Also known as desk research, secondary research is the most common research method employed in the industry today. It involves processing data that has already been collected by another party. With this form, researchers will consult previous studies and findings such as reports, press articles and previous market research projects in order to come to a conclusion. The relatively low expense in comparison to primary research is the main advantage of this research as no new research needs to be commissioned. However, its main disadvantage is that the data used in the analysis may be out-dated and therefore return inaccurate results. Furthermore, previous studies may not have targeted the exact issue that the current research requires.
