Sec Data: Definition, Sources & Uses - Essay Sample

Introduction

The term secondary data is generally defined in opposition to primary data. The latter refers to data that is derived from first-hand sources of information such as in-depth interview of respondents, focus group, direct observation, and close or open-ended questionnaire (Allen, 2017). On the other hand, the former refers to information or data gathered by another individual other than the person who is currently using the information. That is, secondary data can be defined as data that has already been assembled by another researcher or person for some other purpose- which may or may not be related to those of the current user (Allen, 2017). One of the familiar sources of secondary data is literature reviews comprised of either compiled information or raw data. The former refers to data that has been selected and summarized, while the latter is used to describe data that has not yet been processed (Allen, 2017).

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Secondary data has also been described as information that was collected by someone else (e.g., government agencies, research institutes, and researchers) for a purpose other than what is currently used for by a researcher. That is, secondary data is already there and needs not to be gathered in the field. It is essential to understand the rationale for secondary data. According to the University of Phoenix (2016), a researcher's choice of secondary data is attributed to its cost-effectiveness in exploring the research questions.

Moreover, it is worth noting that secondary data can be obtained from various sources. One of these sources is the literature review- which involves a critical examination of all peer-reviewed articles related to the phenomenon of interest to the researcher (Gray, 2019). Second, secondary data can be derived from journals. Noteworthy, some journals demand authors post the secondary data used in their articles on its website when requested by other researchers (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2015). Third, secondary data can be obtained from scholarly journals, which is usually peer-reviewed for relevance, originality, and accuracy. Fourth, the data can be sourced from technical reports and official statistics from government agencies (Verbeke et al., 2019).

Strength and Weaknesses of Secondary Data

Various strengths are attributable to the use of secondary data by researchers. One of the advantages of secondary data is that it has fewer resource requirements (Saunders et al., 2016). That is, its use helps the researcher to save time and financial resources because there is no need to go to the field to collect data from respondents- primarily if the data can be found as a file and is compatible for data analysis software such as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Because of the ease of access to secondary data, the researcher is freed to focus his or her time and effort in data analysis and interpretation. Overall, if a researcher requires data quickly, secondary data may come to his or her rescue. Additionally, such data may be of a higher quality than primary data.

Second, secondary data has been reported to be unobtrusive because they have already been gathered (Saunders et al., 2016). Because of this, it can be used by researchers to address sensitive topics. Third, it enables the researchers to undertake longitudinal research with ease. In this case, it helps researchers to overcome the time constraints challenge associated with longitudinal studies.

Third, secondary data allows researchers to carry out longitudinal studies over a short time (Saunders et al., 2016). It is worth noting that many researchers do not conduct longitudinal studies because of time constraints. However, when secondary data related to the research topic is available, then researchers can use past data on the topic to carry out longitudinal studies. Additionally, secondary data allows for the conduct of comparative research, especially when there is the presence of comparable data from different regions (Saunders et al., 2016). In this case, the researcher should ensure that the data being compared were gathered and collected using similar methods.

Fourth, because of the permanence of secondary data, research that utilizes such data and its findings are more open to scrutiny by the public (Saunders et al., 2016). That is, unlike primary data collected by a researcher, secondary data provides for permanency and availability of data in a format that can be easily checked by third parties. Moreover, the use of secondary data is beneficial because it can lead to unforeseen or unexpected discoveries (Saunders et al., 2016). Lastly, secondary data allows for comparison and contextualization of data. It is important to compare information that has been gathered with secondary data. Because of this, a researcher can place the findings of a study within a more general context.

Despite its numerous benefits, there are limitations associated with the use of secondary data. One of the disadvantages linked to the use of such data is that it may have been collected for a purpose that may not be related to what the researcher needs. Because of this, it may not adequately address the research questions or the purpose of the study. Second, the use of secondary data may be costly when such data had been collected for commercial reasons. Another limitation associated with secondary data is that it may lead to ethical problems, especially in a case where secondary data was meant for a different purpose other than what the researcher wants to use. Moreover, such data may be disadvantageous because the researcher has no control over data quality.

Assessment of Impact of Secondary Data on Speed and Cost Efficiency of New Product Development

New product development speed is an essential component of innovation management in a fast-changing business environment because of continuous decrease in the product life cycle time and increased competition attributed to advances in technology and the globalized world (Chen et al., 2012). A company can assess its new product development speed by comparing it with those of its competitors and putting in place measures to address past challenges in the development of related products. For instance, if previous data shows that slow product development was attributed to failure to gaps in knowledge and skills, then the company can equip their workers with relevant skills to help in accelerating the product development speed.

Secondary data can help a company attain cost efficiency in its product development. This is attributable to the fact that a company can find more effective ways of developing a product from past data. For example, a company can obtain data related to a more energy-efficient way of developing a product- thus saving on electricity-related costs. Similarly, past data can help a company to find cheaper raw materials that are of comparable quality with the one the company wanted to use in developing a product.

References

Allen, M., 2017. Secondary Data. Available at: https://methods.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-communication-research-methods/i13206.xml

Chen, J., Reilly, R.R., Lynn, G.S., 2012. New Product Development Speed: Too Much of a Good Thing? Journal of Product Innovation Management 29, 288-303. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5885.2011.00896.x

Fleisher, C.S., Bensoussan, B.E., 2015. Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Methods. FT Press.

Gray, D.E., 2019. Doing Research in the Business World. SAGE Publications.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., 2016. Research methods for business students (Seventh). Nueva York: Pearson Education.

University of Phoenix, 2016. Understanding Secondary Data in Research. Available at: https://research.phoenix.edu/center-global-business-research/blog/understanding-secondary-data-research

Verbeke, A., Roberts, R.E., Delaney, D., Zamborsky, P., Enderwick, P., Nagar, S., 2019. Contemporary International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region. Cambridge University Press.