INSIGHT on INSIGHT: Primary Research
Primary research is the most custom form of research. It is the kind that a company commissions to be done to meet their specific needs. This is the equivalent of having a custom home built for your family. While there are still some design constraints, the person contracting the project controls the vast majority of what the research looks like. This comes with both the privilege and the curse of having to make a lot of design decisions to ensure the end product meets your needs. However, it can be very rewarding having a solution that is both perfect for your needs and not identical to your neighbors (i.e. your competition).
Primary research commonly includes internet surveys, polls, in-depth in-person interviews, ethnographies, online communities and various mobile-based data collection techniques. Approaches like phone interviews, mail surveys or facility-based focus groups are among those that are becoming outdated, but still exist.
THE PROS OF PRIMARY RESEARCH:
The client controls what questions are asked, how they are asked, and whom they are asked of.
The scope can be as broad or as narrow as desired.
The budget can be as big or as small as funding allows.
The data will be extremely fresh, reflecting current market conditions.
The analysis and reporting format can be customized to the client’s needs.
Well-designed research allows for adaptive analysis should initial reports not produce the desired insight.
The client owns the raw data, allowing for an unlimited amount of further analysis at any point in the future.
The unique set of data can produce unique insights not readily available to competitors.
THE CONS OF PRIMARY RESEARCH:
It takes more effort to plan, skill to design and time to execute the research.
The design options may be limited depending on access to source data (i.e. retailer POS, etc.)
The best plans are still limited by the experience of the sub-contractors involved in the project.
More thought needs to be focused on developing the right analysis plan to make sure the right type and right amount of insight is pulled out of the results.
THE PROCESS
Primary research typically involves compiling and prioritizing a list of questions or hypotheses that need to be answered. This list then needs to be translated into one or more phases of data acquisition depending on what themes the questions cluster around.
At this point, decisions need to be made related to the desire to have answers in a quantitative format or qualitative format, how many phases of research will be included and how data will be merged across those phases.
Significant time can be spent optimizing the design while simultaneously considering how analysis will be handled. This should all be completed before the project enters an executional phase where the data is acquired.
Following execution, analysis time is spent translating the data into information, the information into insight and the insight into conclusions and recommendations. This can consume significant amounts of time and comes with the risk of overlooking useful techniques for pulling insights out of the data or incorrectly interpreting the meaning of insights.