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Level 4 Diploma in Business Management

The research process: primary and secondary research

BM401 · Academic Writing and Research Skills — Week 6 of 16

CourseBM401
Week6 of 16
SemesterI
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This week’s topics

The research process: primary and secondary research

  1. Starting point: the enquiry cycle, questionnaires and interviews
  2. Research as a linear process
  3. Primary research – seeking new information
  4. Secondary research – reviewing existing information

What you will be able to do

  • 2.2 Explain the research process.
  • 2.3 Differentiate between primary and secondary research.

Activity

Start with this week’s 4 videos, then discuss how they apply to this week’s topic and note one example from a real business.

Study materials

Videos

  • The Statistical Enquiry Cycle · Oak National Academy, Key Stage 4 (GCSE level) · for registered students
  • Questionnaires · Oak National Academy, Key Stage 4 (GCSE level) · for registered students
  • Interviews · Oak National Academy, Key Stage 4 (GCSE level) · for registered students
  • Primary vs Secondary Research (Explained in 4 Minutes) · YouTube · Helpful Professor Explains! · 4 min · for registered students

Further resources

  • Writing Guide, 12.1: Primary and secondary research · PDF · OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook (2021), 12.1 on primary and secondary research sources, pp. 391–392 · for registered students
  • Principles of Marketing, ch. 6.3: Steps in a marketing research plan · PDF · OpenStax (2023), questionnaires, interviews, observation; pp. 203–214 · for registered students
  • Business Communication for Success, ch. 8.2: Qualitative and quantitative research · PDF · Saylor (2012), designing surveys and interviews; pp. 308–314 · for registered students
  • How to perform a literature review with free and open source software · Open-access article · Pearce (2018), Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation. Step-by-step secondary research (literature review) with free tools. · for registered students
  • Writing interview protocols and conducting interviews: tips for students new to qualitati… · Open-access article · Jacob & Furgerson (2012), The Qualitative Report. Practical tips for writing interview questions and running interviews. · for registered students
Materials marked “for registered students” open in the student portal, which is set up as soon as you receive final acceptance.
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Course plan
  • Week 1: What academic research and writing is: seeking the truth an…
  • Week 2: Academic writing conventions: academic language, paragraphs…
  • Week 3: Paraphrasing, summarising and writing to a word count
  • Week 4: Types of research (descriptive, associational, intervention…
  • Week 5: Sources of information and evidence: journals, textbooks, c…
  • Week 6: The research process: primary and secondary research
  • Week 7: What critical thinking is: a systematic way to evaluate arg…
  • Week 8: Midterm evaluation
  • Week 9: Critical thinking skills: critical reading, analysis, inter…
  • Week 10: Why critical thinking matters in research: creativity, lang…
  • Week 11: Evaluating an argument: coherence, testing the evidence and…
  • Week 12: What makes a reliable academic argument: evidence, premise …
  • Week 13: Inductive and deductive reasoning
  • Week 14: Building a logical argument structure for a given topic
  • Week 15: Review and coursework completion
  • Week 16: Final evaluation and project assessment
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