A Four-Step Guide to Conducting Secondary Research For Your Dissertation

Secondary research is a useful strategy to obtain data and support your ideas when conducting research for your dissertation. It will always be challenging to write a large project like a dissertation all by yourself (professional essay service, 2019). In dissertation secondary research, a specific study subject or topic is investigated utilizing published data sources, such as books, journals, and internet databases. Although conducting secondary research may seem simple, it necessitates a systematic approach to guarantee that you locate and utilize the most relevant and trustworthy sources.

What Secondary Research Is Used For?

One of the main purposes of secondary research is to thoroughly grasp the body of material that already exists on a certain topic. It frequently serves as a framework for the study and helps contextualize a research topic or hypothesis. Researchers can also find gaps in the literature and areas that need more inquiry by using secondary sources.

Another purpose of secondary research is, secondary research can provide useful insights into the research methodology and analytical techniques employed by other researchers, which can inform the design and implementation of the current study.

Types Of Secondary Research

Dissertation secondary research can be split into two major categories: qualitative and quantitative. While quantitative research is used to gather and analyze numerical data, qualitative research examines individuals’ or groups’ subjective experiences and viewpoints. Other sorts of secondary research fall under these broad categories, including:

literature review: A literature review critically evaluates the body of writing already written about a certain subject. It entails locating, analysing, and synthesizing the pertinent literature to present a thorough overview of the subject field.

Meta-analysis: A meta-analysis is a statistical procedure that combines the findings of several studies to produce a more accurate assessment of the magnitude of an intervention’s or variable’s impact.

Systematic review: Reviewing the literature on a certain topic systematically is a disciplined and organized process in PhD dissertation. It entails formulating an inclusion and exclusion criterion, creating a research topic, then looking up and synthesizing the pertinent literature.

Content analysis: It is a technique for examining written or visual content to spot themes, patterns, and trends.

Historical analysis: Historical analysis is the process of looking at old records or artifacts to understand historical occurrences or social phenomena.

Recognizing these types of overconfidence bias can help individuals become more self-aware and take steps to reduce their impact on decision-making.

Secondary Research Benefits

Compared to primary research methods, there are numerous advantages of secondary research. First off, you can easily find dissertation help in UK. Second, because secondary research includes analyzing existing data rather than gathering new data, it frequently takes less time and costs less money than primary research. Second, by using a variety of sources and disciplines, secondary research can provide a topic with a broader perspective. Thirdly, by conducting secondary research, scholars can steer clear of duplicating prior findings or committing the same errors. Finally, by highlighting areas that need additional research, secondary research can serve as a foundation for subsequent studies.

Difficulties With Secondary Research

Secondary research has several drawbacks despite its benefits. First off, because it depends on the veracity and validity of the material that is already available, secondary research is frequently prone to bias. Second, the calibre and amount of the available types of secondary data may be a constraint for secondary research.

For instance, it could be challenging to reach meaningful conclusions if there is little or obsolete literature on a given subject or not the required Types of secondary data. Finally, because it may require examining a sizable amount of complicated and varied material, secondary research might be difficult to synthesize.

Guide To Conducting A Secondary Research

Here is the secondary research process in 4 steps describes briefly.

Step 2: Select Pertinent Sources

You must choose pertinent dissertation secondary sources after defining your study question. You can conduct secondary research using a range of sources, such as books, journals, online databases, and government papers. Finding answers to open-ended issues as a way of learning and/or developing new knowledge is a part of the research, in addition to simply acquiring information (Goddard, Melville, 2001).

There are many different search techniques you can employ to find relevant dissertation secondary sources. Using keywords related to your research subject to search internet databases and library catalogs is a typical strategy. You can also search for books and articles that are mentioned in the materials you’ve already found.

Step 3: Consider The Sources

After you have found probable sources, you must assess them to see if they are pertinent, trustworthy, and reliable. You can assess sources using a variety of factors, such as the author’s qualifications, the source’s publication date, and its reputation.

It’s crucial to remember that not all sources are created equal while examining them during creating dissertation using only secondary data. Other sources could be out-of-date or irrelevant to your research issue, while some could be prejudiced or unreliable. A source’s context should also be taken into account because it may have an impact on its credibility and applicability.

Step 4: Review And Combine Sources

Analysis and synthesis of the sources you have chosen are the last steps in secondary research. This entails carefully reading each source and making notes on the most important conclusions, points, and supporting details.

You should search for trends and connections among your sources as you study them when you are creating dissertation using only secondary data. Additionally, you should evaluate how the sources you have chosen support or refute your research question and thesis.

You can start combining your sources into a coherent argument after you have evaluated them. This entails determining the key ideas and points that are supported by your sources and utilizing them to strengthen your own argument.

Conclusion

A crucial step in writing a dissertation is conducting secondary research. You can create a compelling argument for your position and prove your subject-matter expertise by using a methodical strategy to locate, assess, and analyze information. You can do efficient secondary research that will aid in the creation of your dissertation by establishing your research question, discovering pertinent sources, assessing these sources, and analyzing and synthesizing your findings.

FAQs:

1. What Does Dissertation Secondary Research Entail?

   In a dissertation, secondary research entails acquiring data from already published sources, including scholarly works, governmental papers, statistical data, and other publically accessible sources or getting secondary data collection help. This research technique entails going through and examining the information that has previously been gathered by others. Secondary research can shed light on a subject and serve to put primary research findings into context. It can also support the development of research questions by highlighting knowledge gaps

2. How Does Secondary Research For A Dissertation Get Done?

   1. Determine your research. This will assist you in locating the pertinent sources and information you require to respond to your research inquiry.
   2. Select pertinent sources. Academic journals, publications, official reports, statistical databases, and other publicly accessible sources may be among them.
   3. Assess the reliability and applicability of the sources. Look for reliable, current, and pertinent sources that address your research question.
   4. Examine and assess the information. Consider how important themes and trends are related to your research question after identifying them.
   5. Summarize the results. Think about how the results relate to the body of prior research on the subject.
   6. Clearly cite all of your sources. Ensure that you offer comprehensive and correct information for each source, and adhere to the citation style that is advised by your school.

3. Which Four Kinds Of Secondary Research Are There?

   1. Literature Review: In this sort of study, the current academic literature on a particular subject is reviewed
   2. Data Analysis: To address a research topic, data analysis entails examining already-existing quantitative data, such as statistical data, survey results, or market research data.
   3. Historical Research: To comprehend the historical background of a research subject, historical research entails examining current documents, archives, and other primary materials.
   4. Case Study Research: To shed light on a research subject, case study research involves examining past case studies and frequently in-depth investigations of a certain company or circumstance.

4. Which Of The Secondary Research Examples Is The Best?

   The precise research issue, the information and resources at hand, and the appropriate secondary research methodology dissertation example will all be determined by these factors. However, completing a literature review is a typical instance of secondary research.
   A researcher might do a literature review to find studies that have looked into the usefulness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for treating depression, for instance. The literature study may involve reading books on the subject, examining government reports and other publically accessible sources of information, and searching academic databases for pertinent publications.