Stretch tasks R093 TA2: Research Methods and Sources

Round 1: Quiz Blitz

1. A survey you write and run yourself Primary research is collected by you, for this project.
2. An Ofcom report Somebody else collected it, for their own reasons.
3. Numbers and counts It answers how many, how often and how long.
4. Why did you stop using the app? Qualitative data gives reasons and opinions.
5. False It depends on who collected it, not on what it is.
6. One worded to suggest its own answer Leading questions build bias into the results.
7. It resembles the audience being studied The wrong fifty people are worse than the right five.
8. It is fast and cheap; It is often large scale But it may be out of date, or about a different audience.
9. They age within months Currency is one of the tests of a source.
10. self selection The sample selects itself, so it is not representative.
11. The reason why they leave The number says where to look. The words say what to fix.
12. Secondary research, then primary Secondary is free and shows what is already known.

Round 2: Quick Fire

1. • Primary is collected by you, for this project
   • Secondary was collected by somebody else, for their own purposes
   Model answer

   Primary research is collected by you, for this project, such as your own survey. Secondary research was collected by somebody else, for their own purposes, such as a published report.

2. • Quantitative shows how many, and where to look
   • Qualitative gives the reason, so you know what to fix
   Model answer

   Quantitative data, such as analytics showing that 70% leave a page, shows how many and where to look. Qualitative data, such as watching users struggle with the date picker, gives the reason, so you know what to fix.

3. • Authority: who wrote it
   • Currency: how old it is
   • Purpose, bias or evidence
   Model answer

   I would check its authority, who wrote it and what they know, and its currency, how old it is, because online statistics age quickly. I would also check who paid for it, in case it is biased.

4. • A small sample swings wildly by chance
   • It is unlikely to be representative
   Model answer

   With such a small sample, one person's answer changes the result by a tenth, so results swing wildly by chance. Ten people are also unlikely to be representative of the whole audience.

Round 3: Big Think

1. • Start with secondary research, such as competitors' pages
   • Analytics give quantitative data on where people drop off
   • Primary research: observe customers in user testing
   • This gives qualitative reasons
   • A survey or interviews with customers
   • A representative sample of actual customers
   • Neutral, not leading, questions
   • The methods work together
   Model answer

   The bakery should start with secondary research: its analytics and competitors' ordering pages. The analytics give quantitative data showing how many people reach the page and where they drop off. Then primary research: watching six real customers try to order, in user testing, shows the reasons they struggle, which is qualitative data. A short survey or interviews with customers who gave up could add more reasons, using neutral rather than leading questions. Everyone asked should be a representative sample of actual customers, not staff or friends. Together, the numbers show where to look and the observation shows what to fix.

2. • The 2019 article is out of date
   • A newspaper may sensationalise, without evidence
   • Ofcom is current and independent
   • But it must cover the right age group to be relevant
   • The company's survey is likely to be biased
   • Its questions may be leading, or its sample self selected
   • Figures should be corroborated
   • A conclusion, such as Ofcom being most reliable
   Model answer

   The 2019 newspaper article is out of date, because social media habits change within months, and a newspaper may sensationalise without saying where its figures came from. The Ofcom report is current and comes from an independent regulator, so it is trustworthy, but I would check it covers the right age group, because a trustworthy source is useless if it is not relevant. The social media company's survey is probably biased: the company gains if teenagers' use looks positive, and its questions may be leading, with only keen users answering. I would corroborate any figure with another source or my own primary research. On balance, the Ofcom report is the most reliable.

This or That

1. Primary You collected it yourself, for this project.
2. Secondary Somebody else collected it, for their own purposes.
3. Quantitative It produces a number.
4. Qualitative It produces opinions and reasons.
5. It is a leading question Its wording suggests the answer.
6. Five from the audience A representative sample beats a large irrelevant one.
7. No: check for bias A study paid for by an industry rarely harms that industry.
8. Not relevant here Reliable is not the same as relevant.

Memory Match

• A 4 Primary research: Data you collect yourself
• B 5 Secondary research: Data collected by someone else
• C 2 Quantitative: Numbers, counts and ratings
• D 6 Qualitative: Opinions, reasons and descriptions
• E 3 Leading question: Worded to suggest its own answer
• F 1 Representative sample: Resembles the audience studied

Sort It

1. Secondary A competitor's website You are studying something someone else made.
2. Primary Interviewing three customers Your own interviews are primary.
3. Secondary Another student's published survey results Somebody else collected it.
4. Primary Your own online survey You wrote and ran it.
5. Secondary An industry market report Published research is secondary.
6. Secondary An Ofcom report Ofcom collected it for its own purposes.
7. Primary Your own test photo shoot You produced it yourself.
8. Primary A focus group you run You collected it, for this project.
9. Secondary A magazine article about trends Somebody else wrote it.
10. Secondary Census data The government collected it.
11. Primary Watching users test your app Your own observation is primary.