Alternative Research Methods
Alternative Research Methods
People do research to find out how a group of people feel about something. The results of surveys are used to provide information to the surveyor in order to help him make a decision based on the data he collects. There are many different types of surveys, and some are considered alternative methods. These methods of research fall under the categories of primary data and secondary data (Alreck, et. al., 2003, pp. 5-6).
According to the author of the book The Survey Research Handbook, data is considered primary when, “they are collected for a specific purpose or inquiry. For instance, a company or government agency may initiate a research project to answer questions that have arisen because of a change in external circumstances. They may need data that apply directly and immediately to the new situation” (Alreck, et. al, 2003, p. 5). Primary data collection has several different options such as field experiments, systematic observation, focus groups, and depth interviews (Alreck, et. al., 2003, p. 6). Secondary data collection is the act of obtaining the type of data that already exists, and it has been gathered for another reason at another time. The government uses secondary data for many purposes and exchanges information with other agencies, even though secondary data is not considered the best alternative method of data gathering because the information is not current, and possibly not specific enough, to meet the needs of the surveyor. The government uses secondary data simply because it is much cheaper; the work has already been done.
When researching a consumer or employee question, primary data would be far superior to secondary data for several reasons. First of all, if it is the consumer who is
being surveyed, the surveyor would not want data that was out of date. If the surveyor is trying to gain information about a current product, then the best data to obtain the wanted results would need to be current. For example, let’s say that Tide wants to survey consumers who use Tide for washing their clothes. In the survey, the Tide people ask such questions as, “Do you use bleach with Tide?,” or “Do you use stain remover with Tide?” If the Tide people use an old survey, chances are the data is not going to be accurate. The Tide product has changed so many times over the course of years that the people being surveyed would be answering questions about a different product. The same would go for an employee survey. Why would an employer use data from a survey taken years ago from employees at any given corporation or industry, when many of the employees may not even work there any more. The surveyor will get much better results if he surveys his current employees if he wants to find out how his current employees feel about something. For example, if an employer wants to know how his employees feel about