meta-analysis: A meta-analysis is a statistical procedure that combines the findings of several studies to produce a more accurate assessment of the magnitude of an intervention’s or variable’s impact.

Systematic review: Reviewing the literature on a certain topic systematically is a disciplined and organized process in PhD dissertation . It entails formulating an inclusion and exclusion criterion, creating a research topic, then looking up and synthesizing the pertinent literature.

Content analysis: It is a technique for examining written or visual content to spot themes, patterns, and trends.

Historical analysis: Historical analysis is the process of looking at old records or artifacts to understand historical occurrences or social phenomena.

Recognizing these types of overconfidence bias can help individuals become more self-aware and take steps to reduce their impact on decision-making.

Secondary Research Benefits

Compared to primary research methods, there are numerous advantages of secondary research. First off, you can easily find dissertation help in UK . Second, because secondary research includes analyzing existing data rather than gathering new data, it frequently takes less time and costs less money than primary research. Second, by using a variety of sources and disciplines, secondary research can provide a topic with a broader perspective. Thirdly, by conducting secondary research, scholars can steer clear of duplicating prior findings or committing the same errors. Finally, by highlighting areas that need additional research, secondary research can serve as a foundation for subsequent studies.

Difficulties With Secondary Research

Secondary research has several drawbacks despite its benefits. First off, because it depends on the veracity and validity of the material that is already available, secondary research is frequently prone to bias. Second, the calibre and amount of the available types of secondary data may be a constraint for secondary research.

For instance, it could be challenging to reach meaningful conclusions if there is little or obsolete literature on a given subject or not the required Types of secondary data. Finally, because it may require examining a sizable amount of complicated and varied material, secondary research might be difficult to synthesize.

Guide To Conducting A Secondary Research

Here is the secondary research process in 4 steps describes briefly.

Step 2: Select Pertinent Sources

You must choose pertinent dissertation secondary sources after defining your study question. You can conduct secondary research using a range of sources, such as books, journals, online databases, and government papers. Finding answers to open-ended issues as a way of learning and/or developing new knowledge is a part of the research, in addition to simply acquiring information (Goddard, Melville, 2001).

There are many different search techniques you can employ to find relevant dissertation secondary sources. Using keywords related to your research subject to search internet databases and library catalogs is a typical strategy. You can also search for books and articles that are mentioned in the materials you’ve already found.

Step 3: Consider The Sources

After you have found probable sources, you must assess them to see if they are pertinent, trustworthy, and reliable. You can assess sources using a variety of factors, such as the author’s qualifications, the source’s publication date, and its reputation.

It’s crucial to remember that not all sources are created equal while examining them during creating dissertation using only secondary data. Other sources could be out-of-date or irrelevant to your research issue, while some could be prejudiced or unreliable. A source’s context should also be taken into account because it may have an impact on its credibility and applicability.

Step 4: Review And Combine Sources

Analysis and synthesis of the sources you have chosen are the last steps in secondary research. This entails carefully reading each source and making notes on the most important conclusions, points, and supporting details.

You should search for trends and connections among your sources as you study them when you are creating dissertation using only secondary data. Additionally, you should evaluate how the sources you have chosen support or refute your research question and thesis.

You can start combining your sources into a coherent argument after you have evaluated them. This entails determining the key ideas and points that are supported by your sources and utilizing them to strengthen your own argument.

A crucial step in writing a dissertation is conducting secondary research. You can create a compelling argument for your position and prove your subject-matter expertise by using a methodical strategy to locate, assess, and analyze information. You can do efficient secondary research that will aid in the creation of your dissertation by establishing your research question, discovering pertinent sources, assessing these sources, and analyzing and synthesizing your findings.

What Does Dissertation Secondary Research Entail?

How does secondary research for a dissertation get done.

• Determine your research. This will assist you in locating the pertinent sources and information you require to respond to your research inquiry.
• Select pertinent sources. Academic journals, publications, official reports, statistical databases, and other publicly accessible sources may be among them.
• Assess the reliability and applicability of the sources. Look for reliable, current, and pertinent sources that address your research question.
• Examine and assess the information. Consider how important themes and trends are related to your research question after identifying them.
• Summarize the results. Think about how the results relate to the body of prior research on the subject.
• Clearly cite all of your sources. Ensure that you offer comprehensive and correct information for each source, and adhere to the citation style that is advised by your school.

Which Four Kinds Of Secondary Research Are There?

• Literature Review: In this sort of study, the current academic literature on a particular subject is reviewed
• Data Analysis: To address a research topic, data analysis entails examining already-existing quantitative data, such as statistical data, survey results, or market research data.
• Historical Research: To comprehend the historical background of a research subject, historical research entails examining current documents, archives, and other primary materials.
• Case Study Research: To shed light on a research subject, case study research involves examining past case studies and frequently in-depth investigations of a certain company or circumstance.

Which Of The Secondary Research Examples Is The Best?

Disclaimer: Kindly note that the work we provide is not the final version, it is research based work which you have to incorporate and edit according to your university requirements.

• How it works

Writing a Methodology for your Dissertation | Complete Guide & Steps

What is a methodology.

The methodology is perhaps the most challenging and laborious part of the dissertation . Essentially, the methodology helps in understanding the broad, philosophical approach behind the methods of research you chose to employ in your study. The research methodology elaborates on the ‘how’ part of your research.

This means that your methodology chapter should clearly state whether you chose to use quantitative or qualitative data collection techniques or a mix of both.

Your research methodology should explain the following:

• What was the purpose of your research?
• What type of research method was used?
• What were the data-collecting methods?
• How did you analyse the data?
• What kind of resources were used in your research?
• Why did you choose these methods?

You will be required to provide justifications as to why you preferred a certain method over the others. If you are trying to figure out exactly how to write methodology or the structure of a methodology for a dissertation, this article will point you in the right direction.

Students must be sure of why they chose a certain research method over another. “I figured out” or “In my opinion” statements will not be an acceptable justification. So, you will need to come up with concrete academic reasons for your selection of research methods.

What are the Standard Contents of a Research Methodology?

The methodology generally acts as a guideline or plan for exactly how you intend to carry out your research. This is especially true for students who must submit their methodology chapter before carrying out the research.

Your methodology should link back to the literature review and clearly state why you chose certain data collection and analysis methods for your research/dissertation project.

The methodology chapter consists of the following:

• Research Design
• Philosophical Approach
• Data Collection Methods
• Research Limitations
• Ethical Considerations (If Any)
• Data Analysis Methods

For those who are submitting their dissertation as a single paper, their methodology should also touch on any modifications they had to make as their work progressed.

However, it is essential to provide academic justifications for all choices made by the researcher.

How to Choose your Dissertation Methodology and Research Design?

The theme of your research methodology chapter should be related to your literature review and research question (s).

You can visit your college or university library to find textbooks and articles that provide information about the commonly employed research methods .

An intensive reading of such books can help you devise your research philosophy and choose the appropriate methods. Any limitations or weaknesses of your chosen research approach should also be explained, as well as the strategies to overcome them.

To research well, you should read well! Read as many research articles (from reputed journals) as you can. Seeing how other researchers use methods in their studies and why will help you justify, in the long run, your own research method(s).

Regardless of the chosen research approach, you will find researchers who either support it or don’t. Use the arguments for and against articulated in the literature to clarify why you decided to choose the selected research design and why the research limitations are irrelevant to your research.

How to Structure your Dissertation Methodology?

The typical structure of the methodology chapter is as follows:

• Research Design And Strategy
• Methods Of Data Collection And Data Analysis
• Ethical Considerations, Reliability , Limitations And Generalisability

In research jargon, generalisability is termed external validity . It means how generalisable your research findings are to other contexts, places, times, people, etc. External validity is expected to be significantly high, especially in quantitative studies.

According to USC-Research Guides (2017) , a research design’s primary function is to enable the researcher to answer the research questions through evidence effectively. Generally, this section will shed light on how you collected your data.

The researcher will have to justify their choice of data collection methods, such as the one that was reviewed, the use of data tools (interviews, phone surveys, questionnaires, observation, online surveys , etc.) and the like.

Moreover, data sampling choice should also be clearly explained with a focus on how you chose the ethnicity, group, profession and age of the participants.

• What type of questions do you intend to ask the respondents?
• How will they help to answer your research questions ?
• How will they help to test the hypothesis of the dissertation?

It is recommended to prepare these questions at the start of your research. You should develop your research problem and questions. This approach can allow the room to change or modify research questions if your data collection methods do not give the desired results.

It’s a good practice to keep referring to your research questions whilst planning or writing the research design section. This will help your reader recall what the research is about; why you have done what you did. Even though this technique is recommended to be applied at the start of every section within a dissertation, it’s especially beneficial in the methodology section.

In short, you will need to make sure that the data you are going to collect relates to the topic you are exploring. The complexity and length of the research design section will vary depending on your academic subject and the scope of your research, but a well-written research design will have the following characteristics:

• It sheds light on alternative research design options and justifies why your chosen design is the best to address the research problem.
• Clearly specifies the research questions that the research aims to address or the hypothesis to validate.
• Explain how the collected data will help address the research problem and discusses your research methodology to collect the data.

Philosophical Approach Behind Writing a Methodology

This will discuss your chosen philosophy to strengthen your research and the research model. Commonly employed philosophies in academia are

• Interpretivism,
• Positivism/Post-Positivism
• Constructivism

There are several other research philosophies that you could adopt.

The choice of philosophy will depend on many factors, including your academic subject and the type and complexity of the research study. Regardless of which philosophy is used, you will be required to make different assumptions about the world.

Once you have chosen your research philosophy, the next step will describe your research context to answer all the questions, including when, where, why, how and what of your research.

Essentially, as a researcher, you will be required to decide whether you will be using a qualitative method, a quantitative method or a mix of both.

Did you know?

Using both qualitative and quantitative methods leads to the use of a mixed-methods approach. This approach also goes by another seldom-used name: eclectic approach.

The process of data collection is different for each method. Typically, you would want to decide whether you will adopt the positivist approach, defining your hypothesis and testing it against reality.

If this is the case, you will be required to take the quantitative approach, collecting numerical data at a large scale (from 30 or more respondents) and testing your hypotheses with this data.

Collecting data from at least 30 respondents/participants ensures reliable statistical analysis . This is especially true for quantitative studies. If the data contains less than 30 responses, it won’t be enough to carry out reliable statistical analyses on such data.

The other option for you would be to base your research on a qualitative approach, which will point you in a direction where you will be investigating broader areas by identifying people’s emotions and perceptions of a subject.

With a qualitative approach, you will have to collect responses from respondents and look at them in all their richness to develop theories about the field you are exploring.

Finally, you can also use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods (which is becoming increasingly popular among researchers these days). This method is beneficial if you are interested in putting quantitative data into a real-world context or reflecting different perspectives on a subject.

Research philosophy in the ‘research onion.’

Methods of Data Collection and Data Analysis

This section will require you to clearly specify how you gathered the data and briefly discuss the tools you used to analyse it. For example, you may choose to conduct surveys and/or interviews as part of the data collection process.

Similarly, if you used software such as Excel or SPSS to process the data , you will have to justify your software choice. In this section of your methodology chapter , you will also have to explain how you arrived at your findings and how reliable they are.

It is important to note that your readers or supervisor would want to see a correlation between your findings and the hypothesis/research questions you based your study on at the very beginning.

Your supervisor or dissertation research assistant can play a key role in helping you write the methodology chapter according to established research standards. So, keep your supervisor in the loop to get their contributions and recommendations throughout the process.

In this section, you should briefly describe the methods you’ve used to analyse the data you’ve collected.

Qualitative Methods

The qualitative method includes analysing language, images, audio, videos, or any textual data (textual analysis). The following types of methods are used in textual analysis .

Discourse analysis:

Discourse analysis is an essential aspect of studying a language and its uses in day-to-day life.

Content analysis:

It is a method of studying and retrieving meaningful information from documents Thematic analysis:

It’s a method of identifying patterns of themes in the collected information, such as face-to-face interviews, texts, and transcripts.

Example: After collecting the data, it was checked thoroughly to find the missing information. The interviews were transcribed, and textual analysis was conducted. The repetitions of the text, types of colours displayed, and the tone of the speakers was measured.

Quantitative Methods

Quantitative data analysis is used for analysing numerical data. Include the following points:

• The methods of preparing data before analysing it.
• Which statistical test you have used? (one-ended test, two-ended test)
• The type of software you’ve used.

Ethical Considerations, Reliability and Limitations of a Dissertation Methodology

Other important sections of your methodology are:

Ethical Considerations

Always consider how your research will influence other individuals who are beyond the scope of the study. This is especially true for human subjects. As a researcher, you are always expected to make sure that your research and ideas do not harm anyone in any way.Discussion concerning data protection, data handling and data confidentiality will also be included in this brief segment.

• How did you ensure your participants’/respondents’ anonymity and/or confidentiality?
• Did you remove any identifiable markers after conducting the study (post-test stage) so that readers wouldn’t be able to guess the identity of the participant/respondent?
• Was personal information collected according to the purpose of the research? (For instance, asking respondents their age when it wasn’t even relevant in the study). All such ethical considerations need to be mentioned.

Even though there is no established rule to include ethical considerations and limitations within the methodology section, it’s generally recommended to include it in this section, as it makes more sense than including it, say, after the discussions section or within the conclusion.

This is mainly because limitations almost always occur in the methodology stage of research. And ethical considerations need to be taken while sampling, an important aspect of the research methodology.

Here are some examples of ethical issues that you should be mindful of

• Does your research involve participants recalling episodes of suffering and pain?
• Are you trying to find answers to questions considered culturally sensitive either by participants or the readers?
• Are your research, analysis and findings based on a specific location or a group of people?

All such issues should be categorically addressed and a justification provided for your chosen research methodology by highlighting the study’s benefits.

Reliability

Is your research study and findings reliable for other researchers in your field of work? To establish yourself as a reliable researcher, your study should be both authentic and reliable.

Reliability means the extent to which your research can yield similar results if it was replicated in another setting, at a different time, or under different circumstances. If replication occurs and different findings come to light, your (original) research would be deemed unreliable.

Limitations

Good dissertation writers will always acknowledge the limitations of their research study. Limitations in data sampling can decrease your results’ reliability.

A classic example of research limitation is collecting responses from people of a certain age group when you could have targeted a more representative cross-section of the population.Be humble and admit to your own study’s limitations. Doing so makes your referees, editors, supervisors, readers and anyone else involved in the research enterprise aware that you were also aware of the things that limited your study.

Limitations are NOT the same as implications. Sometimes, the two can be confused. Limitations lead to implications, that is, due to a certain factor being absent in the study (limitation) for instance, future research could be carried out in a setting where that factor is present (implication).

Dissertation Methodology Example

At this point, you might have a basic understanding of how to craft a well-written, organised, accurate methodology section for your dissertation. An example might help bring all the aforementioned points home. Here is a dissertation methodology example in pdf to better understand how to write methodology for a dissertation.

Sample Dissertation Methodology

Does your Research Methodology Have the Following?

• Great Research/Sources
• Perfect Language
• Accurate Sources

If not, we can help. Our panel of experts makes sure to keep the 3 pillars of Research Methodology strong.

Types of Methodologies

A scientific or lab-based study.

A methodology section for a scientific study will need to elaborate on reproducibility and meticulousness more than anything else. If your methods have obvious flaws, the readers are not going to be impressed. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your chosen research methodology is vigorous in nature.

Any information related to the procedure, setup and equipment should be clearly stated so other researchers in your field of study can work with the same method in the future if needed.

Variables that are likely to falsify your data must be taken into the equation to avoid ambiguities. It is recommended to present a comprehensive strategy to deal with these variables when gathering and analysing the data and drawing conclusions.

Statistical models employed as part of your scientific study will have to be justified, and so your methodology should include details of those statistical models.

Another scholar in the future might use any aspect of your methodology as the starting point for their research. For example, they might base their research on your methodology but analyse the data using other statistical models. Hence, this is something you should be mindful of.

Behavioural or Social Sciences-Based Dissertation

Like scientific or lab-based research, a behavioural and social sciences methodology needs to be built along the same lines. The chosen methodology should demonstrate reproducibility and firmness so other scholars can use your whole dissertation methodology or a part of it based on their research needs.

But there are additional issues that the researcher must take into consideration when working with human subjects. As a starting point, you will need to decide whether your analysis will be based on qualitative data, quantitative data or mixed-method of research, where qualitative data is used to provide contextual background to quantitative data or the other way around.

Here are some questions for you to consider:

• Will you observe the participants undertaking some activity, ask them to fill out a questionnaire, or record their responses during the interviews ?
• Will you base your research on existing evidence and datasets and avoid working with human subjects?
• What are the length, width, and reach of your data? Define its scope.
• Is the data highly explicit to the location or cultural setting you carried your study in, or can it be generalised to other situations and frameworks (reliability)? What are your reasons and justifications?

While you will be required to demonstrate that you have taken care of the above questions, it is equally important to make sure that you address your research study’s ethical issues side-by-side.

Of course, the first step in that regard will be to obtain formal approval for your research design from the ethics bodies (such as IRBs – institutional review boards), but still, there will be many more issues that could trigger a sense of grief and discomfort among some of the readers.

Humanities and Arts Dissertation Project

The rigour and dependability of the methods of research employed remain undisputed and unquestionable for humanities and arts-based dissertations as well. However, the way you convince your readers of your dissertation’s thoroughness is slightly different.

Unlike social science dissertation or a scientific study, the methodology of dissertations in arts and humanities subjects needs to be directly linked to the literature review regardless of how innovative your dissertation’s topic might be.

For example, you could demonstrate the relationship between A and B to discover a new theoretical background or use existing theories in a new framework.

The methodology section of humanities and arts-based dissertations is less complex, so there might be no need to justify it in detail. Students can achieve a seamless transition from the literature review to the analysis section.

However, like with every other type of research methodology, it is important to provide a detailed justification of your chosen methodology and relate it to the research problem.

Failing to do so could leave some readers unconvinced of your theoretical foundations’ suitability, which could potentially jeopardise your whole research.

Make sure that you are paying attention to and giving enough information about the social and historical background of the theoretical frameworks your research methodology is based on. This is especially important if there is an essential difference of opinion between your research and the research done on the subject in the past.

A justification of why opposing schools of thought disagree and why you still went ahead to use aspects of these schools of thought in your methodology should be clearly presented for the readers to understand how they would support your readings.

A Dissertation in Creative Arts

Some degree programs in the arts allow students to undertake a portfolio of artworks or creative writing rather than produce an extended dissertation research project.However, in practice, your creative research will be required to be submitted along with a comprehensive evaluative paper, including background information and an explanation that hypothesises your innovative exercise.

While this might seem like an easy thing to do, critical evaluation of someone’s work is highly complex and notorious in nature. This further reinforces the argument of developing a rigorous methodology and adhering to it.

As a scholar, you will be expected to showcase the ability to critically analyse your methodology and show that you are capable of critically evaluating your own creative work.Such an approach will help you justify your method of creating the work, which will give the readers the impression that your research is grounded in theory.

What to Avoid in Methodology?

All chapters of a dissertation paper are interconnected. This means that there will undoubtedly be some information that would overlap between the different chapters of the dissertation .

For example, some of the text material may seem appropriate to both the literature review and methodology sections; you might even end up moving information from pillar to post between different chapters as you edit and improve your dissertation .

However, make sure that you are not making the following a part of your dissertation methodology, even though it may seem appropriate to fit them in there:

A Long Review of Methods Employed by Previous Researchers

It might seem relevant to include details of the models your dissertation methodology is based on. However, a detailed review of models and precedents used by other scholars and theorists will better fit in the literature review chapter, which you can link back to. This will help the readers understand why you decided to go in favour of or against a certain tactic.

Unnecessary Details Readers Might Not be Interested In

There is absolutely no need to provide extensive details of things like lab equipment and experiment procedures. Having such information in the methodology chapter would discourage some readers who might not be interested in your equipment, setup, lab environment, etc.

Your aim as the author of the document will be to retain the readers’ interest and make the methodology chapter as readable as possible.

While it is important to get all the information relating to how others can reproduce your experiment, it is equally important to ensure your methodology section isn’t unnecessarily long. Again, additional information is better to be placed within the appendices chapter.

The methodology is not the section to provide raw data, even if you are only discussing the data collection process. All such information should be moved to the appendices section.

Even if you feel some finding or numerical data is crucial to be presented within the methodology section, you can, at most, make brief comments about such data. Its discussion, however, is only allowed in the discussions section .

What Makes your Methodology Stand Out?

The factors which can determine if your dissertation methodology is ‘great’ depend on many factors, including the level of study you are currently enrolled in.

Undergraduate dissertations are, of course, less complex and less demanding. At most universities in the UK, undergraduate students are required to exhibit the ability to conduct thorough research as they engage for the first time with theoretical and conceptual frameworks in their chosen research area.

As an undergraduate student, you will be expected to showcase the capacity to reproduce what you have learnt from theorists in your academic subject, transform your leanings into a methodology that would help you address the research problem, and test the research hypothesis, as mentioned in the introduction chapter.

A great undergraduate-level dissertation will incorporate different schools of thought and make a valuable contribution to existing knowledge. However, in general, undergraduate-level dissertations’ focus should be to show thorough desk-based and independent research skills.

Postgraduate dissertation papers are much more compound and challenging because they are expected to make a substantial contribution to existing knowledge.

Depending on the academic institute, some postgraduate students are even required to develop a project published by leading academic journals as an approval of their research skills.

It is important to recognise the importance of a postgraduate dissertation towards building your professional career, especially if your work is considered impactful in your area of study and receives citations from multiple scholars, enhancing your reputation in academic communities.

Even if some academics cite your literature review and conclusion in their own work, it is a well-known fact that your methodology framework will result in many more citations regardless of your academic subject.

Other scholars and researchers in your area of study are likely to give much more value to a well-crafted methodology, especially one they can use as the starting point for their own research.

Of course, they can alter, refine and enhance your methodology in one way or another. They can even apply your methodological framework to a new data set or apply it in a completely new situation that is irrelevant to your work.

Finally, postgraduate dissertations are expected to be highly convincing and demonstrate in-depth engagement. They should be reproducible and show rigour, so the findings and conclusions can be regarded as authentic and reliable among scientific and academic communities.

The methodology is the door to success when it comes to dissertation projects. An original methodology that takes into consideration all aspects of research is likely to have an impact on the field of study.

As a postgraduate student, you should ask yourself, Is my dissertation methodology reproducible and transferable? Producing a methodology that others can reproduce in the future is as important as answering research questions .

The methodology chapter can either make or break the grade of your research/dissertation paper. It’s one of the research elements that leave a memorable impression on your readers. So, it would help if you took your time when it comes to choosing the right design and philosophical approach for your research.

Always use authentic academic sources and discuss your plans in detail with your supervisor if you believe your research design or approach has flaws in it.

Did this article help you learn how to write a dissertation methodology and how to structure a dissertation methodology? Let us know in your comments.

Are you struggling to create a thorough and well-rounded dissertation methodology?

Avail of our dissertation writing services ! At Research Prospect, we have Master’s and PhD qualified dissertation writers for all academic subjects, so you can be confident that the writer we will assign to your dissertation order will be an expert in your field of study. They can help you with your whole dissertation or just a part of it. You decide how much or how little help you need.

You May Also Like

Are you looking for intriguing and trending dissertation topics? Get inspired by our list of free dissertation topics on all subjects.

Looking for an easy guide to follow to write your essay? Here is our detailed essay guide explaining how to write an essay and examples and types of an essay.

Learn about the steps required to successfully complete their research project. Make sure to follow these steps in their respective order.

More Interesting Articles

Ready to place an order, useful links, learning resources.

COMPANY DETAILS

• How It Works

• +44 7897 053596
• [email protected]

Get an experienced writer start working

Review our examples before placing an order, learn how to draft academic papers, what is secondary research | methods, types, and examples.

Dissertation Question Examples

What are the Advantages & Disadvantages of Secondary Research?

Any project must go through the research process in order to gather specific information. Primary research is firsthand information, but on the other hand, secondary research acts as a guiding light, illuminating uncharted territories of knowledge. Like a beacon in the storm, it enables researchers to navigate the vast seas of information, tapping into existing resources to fuel their intellectual pursuits.

You can also view our following links:

Primary Research Methods: A Beginner's Guide

A Complete Guide: How to Write a Research Design

In this article, we will explore various types and examples of secondary research to inspire and guide aspiring researchers in formulating their own research queries.

3-Step  Dissertation Process!

Get 3+ Topics

Dissertation Proposal

Get Final Dissertation

What is secondary research.

To define secondary research is the method of gathering and analysing existing data, information, and resources that others have already collected. It involves reviewing and synthesising the work of other researchers, scholars, experts, and organisations to gain insights, draw conclusions, or support a particular research objective.

How to Conduct Secondary Research

Secondary research is a valuable tool for gathering information from existing sources. To conduct effective secondary research, follow these steps for research. By following these steps, the researcher navigates the process of conducting secondary research efficiently and effectively, contributing to the existing body of knowledge and advancing your understanding of the research topic.

• Define Research Objectives

 Clearly identify your research topic, questions, and objectives to ensure focused and relevant exploration.

• Identify Relevant Sources

 Determine the most appropriate sources for your research, such as academic journals, books, databases, government reports, or reputable websites.

• Conduct Literature Review

Review existing literature to comprehensively understand the topic, identify key theories, concepts, and gaps in knowledge.

• Collect Data

 Extract relevant data from sources using methods like note-taking, summarizing, or using citation management tools for organized data collection.

• Analyze and Interpret Data

Analyze the collected data using qualitative or quantitative techniques to draw meaningful insights and identify patterns or trends.

• Compare and Synthesize Findings

Compare and synthesize the findings from different sources to identify commonalities, discrepancies, or emerging themes.

• Evaluate Source Credibility

Assess the credibility and reliability of the sources by considering factors like author expertise, publication reputation, and data quality.

• Document and Cite Sources

Properly document all sources used in your research and ensure accurate citation to maintain academic integrity and avoid plagiarism.

• Draw Conclusions and Recommendations

 Based on the analysis of secondary data, draw informed conclusions and provide recommendations for further research or practical applications.

• Communicate Findings

 Present your findings in a clear and organized manner through research reports, presentations, or academic papers.

Types of Secondary Research 

Secondary research, also known as desk research, refers to the process of gathering and analyzing existing data and information collected by others. It involves utilizing pre-existing sources to explore a specific topic or research question. Here are some common types with secondary research examples:

• Literature Reviews

For secondary research collecting data via literature review that are existing scholarly articles, books, and publications related to the research topic. A literature review is a great way to evaluate the state of the research and demonstrates familiarity with the scholarly debates around the subject.

For example;

If your research interest lies in understanding the reactions of campus police to student protest movements on campus, conducting a comprehensive literature review can provide valuable insights. By examining scholarly works spanning the past century that discuss student protest movements, you can gain a broader understanding of the topic and identify recurring themes or patterns.

• Case Studies

Examining previously conducted case studies to gain insights into specific situations, variables, and outcomes. When researching a difficult case study , you can decide whether to analyse only one instance in great detail if you'd want to compare various facets of your issue. 

For Example;

Suppose you wish to explore the acclimatization process of formerly incarcerated individuals. Analyze their experiences and narratives to develop a detailed case study of their reintegration into society.

• Content Analysis

Analysing and interpreting existing content, such as media articles, social media posts, and online discussions, to gain insights into public opinion, trends, and sentiment. Depending on whether you want to analyse countable or quantifiable patterns or more interpretive ones, it is either quantitative or qualitative in nature.

 If your focus is on the frequency of employment issues in political campaigns during the Great Depression, you can employ content analysis techniques. 

• Comparative Studies

Comparing and contrasting existing research studies and findings to identify commonalities, differences, and gaps in knowledge.

Comparing the impact of traditional lecture-based teaching and student-centered interactive learning on student learning outcomes.

The secondary research definition provides a valuable foundation for academic inquiry, offering a wealth of existing knowledge to build upon and contribute to the scholarly discourse. By leveraging these various types of secondary research, students can gain a comprehensive understanding of their chosen subjects and enhance their own research endeavours.

How Does It Work ?

Fill the Form

Please fill the free topic form and share your requirements

Writer Starts Working

The writer starts to find a topic for you (based on your requirements)

3+ Topics Emailed!

The writer shared custom topics with you within 24 hours

Importance of Conducting Secondary Research

While it may not always be necessary to conduct secondary research for the research project. It is highly beneficial and often recommended in academic and research contexts. Here are a few reasons why secondary research is valuable:

• Enhancing Knowledge

 Secondary research allows you to tap into existing knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of a subject. By reviewing relevant literature, data, and information collected by others, you build upon existing theories, concepts, and findings.

• Time and Cost Efficiency

 Conducting primary research, which involves data collection from scratch, be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Secondary research offers a more efficient alternative by utilising pre-existing data and information, saving you time and reducing costs.

• Access to a Wide Range of Sources

Secondary research enables you to explore a vast array of sources, including academic journals, books, reports, and databases. This wide range of materials allows for a comprehensive and diverse exploration of your research topic.

• Validation and Verification

Secondary research allows you to validate and verify your own findings and arguments. By referencing established studies and scholarly work, you strengthen the credibility and reliability of your research.

• Identifying Research Gaps

Secondary research helps you identify gaps in existing knowledge or areas where further investigation is needed. By examining previous studies, you uncover unanswered questions or areas that require additional research, which contribute to the advancement of your field.

• Ethical Considerations

Conducting secondary research promotes ethical research practices, as it involves using already available data and respecting intellectual property rights. By properly citing and attributing sources, you demonstrate academic integrity and avoid plagiarism.

A primary research question may provide unique insights and data, but secondary research provides a broader context and a foundation to build on in support of primary research. By incorporating both primary and secondary research, you create a more comprehensive and well-rounded study.

Final Extraction

To cut it short, secondary research is a significant part of research writing. It refers to the secondary sources of data collection for research work. It includes literature reviews, case studies, comparative analysis of the available sources of information as compared to first hand or primary research. Time effectiveness and cost efficiency are some of its many benefits. This piece of writing has provided an essential information on how to conduct secondary research. 

Get an Immediate Response

Discuss your requirements with our writers

WhatsApp Us Email Us Chat with Us

Get 3+ Free   Dissertation Topics within 24 hours?

Your Number

Academic Level Select Academic Level Undergraduate Masters PhD

Area of Research

admin farhan

Related posts.

Table of Abbreviations for Thesis: A Beginner’s Guide

Footnote Referencing Styles: Academic Writing

How to Write a Critical Analysis? | A Step-by-Step Guide

Comments are closed.

Secondary Research for your Dissertation

A dissertation or thesis research project requires a significant amount of research, with secondary research a necessity for any paper. The secondary research may be undertaken to create the theoretical foundation for the dissertation with the produce the literature review, and it may also be used as an alternative to primary research.

Defining Secondary Research

To examine the use of secondary researchit is first necessary to differentiate secondary from primary research. Primary research occurs where a researcher designs a research project and then collects the results directly from the original sources and can control the collection of the data. Secondary data is data that has already been collected by other researchers in previous research projects and is accessed through existing publications. Examples of secondary sources include;

• Publications such as journal articles and books
• Conferences papers/proceedings
• Television and radio broadcasts
• Past dissertations
• Official/government reports
• Company accounts or other internal organizational reports

The Uses of Secondary Research in a Dissertation

The first use of secondary research in a dissertation is to create the literature review. The literature review is based purely on secondary research, drawing together articles on topics relevant to the main topic. When undertaking secondary research, the review should include secondary research drawing on the empirical research that developed or established the theories that will be applied in the research. Good research will also include additional research reviewing and testing the theories to provide a balanced approach. Secondary research may also be undertaken at the principle research approach as an alternative primary research. When performed in place of primary research, the research methodology will be based on using data collected and published by others and reanalysing, reinterpreting, or reviewing the data.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Research

The use of secondary research can be advantageous as it is more cost-effective, the data may be more easily accessed, which reduce the time scale and budget needed for the research to be completed. However, secondary research also has some disadvantages. The data is unlikely to be a perfect match for the dissertation planned as the collection was undertaken by a different researcher who may have been answering a different research question, The data may also require reformatting and the detail of the data may be lacking, requiring the correlation of different data sets, or reformulation of the research question.

The Secondary Research Process

The research process using secondary sources may be divided into four stages.

• Formulate the research question. This will usually require a review of available literature to identify and narrow down an area of research which may be undertaken using secondary data.
• Identify the secondary data set that can be used to answer the research question.
• Assess the suitability of the available secondary data, including the degree to which it is aligned with the research question and the quality of the research process which generated the data. Identify alternate or more data if it is needed to increase the robustness of the study
• Prepare and then analyse the secondary data in line with the chosen analytical techniques with the aim of answering the research question

Notably, while secondary research may be used in place of primary research, there is also the potential to use it in conjunction with or as a supplement to primary research.

• academic work
• academic writing
• dissertation
• ghostwriter
• writing dissertation
• writing process
• writing thesis

Theme: Illdy .

Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development pp 269–288 Cite as

Primary and Secondary Data Collection to Conduct Researches, Write Thesis and Dissertation Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: A Guidepost

• Antonio S. Valdez 13 ,
• Tabassam Raza 13 , 14 ,
• Martha I. Farolan 15 ,
• Celso I. Mendoza 16 , 18 ,
• Leticia Q. Perez 17 , 19 ,
• Jose F. Peralta 13 ,
• Richelle I. Valencia 13 &
• Harold Anthony Martin P. Lim 13  
• First Online: 13 October 2022

191 Accesses

Part of the Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering book series (LNCE,volume 294)

Research has always been regarded by many as tedious because of the difficulties and challenges associated with doing research such as having to forego certain habits like social life. Doing research became even more difficult, especially with regard to limitation on collecting applicable primary and secondary data due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. It is to be noted that substantive, thorough, sophisticated literature review and intensive pertinent primary data availability are ncessary for doing quality research relevant to the status quo. Various novel approaches have been adopted by scholars through their diverse academic spheres in conducting internationally acceptable research amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This research aims to come up with a guidepost to facilitate researchers and other stakeholders with fundamental knowledge and skills in conducting substantive, thorough, sophisticated researches that are of international standards. A comparative and diagnostic analysis method is used for analyzing existing literature and policies developed by higher education institutions and schools for doing research in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The output allowed authors to develop a guidepost with rules on using limited primary and extensive secondary data in doing research. The guidepost consists of various sections explaining on how to do research and write theses and dissertations. These sections include among others research title, statement of the problem, research objectives, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, review of related literature, research methodology, analysis and interpretation of data, and conclusion and recommendations. The guidepost is very significant in doing researches and aids researchers in conducting internationally accepted researches with limited primary data and extensive secondary data in the advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The guidepost is flexible and can easily be used by local and international institutions’ researchers through little modification in context of their research fields.

• Primary and secondary data
• Dissertation

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution .

Buying options

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

https://github.community/t/what-is-github/1197/2#M3417 .

Babbie E (1998) The practice of social research, Srh. Wadsworth, Belmont

Google Scholar  

Bernstein G, Walter A (2021) Research practice: perspectives from UX Researchers in a Changing Field. Greggcorp, LLC,: ISBN 0578811170, 9780578811178. https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/Research_Practice.html?id=I8QVzgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Boote DN, Beile P (2005) Scholars before researchers: on the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educ Res 34(6): 3–15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3699805 . Accessed 2 Apr 2022

Caulfield J (2020) Writing a research paper introduction | step-by-step guide. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-introduction/#:~:text=The%20introduction%20to%20a%20research,Position%20your%20own%20approach

Creswell JW (2002) Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluatingquantitative and qualitative research. Merrill Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

Fraenkel JR, Wallen NE (2003) How to design and evaluate research in education, 5th cdn. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Boston

Gay LR, Airasian PW (2000) Educational research: competencies for analysis and application. Merrill, Upper Saddle Rive

IATF-Inter-agency Task Force for the management of Emergency Infectious Disease (2020) Recommendations for the Management of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation, Inter-agency Task Force for the management of Emergency Infectious Disease, Resolution No. 3, Series of 2020, March 17, 2020. Manila. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/health-update/IATF-RESO-13.pdf

Intellspot (2022) Types of secondary data, What is secondary data? Definition and meaning? https://www.intellspot.com/secondary-data/

McMillan JH, Schumacher SA (2001) Research in education: a conceptual introduction, 5th edn. Longman, New York

Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) (2020) The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on human rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan. https://en.odfoundation.eu/a/27533,the-impact-of-the-covid-19-crisis-on-human-rights-in-the-republic-of-kazakhstan/

Raza T, Rentoy F, Ahmed N, Andres A, Raza TK, Marasigan K, Espinosa R (2019) water challenges and urban sustainable development in changing climate: economic growth agenda for global South. Eur J Sustain Dev 8(4):421–436. https://ecsdev.org/ojs/index.php/ejsd/article/view/907/902

Samue F (2020) Tips for collecting primary data in a COVID-19 era. https://odi.org/en/publications/tips-for-collecting-primary-data-in-a-covid-19-era/

Schutt RK (2006) Investigating the Social world: the process and practice of research, 5th edn. ISBN-13: 978-1412927345, ISBN-10: 141292734X. https://www.amazon.com/Investigating-Social-World-Practice-Research/dp/141292734X

Martins FS, da Cunha JAC, Serra F (2018) Secondary data in research – uses and opportunities. Revista Ibero-Americana de Estratégia 17:01–04. https://doi.org/10.5585/ijsm.v17i4.2723

TA&MIU - Texas A&M International University (2020) Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Manual. Laredo, Texas 78041–1900: Graduate School. https://www.tamiu.edu/cees/arc/documents/thesis.dissertation.formatting.manual.pdf

UNHCR (2020) Data collection in times of physical distancing. https://www.unhcr.org/blogs/data-collection-in-times-of-physical-distancing/

University of Surrey (2016) How does research impact your everyday life? London: Study International, University of Surrey. https://www.studyinternational.com/news/how-does-research-impact-your-everyday-life/#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20without%20meteorology%2C%20we,the%20destruction%20of%20volcanic%20eruptions

Welsch W (2020) The new normal: collecting data amidst a global pandemic. https://www.jips.org/news/the-new-normal-collecting-data-amidst-a-global-pandemic-covid19/

WHO-World Health Organization (2020) COVID 19 transmission estimates by territory, philippines. world health organization

Zarah L (2022) 7 Reasons Why Resaerch is Important. The Arena Media Brands, LLC. https://owlcation.com/academia/Why-Research-is-Important-Within-and-Beyond-the-Academe

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Graduate School of Business and Director Disaster Risk Management Unit, Philippine School of Business Administration, Manila, Philippines

Antonio S. Valdez, Tabassam Raza, Jose F. Peralta, Richelle I. Valencia & Harold Anthony Martin P. Lim

School of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Philippine, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Tabassam Raza

Malabon City University, Malabon, Philippines

Martha I. Farolan

San Benildo College, Antipolo, Philippines

Celso I. Mendoza

Marikina Polytechnic College, Marikina, Philippines

Leticia Q. Perez

Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, and Management (DPMM), Asian Institute of Technology, Khlong Nueng, Thailand

City and Regional Planning Department, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tabassam Raza .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM), Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani, Thailand

Indrajit Pal

Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, Karnataka, India

Sreevalsa Kolathayar

Institute of Remote Sensing and GIS, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sheikh Tawhidul Islam

Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM), Asian Institute of Technology, Khlong Nueng, Pathum Thani, Thailand

Anirban Mukhopadhyay

School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Iftekhar Ahmed

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter.

Valdez, A.S. et al. (2023). Primary and Secondary Data Collection to Conduct Researches, Write Thesis and Dissertation Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: A Guidepost. In: Pal, I., Kolathayar, S., Tawhidul Islam, S., Mukhopadhyay, A., Ahmed, I. (eds) Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 294. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6297-4_20

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6297-4_20

Published : 13 October 2022

Publisher Name : Springer, Singapore

Print ISBN : 978-981-19-6296-7

Online ISBN : 978-981-19-6297-4

eBook Packages : Engineering Engineering (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Find a journal
• Publish with us

Find Study Materials for

Business studies, combined science, computer science, english literature, environmental science, human geography, macroeconomics, microeconomics.

• Social Studies
• Browse all subjects
• Exam Revision
• Career Advice for Students
• Student Life
• Study Guide
• University Advice
• Read our Magazine

Create Study Materials

Select your language

Secondary research is by no means 'secondary' to the growth of sociology. While it does not involve generating new data, it helps us engage with additional layers of analysis and perspectives to expand on our existing body of knowledge.In this explanation, we'll be introducing the topic of secondary research.We'll start…

Explore our app and discover over 50 million learning materials for free.

• Secondary Research
• Explanations
• StudySmarter AI
• Textbook Solutions
• Ethnic Groups in America
• Gender Roles
• Race and Ethnicity
• Sex Education
• Sex and Sexuality
• Sexuality in America
• Age and Religion
• Contemporary Religion
• Economic Development and Religion
• Ethnicity and Religion Sociology
• Fundamentalism
• Gender and Religion
• New Age Movements
• Religious Movements
• Religious Organisation
• Science and Religion
• Secularisation UK
• Social Change And Religion
• Social Class and Religion
• Social Groups And Religion
• Society and Religion
• Sociological Theories of Religion
• Types of Religion
• Age and Crime
• Contemporary Crime
• Crime Prevention
• Crime and Society
• Criminal Justice System
• Criminal Punishment
• Data on Crime
• Ethnicity and Crime
• Functionalist Theories of Crime
• Gender and Crime
• Globalisation and Crime
• Green Crimes
• Interactionism Crime
• Marxist Theories of Crime
• Media and Crime
• Police Crime Statistics
• Social Class and Crime
• Social Distribution of Crime
• Sociological Theories of Crime
• State Crimes
• Victimisation
• Concept of Culture
• Consumption Identity
• Ethnic Identity
• Gender Sociology
• Globalisation in Sociology
• Mass Culture
• Social Identity
• Socialisation
• Socialisation and Identity
• Theories of Socialisation
• Workplace Identity
• Education System
• Educational Achievement
• Educational Equality
• Educational Policies
• Feminist Theory of Education
• Functionalist Theory of Education
• Government Education Policies
• Marketisation of Education
• Marxist Theory of Education
• New Right View on Education
• Privatisation of Education
• School Subcultures
• Teacher Student Relationships
• Birth Rates
• Changing Patterns
• Changing Patterns of Divorce Sociology
• Child-Bearing
• Childhood As A Social Construct
• Children and Childhood
• Cultural Differences in Childhood
• Death Rates
• Demographic Trends UK
• Family Diversity
• Feminist Perspective on the Family
• Functionalist Perspectives on the Family
• LAT Relationships
• Lone Parenthood
• Marriage in Sociology
• Marxist Perspectives on the Family
• Migration and Globalisation Sociology
• New Right View of the Family
• Postmodernist Perspective on The Family
• Sociological Perspectives of Childhood
• Sociology of Personal Life
• The Ageing Population
• The Symmetrical Family
• Albert Cohen
• Auguste Comte
• C. Wright Mills
• Charles Cooley
• Davis and Moore
• George H. Mead
• George Murdock
• Harriet Martineau
• Herbert Spencer
• Howard Becker
• Jeffrey Weeks
• Louis Althusser
• Michel Foucault
• Nancy Chodorow
• Pierre Bourdieu
• Robert K. Merton
• Stuart Hall
• Talcott Parsons
• Ulrich Beck
• W. E. B. Du Bois
• Demographic Change
• Dependency Theory
• Environmental Impacts of Development
• Global Health and Development
• Global Inequality
• Global Organisations
• Globalisation and Employment
• Industrialisation
• International Development Theories
• International Organisations
• Modernisation Theory
• Non-governmental Organisations
• Post Development Theory
• The Developing World
• Transnational Corporations
• Urbanisation
• War and Conflict
• Global Health Industry
• Inequalities in Healthcare
• Mental Illness as a Social Construct
• National Health Service
• Social Construction of Health and Illness
• Sociology of Mental Health
• The Social Determinants of Health
• Content Analysis in Sociology
• Data Analysis Sociology
• Ethics in Sociological Research
• Longitudinal Study Sociology
• Positivism and Interpretivism
• Primary Research
• Sampling in Sociology
• Access To Technology
• American Values
• Capitalism vs Socialism
• Conflict Theory Culture
• Construction of Social Reality
• Cultural Change
• Digital Age
• Economy as an Institution
• Forms of Government
• Global Education
• Government as an institution
• Issues With Technology
• Net Neutrality
• Online Privacy
• Poverty in the US
• Power and Authority
• Racial Politics
• Religion in US
• Social Change
• Social Movements
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Networking
• Symbolic Interactionism
• The Stages of The Family Life Cycle
• Theories of Aging
• Types of Societies
• Value of Education
• What is Society?
• World Religions
• Bureaucracies
• Social Groups
• Intergroup Conflict
• Life Chances
• Significance Of Social Class
• Standard of Living
• What Is Power
• Classical Sociology Theorists
• Consensus vs Conflict Theory
• Education in UK
• Evaluation of Feminism
• Evaluation of Functionalism
• Evaluation of Marxism
• Karl Marx Sociology
• Key Sociological Concepts
• Max Weber Sociology
• What is Sociology
• Émile Durkheim Sociology
• Education and the State
• Ethnicity and Education
• Formal and Informal Education
• Gender and Education
• Social Class and Education
• Changes in Family Structures
• Conjugal Roles
• Contemporary Family Issues
• Families Around the World
• Family Types in the UK
• Age Discrimination
• Defining and Measuring Social Class
• Dimensions of Inequality
• Disability Discrimination
• Ethnic Inequality
• Gender Inequality
• Global Stratification
• Social Class Inequality
• Social Mobility
• Social Stratification Theories
• Socioeconomic Classification
• Ethnic Stereotypes in Media
• Global Media
• Media Audiences
• Media Representations
• Media Representations and Audiences
• Media Sociology
• Media Theories
• News Selection and Presentation
• Representation of Age in the Media
• Representation of Gender in the Media
• Representation of Social Class In The Media
• American Sociological Association
• Case Studies
• Ethnography
• Experiments
• Field Research
• Founders of Sociology
• Functionalism
• Interpretivism
• Longitudinal Studies
• Observation
• Official Statistics
• Postmodernism
• Questionnaire
• Research Considerations
• Research Design
• Social Action Theory
• Social Policy
• Sociological Imagination
• Sociological Research Methods
• Sociological Theories
• Sociology as a Science
• Sources of Data
• Types of Data
• Value Neutrality
• Values in Research
• What is the Study of Sociology?
• Causes of Poverty
• Consequences of Poverty
• Distribution of Wealth, Poverty, and Income in the UK
• Functionalist Theory of Labour
• Impact of Technology on Labour
• Labour Process
• Marxist Theory of Labour
• Poverty and Wealth
• Theoretical Approaches to Welfare Providers
• Types of Poverty
• Welfare Policy
• Work and Worklessness

Lerne mit deinen Freunden und bleibe auf dem richtigen Kurs mit deinen persönlichen Lernstatistiken

Nie wieder prokastinieren mit unseren Lernerinnerungen.

Secondary research is by no means 'secondary' to the growth of sociology. While it does not involve generating new data, it helps us engage with additional layers of analysis and perspectives to expand on our existing body of knowledge.

• In this explanation, we'll be introducing the topic of secondary research .
• We'll start by studying the definition of secondary research to get a better sense of what it means and why it might be used.
• Further, we'll explore some prominent secondary research methods and sources of secondary data, and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of secondary research.
• Finally, we'll take a look at some famous examples of secondary research in sociology.

Definition of Secondary Research

Secondary research involves collating and analysing data that has already been generated (this is known as secondary data ). Existing data can be summarised or joined with other Types of Data for the purposes of secondary research.

Just as we have mentioned in our explanation of Primary Research , a key defining feature of primary and secondary research is seen in how they are different from each other.

The difference between primary and secondary research

Imagine that your cousin is visiting you from overseas, and they saw on the internet that you shouldn't leave your town without trying a nice plate of local fish and chips. Keeping this in mind, they ask you if you can recommend a good restaurant that services fish and chips in your neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, you're not a big fan of fish yourself, so you don't have any recommendations of your own to make. You let them know that you'll ask your friends if they can suggest anything. That day at school, your friend tells you she had a delicious meal of fish and chips at a restaurant with her parents over the weekend. So, you tell your cousin about the spot your friend enjoyed, and they decide to go there!

The Primary Research equivalent would have been to recommend a restaurant that you liked but, because of your aversion to fish, your recommendations would not be helpful here. As such, what you've done is some basic secondary research. You're unable to collect and offer data of your own, so you've used a secondary data source (your friend's positive recount of her experience) to answer your cousin's question.

Secondary Research Methods

When discussing secondary research, what's often more important to take note of is its sources , rather than its methods. This is because it's essential for us to know where the data that we are analysing has come from, who has collected it and how it has been generated.

Secondary data sources

There are many sources of secondary data that can be collected and analysed in ways that expand our understanding and knowledge of the world. Secondary data can be qualitative or quantitative.

Official (and non-official) statistics

One of the main sources of secondary data is the Official Statistics . These are collected by government agencies, such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the NHS. Of all the types of Official Statistics available, the census is probably the most extensive and well-known. Besides the census, other official statistics include birth, marriage, and death registrations.

A census is an official count of a given population. The UK National Census is conducted every 10 years.

It is also important to take note of many non-official, quantitative sources of secondary data, such as data from charities, organisations, market research organisations or banks. Similarly, many universities conduct large-scale surveys, which provide high-quality statistical data that can be used for analysis.

Qualitative secondary data

Qualitative data are presented in words or visual forms (unlike quantitative data , which is presented in numerical form). Just like official and non-official statistics, qualitative secondary data already exists – it has not been originally produced by the researcher.

Examples of secondary data sources include:

previously conducted sociological research,

media archives (including newspapers, television shows, documentaries, and more),

social media archives (such as messages and posts from Facebook, Twitter, email, and more),

personal Documents (including photographs, diaries, and letters), and

biographies and autobiographies.

Content analysis

Content analysis is a systematic method of breaking down qualitative data. It is widely used across the social sciences and other subjects, like history. This form of analysis usually involves establishing some type of code of expected behaviours or mentions in a piece of secondary data. Once this code has been created, researchers go back to the content and tally up the number of times this behaviour or mention is present.

Semiology is one of several types of content analysis that sociologists use. This involves studying the cultural meanings that are explored and represented in media.

A researcher might want to analyse a particular TV show for its stereotypical representations of ethnic minorities. In this instance, the researcher would watch the show through and make a few notes as to what does or doesn't count as a 'stereotype'. After compiling such a list (i.e., their code), they might go back and watch the show again to count up the number of times a stereotype was used. They might then calculate the average number of ethnic stereotypes per episode or season. Alternatively, they may choose to work with raw data (the actual number of ethnic stereotypes used) instead.

Evaluating Secondary Research

It's crucial that we consider the strengths and limitations of secondary research before we conduct any form of research that utilises it.

Advantages of secondary research

The ultimate advantage of secondary research (over primary research) is that it is both cost- and time-efficient. This is because data does not have to be collected from scratch – it is readily available for scholars to collate and analyse to help them answer their research aims and questions. For instance, a researcher saves time and money by not having to create and use questionnaires or observations, or by having to conduct a pilot study to test out the terms and concepts mentioned in their questionnaires.

Official statistics are a valuable source of secondary data for sociologists, as they are widely representative, generalisable, and reliable. According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK National Census of 2021 had a response rate of 97%.

Since the census is conducted every 10 years, official statistics can help sociologists explore how trends and practices have changed over time.

The quantitative nature of statistics allows for a quantitative analysis, which is easier to draw comparisons from.

Qualitative data

Written Documents can provide explanations for particular trends and patterns (which statistics do not provide).

Qualitative data can offer background information or context for particular experiences or trends (such as culture and politics).

Disadvantages of Secondary Research

On the other hand, scholars might find themselves at a disadvantage when using secondary data because it is not tailored to their specific research needs.

As mentioned above, official statistics exist as they are, and they may not meet the exact needs of the researcher.

Someone who is aiming to research the link between ethnicity and social class could very well turn to the official statistics as a secondary data source. However, they may not agree with how the census has listed the categories of ethnicity. Alternatively, they may find that there is a significant pool of data missing because homeless people or those who are not well-versed in the English language may not be able to complete the census.

• Interpretivists (who prefer in-depth, qualitative data for their analysis) would argue that official statistics don't tell us anything about why people behave or make the decisions that they do. For example, the data can tell us the rate of divorce over the past 10 years, but what are the reasons behind these divorces?
• There are many instances in which people choose not to record or report their experiences to government officials. For example, people who have committed crimes (or are the victims of some crimes) may decide to hide this. This hinders the validity of official statistics.

It is difficult to verify written documents, as they may have been forged or tampered with.

Qualitative information may be misinterpreted by the researcher as a result of complexity or biases.

Autobiographies, letters and other forms of qualitative data are mostly crafted with a particular purpose in mind, and so they may not be an objective reflection of reality.

Examples of Secondary Research

Let's take a look at a few examples of secondary research to help us understand the process, advantages and disadvantages of these sources and methods.

Suicide: A Study in Sociology

Émile Durkheim 's seminal work on suicide is a prime example of secondary research. In Suicide: A Study in Sociology (1897), Durkheim explores his analysis of official suicide statistics in France, which he then used to identify four different types of suicide. His analysis was purely quantitative, and he aimed to prove the hypothesis that suicide was a social and structural act rather than an individual one. Since Durkheim used official statistics (i.e., data that already existed) in his analysis, this study is branded as secondary research .

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema

In Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Laura Mulvey explored classic Hollywood films for their representation of women. She identified what is popularly known as the male gaze . Through a semiotic analysis (semiology), she concluded that The Media portrays women through an objectifying and highly sexualised image that is typically held by men. This publication has been very influential in media studies and feminist sociology.

Secondary Research - Key Takeaways

Secondary research involves collating and analysing data that has already been generated.

• Official statistics, non-official statistics and qualitative sources (such as diaries, media publications and letters) are commonly used sources of secondary data. Quantitative sources are advantageous for comparative analyses and for making generalisations, and qualitative sources are useful for context clues and in-depth explanations.
• Content analysis, including semiology, is the most common method of secondary research.
• Secondary research is beneficial in that it saves costs and time. However, it may not provide the exact information which the researcher requires to fulfil their research aims.
• Durkheim's study of suicide as a social fact and Goffman's analysis of female representation in classical Hollywood are popular examples of secondary research.
• Durkheim, E. (1897). Suicide: A study in sociology. Routledge.
• Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6-18. https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/16.3.6

Frequently Asked Questions about Secondary Research

--> what is secondary research.

Secondary research involves collating and analysing data that has already been generated. Existing data can be summarised or joined with other types of data for the purposes of secondary research. 

--> What is the difference between primary and secondary research?

Primary research involves collecting new data from scratch, whereas secondary research involves studying data which has previously been collected. 

--> What are the disadvantages of secondary research?

The major disadvantage of secondary research is that it cannot be tailored to suit the specific research aims of the scholar. For instance, there may be some data missing from a large data set, or a certain concept may be differently presented to how the researcher themselves may have presented it. 

--> What is an example of secondary market research?

Secondary market research is done by businesses and/or organisations that wish to gauge the demographics and buying behaviours of a certain population. Examples include government sources (such as official statistics), academic journals or media content. 

--> Why is secondary research important?

Secondary research is important because it helps us build on existing knowledge by implementing additional and unique forms of analysis from various perspectives.

Final Secondary Research Quiz

Secondary research quiz - teste dein wissen.

What is secondary research?

Show answer

Show question

What is secondary data?

Secondary data is data that has already been previously collected. This is the data that is used in secondary research.

What is a very popular, well-known and extensive source of official statistics?

The census.

What is a 'census'?

A census   is the official count of a given population. 

List three examples of qualitative secondary data sources. 

Any of the following:

media archives,

social media archives,

personal documents, and

What types of personal documents might be used in secondary research?

Personal documents which might be used in secondary research include photographs, letters, diaries and autobiographies. 

What is a commonly used method for secondary research?

What is semiology?

Semiology   is the study of cultural meanings that are explored and represented in media.

Official statistics are a representative source of secondary data. True or false?

What type of information can qualitative data provide, which quantitative data cannot?

Qualitative data can provide information about the background and context of particular experiences.

What is a significant advantage of secondary research (as compared to primary research)?

A significant advantage of secondary research (as compared to primary research) is that it is cost- and time-efficient because data does not have to be collected from scratch.

What is the name given to researchers who prefer in-depth, qualitative data for their analysis?

Interpretivists

Why might a qualitative data source not be objective?

Qualitative data sources (particularly personal documents) may not be objective because they will have been written from a certain perspective, for a certain purpose. Furthermore, the meanings put across in the data source may be misinterpreted by the researcher. 

The famous analysis of official statistics about suicide was conducted by...

Émile Durkheim

Through her semiotic analysis of classical Hollywood films, Laura Mulvey identified the existence of the...

What is the definition of 'official statistics'?

According to the   Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology   (2006, p. 122), official statistics are “ statistical data… collected by government agencies ”. 

Official statistics are a form of secondary data . What is the difference between primary and secondary data?

As opposed to primary data, which is collected by the researcher who will also be analysing it, secondary data has already been collected and is readily available to sociologists. 

The UK National Census is conducted every...

How can respondents complete the UK National Census?

Respondents can complete the UK National Census either online, or by pen-and-paper, to be sent back via post. 

In 2021, the UK National Census had a response rate of 97%. This makes census data...

representative. 

Which groups are inevitably left out of census data?

Groups that will inevitably be left out of census data are:

• those who don't speak English, and
• people without homes. 

What are 'vital events statistics'?

Vital events statistics include statistics on births, deaths and marriages. 

A famous sociological study incorporating official statistics was conducted by...

Èmile Durkheim

What was the conclusion drawn in Suicide: A Study in Sociology?

In   Suicide: A Study in Sociology,  Durkheim concluded that suicide is not an individual act, but one that is caused by social and structural factors. 

What are four potential uses for official statistics in sociology?

Four potential uses for official statistics in sociology include:

• making links between social identities and life chances
• making comparisons over time
• examining the impact of structural and political legislation on people's lives, norms and values
• pairing with other research methods to understand the meaning behind certain social phenomena

How might sociologists meaningfully combine official statistics with other research methods?

If combined with in-depth interviews, official statistics can allow researchers to learn a lot about the state of crime, such as trends in reporting as well as the dark figure of crime.

Official statistics are quick and cheap to use. True or false?

Why might some sociologists question the objectivity of official statistics?

Some sociologists question the objectivity of official statistics, arguing that only data on the topics that are deemed ‘important’ by statisticians.

Questionnaires on mental health may be generating data on lifestyles instead of mental health itself. This calls to question which aspect of official statistics?

What is an ethical concern related to the collection of official statistics?

A common criticism of official statistics is that they are based on invasions of privacy, and that the practices of surveillance that are involved in the collection of data are a form of social control.

What is a 'content analysis'?

According to   Merriam-Webster , content analysis is the   " analysis of the manifest and latent content of a body of communicated material... in order to ascertain its meaning and probable effect".

What is the difference between 'manifest' and 'latent' content?

The term 'manifest content' refers to the exact, literal object that we see. However, the term 'latent content' refers to the hidden meaning behind  the manifest content. 

How might a researcher study someone's social development?

A researcher might study someone's social development by doing a content analysis of their personal diaries. 

What is the first step of a content analysis?

The first step of any content analysis is to either collect and/or prepare the data.

What is 'coding' in a content analysis?

Coding involves looking at the selected units of measurement and placing them into distinct categories that the researcher must identify. This is important as it provides guidelines that the researcher can follow in order to analyse all of their data   consistently .

What is a crucial last step of all sociological research?

A crucial last step of all sociological research is to evaluate it, considering what about it was done well and what about it could be improved in further research.

What are the two types of content analysis that are most commonly distinguished?

Conceptual analysis and relational analysis.

Which statement is correct?

Explicit terms are more obvious, whereas

implicit terms depend on interpretation and judgements of the researcher.

What is the difference between conceptual and relational content analyses?

A   relational analysis is similar to a conceptual analysis, but also involves examining the relationships between particular concepts. This is based on the assumption that individual concepts don't have any meaning on their own - but that their meaning is created when they are related with other concepts.

What is an example of a relational content analysis?

An example of a relational analysis might involve studying the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's feelings of loneliness. In this instance, the concept of 'loneliness' might not have much independent meaning. This could well be enhanced by combining it with the concept of 'isolation', which serves as an important link between the pandemic and loneliness. 

Which aspect of a conceptual analysis makes it holistic?

The consideration of explicit and implicit terms in a conceptual analysis makes for a more holistic analysis.

What is the advantage of a standardised coding frame?

A standardised coding frame makes the content analysis method highly replicable, which means that it becomes possibile to check the reliability of results.

What are the two types of bias that a researcher might experience during a content analysis?

Researchers may experience bias during a content analysis, such that:

• they actively search for content related to their concept, and
• they overlook content which does not line up with their research aims.

A significant disadvantage of content analysis is that it involves leaving out context. True or false?

What is the impact of leaving out context during a content analysis?

Leaving out context, which is an important part of sociological research, can lead to inaccurate inferences, especially where the reliability of results is being cross-checked by other researchers who do not see the content in the same way.

Test your knowledge with multiple choice flashcards

Your score:

Join the StudySmarter App and learn efficiently with millions of flashcards and more!

Learn with 11 secondary research flashcards in the free studysmarter app.

Already have an account? Log in

Flashcards in Secondary Research 45

Learn with 45 Secondary Research flashcards in the free StudySmarter app

• Sociology of Education
• Sociological Approach
• Work, Poverty and Welfare
• Social Relationships

of the users don't pass the Secondary Research quiz! Will you pass the quiz?

How would you like to learn this content?

Free social-studies cheat sheet!

Everything you need to know on . A perfect summary so you can easily remember everything.

Join over 22 million students in learning with our StudySmarter App

The first learning app that truly has everything you need to ace your exams in one place

• Flashcards & Quizzes
• AI Study Assistant
• Study Planner
• Smart Note-Taking

More explanations about Research Methods in Sociology

Discover the right content for your subjects, engineering.

Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.

This is still free to read, it's not a paywall.

You need to register to keep reading, start learning with studysmarter, the only learning app you need..

Create a free account to save this explanation.

Save explanations to your personalised space and access them anytime, anywhere!

By signing up, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy of StudySmarter.

StudySmarter bietet alles, was du für deinen Lernerfolg brauchst - in einer App!

Privacy overview.