While primary research has its advantages, there are also disadvantages to be aware of. Primary research can be time consuming and expensive. A good research plan takes time, and knowing the right questions you need to ask is critical for your market research goals. The first step in knowing the right question to ask is determining the goal you want to accomplish in your research. Having a goal will help you stay on track for the line of questions your respondent will face. If you don’t have a goal in mind, you will be asking questions that don’t address your goal.
Being able to think in advance and having the expertise in designing the right questions is the next step in building a successful research plan. Always ask, “How am I going to use the answers to this question?”
Biased sampling and low response rates are challenges for primary market research. A sampling method is biased if it favors some outcomes over others. If your intended population has a lower sampling probability than others, then your results will be skewed. For example, if your target market population is 50% male and 50% female, but your survey results are 70% male and 30% female, then the issue of biased sampling occurs because you’re not representing the target market properly.
Low response rates are usually the result of a number of factors: the target respondents have not been defined, the survey is too long, the goal of the survey has not been clearly defined for the respondent, questions are difficult to understand, answer selections do not apply to the respondents experience.
With proper knowledge and expertise, drawbacks to primary research can be avoided.
Summary of Primary Research Advantages and Disadvantages
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Here’s a short quiz about survey biases before we move on to the next lesson. To start the quiz, click on the quiz title “Quiz: Survey Bias“.