After examining the secondary data, it is important to determine if you have enough information to answer your questions. If you have enough information to answer your questions from the secondary research you have saved a great deal of time and money by avoiding primary data collection. Most researchers will find that, although many questions have been answered, many more are still to be answered. Researching the Primary Data Researching the primary data is simply the physical collection and organization of data from the field through observation, surveying, and sometimes, experimentation. Examples of primary data collection might include a survey of potential customers, a survey of the competition, traffic counts, conversations with industry experts, test marketing, trade show attendance, and joining industry associations.
Primary data is usually unprocessed or raw data.
It can be expensive to gather and is usually not comprehensive. It can be very specific and useful but it is not always easy to access. Survey methods include telephone interviews, personal interviews and mail surveys. Telephone surveys have rapid response times, are inexpensive, allow for additional feedback from the respondent and can be made reasonably random. Personal interviews can be time consuming and expensive but generally return excellent information.