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Secondary Data Sources & Surveys

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Learning Objectives

• To understand the difference between primary and secondary data

• Find out what are some secondary data sources

• To understand the advantages and disadvantages of secondary data sources

• To acquire the ability to evaluate the quality of secondary data sources

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Secondary vs. Primary Data

Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered and only might be relevant to the problem at hand.

Primary data, in contrast, is survey, observation, or experimental data collected to solve the particular problem under investigation.

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Classification of Secondary Data Sources

Divided into 2 broad categories:

Internal Data – data collected within the firm

E.g. sales records, invoices, purchase orders

Major internal data source are databases on customers, suppliers, etc. Use for Database Marketing

External Data – data obtained from outside the firm. 3 types of sources…

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Classification of Secondary Data Sources

3 types of External Data sourcesPublished – available from libraries or trade

association. Data is free or for a nominal fee. Syndicated – highly specialised data. Syndicate

suppliers sell information to subscribers. E.g. “L” Report in the U.S. cost $20,000 each and reports on what’s cool for kids in each U.S. city

Databases – collection of data/information describing items of interests

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Database

Database is a collection of data

Can be non-computerised or computerised

Companies usually have internal databases of their customers, suppliers, etc

External databases are those supplied by organisations outside the firm. Typically available for a fee

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Database (cont’d)

Bibliographic databases – containing citations to journal articles, newspapers, government documents. E.g. ABI Inform, Social Science Citation Index

Numeric databases – contain numeric data. E.g. population census, UN ESCAP population data

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Database (cont’d)

Directory Databases – lists information about certain organisations, individuals, government bodies, etc. E.g. Yellow Pages, Telephone Directory

Full Text Databases – provide complete text of articles in selected publications. E.g. Lexis-Nexis (page 164-166 of text)

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Advantages of Secondary Data

• Can be obtained fairly quickly compare to primary data

• It is also cheaper compare to primary data

• Usually available

• Enhances existing primary data

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Advantages of Secondary Data

• Secondary information may also :– Help to clarify or redefine the definition of

the problem as part of the exploratory research process.

– Actually provide a solution to the problem.– Alert the marketing researcher to potential

problems of difficulties.

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Limitations of Secondary Data

Mismatch of Unit of MeasurementE.g. Secondary Data report may use lbs for weight but researcher needs data in kg

Class Definitions of Reported Data – may not be useful in certain casesE.g. Data source provides purchasing power for only low and high income levels people but researcher needs information for low, middle and high income levels

Data is not current – e.g. census population data is only conducted once every 10 years

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Evaluating Secondary Data

Researchers need to check the reliability of the secondary data sources!What was the purpose of the study?Who collected the information?What information was collected?How was the information collected?How consistent is the information with other sources?

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Evaluating Secondary Data

1) What was the purpose of the study?

Some studies are done to prove a point or to further the special interest of those conducted the studies

E.g. Recent survey of sex habits conducted by Durex show that many people do not wear condoms and may have a higher chance of contracting Aids. Is Durex doing this survey to boost its sales?

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Evaluating Secondary Data

2) Who collected the information?

Need to look at the competence of the organisation which collected the data

Competent firms are well established and organised and will provide information on how they collect the data

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Evaluating Secondary Data

3) What information was collected?Need to ask what was measured in these studies!Consider a bus company study on the number of passengers on its bus routes. On closer examination, the number of passengers was not counted but rather the number of fares (a passenger may pay a number of fares per day!)

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Evaluating Secondary Data

4) How was the information Obtained?

Need to know what method was used.

What was the sample? How large was the sample size? What was the response rate?

E.g. Durex Global Sex Survey - half of Singaporeans surveyed say they do not use condoms. But the survey does not say whether the respondents are married or not!

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Evaluating Secondary Data

5) How consistent is the Information with other Sources?If secondary data is provided by multiple sources, then it provides a good way to evaluation its qualityNo two organisations will report the same results, but if the data is extremely conflicting, then caution needs to be exercised in its use

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1. To understand the reasons for the popularity of survey research

2. The advantages & disadvantages of surveys

3. To become familiar with the various types of survey data collection methods such as personal interviews, telephone interviews and computer assisted interviews

4. To understand factors involved when choosing a particular survey method

Survey ResearchSurvey Research

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Ways of obtaining primary data:

There are three general ways of obtaining primary data:

1) Surveys2) Observation3) Experiments

Surveys are the most widely used method in commercial market research

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Some Definitions of TermsQuantitative Data /Research - …research involving

the use of structured questions where the response options have been predetermined and a large number of respondents is involved.

Qualitative Data/Research - …collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what people do and say.

Pluralistic Research - …the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to gain the advantages of both.

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Survey ResearchSurvey Research

Cross Sectional Studies

Cross Sectional Studies

Bulk of the marketing research surveys are sometimes called ‘cross sectional studies’ as they cover large cross sections of populations

Prompted by the need to ‘know why’, ‘know how’ and ‘know who’, surveys are popular in marketing research

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Key Advantages of Surveys

Compared with other methods, survey methods allow the collection of significant amounts of data in an economical and efficient manner; and they typically allow for much larger sample size

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• What are 5 key advantages of using survey methods?

1. Standardization2. Ease of administration3. Ability to tap the ‘unseen’4. Suitability of tabulation and statistical

analysis5. Sensitivity to subgroup differences

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1) Standardization

• Questions are preset and organized in a particular arrangement on a questionnaire, survey methods ensure all respondents are asked the same questions and are exposed to the same response options for each question

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1) Standardization1) Standardization

The researcher is assured that every respondentwill be confronted with the questions that address the complete range of information objectives driving the research project

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2) Ease of administration2) Ease of administration

• Interviewers read questions to respondents and record their answers quickly and easily.

• Respondents may fill out the questionnaire unattended

• Administration aspects are much simpler when compared with conducting a focus group or utilizing depth interviews

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3) Ability to tap the ‘Unseen’3) Ability to tap the ‘Unseen’The 4 questions of ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘how’ &

‘who’ will help uncover ‘unseen’ data

Ask a mother why she had chosen a particular primary school for her child and the researcher could gain an understanding of some of the ‘unseen’ information

Much of these information is unobservable and requires direct questioning

Close to home,Good school,Studied there, ….

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4) Suitability to Tabulation & Statistical Analysis4) Suitability to Tabulation & Statistical Analysis

• The marketing researcher must ultimately interpret the patterns or common themes sometimes hidden in the raw data that are collected

• Statistical analysis, both simple & complex, is the preferred means of achieving this goal and the large cross-sectional surveys perfectly complement such analyses

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5) Sensitivity to Subgroup Differences5) Sensitivity to Subgroup Differences

• As surveys involve large numbers of respondents, it is relatively easy to ‘slice’ up the sample into demographic groups or other subgroups and then to compare them for market segmentation implications

• The large sample sizes that characterize surveys facilitate subgroup analyses and comparisons of various groups existing in the sample

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Data Collection ModesData Collection Modes

There are Three Major Ways to collect information from respondents:1) Person-Administered SurveysHave a person to ask the questions

2) Computer-Administered SurveysHave a computer to assist to direct the questioning

3) Self-Administered SurveysAllow respondents to fill out the questionnaire themselves

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Advantages of Person-Administered SurveysAdvantages of Person-Administered Surveys

4 unique advantages:a) Feedback – from respondentsb) Rapport – between respondent &

researcherc) Quality Control – choosing the

right respondentsd) Adaptability – can adapt to

different situations

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Disadvantages of Person-Administered SurveysDisadvantages of Person-Administered Surveys

• The drawbacks of human interviewers are exactly those advantages of computer-administered systems in the next section

• Personal interviews are slower, prone to errors, and although pictures, videos and graphics can be handled by personal interviewers, they cannot accommodate them as easily as a computer

• The use of face-to-face interviewer is more expensive than interviewing on the telephone or mailing the questionnaire to respondents

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Advantages of Computer-Administered Surveys

• 5 distinct advantages sets computer-administered surveys apart:– Speed– Error-free interviews– Use of pictures, videos & graphics– Real time capture of data– Reduction of ‘interview evaluation’

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Disadvantages of Computer-Administered Surveys

• Although computers are relatively cheap to own, high costs is involved in computer design, programming, debugging and set-up which must be incurred with each survey

• These costs, together with the time factor associated with them, would often render computer-administered delivery systems for surveys unattractive relative to other data collection options

• Privacy is another concern for researchers who adopt online surveys as a means of gathering data

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Advantages of Self-Administered Surveys

• Self-administered surveys have 3 important advantages:– Reduced cost– Respondent control– No interviewer-evaluation apprehension

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Disadvantages of Self-Administered Surveys

• Self-administered surveys places the control of the survey in the hands of the prospective respondent and hence the survey is subjected to the possibilities that respondents will not complete the survey or will answer questions erroneously, will not respond in a timely manner or will refuse to return the survey at all

• No opportunity exists to monitor or interact with the respondent during the course of the interview

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Disadvantages of Self-Administered Surveys

• The survey must have clear instructions, examples and reminders throughout – potential for error is very high here as the respondent has independent control over the surveys

• With the absence of the interviewer, the burden of respondent understanding falls on the questionnaire itself!

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Data Collection Methods

• There are 10 different data collection methods used by marketing researcher:

1. In-home interview2. Mall-intercept interview3. In-office interview4. ‘Traditional’ telephone interview5. Central location telephone interview6. Computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)7. Fully computerized interview8. Group self-administered survey9. Drop-off survey10. Mail survey

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Person-administered interviews

2) Mall-Intercept Interviews:• Shoppers are intercepted in the pedestrian

traffic areas of shopping malls and either interviewed on the spot or asked to move to a permanent interviewing facility located within the mall

• In addition to low cost, mall interviews have most of the advantages associated with in-home interviewing

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Person-administered interviews

2) Mall-Intercept Interviews:• Big advantage: the presence of an interviewer

who can interact with the respondent• Disadvantages include:

– Sample representativeness is an issue – Recent growth of non-mall retailing such as

catalog sales means that visitors are recreational shoppers rather than convenience-oriented shoppers resulting in the need to scrutinize mall-intercept samples so as to what consumer groups they actually represent

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Person-administered interviews2) Mall-Intercept Interviews

Disadvantages include:– Shoppers may refuse to take part in mall

interviews for various reasons (possibly rushing?)

– Shopping mall does not have an environment that is conducive to rapport and close attention to details

– Respondents may not be comfortable as other passersby may stare at them

– They may be preoccupied with other distractions around them which are beyond the control of the researcher

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Person-Administered Interviews

4) Telephone Interviews:• Face-to-face interviews are often used if the

respondent are required to see a product, advertisement or packaging sample

• It may be vital that the interviewer watch the respondent to ensure correct procedures are followed or otherwise to verify something about the respondent or his/her reactions

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Person-Administered Interviews

4) Telephone Interviews:• When physical contact is not necessary,

telephone interviewing is an attractive option

• Advantages of telephone interviews:– relatively inexpensive way to collect survey data;– Potential to yield a very high-quality sample– Quick turnaround times as most telephone

interviews are of short duration

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Person-Administered Interviews

4) Telephone Interviews:• Disadvantages of telephone interviews:

– Respondents unable to read the questions or see anything

– Telephone interviews does not permit the interviewer to make the various judgments and evaluations that can be made by the face-to-face interviewer

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Person-administered interviews4) Telephone Interviews:

• Disadvantages of telephone interviews:– Does not allow for the observation of body

language and facial expressions, nor does it permit eye contact

– Limited in the quantity and types of information that may obtain (e.g. very long interviews are not feasible over the telephone or questions with lengthy lists of response options)

– Poor choice for conducting an interview with many open-ended questions