Abstract
In the preceding chapters it has been argued that the role of marketing research is to reduce areas of uncertainty surrounding business decisions and that one of the first tasks to be addressed when faced with a marketing problem is to define it precisely in order to determine just what one knows and needs to know in order to solve the problem. This dichotomy between what is known and what we need to know is reflected by the distinction between primary and secondary data. In essence, secondary data is ‘known’ and published information whereas primary data is new information collected specifically to help solve the problem in hand in cases where the secondary data is insufficient for that purpose.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Churchill, Gilbert A. (1987) Marketing Research-Methodological Foundations, 4th edn (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston).
Hague, P.N. (1987) The Industrial Market Research Handbook, 2nd edn (London: Kogan Page).
Kinnear, Thomas C. and Taylor, James R. (1987) Marketing Research: An Applied Approach, 3rd edn (New York: McGraw-Hill).
Luck, David J. and Rubin, Ronald S. (1987) Market Research, 7th edn (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall).
Newson-Smith, Nigel (1988) ‘Desk Research’, Chapter 1 in Robert Worcester and John Downham (eds) Consumer Market Research Handbook, 3rd rev. edn (McGraw-Hill).
Parasuraman, A. (1986) Marketing Research(Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley).
Stoll, Martin and Stewart, David W. (1984) Secondary Research: Information Sources and Methods(Beverly Hills, California, Sage).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1991 Michael J. Baker
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Baker, M.J. (1991). What do we know?. In: Research for Marketing. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21230-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21230-9_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-47021-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-21230-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)