Research Methods

There are 4 main types of research. All of these can help me gather research for my coursework. These four
types are:

• Primary
• Secondary
• Qualitative
• Quantitative

Definitions of these types of research.

Primary
Primary research is finding research yourself. For example, through personal interviews and questionnaires. The internet would not be an example of primary research, as it is other peoples work that you can read and copy. The main advantage of primary research is that it is more likely to be true, as it comes from the original source. However, this method does carry some disadvantages. Primary research is often very time consuming and and can be expensive.

Secondary
Secondary research is research that has already been done and this can be copied by anyone who is interested in this topic. This is the most common method of collecting information and it does have some good advantages. For example, researching in this way can save alot of time and money. There are methods that make this research very easy, like accessing the internet or a book. However, the main disadvantage of this research method is that the information given can not be completly trusted to be true and reliable. Some information can also be out of date.

Qualitative
This is research on a small scale and gives valuable insight into specific forms of data. In this method data is categorised. An interview is an example of this type of research. Qualitative data provides a rich, detailed picture to be built up about a topic.A disadvantage of this is that it is difficult to be done on a large scale.

Quantitative
This is research done that is measured by a numerical form. They also can obtain a large amount of data. An example of this type of research is a questionnaire. An advantage of this method is that data can be easily analysed. However, it might not reflect a true value, just the closest one to it.

Which ones will I use for my coursework?
I think my main source of information will be from the internet, using sites such as Google and Youtube. I have already used secondary research in my AS coursework and I have also already used it in my A2 coursework to research the history of music videos and will be using it again to find music videos to analyse.