example of a primary research article

27 Real Primary Research Examples

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

Primary research is a type of academic research that involves collecting new and original data to conduct a study.

Examples of primary research include studies that collect data through interviews, questionnaires, original text analysis, observation, surveys, focus groups, case studies, and ethnography.

It is the opposite of secondary research which involves looking at existing data to identify trends or new insights. Both secondary and primary research are legitimate forms of academic research.

Primary Research Examples

1. interviews.

Interviews involve approaching relevant people and asking them questions to gather their thoughts and opinions on a topic. This can take the form of structured, semi-strutured, and unstructured interviews.

Structured interviews generally do not involve back-and-forth discussion between the researcher and the research participant, while semi-structured and unstructured interviews involve the interviewer asking follow-up questions to dig deeper and elicit more insights.

2. Questionnaires and Surveys

Questionnaires are text-based interviews where a set of questions are written down by the researchers and sent to the research participants. The participants fill out the questionnaires and return them to the researcher.

The researcher then anonymizes the data and analyzes it by looking for trends and patterns across the dataset. They may do this manually or use research tools to find similarities and differences in the responses of the research participants.

A simple questionnaire can take the form of a Likert scale which involves asking a research participant to circle their opinion on a set of pre-determined responses (e.g. ‘Very Likely, Likely, Unlikely, Very Unlikely’). Other questionnaires require participants to write detailed paragraphs responding to questions which can then be analyzed.

One benefit of surveys over interviews is that it’s easier to gather large datasets.

3. Control Group Analysis

Control group analyses involve separating research participants into two groups: the control group and the experimental group.

An intervention is applied to the experimental group. Researchers then observe the results and compare them to the control group to find out the effects of the intervention.

This sort of research is very common in medical research. For example, a new pill on the market might be used on two groups of sick patients to see whether the pill was effective in improving one group’s condition. If so, it may receive approval to go into the market.

4. Observation Studies

Observational studies involve the researchers entering a research setting and recording their naturalistic observations of what they see. These observations can then form the basis of a thesis.

Longer-term observation studies where the researcher is embedded in a community are called ethnographic studies.

Tools for observation studies include simple pen-and-paper written vignettes about a topic, recording with the consent of research participants, or using field measuring devices.

Observational studies in fields like anthropology can lead to rich and detailed explanations of complex phenomena through a process called thick description . However, they’re inherently qualitative, subjective , and small-case studies that often make it difficult to make future predictions or hard scientific findings.

Another research limitation is that the presence of the researcher can sometimes affect the behavior of the people or animals being observed.

Go Deeper: 15 Ethnography Examples

5. Focus Groups

Focus groups are similar to interviews, but involve small groups of research participants interacting with the interviewer and, sometimes, one another.

Focus group research is common, for example, in political research, where political parties commission independent research organizations to collect data about the electorate’s perceptions of the candidates. This can help inform them of how to more effectively position the candidate in advertising and press stops.

The biggest benefit of focus group studies is that they can gather qualitative information from a wider range of research participants than one-to-one interviews. However, the downside is that research participants tend to influence each others’ responses.

See More: Examples of Focus Groups

6. Online Surveys

Online surveys are similar in purpose to offline questionnaires and surveys, but have unique benefits and limitations.

Like offline surveys and questionnaires, they can be in the form of written responses, multiple choice, and Likert scales.

However, they have some key benefits including: capacity to cast a wide net, ease of snowball sampling, and ease of finding participants.

These strengths also present some potential weaknesses: poorly designed online surveys may be corrupted if the sample is not sufficiently vetted and only distributed to non-representative sample sets (of course, this can be offset, depending on the study design).

7. Action Research

Action research involves practitioners conducting just-in-time research in an authentic setting to improve their own practice. The researcher is an active participant who studies the effects of interventions.

It sits in contrast to other forms of primary research in this list, which are mostly conducted by researchers who attempt to detach themselves from the subject of study. Action research, on the other hand, involves a researcher who is also a participant.

Action research is most commonly used in classrooms, where teachers take the role of researchers to improve their own teaching and learning practices. However, action research can be used in other fields as well, particularly healthcare and social work.

Go Deeper: 21 Action Research Examples

8. Discourse and Textual Analysis

Discourse and textual analyses are studies of language and text. They could involve, for example, the collection of a selection of newspaper articles published within a defined timeframe to identify the ideological leanings of the newspapers.

This sort of analysis can also explore the language use of media to study how media constructs stereotypes. The quintessential example is the study of gender identities is Disney texts, which has historically shown how Disney texts promote and normalize gender roles that children could internalize.

Textual analysis is often confused as a type of secondary research. However, as long as the texts are primary sources examined from scratch, it should be considered primary research and not the analysis of an existing dataset.

Go Deeper: 21 Discourse Analysis Examples

9. Multimodal, Visual, and Semiotic Analysis

Discourse and textual analyses traditionally focused on words and written text. But with the increasing presence of visual texts in our lives, scholars had to come up with primary research studies that involved the analysis of multimodal texts .

This led to studies such as semiotics and multimodal discourse analysis. This is still considered primary research because it involves the direct analysis of primary data (such as pictures, posters, and movies).

While these studies tend to borrow significantly from written text analysis, they include methods such as social semiotic to explore how signs and symbols garner meaning in social contexts. This enables scholars to examine, for example, children’s drawings through to famous artworks.

Often, primary research is a more highly-regarded type of research than secondary research because it involves gathering new data.

However, secondary research should not be discounted: the synthesis, categorization, and critique of an existing corpus of research can reveal excellent new insights and help to consolidate academic knowledge and even challenge longstanding assumptions .

References for the mentioned studies (APA Style)

Atack, L., & Rankin, J. (2002). A descriptive study of registered nurses’ experiences with web‐based learning. Journal of Advanced Nursing , 40 (4), 457-465.

Baughcum, A. E., Burklow, K. A., Deeks, C. M., Powers, S. W., & Whitaker, R. C. (1998). Maternal feeding practices and childhood obesity: a focus group study of low-income mothers. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine , 152 (10), 1010-1014.

Calvert, M., & Sheen, Y. (2015). Task-based language learning and teaching: An action-research study. Language Teaching Research , 19 (2), 226-244.

Coker, D. L., Farley-Ripple, E., Jackson, A. F., Wen, H., MacArthur, C. A., & Jennings, A. S. (2016). Writing instruction in first grade: An observational study. Reading and Writing , 29 (5), 793-832.

Cossrow, N. H., Jeffery, R. W., & McGuire, M. T. (2001). Understanding weight stigmatization: A focus group study. Journal of nutrition education , 33 (4), 208-214.

Costello, J. (2006). Dying well: nurses’ experiences of ‘good and bad’deaths in hospital. Journal of advanced nursing , 54 (5), 594-601.

Deckx, L., Mitchell, G., Rosenberg, J., Kelly, M., Carmont, S. A., & Yates, P. (2019). General practitioners’ engagement in end-of-life care: a semi-structured interview study. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care .

Drew, C. (2013). Elitism for sale: Promoting the elite school online in the competitive educational marketplace. Australian Journal of Education , 57 (2), 174-184.

Erdener, M. A., & Knoeppel, R. C. (2018). Parents’ Perceptions of Their Involvement in Schooling. International Journal of Research in Education and Science , 4 (1), 1-13.

Felicia, O. (2021). A social semiotic analysis of gender power in Nigeria’s newspaper political cartoons. Social Semiotics , 31 (2), 266-281.

Gardner, C. D., Trepanowski, J. F., Del Gobbo, L. C., Hauser, M. E., Rigdon, J., Ioannidis, J. P., … & King, A. C. (2018). Effect of low-fat vs low-carbohydrate diet on 12-month weight loss in overweight adults and the association with genotype pattern or insulin secretion: the DIETFITS randomized clinical trial. Jama , 319 (7), 667-679.

Groves, M. M., & Zemel, P. C. (2000). Instructional technology adoption in higher education: An action research case study. International Journal of Instructional Media , 27 (1), 57.

Gullifer, J., & Tyson, G. A. (2010). Exploring university students’ perceptions of plagiarism: A focus group study. Studies in Higher Education , 35 (4), 463-481.

Karlsson, J., & Juslin, P. N. (2008). Musical expression: An observational study of instrumental teaching. Psychology of music , 36 (3), 309-334.

Liu, D., Huang, Y., Huang, C., Yang, S., Wei, X., Zhang, P., … & Zhang, H. (2022). Calorie restriction with or without time-restricted eating in weight loss. New England Journal of Medicine , 386 (16), 1495-1504.

Martin, F., & Bolliger, D. U. (2018). Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Online Learning , 22 (1), 205-222.

Munro, M. (2018). House price inflation in the news: a critical discourse analysis of newspaper coverage in the UK. Housing Studies , 33 (7), 1085-1105.

O’bannon, B. W., & Thomas, K. (2014). Teacher perceptions of using mobile phones in the classroom: Age matters!. Computers & Education , 74 , 15-25.

Olsen, M., Udo, C., Dahlberg, L., & Boström, A. M. (2022). Older Persons’ Views on Important Values in Swedish Home Care Service: A Semi-Structured Interview Study. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare , 15 , 967.

Ravn, I. M., Frederiksen, K., & Beedholm, K. (2016). The chronic responsibility: a critical discourse analysis of Danish chronic care policies. Qualitative Health Research , 26 (4), 545-554.

Sacks, F. M., Bray, G. A., Carey, V. J., Smith, S. R., Ryan, D. H., Anton, S. D., … & Williamson, D. A. (2009). Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. New England Journal of Medicine , 360 (9), 859-873.

Saltmarsh, S., Chapman, A., Campbell, M., & Drew, C. (2015). Putting “structure within the space”: Spatially un/responsive pedagogic practices in open-plan learning environments. Educational Review , 67 (3), 315-327.

Samaras, G., Bonoti, F., & Christidou, V. (2012). Exploring children’s perceptions of scientists through drawings and interviews. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 46 , 1541-1546.

Sengul, K. (2019). Critical discourse analysis in political communication research: a case study of right-wing populist discourse in Australia. Communication Research and Practice , 5 (4), 376-392.

Smahel, D., Machackova, H., Mascheroni, G., Dedkova, L., Staksrud, E., Ólafsson, K., … & Hasebrink, U. (2020). EU Kids Online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries.

Stawarz, K., Preist, C., & Coyle, D. (2019). Use of smartphone apps, social media, and web-based resources to support mental health and well-being: online survey. JMIR mental health , 6 (7), e12546.Towns, M. H., Kreke, K., & Fields, A. (2000). An action research project: Student perspectives on small-group learning in chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education , 77 (1), 111.

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 10 Reasons you’re Perpetually Single
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 20 Montessori Toddler Bedrooms (Design Inspiration)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 21 Montessori Homeschool Setups
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 101 Hidden Talents Examples

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples

Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples

Published on January 14, 2023 by Tegan George . Revised on January 12, 2024.

Primary research is a research method that relies on direct data collection , rather than relying on data that’s already been collected by someone else. In other words, primary research is any type of research that you undertake yourself, firsthand, while using data that has already been collected is called secondary research .

Primary research is often used in qualitative research , particularly in survey methodology, questionnaires, focus groups, and various types of interviews . While quantitative primary research does exist, it’s not as common.

Table of contents

When to use primary research, types of primary research, examples of primary research, advantages and disadvantages of primary research, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

Primary research is any research that you conduct yourself. It can be as simple as a 2-question survey, or as in-depth as a years-long longitudinal study . The only key is that data must be collected firsthand by you.

Primary research is often used to supplement or strengthen existing secondary research. It is usually exploratory in nature, concerned with examining a research question where no preexisting knowledge exists. It is also sometimes called original research for this reason.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

Primary research can take many forms, but the most common types are:

• Surveys and questionnaires
• Observational studies
• Interviews and focus groups

Surveys and questionnaires collect information about a group of people by asking them questions and analyzing the results. They are a solid choice if your research topic seeks to investigate something about the characteristics, preferences, opinions, or beliefs of a group of people.

Surveys and questionnaires can take place online, in person, or through the mail. It is best to have a combination of open-ended and closed-ended questions, and how the questions are phrased matters. Be sure to avoid leading questions, and ask any related questions in groups, starting with the most basic ones first.

Observational studies are an easy and popular way to answer a research question based purely on what you, the researcher, observes. If there are practical or ethical concerns that prevent you from conducting a traditional experiment , observational studies are often a good stopgap.

There are three types of observational studies: cross-sectional studies , cohort studies, and case-control studies. If you decide to conduct observational research, you can choose the one that’s best for you. All three are quite straightforward and easy to design—just beware of confounding variables and observer bias creeping into your analysis.

Similarly to surveys and questionnaires, interviews and focus groups also rely on asking questions to collect information about a group of people. However, how this is done is slightly different. Instead of sending your questions out into the world, interviews and focus groups involve two or more people—one of whom is you, the interviewer, who asks the questions.

There are 3 main types of interviews:

• Structured interviews ask predetermined questions in a predetermined order.
• Unstructured interviews are more flexible and free-flowing, proceeding based on the interviewee’s previous answers.
• Semi-structured interviews fall in between, asking a mix of predetermined questions and off-the-cuff questions.

While interviews are a rich source of information, they can also be deceptively challenging to do well. Be careful of interviewer bias creeping into your process. This is best mitigated by avoiding double-barreled questions and paying close attention to your tone and delivery while asking questions.

Alternatively, a focus group is a group interview, led by a moderator. Focus groups can provide more nuanced interactions than individual interviews, but their small sample size means that external validity is low.

Primary research can often be quite simple to pursue yourself. Here are a few examples of different research methods you can use to explore different topics.

Primary research is a great choice for many research projects, but it has distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of primary research

Advantages include:

• The ability to conduct really tailored, thorough research, down to the “nitty-gritty” of your topic . You decide what you want to study or observe and how to go about doing that.
• You maintain control over the quality of the data collected, and can ensure firsthand that it is objective, reliable , and valid .
• The ensuing results are yours, for you to disseminate as you see fit. You maintain proprietary control over what you find out, allowing you to share your findings with like-minded individuals or those conducting related research that interests you for replication or discussion purposes.

Disadvantages of primary research

Disadvantages include:

• In order to be done well, primary research can be very expensive and time consuming. If you are constrained in terms of time or funding, it can be very difficult to conduct your own high-quality primary research.
• Primary research is often insufficient as a standalone research method, requiring secondary research to bolster it.
• Primary research can be prone to various types of research bias . Bias can manifest on the part of the researcher as observer bias , Pygmalion effect , or demand characteristics . It can occur on the part of participants as a Hawthorne effect or social desirability bias .

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Chi square goodness of fit test
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

The 3 main types of primary research are:

Exploratory research aims to explore the main aspects of an under-researched problem, while explanatory research aims to explain the causes and consequences of a well-defined problem.

There are several methods you can use to decrease the impact of confounding variables on your research: restriction, matching, statistical control and randomization.

In restriction , you restrict your sample by only including certain subjects that have the same values of potential confounding variables.

In matching , you match each of the subjects in your treatment group with a counterpart in the comparison group. The matched subjects have the same values on any potential confounding variables, and only differ in the independent variable .

In statistical control , you include potential confounders as variables in your regression .

In randomization , you randomly assign the treatment (or independent variable) in your study to a sufficiently large number of subjects, which allows you to control for all potential confounding variables.

A questionnaire is a data collection tool or instrument, while a survey is an overarching research method that involves collecting and analyzing data from people using questionnaires.

When conducting research, collecting original data has significant advantages:

• You can tailor data collection to your specific research aims (e.g. understanding the needs of your consumers or user testing your website)
• You can control and standardize the process for high reliability and validity (e.g. choosing appropriate measurements and sampling methods )

However, there are also some drawbacks: data collection can be time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive. In some cases, it’s more efficient to use secondary data that has already been collected by someone else, but the data might be less reliable.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2024, January 12). Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/primary-research/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, data collection | definition, methods & examples, observer bias | definition, examples, prevention, what is qualitative research | methods & examples, what is your plagiarism score.

Primary Research Articles

• Library vs. Google
• Background Reading
• Keyword Searching
• Evaluating Sources
• Citing Sources
• Need more help?

How Can I Find Primary Research Articles?

Many of the recommended databases in this subject guide contain primary research articles (also known as empirical articles or research studies). Search in databases like ScienceDirect  and MEDLINE .

Primary Research Articles: How Will I Know One When I See One?

Primary research articles  to conduct and publish an experiment or research study, an author or team of authors designs an experiment, gathers data, then analyzes the data and discusses the results of the experiment. a published experiment or research study will therefore  look  very different from other types of articles (newspaper stories, magazine articles, essays, etc.) found in our library databases. the following guidelines will help you recognize a primary research article, written by the researchers themselves and published in a scholarly journal., structure of a primary research article typically, a primary research article has the following sections:.

• The author summarizes her article
• The author discusses the general background of her research topic; often, she will present a literature review, that is, summarize what other experts have written on this particular research topic
• The author describes the study she designed and conducted
• The author presents the data she gathered during her experiment
• The author offers ideas about the importance and implications of her research findings, and speculates on future directions that similar research might take
• The author gives a References list of sources she used in her paper

The structure of the article will often be clearly shown with headings: Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion.

A primary research article will almost always contains statistics, numerical data presented in tables. Also, primary research articles are written in very formal, very technical language.

• << Previous: Resources
• Next: Research Tips >>
• Last Updated: Aug 1, 2024 5:09 PM
• URL: https://libguides.umgc.edu/science

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer
• QuestionPro

• Solutions Industries Gaming Automotive Sports and events Education Government Travel & Hospitality Financial Services Healthcare Cannabis Technology Use Case AskWhy Communities Audience Contactless surveys Mobile LivePolls Member Experience GDPR Positive People Science 360 Feedback Surveys
• Resources Blog eBooks Survey Templates Case Studies Training Help center

Home Market Research

Primary Research: What It Is, Purpose & Methods + Examples

As we continue exploring the exciting research world, we’ll come across two primary and secondary data approaches. This article will focus on primary research – what it is, how it’s done, and why it’s essential. 

We’ll discuss the methods used to gather first-hand data and examples of how it’s applied in various fields. Get ready to discover how this research can be used to solve research problems , answer questions, and drive innovation.

What is Primary Research: Definition

Primary research is a methodology researchers use to collect data directly rather than depending on data collected from previously done research. Technically, they “own” the data. Primary research is solely carried out to address a certain problem, which requires in-depth analysis .

There are two forms of research:

• Primary Research
• Secondary Research

Businesses or organizations can conduct primary research or employ a third party to conduct research. One major advantage of primary research is this type of research is “pinpointed.” Research only focuses on a specific issue or problem and on obtaining related solutions.

For example, a brand is about to launch a new mobile phone model and wants to research the looks and features they will soon introduce. 

Organizations can select a qualified sample of respondents closely resembling the population and conduct primary research with them to know their opinions. Based on this research, the brand can now think of probable solutions to make necessary changes in the looks and features of the mobile phone.

Primary Research Methods with Examples

In this technology-driven world, meaningful data is more valuable than gold. Organizations or businesses need highly validated data to make informed decisions. This is the very reason why many companies are proactive in gathering their own data so that the authenticity of data is maintained and they get first-hand data without any alterations.

Here are some of the primary research methods organizations or businesses use to collect data:

1. Interviews (telephonic or face-to-face)

Conducting interviews is a qualitative research method to collect data and has been a popular method for ages. These interviews can be conducted in person (face-to-face) or over the telephone. Interviews are an open-ended method that involves dialogues or interaction between the interviewer (researcher) and the interviewee (respondent).

Conducting a face-to-face interview method is said to generate a better response from respondents as it is a more personal approach. However, the success of face-to-face interviews depends heavily on the researcher’s ability to ask questions and his/her experience related to conducting such interviews in the past. The types of questions that are used in this type of research are mostly open-ended questions . These questions help to gain in-depth insights into the opinions and perceptions of respondents.

Personal interviews usually last up to 30 minutes or even longer, depending on the subject of research. If a researcher is running short of time conducting telephonic interviews can also be helpful to collect data.

2. Online surveys

Once conducted with pen and paper, surveys have come a long way since then. Today, most researchers use online surveys to send to respondents to gather information from them. Online surveys are convenient and can be sent by email or can be filled out online. These can be accessed on handheld devices like smartphones, tablets, iPads, and similar devices.

Once a survey is deployed, a certain amount of stipulated time is given to respondents to answer survey questions and send them back to the researcher. In order to get maximum information from respondents, surveys should have a good mix of open-ended questions and close-ended questions . The survey should not be lengthy. Respondents lose interest and tend to leave it half-done.

It is a good practice to reward respondents for successfully filling out surveys for their time and efforts and valuable information. Most organizations or businesses usually give away gift cards from reputed brands that respondents can redeem later.

3. Focus groups

This popular research technique is used to collect data from a small group of people, usually restricted to 6-10. Focus group brings together people who are experts in the subject matter for which research is being conducted.

Focus group has a moderator who stimulates discussions among the members to get greater insights. Organizations and businesses can make use of this method, especially to identify niche markets to learn about a specific group of consumers.

4. Observations

In this primary research method, there is no direct interaction between the researcher and the person/consumer being observed. The researcher observes the reactions of a subject and makes notes.

Trained observers or cameras are used to record reactions. Observations are noted in a predetermined situation. For example, a bakery brand wants to know how people react to its new biscuits, observes notes on consumers’ first reactions, and evaluates collective data to draw inferences .

Primary Research vs Secondary Research – The Differences

Primary and secondary research are two distinct approaches to gathering information, each with its own characteristics and advantages. 

While primary research involves conducting surveys to gather firsthand data from potential customers, secondary market research is utilized to analyze existing industry reports and competitor data, providing valuable context and benchmarks for the survey findings.

Find out more details about the differences: 

1. Definition

• Primary Research: Involves the direct collection of original data specifically for the research project at hand. Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments.
• Secondary Research: Involves analyzing and interpreting existing data, literature, or information. This can include sources like books, articles, databases, and reports.

2. Data Source

• Primary Research: Data is collected directly from individuals, experiments, or observations.
• Secondary Research: Data is gathered from already existing sources.

3. Time and Cost

• Primary Research: Often time-consuming and can be costly due to the need for designing and implementing research instruments and collecting new data.
• Secondary Research: Generally more time and cost-effective, as it relies on readily available data.

4. Customization

• Primary Research: Provides tailored and specific information, allowing researchers to address unique research questions.
• Secondary Research: Offers information that is pre-existing and may not be as customized to the specific needs of the researcher.
• Primary Research: Researchers have control over the research process, including study design, data collection methods , and participant selection.
• Secondary Research: Limited control, as researchers rely on data collected by others.

6. Originality

• Primary Research: Generates original data that hasn’t been analyzed before.
• Secondary Research: Involves the analysis of data that has been previously collected and analyzed.

7. Relevance and Timeliness

• Primary Research: Often provides more up-to-date and relevant data or information.
• Secondary Research: This may involve data that is outdated, but it can still be valuable for historical context or broad trends.

Advantages of Primary Research

Primary research has several advantages over other research methods, making it an indispensable tool for anyone seeking to understand their target market, improve their products or services, and stay ahead of the competition. So let’s dive in and explore the many benefits of primary research.

• One of the most important advantages is data collected is first-hand and accurate. In other words, there is no dilution of data. Also, this research method can be customized to suit organizations’ or businesses’ personal requirements and needs .
• I t focuses mainly on the problem at hand, which means entire attention is directed to finding probable solutions to a pinpointed subject matter. Primary research allows researchers to go in-depth about a matter and study all foreseeable options.
• Data collected can be controlled. I T gives a means to control how data is collected and used. It’s up to the discretion of businesses or organizations who are collecting data how to best make use of data to get meaningful research insights.
• I t is a time-tested method, therefore, one can rely on the results that are obtained from conducting this type of research.

Disadvantages of Primary Research

While primary research is a powerful tool for gathering unique and firsthand data, it also has its limitations. As we explore the drawbacks, we’ll gain a deeper understanding of when primary research may not be the best option and how to work around its challenges.

• One of the major disadvantages of primary research is it can be quite expensive to conduct. One may be required to spend a huge sum of money depending on the setup or primary research method used. Not all businesses or organizations may be able to spend a considerable amount of money.
• This type of research can be time-consuming. Conducting interviews and sending and receiving online surveys can be quite an exhaustive process and require investing time and patience for the process to work. Moreover, evaluating results and applying the findings to improve a product or service will need additional time.
• Sometimes, just using one primary research method may not be enough. In such cases, the use of more than one method is required, and this might increase both the time required to conduct research and the cost associated with it.

Every research is conducted with a purpose. Primary research is conducted by organizations or businesses to stay informed of the ever-changing market conditions and consumer perception. Excellent customer satisfaction (CSAT) has become a key goal and objective of many organizations.

A customer-centric organization knows the importance of providing exceptional products and services to its customers to increase customer loyalty and decrease customer churn. Organizations collect data and analyze it by conducting primary research to draw highly evaluated results and conclusions. Using this information, organizations are able to make informed decisions based on real data-oriented insights.

QuestionPro is a comprehensive survey platform that can be used to conduct primary research. Users can create custom surveys and distribute them to their target audience , whether it be through email, social media, or a website.

QuestionPro also offers advanced features such as skip logic, branching, and data analysis tools, making collecting and analyzing data easier. With QuestionPro, you can gather valuable insights and make informed decisions based on the results of your primary research. Start today for free!

LEARN MORE         FREE TRIAL

MORE LIKE THIS

Experimental vs Observational Studies: Differences & Examples

Sep 5, 2024

Interactive Forms: Key Features, Benefits, Uses + Design Tips

Sep 4, 2024

Closed-Loop Management: The Key to Customer Centricity

Sep 3, 2024

Net Trust Score: Tool for Measuring Trust in Organization

Sep 2, 2024

Other categories

• Academic Research
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assessments
• Brand Awareness
• Case Studies
• Communities
• Consumer Insights
• Customer effort score
• Customer Engagement
• Customer Experience
• Customer Loyalty
• Customer Research
• Customer Satisfaction
• Employee Benefits
• Employee Engagement
• Employee Retention
• Friday Five
• General Data Protection Regulation
• Insights Hub
• Life@QuestionPro
• Market Research
• Mobile diaries
• Mobile Surveys
• New Features
• Online Communities
• Question Types
• Questionnaire
• QuestionPro Products
• Release Notes
• Research Tools and Apps
• Revenue at Risk
• Survey Templates
• Training Tips
• Tuesday CX Thoughts (TCXT)
• Uncategorized
• What’s Coming Up
• Workforce Intelligence

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

What is Primary Research and How do I get Started?

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Primary research is any type of research that you collect yourself. Examples include surveys, interviews, observations, and ethnographic research. A good researcher knows how to use both primary and secondary sources in their writing and to integrate them in a cohesive fashion.

Conducting primary research is a useful skill to acquire as it can greatly supplement your research in secondary sources, such as journals, magazines, or books. You can also use it as the focus of your writing project. Primary research is an excellent skill to learn as it can be useful in a variety of settings including business, personal, and academic.

But I’m not an expert!

With some careful planning, primary research can be done by anyone, even students new to writing at the university level. The information provided on this page will help you get started.

What types of projects or activities benefit from primary research?

When you are working on a local problem that may not have been addressed before and little research is there to back it up.

When you are working on writing about a specific group of people or a specific person.

When you are working on a topic that is relatively new or original and few publications exist on the subject.

You can also use primary research to confirm or dispute national results with local trends.

What types of primary research can be done?

Many types of primary research exist. This guide is designed to provide you with an overview of primary research that is often done in writing classes.

Interviews: Interviews are one-on-one or small group question and answer sessions. Interviews will provide a lot of information from a small number of people and are useful when you want to get an expert or knowledgeable opinion on a subject.

Surveys: Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks.

Observations: Observations involve taking organized notes about occurrences in the world. Observations provide you insight about specific people, events, or locales and are useful when you want to learn more about an event without the biased viewpoint of an interview.

Analysis: Analysis involves collecting data and organizing it in some fashion based on criteria you develop. They are useful when you want to find some trend or pattern. A type of analysis would be to record commercials on three major television networks and analyze gender roles.

Where do I start?

Consider the following questions when beginning to think about conducting primary research:

• What do I want to discover?
• How do I plan on discovering it? (This is called your research methods or methodology)
• Who am I going to talk to/observe/survey? (These people are called your subjects or participants)
• How am I going to be able to gain access to these groups or individuals?
• What are my biases about this topic?
• How can I make sure my biases are not reflected in my research methods?
• What do I expect to discover?

Primary Research: Methods and Best Practices

Introduction

What is the definition of primary research, what are examples of primary research, primary vs. secondary research, types of primary research, when to use primary research.

Conducting research involves two types of data: primary data and secondary data . While secondary research deals with existing data, primary research collects new data . Ultimately, the most appropriate type of research depends on which method is best suited to your research question .

While this article discusses the difference between primary and secondary research, the main focus is on primary research, the types of data collected through primary research, and considerations for researchers who conduct primary research.

Simply put, researchers conduct primary research to gather new information. When existing data cannot address the research inquiry at hand, the researcher usually needs to collect new data to meet their research objectives.

How do you identify primary research?

Primary research uses collected data that hasn't been previously documented. Primary research typically means collecting data straight from the source (e.g., interviewing a research participant , observing a cultural practice or phenomenon firsthand).

Note that other divides that you should also consider include that of collecting quantitative or qualitative data , and of conducting basic or applied research . Each of these dimensions informs and is informed by your research inquiry.

What are the advantages of primary research?

New data, particularly that which addresses a research gap, can contribute to a novel inquiry and prove compelling to the research audience. When a researcher conducts a literature review and generates a problem statement for their research, they can identify what new data needs to be collected and what primary research method can be used to collect it.

Primary research studies ultimately contribute to theoretical developments and novel insights that an analysis of existing data might not have identified. Research publications in some fields may place a premium on primary research for its potential to generate new scientific knowledge as a result.

What are the disadvantages of primary research?

Primary research is time-consuming and potentially expensive to conduct, considering the equipment and resources needed to collect new data as well as the time required to engage with the field and collect data.

Moreover, primary research relies on new data that has yet to be documented elsewhere, meaning that the research audience is less familiar with the primary data being presented. This might raise issues of transparency and research rigor (e.g., how does the audience know that the data they are shown is trustworthy?).

Primary research is common in various fields of research. Let's look at some typical examples of primary research in three different areas.

Education research

Teaching and learning is a field that relies on evidence-based data to make policy recommendations affecting teachers, learning materials, and even classroom requirements. As a result, there are countless methods for collecting relevant data on the various aspects of education.

Observations , interviews , and assessments are just some of the primary research methods that are employed when studying education contexts. Education research acknowledges the full variety of situated differences found in the diversity of learners and their schooling contexts. This makes collecting data that is relevant to the given context and research inquiry crucial to understanding teaching and learning.

Market research

Businesses often rely on primary research to understand the target market for their products and services. Since competing businesses tend not to share research on customer insights with each other, primary research collecting original data can be a necessity.

Focus groups , surveys , and user research are typical research tools employed by businesses. Within market research, the goal is typically to understand customers' preferences and use cases for specific products and services.

Cultural studies

Fields such as anthropology and sociology count on primary research for understanding cultures and communities. Ethnographic research acknowledges that thick description of cultures and phenomena is more meaningful than only generating universal theories, making the collection of primary data essential to understanding the full diversity of the social world.

Researchers examining culture often collect data through interviews, observations, and photovoice, among other research methods. These methods look at the social world through the eyes of the research participants to generate an immersive view of cultures and groups with which audiences may not be familiar.

Insights from data are at your fingertips with ATLAS.ti

See how our powerful data analysis interface can help you make sense of data. Start with a free trial.

Primary research data stands in contrast to secondary research data, which is any data that has been previously collected and documented. In some situations, existing data may be abundant and available, making secondary research a more feasible approach to generating theory and identifying key insights.

Secondary research methods are employed in all fields of research. Market researchers conduct secondary research when there is already existing data about a target market. In particular, secondary market research might look at previous trends in the popularity of products to make predictions about the demand for new products.

Scholarly researchers can use secondary sources such as corpora, news articles, and online videos to make assertions about language and culture. Analytical approaches such as discourse analysis and content analysis can be well suited to analyzing data collected through secondary research methods.

Ultimately, primary and secondary research go hand in hand. The main function of research in building knowledge does not necessarily depend on the use of primary data collection . Rather, it is a matter of whether data needs to be collected in order to address your research inquiry, or relevant data already exists and you can access it.

There are many research methods used to collect data for primary research. The research method that works best for you depends on what you are looking to do with your research project.

This section lists some of the common primary data collection methods that researchers rely on.

One-on-one interviews are useful for capturing perspectives from research participants. Direct interactions can tell researchers what perspectives their research participants have and the thinking behind those perspectives.

Interview research is a complex and detailed methodology that includes several types of interviews to suit various research inquiries. Researchers can choose between structured interviews , semi-structured interviews , and unstructured interviews , depending on the nature of interaction they are looking to establish.

Focus groups

Focus groups are discussions that involve multiple research participants and are led by a moderator. Similar to interviews, the primary goal is to gather information about people's perspectives. Yet focus groups are distinct, because they can capture how people interact and build meaning when discussing a particular topic.

Market researchers may consider conducting a focus group discussion when they want to know more about how a particular group feels about a product or service. Researchers in linguistics and anthropology might be interested in observing how a group of people construct meaning with each other.

Observations

In research involving naturalistic inquiry and the social world, the researcher can gather information directly from the field through observational research methods . Primary data takes the form of field notes , audio and video recordings , their resulting transcripts , and even images of objects of interest.

For quantitative research inquiries, observation entails measuring the amount of activity or the frequency of particular phenomena. Qualitative observations look for patterns in cultural or social practices and document significant events in the field.

When the objective is to capture perspectives from large numbers of people, surveys are a good research method for collecting novel data. In-person questionnaires and online surveys can be used to quickly collect data at scale.

Surveys are used for conducting primary research in both quantitative and qualitative research . The structure of survey questions provide data that can be measured quantitatively, while open-ended survey responses require qualitative data analysis .

Experiments

While the above methods emphasize or are involved with naturalistic inquiry, experiments are a different form of primary research that is far more controlled. When you want to understand the relationship between various elements in a certain context (e.g., the effect of water and fertilizer on plant growth), a controlled experiment is a typical research approach to empirically establish scientific knowledge.

Experiments focus on a specific set of factors from the research phenomenon to understand causal relationships between variables. Experiments are a common primary research method in physical sciences, but they are also extensively used in psychology, education, and political science, among other areas.

The decision to conduct a primary or secondary study is a question of whether existing data is sufficient to satisfy the research inquiry at hand. Where data does not exist, primary research should be conducted.

Consider an example research study regarding ideal teaching methods in elementary school contexts in a developing country in Asia. Just because there is abundant data on the same topic in elementary schools in Western countries does not preclude the possibility of novel theoretical developments in schools in Asia. This becomes particularly important if insights based on existing data from other contexts may not be applicable to the present context.

Note that this does not mean that a secondary research study is any less novel than a primary study. Indeed, many fields and methodologies rely extensively on analyzing existing data. For example, studies that employ discourse analysis and content analysis typically (though not always) rely on existing sources of data to facilitate understanding of language use in real-world situations.

As a result, the choice between primary and secondary research can be seen as more of a practical consideration than a matter of a study's potential contribution to scientific knowledge. Novelty in research is as much about the data collection as it is about the resulting analysis. If you require data for your study where none exists, then data from primary research is your best option.

Powerful data analysis at your fingertips with ATLAS.ti

Download a free trial to start making the most of your qualitative data.

Finding Primary Research Articles in the Sciences: Home

• Advanced Search-Databases
• Primary vs. Secondary
• Analyzing a Primary Research Article
• MLA, APA, and Chicago Style

This guide goes over how to find and analyze primary research articles in the sciences (e.g. nutrition, health sciences and nursing, biology, chemistry, physics, sociology, psychology). In addition, the guide explains how to tell the difference between a primary source and a secondary source in scientific subject areas.

If you are looking for how to find primary sources in the humanities and social sciences, such as direct experience accounts in newspapers, diaries, artwork and so forth, please see   Finding Primary Sources in the Humanities and Social Sciences . 

Recommended Databases

To get started, choose one of the databases below.  Once you log in, enter your search terms to start looking for primary articles. 

• Link to all Polk State College Library databases

Login Required

You must log in to use library databases and eBooks. When prompted to log in, enter your Passport credentials. 

If you have trouble, try  resetting your Passport pin , sending an email to  [email protected] ,  or calling the Help Desk at 863.292.3652 . 

You can also get help from Ask a Librarian . 

Search Tips

Keep your search terms simple.

• No need to type full sentences into the database search box.  Limit your search to 2-3 words.
• There is no need to type "research article" into the search box.

Use the "Advanced Search" feature of the database.

• This will allow you to limit your search to only peer reviewed articles or a certain time frame (for example: 2013 or later).
• Click the red tab above for tips on advanced search strategies .

Re-read the assignment guidelines often

• Does this article satisfy the scope of the assignment (e.g. a study focused on nutrition)?
• Does it meet the criteria for the assignment (e.g. an original research article)?

Not finding what you are looking for?

• Ask a Librarian!

Search and Find a Primary Research Article

Are you looking for a primary research journal article if so, that is an article that reports on the results of an original research study conducted by the authors themselves. .

You can use the library's databases to search for primary research articles.  A research article will almost always be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Therefore, it is a good idea to limit your results to peer-reviewed articles. Click on the  Advanced Search-Databases tab at the top of this guide for instructions. 

The following is _not_ primary research:

Review articles are studies that arrive at conclusions after looking over other studies. Therefore, review articles are not  primary (think "first") research.  There are a variety of review articles, including:

• Literature Reviews
• Systematic Reviews
• Meta-Analyses 
• Scoping Reviews
• Topical Reviews
• A review/assessment of the evidence

Having trouble?  Look for a  method section within the article. If the method section includes the process used to conduct the research, how the data was gathered and analyzed and any limitations or ethical concerns to the study, then it is most likely a primary research article. For example: a research article will describe the number of people (e.g. 175 adults with celiac disease) who participated in the study and who were used to collect data.

If the method section describes how the authors found articles on a topic using search terms or databases , then it is mostly likely a secondary review article and not primary research. If there is no method section, it is not a primary research article.

Other sections in a journal: 

Your search may yield these items, too. You can skip these because they are not full write-ups of research:

• Conference Proceedings 
• Symposium Publications

Example of a primary research article found in the Library's Academic Search Complete database : (these authors conducted an original research study)

• Lumia et al. (2015) Lumia, M., Takkinen, H., Luukkainen, P., Kaila, M., Lehtinen, J. S., Nwaru, B. I., Tuokkola, J., Niemelä, O., Haapala, A., Ilonen, J., Simell, O., Knip, M., Veijola, R., & Virtanen, S. M. (2015). Food consumption and risk of childhood asthma. Pediatric Allergy & Immunology, 26(8), 789–796. https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.12352

Example of a secondary article found in the Library's Academic Search Complete database : (these authors are reviewing the work of other authors)

• Rachmah et al. (2022) Rachmah, Q., Martiana, T., Mulyono, Paskarini, I., Dwiyanti, E., Widajati, N., Ernawati, M., Ardyanto, Y. D., Tualeka, A. R., Haqi, D. N., Arini, S. Y., & Alayyannur, P. A. (2022). The effectiveness of nutrition and health intervention in workplace setting: A systematic review. Journal of Public Health Research, 11(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2021.2312

How do I know if this article is primary?

You've found an article in the library databases but how do you know if it's primary .

Look for these sections: (terminology may vary)

• abstract  - summarizes paper in one paragraph, states the purpose of the study
• methods  - explaining how the experiment was conducted (note: if the method section discusses how a search was conducted that is _not_ primary research) 
• results  - detailing what happened and providing raw data sets (often as tables or graphs)
• conclusions  - connecting the results with theories and other research
• references  - to previous research or theories that influenced the research

Scan the article you found to see if it includes the sections above. You don't have to read the full article (yet). Look for the clues highlighted in the images below. 

Questions? Use Ask a Librarian

• Next: Advanced Search-Databases >>
• Last Updated: Aug 8, 2024 4:22 PM
• URL: https://libguides.polk.edu/primaryresearch

Polk State College is committed to equal access/equal opportunity in its programs, activities, and employment. For additional information, visit polk.edu/compliance .

Main Navigation Menu

Peer-review and primary research.

• Getting Started With Peer-Reviewed Literature

Primary Research

Identifying a primary research article.

• Finding Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
• Finding Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
• Evaluating Scholarly Articles
• Google Scholar
• Tips for Reading Journal Articles

STEM Librarian

Primary research or a primary study refers to a research article that is an author’s original research that is almost always published in a peer-reviewed journal. A primary study reports on the details, methods and results of a research study. These articles often have a standard structure of a format called IMRAD, referring to sections of an article: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. Primary research studies will start with a review of the previous literature, however, the rest of the article will focus on the authors’ original research. Literature reviews can be published in peer-reviewed journals, however, they are not primary research.

Primary studies are part of primary sources but should not be mistaken for primary documents. Primary documents are usually original sources such as a letter, a diary, a speech or an autobiography. They are a first person view of an event or a period. Typically, if you are a Humanities major, you will be asked to find primary documents for your paper however, if you are in Social Sciences or the Sciences you are most likely going to be asked to find primary research studies. If you are unsure, ask your professor or a librarian for help.

A primary research or study is an empirical research that is published in peer-reviewed journals. Some ways of recognizing whether an article is a primary research article when searching a database:

1. The abstract includes a research question or a hypothesis,  methods and results.

2. Studies can have tables and charts representing data findings.

3. The article includes a section for "methods” or “methodology” and "results".

4. Discussion section indicates findings and discusses limitations of the research study, and suggests further research.

5. Check the reference section because it will refer you to the studies and works that were consulted. You can use this section to find other studies on that particular topic.

The following are not to be confused with primary research articles:

- Literature reviews

- Meta-analyses or systematic reviews (these studies make conclusions based on research on many other studies)

• << Previous: Getting Started With Peer-Reviewed Literature
• Next: Finding Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles >>
• Last Updated: Feb 15, 2024 2:45 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.ucmo.edu/peerreview

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Methodology
• Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples

Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples

Published on 15 January 2023 by Tegan George .

Primary research is a research method that relies on direct data collection , rather than relying on data that’s already been collected by someone else. In other words, primary research is any type of research that you undertake yourself, firsthand, while using data that has already been collected is called secondary research.

Primary research is often used in qualitative research , particularly in survey methodology, questionnaires, focus groups, and various types of interviews . While quantitative primary research does exist, it’s not as common.

Table of contents

When to use primary research, types of primary research, examples of primary research, advantages and disadvantages of primary research, frequently asked questions.

Primary research is any research that you conduct yourself. It can be as simple as a 2-question survey, or as in-depth as a years-long longitudinal study . The only key is that data must be collected firsthand by you.

Primary research is often used to supplement or strengthen existing secondary research. It is usually exploratory in nature, concerned with examining a research question where no preexisting knowledge exists. It is also sometimes called original research for this reason.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Primary research can take many forms, but the most common types are:

• Surveys and questionnaire
• Observational studies
• Interviews and focus groups
• Surveys and questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires collect information about a group of people by asking them questions and analyzing the results. They are a solid choice if your research topic seeks to investigate something about the characteristics, preferences, opinions, or beliefs of a group of people.

Surveys and questionnaires can take place online, in person, or through the mail. It is best to have a combination of open-ended and closed-ended questions, and how the questions are phrased matters. Be sure to avoid leading questions, and ask any related questions in groups, starting with the most basic ones first.

Observational studies are an easy and popular way to answer a research question based purely on what you, the researcher, observes. If there are practical or ethical concerns that prevent you from conducting a traditional experiment , observational studies are often a good stopgap.

There are three types of observational studies: cross-sectional studies , cohort studies, and case-control studies. If you decide to conduct observational research, you can choose the one that’s best for you. All three are quite straightforward and easy to design – just beware of confounding variables and observer bias creeping into your analysis.

Similarly to surveys and questionnaires, interviews and focus groups also rely on asking questions to collect information about a group of people. However, how this is done is slightly different. Instead of sending your questions out into the world, interviews and focus groups involve two or more people – one of whom is you, the interviewer, who asks the questions.

There are 3 main types of interviews:

• Structured interviews ask predetermined questions in a predetermined order.
• Unstructured interviews are more flexible and free-flowing, proceeding based on the interviewee’s previous answers.
• Semi-structured interviews fall in between, asking a mix of predetermined questions and off-the-cuff questions.

While interviews are a rich source of information, they can also be deceptively challenging to do well. Be careful of interviewer bias creeping into your process. This is best mitigated by avoiding double-barreled questions and paying close attention to your tone and delivery while asking questions.

Alternatively, a focus group is a group interview, led by a moderator. Focus groups can provide more nuanced interactions than individual interviews, but their small sample size means that external validity is low.

Primary research can often be quite simple to pursue yourself. Here are a few examples of different research methods you can use to explore different topics.

Primary research is a great choice for many research projects, but it has distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of primary research

Advantages include:

• The ability to conduct really tailored, thorough research, down to the ‘nitty-gritty’ of your topic . You decide what you want to study or observe and how to go about doing that.
• You maintain control over the quality of the data collected, and can ensure firsthand that it is objective, reliable , and valid .
• The ensuing results are yours, for you to disseminate as you see fit. You maintain proprietary control over what you find out, allowing you to share your findings with like-minded individuals or those conducting related research that interests you for replication or discussion purposes.

Disadvantages of primary research

Disadvantages include:

• In order to be done well, primary research can be very expensive and time consuming. If you are constrained in terms of time or funding, it can be very difficult to conduct your own high-quality primary research.
• Primary research is often insufficient as a standalone research method, requiring secondary research to bolster it.
• Primary research can be prone to various types of research bias . Bias can manifest on the part of the researcher as observer bias , Pygmalion effect , or demand characteristics . It can occur on the part of participants as a Hawthorne effect or social desirability bias .

The 3 main types of primary research are:

Exploratory research explores the main aspects of a new or barely researched question.

Explanatory research explains the causes and effects of an already widely researched question.

There are several methods you can use to decrease the impact of confounding variables on your research: restriction, matching, statistical control, and randomisation.

In restriction , you restrict your sample by only including certain subjects that have the same values of potential confounding variables.

In matching , you match each of the subjects in your treatment group with a counterpart in the comparison group. The matched subjects have the same values on any potential confounding variables, and only differ in the independent variable .

In statistical control , you include potential confounders as variables in your regression .

In randomisation , you randomly assign the treatment (or independent variable) in your study to a sufficiently large number of subjects, which allows you to control for all potential confounding variables.

A questionnaire is a data collection tool or instrument, while a survey is an overarching research method that involves collecting and analysing data from people using questionnaires.

When conducting research, collecting original data has significant advantages:

• You can tailor data collection to your specific research aims (e.g., understanding the needs of your consumers or user testing your website).
• You can control and standardise the process for high reliability and validity (e.g., choosing appropriate measurements and sampling methods ).

However, there are also some drawbacks: data collection can be time-consuming, labour-intensive, and expensive. In some cases, it’s more efficient to use secondary data that has already been collected by someone else, but the data might be less reliable.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

George, T. (2023, January 15). Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/primary-research-explained/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, data collection methods | step-by-step guide & examples, observer bias | definition, examples, prevention, what is qualitative research | methods & examples.

Understanding research and critical appraisal

• Introduction
• Secondary research

What is primary research?

Quantitative research study designs, qualitative research study designs, mixed methods research study designs.

• Critical appraisal of research papers
• Useful terminology
• Further reading and helpful resources

Primary research articles provide a report of individual, original research studies, which constitute the majority of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. All primary research studies are conducted according to a specified methodology, which will be partly determined by the aims and objectives of the research.

The following sections offer brief summaries of some of the common quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods study designs you may encounter. 

Randomised Controlled Trial

A randomised controlled trial (RCT) is a study where participants are randomly allocated to two or more groups. One group receives the treatment that is being tested by the study (treatment or experimental group), and the other group(s) receive an alternative, which is often the current standard treatment or a placebo (control or comparison group). The nature of the control used should always be specified.

An RCT is a good study choice for determining the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment, or for comparing the relative effectiveness of different interventions or treatments. If well implemented, the randomisation of participants in RCTs should ensure that the groups differ only in their exposure to treatment, and that differences in outcomes between the groups are probably attributable to the treatment being studied.

In crossover randomised controlled trials, participants receive all of the treatments and controls being tested in a random order. This means that participants receive one treatment, the effect of which is measured, and then "cross over" into the other treatment group, where the effect of the second treatment (or control) is measured.

RCTs are generally considered to be the most rigorous experimental study design, as the randomisation of participants helps to minimise confounding and other sources of bias.

Cohort study

A cohort study identifies a group of people and follows them over a period of time to see who develops the outcome of interest to the study. This type of study is normally used to look at the effect of suspected risk factors that cannot be controlled experimentally – for example, the effect of smoking on lung cancer.

Also sometimes called longitudinal studies, cohort studies can be either prospective, that is, exposure factors are identified at the beginning of a study and the study population is followed into the future, or retrospective, that is, medical records for the study population are used to identify past exposure factors.

Cohort studies are useful in answering questions about disease causation or progression, or studying the effects of harmful exposures.

Cohort studies are generally considered to be the most reliable observational study design. They are not as reliable as RCTs, as the study groups may differ in ways other than the variable being studied.

Other problems with cohort studies are that they require a large sample size, are inefficient for rare outcomes, and can take long periods of time.

Case-Control Study

A case-control study compares a group of people with a disease or condition, against a control population without the disease or condition, in order to investigate the causes of particular outcomes. The study looks back at the two groups over time to see which risk factors for the disease or condition they have been exposed to.

Case-control studies can be useful in identifying which risk factors may predict a disease, or how a disease progresses over time. They can be especially useful for investigating the causes of rare outcomes.

Case-control studies can be done quickly, and do not require large groups of subjects. However, their reliance on retrospective data which may be incomplete or unreliable (owing to subject ability to accurately recall information such as the appearance of a symptom) can be a difficulty.

Cross-Sectional Study

A cross-sectional study collects data from the study population at one point in time, and considers the relationships between characteristics. Also  sometimes called surveys or prevalence studies.

Cross-sectional studies are generally used to study the prevalence of a risk factor, disease or outcome in a chosen population.

Because cross-sectional studies do not look at trends or changes over time, they cannot establish cause and effect between exposures and outcomes.

Case Series / Case Reports

A case series is a descriptive study of a group of people, who have either received the same treatment or have the same disease, in order to identify characteristics or outcomes in a particular group of people.

Case series are useful for studying rare diseases or adverse outcomes, for illustrating particular aspects of a condition, identifying treatment approaches, and for generating hypotheses for further study.

A case report provides a study of an individual, rather than a group.

Case series and case reports have no comparative control groups, and are prone to bias and chance association.

Expert opinion

Expert opinion draws upon the clinical experience and recommendations of those with established expertise on a topic.

Grounded theory

Grounded theory studies aim to generate theory in order to explain social processes, interactions or issues. This explanatory theory is grounded in, and generated from, the research participant data collected.

Research data typically takes the form of interviews, observations or documents. Data is analysed as it is collected, and is coded and organised into categories which inform the further collection of data, and the construction of theory. This cycle helps to refine the theory, which evolves as more data is gathered.

Phenomenology

A phenomenological study aims to describe the meaning(s) of the lived experience of a phenomenon. Research participants will have some common experience of the phenomenon under examination, but will differ in their precise individual experience, and in other personal or social characteristics.

Research data is typically in the form of observations, interviews or written records, and its analysis sets out to identify common themes in the participants' experience, while also highlighting variations and unique themes.

Ethnography

Ethnography is the study of a specific culture or cultural group, where the researcher seeks an insider perspective by placing themselves as a participant observer within the group under study.

Data is typically formed of observations, interviews and conversation. Ethnography aims to offer direct insight into the lives and the experiences of the group or the culture under study, examining its beliefs, values, practices and behaviours.

A case study offers a detailed description of the experience of an individual, a family, a community or an organisation, often with the aim of highlighting a particular issue. Research data may include documents, interviews and observations.

Content analysis

Content analysis is used to explore the occurrence, meanings and relationships of words, themes or concepts within a set of textual data. Research data might be drawn from any type of written document(s). Data is coded and categorised, with the aim of revealing and examining the patterns and the intentions of language use within the data set.

Narrative inquiry

A narrative inquiry offers in depth detail of a situation or experience from the perspective of an individual or small groups. Research data usually consists of interviews or recordings, which is presented as a structured, chronological narrative. Narrative inquiry studies often seek to give voice to individuals or populations whose perspective is less well established, or not commonly sought.

Action research

Action research is a form of research, commonly used with groups, where the participants take a more active, collaborative role in producing the research. Studies incorporate the lived experiences of the individuals, groups or communities under study, drawing on data which might include observation, interviews, questionnaires or workshops.

Action research is generally aimed at changing or improving a particular context, or a specific practice, alongside the generation of theory.

Explanatory sequential design

In an explanatory sequential study, emphasis is given to the collection and analysis of quantitative data, which occurs during the first phase of the study. The results of this quantitative phase inform the subsequent collection of qualitative data in the next phase.

Analysis of the resultant qualitative data is then used to 'explain' the quantitative results, usually serving to contextualise these, or to otherwise enhance or enrich the initial findings.

Exploratory sequential design

In an exploratory sequential study, the opposite sequence to that outlined above is used. In this case, qualitative data is emphasised, with this being collected and analysed during the first phase of the study. The results of this qualitative phase inform the subsequent collection of quantitative data in the next phase.

The quantitative data can then be used to define or to generalise the qualitative results, or to test these results on the basis of theory emerging from the initial findings.

Convergent design

In a convergent study, qualitative and quantitative data sets are collected and analysed simultaneously and independently of one another.

Results from analysis of both sets of data are brought together to provide one overall interpretation; this combination of data types can be handled in various ways, but the objective is always to provide a fuller understanding of the phenomena under study. Equal emphasis is given to both qualitative and quantitative data in a convergent study.

• << Previous: Secondary research
• Next: Critical appraisal of research papers >>
• Last Updated: Mar 26, 2024 4:38 PM
• URL: https://libguides.sgul.ac.uk/researchdesign

KPU Library

• Library Home
• Borrowing from the Library
• Borrowing From Other Academic Institutions
• Borrowing and Fine Questions
• Course Reserves
• Equipment & Media Services
• Interlibrary Loans
• Requesting KPU Material
• Student Laptop Loans
• Academic Integrity & Plagiarism
• Articles and Databases
• Citation Style Guides
• Collections
• Journal Titles
• Research Help Guide
• Scholarly Publications
• Subject Guides
• Video Tutorials
• Data Services
• Library Instruction
• Library Services to support Teaching & Learning
• Library Tutorials & Activities
• Link.Scan.Open.
• Open Publishing Suite
• Placing Items on Reserve
• Research, Scholarship & Publishing at KPU
• Teaching Online
• Computers & Wifi
• Library Accessibility Services
• My Library Account & Passwords
• Off Site Access
• Our Facilities
• Printing, Photocopy, Scan
• Study Rooms & Bookings
• About the Library
• Indigenization at KPU Library
• Library Directory
• KPU Library News Blog
• Welcome to KPU Library
• Contact Your Librarian
• Hours & Locations
• Library Events

CRIM 1208: Research Methods

• About this guide
• Developing a research question
• What are scholarly articles?
• What are primary research articles?
• Finding articles in databases
• Where to find government statistics? This link opens in a new window
• Literature reviews
• Citation mapping
• Citing in APA style
• Go to main CRIM library guide

Which of these is an ORIGINAL (PRIMARY) research article?

What are original (primary) research articles.

• Primary & secondary research

Structure of a primary research article

Primary and secondary research articles.

Once researchers complete a project, they will usually (try to) publish their findings in a peer-reviewed journal. These are often called PRIMARY or ORIGINAL research articles because they are the first-publication of new research findings and are written by the researchers themselves. They may also be called EMPIRICAL articles.

Secondary sources of information describe, explain, interpret or summarize primary sources. These include encyclopedias, book reviews, commentaries, literature reviews, and any books or journal articles that simply discuss the original (previously-published) work of others . Although these can be very helpful sources for identifying primary research articles, they are not primary studies themselves.

VIDEO: What is Original (Primary) Research in Criminology? (19:38)

Describes the typical structure of an original research article, with a particular focus on the Methods section. It shows examples of several types of original research articles (qualitative and quantitative, including articles using secondary data, and meta-analyses), as well as several types of secondary articles (book reviews, editorial essays, theoretical analyses and literature reviews). The emphasis is on learning to read the abstract for indications of original research, and checking for a Methods section in the article. Part 1 of the Finding Original Research Articles in Criminology video series.

• Video (Kaltura)
• Video transcript (text file)

• VIDEO: What is Empirical Research? (2:59)
• Finding Peer-Reviewed, Primary Research Articles in Criminology 4-page KPU Library guide.

A primary (original) research article will usually be divided into several labeled sections. The screenshot above is from the video " What is Original (Primary) Research in Criminology? ". You can jump to the 3:10 timestamp to watch the " Sections of an original research article " segment of the video.

• Introduction (which usually includes a literature review)
• Method (often called Methodology or Methods) -- always found in an empirical research article
• Findings or Results
• Conclusions

The names of the parts may vary, but a primary research article will always include a methodology section explaining how the research was conducted (i.e. what type of empirical method was used). Most secondary journal articles do not include a methods section.

• << Previous: What are scholarly articles?
• Next: Finding articles in databases >>
• Last Updated: May 22, 2024 12:51 PM
• URL: https://libguides.kpu.ca/crim/1208

• Technical Support
• Technical Papers
• Knowledge Base
• Question Library

Call our friendly, no-pressure support team.

What is Primary Research? Definitions, Methods, Sources, Examples, and More

Table of Contents

What is Primary Research? Primary Research Meaning

Primary research is a cornerstone of insightful, accurate, and effective decision-making in both academic and professional settings. At its core, primary research refers to the process of collecting data directly from sources rather than relying on previously gathered information, distinguishing it clearly from secondary research . 

The process of directly controlling the collection of the data is pivotal for ensuring the accuracy and relevance of the analysis, enabling researchers to tailor their investigations to specific research questions or problems put to them by stakeholders. This direct involvement contrasts with primary vs secondary research , where the latter often involves analyzing existing data.

Primary research serves as a vital component when seeking answers to your business objectives, filling gaps in existing knowledge and providing new data for analysis. Particularly coming into play when solving research problems with a high degree of specificity and relevance. 

By leveraging primary research, professionals can uncover unique insights, highly specific to their intended target market, tailored to their industry and unique to their product of interest. This level of tailoring is simply not possible through the use of secondary research.

When to Use Primary Research

Selecting the appropriate research method is a critical decision that hinges on the objectives of the study. Primary research is particularly beneficial in scenarios where recent, specific data is required to address a unique problem or question. This method is ideal for:

Academic Research

In the realm of academic research, primary research is indispensable when fresh insights or novel data are necessary to advance knowledge or contribute to scholarly debates. This type of research is crucial for:

• Exploring New Theories or Models : When a researcher aims to develop or validate a new theory, firsthand data collection is essential. For instance, a psychologist conducting experiments to test a new cognitive behavioral therapy model for anxiety would rely on primary research to gather data on the therapy's effectiveness directly from participants.
• Filling Knowledge Gaps : Primary research helps fill gaps in existing literature. If a historian is studying a less-documented cultural practice, interviews and observational studies can provide new insights that no secondary sources could offer.
• Improving Research Rigor : Utilizing primary data enhances the rigor of academic studies. By collecting and analyzing original data, researchers can draw conclusions with greater validity, offering substantial contributions to their fields.

Market Research

Market research utilizes primary research extensively to understand consumer behaviors, preferences, and trends. This method is particularly advantageous for:

• Product Development : Before launching a new product, companies often use surveys and focus groups to gather consumer feedback on the product concept, design, and functionality. For example, a beverage company considering a new flavor profile might conduct taste tests and focus groups to refine the product based on direct consumer feedback.
• Customer Satisfaction : To assess and enhance customer satisfaction, businesses frequently employ primary research methods such as customer satisfaction surveys and in-depth interviews. This allows companies to receive real-time feedback and quickly implement changes to improve customer service.
• Segmentation and Targeting : Through interviews and surveys, companies can identify customer segments and understand their specific needs and preferences. This segmentation enables more effective targeting of marketing efforts and product customization.

Get Started with Market Research Today!

Ready for your next market research study? Get access to our free survey research tool. In just a few minutes, you can create powerful surveys with our easy-to-use interface.

Start Market Research for Free or Request a Product Tour

Policy Formulation

Primary research is critical in policy formulation, particularly when policies need to be based on up-to-date and specific data regarding public opinion, needs, and conditions. Primary research methods such as public opinion polls and field observations are commonly used:

• Understanding Public Needs : Governments and organizations use primary research to gauge public opinion on various issues, from healthcare to urban development. For instance, before implementing a new public transport policy, a city council might conduct surveys to understand residents' preferences and concerns regarding transit options.
• Evaluating Policy Impact : After a policy is implemented, primary research is used to evaluate its effectiveness. This could involve collecting data on user satisfaction, policy usage, and public perception through direct feedback mechanisms like online polls or public forums.
• Refining Policies : Continuous primary research is necessary to refine and adjust policies based on direct stakeholder feedback. This dynamic approach ensures that policies remain relevant and effective over time.

In each of these contexts, primary research not only provides the specificity needed for tailored insights but also offers the flexibility to adapt to emerging data and trends, thereby enhancing the overall impact and effectiveness of the research efforts.

Types of Primary Research Methods with Examples

Primary research methods are diverse, each tailored to fit specific study objectives and research environments. These methods enable researchers to gather fresh, firsthand data directly related to their study's focus.

Surveys are structured questionnaires designed to collect data from a target audience. They are used widely due to their versatility in capturing a broad spectrum of information, ranging from customer preferences to behavioral patterns. Surveys can be administered online, in person, or via phone, making them adaptable to various research needs. For instance, a company aiming to gauge customer satisfaction might deploy an online survey to understand the factors influencing their product's user experience. This method allows for quick data collection from a large audience, providing valuable insights into customer sentiment. The volume of respondent data collected via this method also enables analysis via a range of statistical methods, allowing us to understand if the answers we receive are robust, or if there are any hidden patterns which emerge from the data.

One to One Interviews

Interviews involve direct, one-on-one conversations where detailed information is solicited from participants. They are particularly useful for gathering qualitative data, offering deep insights into participants' attitudes, experiences, and emotions. Interviews can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured, giving researchers flexibility in their approach. Imagine a study exploring the impact of remote work on employee well-being. Conducting semi-structured interviews with employees would offer nuanced understandings of personal experiences, challenges faced, and the overall satisfaction with remote work arrangements. The depth of understanding and information gathered via this process is particularly useful when speaking to participants about difficult or challenging topics of conversation.

Focus Groups

Focus Groups are guided discussions with a small group of participants, typically used to explore new ideas or opinions about products, services, or concepts. This method is invaluable for generating rich, detailed data and for observing the dynamics of participants' interactions and consensus-forming processes. Consider a company developing a new smartphone app. Hosting a focus group session with potential users could unveil insights into user expectations, desired features, and usability concerns, directly influencing the app's development trajectory. Due to the small number of respondents involved in the groups, care must be taken to ensure that you are speaking to a representative sample of your intended audience.

Ethnographic Studies

Ethnographic Studies involve watching and recording the behavior of subjects in their natural environment without intervention. This method is critical for studies where interaction with the subject might alter the outcome. For example, a retailer interested in improving store layout might conduct an observational study to track customer navigation patterns, identifying areas of congestion or overlooked products. Ethnographic studies can uncover vital behaviours which respondents themselves may be unaware of, as researchers seek to identify the unconscious behaviors which may otherwise be hidden from other research methods.

Examples of Primary Sources in Research

Primary research data sources are the lifeblood of firsthand research, providing raw, unfiltered insights directly from the source. These include:

Customer Satisfaction Survey Results: Direct feedback from customers about their satisfaction with a product or service. This data is invaluable for identifying strengths to build on and areas for improvement and typically renews each month or quarter so that metrics can be tracked over time.

NPS Rating Scores from Customers: Net Promoter Score (NPS) provides a straightforward metric to gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction. This quantitative data can reveal much about customer sentiment and the likelihood of referrals.

Ad-hoc Surveys: Ad-hoc surveys can be about any topic which requires investigation, they are typically one-off surveys which zero in on one particular business objective. Ad-hoc projects are useful for situations such as investigating issues identified in other tracking surveys, new product development, ad testing, brand messaging, and many other kinds of projects.

A Field Researcher’s Notes: Detailed observations from fieldwork can offer nuanced insights into user behaviors, interactions, and environmental factors that influence those interactions. These notes are a goldmine for understanding the context and complexities of user experiences.

Recordings Made During Focus Groups: Audio or video recordings of focus group discussions capture the dynamics of conversation, including reactions, emotions, and the interplay of ideas. Analyzing these recordings can uncover nuanced consumer attitudes and perceptions that might not be evident in survey data alone.

Through these examples, it's clear that each primary research method and source serves a distinct purpose, providing unique insights that are crucial for informed decision-making and strategic planning in various contexts.

Marketing Research Consulting

Need help with your research study? Contact our expert consulting team for help with survey design, fielding, and interpreting survey results.

Contact Our Consulting Team

Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary Research

Primary research, characterized by its ability to gather firsthand information directly from the source, plays a crucial role in the landscape of research methodologies. Despite its invaluable contributions to the acquisition of new, tailored data, primary research comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Understanding these can help researchers and organizations make informed decisions when planning their research strategies.

Advantages of Primary Research

• Specificity and Relevance : Primary research allows for the collection of data specifically tailored to the research questions or objectives. This targeted approach ensures that the information gathered is highly relevant and directly applicable to the matter at hand, providing clear insights and facilitating informed decision-making.
• Control Over Data Quality : When conducting primary research, the researcher has complete control over the quality of data collected. This includes the design of the research method, the selection of participants, and the timing of data collection, all of which contribute to the reliability and validity of the research outcomes.
• Up-to-Date Information : One of the key strengths of primary research is its ability to produce the most current data possible. This is particularly important in fast-moving sectors where timely information can provide a competitive edge or in academic studies where recent data can lead to groundbreaking conclusions.
• Proprietary Information : The data collected through primary research is exclusive to the researcher or the commissioning organization. This proprietary nature of the data can offer a strategic advantage, especially in commercial contexts where unique insights can differentiate a company from its competitors.
• Flexibility : Primary research methods are highly flexible, allowing researchers to adjust their approach based on preliminary findings or to explore unexpected avenues. This adaptability can lead to more comprehensive and nuanced understandings of the research topic.

Disadvantages of Primary Research

• Cost : Conducting primary research is often expensive due to the costs associated with designing and implementing the study, recruiting participants, and collecting and analyzing data. These expenses can be prohibitive for some organizations or individual researchers.
• Time : Primary research can be time-consuming, from the initial planning stages through to data collection and data analysis . This extended timeline may not be suitable for projects with tight deadlines or where quick decisions are needed.
• Complexity : Designing and conducting primary research requires a certain level of expertise to ensure that the data collected is valid, reliable, and relevant. This complexity can pose challenges, particularly for those without extensive research experience.
• Sample Size and Representativeness : Achieving a sample size that is both large enough to be statistically significant and representative of the broader population can be challenging. Missteps in this area can lead to skewed data and potentially unreliable conclusions.
• Bias : Despite efforts to minimize bias in research design and implementation, primary research is vulnerable to biases introduced by the researcher, participants, or the research context itself. These biases can affect the objectivity and accuracy of the findings.

In conclusion, primary research is a valuable part of any researcher's toolkit, offering detailed, specific insights that are directly relevant to the research question. However, the decision to undertake primary research should be weighed against the potential costs, time requirements, and complexities involved.

Free Survey Maker Tool

Get access to our free and intuitive survey maker. In just a few minutes, you can create powerful surveys with its easy-to-use interface.

Try our Free Survey Maker or Request a Product Tour

Sawtooth Software

3210 N Canyon Rd Ste 202

Provo UT 84604-6508

United States of America

Support: [email protected]

Consulting: [email protected]

Sales: [email protected]

Products & Services

Support & Resources

• William & Mary Libraries
• Research Guides
• Using the Library

Science Writing

• Primary Research Articles
• Review Articles
• Citing in the Sciences

What is a primary research article? 

If you're writing an empirical article (also known as a primary research article) then you're doing original, typically experimental, research -- you are creating new knowledge and will have original findings. These primary research articles will always have a methodology section where you describe how you conducted your study. It will typically be structured like this: 

• Introduction

Methodology

How to Write a Primary Research Article

The introduction will include: 

• A review of the literature (background on your topic & what other research has been done)
• The question this study will be answering, and why it's important
• Your approach to answering the question, and your hypothesis

Things to avoid: 

• Excessive length
• Leaving out the justification for the study

The methods section is where you detail the materials and experimental approaches that you used in your study. It should be detailed, particularly if the method you're using is novel. A general guideline is that you want to include enough detail so that other researchers could replicate your experiment. When writing it, you should arrange everything chronologically and can use subsections where appropriate. 

• Switching tenses (it should be in past tense)
• Insufficient detail
• Omitting the purpose of the experiment

The results section will include data and your interpretation of the data (but it won't tie it in to the overall literature or bigger implications -- that's what the discussion section is for). You should include your main findings, any other important findings, and your control results. Most data should be in figures or tables, with the text being used to summarize and explain the data. The results section should be organized in a logical way -- for instance, from most important to least important findings. 

Things to Avoid: 

• Inexact language ("significance" means something very particular in science)
• Including irrelevant data 
• Excessive detail (don't include results from anything not discussed in the methods section)

The discussion section will answer your research question by stating and interpreting your findings, including their relevance, meaning, and context. You should tie in elements from your earlier literature review to explain what is new and impactful about your work. The discussion section is also where you can talk about possible limitations of your study and suggest future work that can be done. It should be organized in a way that moves from specific to broad, introducing your particular findings first and then moving to a more general perspective. 

• Restating your results section
• Making conclusions outside of the scope of your findings 
• Criticizing other studies

The conclusion may be the last paragraph of the discussion section, or it can be pulled out into its own section. Either way it should be about a paragraph in length and should recap the most important results and significance of your findings. 

• Introducing large ideas not already covered in the paper 
• Excessive length -- conclusion should be brief 

Examples of Primary Research Articles

• Experimental Exposure to Urban and Pink Noise Affects Brain Development and Song Learning in Zebra Finches
• Effect of an Enteric-Coated Fish Oil Preparation on Relapses in Crohn's Disease
• The Effect of Intrinsic Crumpling on the Mechanics of Free-Standing Graphene

Instruction & Research Librarian

• << Previous: Review Articles
• Next: Citing in the Sciences >>

Finding Scholarly Articles: Home

What's a Scholarly Article?

Your professor has specified that you are to use scholarly (or primary research or peer-reviewed or refereed or academic) articles only in your paper. What does that mean?

Scholarly or primary research articles are peer-reviewed , which means that they have gone through the process of being read by reviewers or referees  before being accepted for publication. When a scholar submits an article to a scholarly journal, the manuscript is sent to experts in that field to read and decide if the research is valid and the article should be published. Typically the reviewers indicate to the journal editors whether they think the article should be accepted, sent back for revisions, or rejected.

To decide whether an article is a primary research article, look for the following:

• The author’s (or authors') credentials and academic affiliation(s) should be given;
• There should be an abstract summarizing the research;
• The methods and materials used should be given, often in a separate section;
• There are citations within the text or footnotes referencing sources used;
• Results of the research are given;
• There should be discussion   and  conclusion ;
• With a bibliography or list of references at the end.

Caution: even though a journal may be peer-reviewed, not all the items in it will be. For instance, there might be editorials, book reviews, news reports, etc. Check for the parts of the article to be sure.   

You can limit your search results to primary research, peer-reviewed or refereed articles in many databases. To search for scholarly articles in  HOLLIS , type your keywords in the box at the top, and select  Catalog&Articles  from the choices that appear next.   On the search results screen, look for the  Show Only section on the right and click on  Peer-reviewed articles . (Make sure to  login in with your HarvardKey to get full-text of the articles that Harvard has purchased.)

Many of the databases that Harvard offers have similar features to limit to peer-reviewed or scholarly articles.  For example in Academic Search Premier , click on the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals  on the search screen.

Review articles are another great way to find scholarly primary research articles.   Review articles are not considered "primary research", but they pull together primary research articles on a topic, summarize and analyze them.  In Google Scholar , click on Review Articles  at the left of the search results screen. Ask your professor whether review articles can be cited for an assignment.

A note about Google searching.  A regular Google search turns up a broad variety of results, which can include scholarly articles but Google results also contain commercial and popular sources which may be misleading, outdated, etc.  Use Google Scholar  through the Harvard Library instead.

About Wikipedia .  W ikipedia is not considered scholarly, and should not be cited, but it frequently includes references to scholarly articles. Before using those references for an assignment, double check by finding them in Hollis or a more specific subject  database .

Still not sure about a source? Consult the course syllabus for guidance, contact your professor or teaching fellow, or use the Ask A Librarian service.

• Last Updated: Oct 3, 2023 3:37 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/FindingScholarlyArticles

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

Animal Science

How to identify peer reviewed journals, how to identify primary research articles.

• Reference Sources
• Key Journals
• Writing & Citing
• Self Checkout
• Anatomy Study Resources
• Peer Reviewed Journals Quiz How do I know if a journal is peer reviewed? What is peer review, anyway? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge and perhaps learn something new!
• Primary Research Articles Quiz How do I know if an article is a primary or secondary research article? Are there search techniques that will help me find them? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge and perhaps learn something new!

You must get all answers correct to submit the quiz!

Peer review is defined as “a process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field” ( 1 ). Peer review is intended to serve two purposes:

• It acts as a filter to ensure that only high quality research is published, especially in reputable journals, by determining the validity, significance and originality of the study.
• Peer review is intended to improve the quality of manuscripts that are deemed suitable for publication. Peer reviewers provide suggestions to authors on how to improve the quality of their manuscripts, and also identify any errors that need correcting before publication.

How do you determine whether an article qualifies as being a peer-reviewed journal article?

• If you're searching for articles in certain databases, you can limit your search to peer-reviewed sources simply by selecting a tab or checking a box on the search screen.
• If you have an article, an indication that it has been through the peer review process will be the publication history , usually at the beginning or end of the article.
• If you're looking at the journal itself, go to the  editorial statement or instructions to authors  (usually in the first few pages of the journal or at the end) for references to the peer-review process.
• Lookup the journal by title or ISSN in the ProQuest Source Evaluation Aid . 
• Careful! Not all information in a peer-reviewed journal is actually reviewed. Editorials, letters to the editor, book reviews, and other types of information don't count as articles, and may not be accepted by your professor.

What about preprint sites and ResearchGate?

• A preprint is a piece of research that has not yet been peer reviewed and published in a journal. In most cases, they can be considered final drafts or working papers. Preprint sites are great sources of current research - and most preprint sites will provide a link to a later, peer-reviewed version of an article. 
• ResearchGate is a commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. Members can upload research output including papers, chapters, negative results, patents, research proposals, methods, presentations, etc. Researchers can access these materials, and also contact members to ask for access to material that has not been shared, usually because of copyright restrictions. There is a filter to limit results to articles, but it can be difficult to determine the publication history of ResearchGate items and whether they have been published in peer reviewed sources.

A primary research article reports on an empirical research study conducted by the authors. The goal of a primary research article is to present the result of original research that makes a new contribution to the body of knowledge. 

Characteristics:

• Almost always published in a peer-reviewed journal
• Asks a research question or states a hypothesis or hypotheses
• Identifies a research population
• Describes a specific research method
• Tests or measures something
• Often (but not always) structured in a standard format called IMRAD: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion
• Words to look for as clues include: analysis, study, investigation, examination, experiment, numbers of people or objects analyzed, content analysis, or surveys.

To contrast, the following are not primary research articles (i.e., they are secondary sources):

• Literature reviews/Review articles
• Meta-Analyses (studies that arrive at conclusions based on research from many other studies)
• Editorials & Letters
• Dissertations

Articles that are NOT primary research articles may discuss the same research, but they are not reporting on original research, they are summarizing and commenting on research conducted and published by someone else. For example, a literature review provides commentary and analysis of research done by other people, but it does not report the results of the author's own study and is not primary research.

• << Previous: Home
• Next: Reference Sources >>
• Last Updated: Aug 24, 2023 2:38 PM
• URL: https://libguides.berry.edu/ans

BIO 191: General Biology I

• Get Ready to Search
• Find Articles
• What is a Scholarly Article?
• What is a Peer-Reviewed Article?

What is a Primary Research Article?

How do you identify primary research articles.

• Cite Your Sources

Librarian for the Sciences

In a primary research article, author(s) present a new set of findings from original research after conducting an original experiment. Think of what you do in any of your various lab activities. If you were to write a scholarly paper on any of your biology labs (like the Flowers and Pollinators lab from BIO 191), it would be a primary research article.

Primary research articles are also referred to as original research or research articles.

How to Identify Primary Research Article

• Did the author(s) of the paper conduct the experiment themselves? This is the most important thing to look for in order to identify primary research. Look for language that indicates that the author(s) devised the experiment, carried it out, and analyzed the resulting data themselves.
• "Methods"/"Materials and Methods"/"Experimental Methods"(different journals title this section in different ways)
• "Results"
• "Discussion"

Here is One Example of a Primary Research Article and How to Determine that it is a Primary Research Article

"Effects of Salinity Stress on Survival, Metabolism, Limb Regeneration, and Ecdysis in UCA PUGNAX"

Read the Abstract

If you read the abstract, you can see that the author(s) themselves conducted an experiment:

• "This study investigated physiological and metabolic changes in the molt cycle of U. pugnax..."
• "For this study, a limb was removed and its regenerative growth was photographed every two days"
• "...crabs were dissected, and the tissues collected were analyzed for their protein and carbohydrate contents."

Read the Headings

• The article has Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion sections, all which indicate that the authors conducted an experiment and then analyzed the data they found.

Skim the Article

If you skim the article, it is clear that the authors tested a hypothesis using the scientific method. They are only really talking about research that was conducted by others in the "Introduction" section of the article, which is what you would expect for a primary research article.

Look for Textual Evidence

If you skim the article, you can easily find additional evidence that an experiment was conducted by the authors themselves.

• [They collected their sample i.e. crabs.]
• [They exposed their sample to different variables.]
• [They used statistical methods to analyze their data.]
• [They reported the results of their experiment.]
• [They drew a conclusion from their experimental results.]
• << Previous: What is a Peer-Reviewed Article?
• Next: Cite Your Sources >>
• Last Updated: Aug 30, 2024 12:01 PM
• URL: https://resources.library.lemoyne.edu/courses/bio191

Identifying Primary and Secondary Research Articles

• Primary and Secondary

Primary Research Articles

Primary research articles report on a single study. In the health sciences, primary research articles generally describe the following aspects of the study:

• The study's hypothesis or research question
• Some articles will include information on how participants were recruited or identified, as well as additional information about participants' sex, age, or race/ethnicity
• A "methods" or "methodology" section that describes how the study was performed and what the researchers did
• Results and conclusion section

Secondary Research Articles

Review articles are the most common type of secondary research article in the health sciences. A review article is a summary of previously published research on a topic. Authors who are writing a review article will search databases for previously completed research and summarize or synthesize those articles,  as opposed to recruiting participants and performing a new research study.

Specific types of review articles include:

• Systematic Reviews
• Meta-Analysis
• Narrative Reviews
• Integrative Reviews
• Literature Reviews

Review articles often report on the following:

• The hypothesis, research question, or review topic
• Databases searched-- authors should clearly describe where and how they searched for the research included in their reviews
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis should provide detailed information on the databases searched and the search strategy the authors used.Selection criteria-- the researchers should describe how they decided which articles to include
• A critical appraisal or evaluation of the quality of the articles included (most frequently included in systematic reviews and meta-analysis)
• Discussion, results, and conclusions

Determining Primary versus Secondary Using the Database Abstract

Information found in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and other databases can help you determine whether the article you're looking at is primary or secondary.

Primary research article abstract

• Note that in the "Objectives" field, the authors describe their single, individual study.
• In the materials and methods section, they describe the number of patients included in the study and how those patients were divided into groups.
• These are all clues that help us determine this abstract is describing is a single, primary research article, as opposed to a literature review.
• Primary Article Abstract

Secondary research/review article abstract

• Note that the words "systematic review" and "meta-analysis" appear in the title of the article
• The objectives field also includes the term "meta-analysis" (a common type of literature review in the health sciences)
• The "Data Source" section includes a list of databases searched
• The "Study Selection" section describes the selection criteria
• These are all clues that help us determine that this abstract is describing a review article, as opposed to a single, primary research article.
• Secondary Research Article

• Primary vs. Secondary Worksheet

Full Text Challenge

Can you determine if the following articles are primary or secondary?

• Last Updated: Feb 17, 2024 5:25 PM
• URL: https://library.usfca.edu/primary-secondary

2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 415-422-5555

• Facebook (link is external)
• Instagram (link is external)
• Twitter (link is external)
• YouTube (link is external)
• Consumer Information
• Privacy Statement
• Web Accessibility

Copyright © 2022 University of San Francisco

Primary Sources: What They Are and Where to Find Them

What is a primary source.

• Finding Primary Sources in the UWRF Library

A primary source is an original object or document created during the time under study.   Primary sources vary by discipline and can include historical and legal documents, diaries, letters, family records, speeches, interviews, autobiographies, film, government documents, eye witness accounts, results of an experiment, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, and art objects. In the natural and social sciences, the results of an experiment or study are typically found in scholarly articles or papers delivered at conferences, so those articles and papers that present the original results are considered primary sources.  

A secondary source is something written about a primary source. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material. You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondard source. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that evaluate or criticize someone else's original research.

Research versus Review

Scientific and other peer reviewed journals are excellent sources for primary research sources. However, not every article in those journals will be an article with original research. Some will include book reviews and other materials that are more obviously secondary sources . More difficult to differentiate from original research articles are review articles . Both types of articles will end with a list of References (or Works Cited). Review articles are often as lengthy or even longer that original research articles. What the authors of review articles are doing is analysing and evaluating current research or investigations related to a specific topic, field, or problem. They are not primary sources since they review previously published material. They can be helpful for identifying potentially good primary sources, but they aren't primary themselves. Primary research articles can be identified by a commonly used format. If an article contains the following elements, you can count on it being a primary research article. Look for sections entitled Methods (sometimes with variations, such as Materials and Methods), Results (usually followed with charts and statistical tables), and Discussion . You can also read the abstract to get a good sense of the kind of article that is being presented. If it is a review article instead of a research article, the abstract should make that clear. If there is no abstract at all, that in itself may be a sign that it is not a primary resource. Short research articles, such as those found in Science and similar scientific publications that mix news, editorials, and forums with research reports, may not include any of those elements. In those cases look at the words the authors use, phrases such as "we tested," "we used," and "in our study, we measured" will tell you that the article is reporting on original research.

Primary or Secondary: You Decide

The distinction between types of sources can get tricky, because a secondary source may also be a primary source. DoVeanna Fulton's book on slave narratives, for example, can be looked at as both a secondary and a primary source. The distinction may depend on how you are using the source and the nature of your research. If you are researching slave narratives, the book would be a secondary source because Fulton is commenting on the narratives. If your assignment is to write a book review of Speaking Power , the book becomes a primary source, because you are commenting, evaluating, and discussing DoVeanna Fulton's ideas.

You can't always determine if something is primary or secondary just because of the source it is found in. Articles in newspapers and magazines are usually considered secondary sources. However, if a story in a newspaper about the Iraq war is an eyewitness account, that would be a primary source. If the reporter, however, includes additional materials he or she has gathered through interviews or other investigations, the article would be a secondary source. An interview in the Rolling Stone with Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes would be a primary source, but a review of the latest Black Crowes album would be a secondary source. In contrast, scholarly journals include research articles with primary materials, but they also have review articles that are not, or in some disciplines include articles where scholars are looking at primary source materials and coming to new conclusions.

For your thinking and not just to confuse you even further, some experts include tertiary sources as an additional distinction to make. These are sources that compile or, especially, digest other sources. Some reference materials and textbooks are considered tertiary sources when their chief purpose is to list or briefly summarize or, from an even further removed distance, repackage ideas. This is the reason that you may be advised not to include an encyclopedia article in a final bibliography.

The above material was adapted from the excellent explanation written by John Henderson found on Ithaca College's library website http://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/primary and is used with permission.

• Next: Finding Primary Sources in the UWRF Library >>
• Last Updated: Nov 8, 2023 3:51 PM
• URL: https://libguides.uwrf.edu/primarysources

• SUNY Oswego, Penfield Library
• Resource Guides

Biological Sciences Research Guide

Primary research vs review article.

• Research Starters
• Citing Sources
• Open Educational Resources
• Peer Review
• How to Read a Scientific Article
• Conducting a Literature Review
• Interlibrary Loan

Quick Links

• Penfield Library
• Research Guides
• A-Z List of Databases & Indexes

Characteristics of a Primary Research Article

• Goal is to present the result of original research that makes a new contribution to the body of knowledge
• Sometimes referred to as an empirical research article
• Typically organized into sections that include:  Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion/Conclusion, and References.

Example of a Primary Research Article:

Flockhart, D.T.T., Fitz-gerald, B., Brower, L.P., Derbyshire, R., Altizer, S., Hobson, K.A., … Norris, D.R., (2017). Migration distance as a selective episode for wing morphology in a migratory insect. Movement Ecology , 5(1), 1-9. doi: doi.org/10.1186/s40462-017-0098-9

Characteristics of a Review Article

• Goal is to summarize important research on a particular topic and to represent the current body of knowledge about that topic.
• Not intended to provide original research but to help draw connections between research studies that have previously been published.  
• Help the reader understand how current understanding of a topic has developed over time and identify gaps or inconsistencies that need further exploration.

Example of a Review Article:

https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/science/article/pii/S0960982218302537

• << Previous: Plagiarism
• Next: Peer Review >>

• Student Services
• Faculty Services

Peer Review and Primary Literature: An Introduction: Is it Primary Research? How Do I Know?

• Scholarly Journal vs. Magazine
• Peer Review: What is it?
• Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles
• Primary Journal Literature
• Is it Primary Research? How Do I Know?

Components of a Primary Research Study

As indicated on a previous page, Peer-Reviewed Journals also include non -primary content. Simply limiting your search results in a database to "peer-reviewed" will not retrieve a list of only primary research studies.

Learn to recognize the parts of a primary research study. Terminology will vary slightly from discipline to discipline and from journal to journal.  However, there are common components to most research studies.

When you run a search, find a promising article in your results list and then look at the record for that item (usually by clicking on the title). The full database record for an item usually includes an abstract or summary--sometimes prepared by the journal or database, but often written by the author(s) themselves. This will usually give a clear indication of whether the article is a primary study.  For example, here is a full database record from a search for family violence and support in SocINDEX with Full Text :

Although the abstract often tells the story, you will need to read the article to know for sure. Besides scanning the Abstract or Summary, look for the following components: (I am only capturing small article segments for illustration.)

Look for the words METHOD or METHODOLOGY . The authors should explain how they conducted their research.

NOTE: Different Journals and Disciplines will use different terms to mean similar things. If instead of " Method " or " Methodology " you see a heading that says " Research Design " or " Data Collection ," you have a similar indicator that the scholar-authors have done original research.

Look for the section called RESULTS . This details what the author(s) found out after conducting their research.

Charts , Tables , Graphs , Maps and other displays help to summarize and present the findings of the research.

A Discussion indicates the significance of findings, acknowledges limitations of the research study, and suggests further research.

References , a Bibliography or List of Works Cited indicates a literature review and shows other studies and works that were consulted. USE THIS PART OF THE STUDY! If you find one or two good recent studies, you can identify some important earlier studies simply by going through the bibliographies of those articles.

A FINAL NOTE:  If you are ever unclear about whether a particular article is appropriate to use in your paper, it is best to show that article to your professor and discuss it with them.  The professor is the final judge since they will be assigning your grade.

Subject Guide

• << Previous: Primary Journal Literature
• Last Updated: Aug 21, 2024 10:06 AM
• URL: https://suffolk.libguides.com/PeerandPrimary

Life, Society & Drugs: Appropriate Sources

• What sources are appropriate?
• Scholarly sources and peer review
• Tips for reading scientific papers
• How do I identify a primary research article?
• How do I find an internationally focused article?
• Recommended resources
• How can I cite my sources properly?
• How do I choose or develop a research topic?
• Wrapping up

Understanding Primary Research in the Sciences

• How do I identify a primary research article? This link will take you to the YouTube page where the video is stored. Captions and transcripts are included.

Primary sources in the sciences are typically academic journals. In them, the authors present their "primary" or original research. You may have heard of primary sources before in a history class, and the same idea applies here. A primary source is all about proximity. The authors should have firsthand experience with the content. In the sciences, that means that they conducted the research themselves.

Identifying Primary Research Articles

Here are five common components of primary research articles in the sciences. Check your source for these to help determine if you are looking at a primary source.

1. Written by experts who did the research

In a primary source, the authors report on research they conducted themselves. The best way to determine this is to read the introduction of the paper where the authors will explain what they are presenting. If the authors report only about someone else’s research or a different study, it is not primary. 

2. Reports on original research

This is closely tied to the first component. Did the authors of the article study something "new?" Did they delve into an issue to explore it further? Look for keywords in the abstract and introduction that tell you that the authors studied something. Keywords to look for include: "measured," "analyzed," and "investigated."

3. Describes how the authors did their study

A primary research article will describe the methods used to conduct the study. It ought to be detailed enough that the study could be replicated. Many primary research articles follow a common format with particular section headings. One of these is "methodology" or "methods." The methodology section is where the authors will explain how they did their study. Looking for this section heading is a good way to check for this factor. Even if this specific heading is missing, your article should still explain this to be primary.

4. Describes the study's results

The article should also clearly explain the results or outcomes of the research. Often you will see statistics, graphs, and/or tables in the article. These depictions of data in primary research articles will differ from the "decorative" images you may see in popular sources. Headings to look at for this factor include "results," "findings," and "discussion."

5. Always includes references

Finally, your primary research article will always include references. These could look like footnotes, a references section, or a works cited at the end of the article. Many articles that are not primary research articles - and even some that are not scholarly - include references. Do not make your decision of whether your article is primary or not based on this factor alone.

Primary Source Examples

• Burgo, Jose Luis, et al. “Cost of Provision of Opioid Substitution Therapy Provision in Tijuana, Mexico.”   Harm Reduction Journal , vol. 15, no. 1, May 2018, pp. 1–8.  ProQuest Central , https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-018-0234-x.
• Sharma, Shridhar, et al. “Substance Use and Criminality among Juveniles-under-Enquiry in New Delhi.”   Indian Journal of Psychiatry , vol. 58, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 178–182.  CINAHL Complete , https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.183791.

Secondary Source Examples

• Palinkas, Lawrence A. “Opioid Use Epidemic in Mexico: Global Solutions to a Global Problem.”   American Journal of Public Health,  vol. 109, no. 1, Jan. 2019. pp. 26–27.  CINAHL Complete, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304833
• Szalavitz, Maia, and Khary K. Rigg. “ The Curious (Dis)Connection between the Opioid Epidemic and Crime.”   Substance Use & Misuse , vol. 52, no. 14, Dec. 2017, pp. 1927–1931.  APA PsycInfo , https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2017.1376685.

How can I learn more about identifying primary sources?

To learn more about primary research articles in the sciences, watch the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries' short video (1 min, 37 sec) on the topic.

• Primary Research Articles in the Sciences This link will take you to the YouTube page where the video is stored. There are closed captions and transcripts included.
• << Previous: Tips for reading scientific papers
• Next: How do I find an internationally focused article? >>
• Last Updated: Sep 6, 2024 4:02 PM
• URL: https://libguides.slcc.edu/HLTH1050

ENVS 117: Environmental Science (Dugger): What is a Primary Article?

• What is a Primary Article?
• Find Articles
• Read Articles
• Cite Sources This link opens in a new window

Article Type Chart

Use this chart to compare the different types of scientific articles you may find in a library database.

• Article Comparison Chart

Parts of a Primary Article

All the details of a study are specified and usually described in sections with the headings : Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion . See below for examples of what to look for:

-------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------

------------------------------------

-----------------------------------

------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------

Scholarly vs. Popular

Which Is the Research Article?

Primary / research / empirical articles.

Types of Scholarly Articles - VCU Libraries

VCU Libraries.  (2011, Jan 12).  Types of scholarly articles.   [Video].  YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEsAKqXSfbY&t=207s

• << Previous: Home
• Next: Find Articles >>
• Last Updated: Sep 6, 2024 1:16 PM
• URL: https://libguides.holycross.edu/envs117dugger

What Is a Primary Source?

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms - Definition and Examples

Diane Diederich / Getty Images

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In research and academics, a primary source refers to information collected from sources that witnessed or experienced an event firsthand. These can be historical documents , literary texts, artistic works, experiments, journal entries, surveys, and interviews. A primary source, which is very different from a secondary source , is also called primary data.

The Library of Congress defines primary sources as "the raw materials of history—original documents and objects which were created at the time under study," in contrast to secondary sources , which are "accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience," ("Using Primary Sources").

Secondary sources are often meant to describe or analyze a primary source and do not give firsthand accounts; primary sources tend to provide more accurate depictions of history but are much harder to come by.

Characteristics of Primary Sources

There are a couple of factors that can qualify an artifact as a primary source. The chief characteristics of a primary source, according to Natalie Sproull, are: "(1) [B]eing present during the experience, event or time and (2) consequently being close in time with the data. This does not mean that data from primary sources are always the best data."

Sproull then goes on to remind readers that primary sources are not always more reliable than secondary sources. "Data from human sources are subject to many types of distortion because of such factors as selective recall, selective perceptions, and purposeful or nonpurposeful omission or addition of information. Thus data from primary sources are not necessarily accurate data even though they come from firsthand sources," (Sproull 1988).

Original Sources

Primary sources are often called original sources, but this is not the most accurate description because you're not always going to be dealing with original copies of primary artifacts. For this reason, "primary sources" and "original sources" should be considered separate. Here's what the authors of "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy," from Handbook of Reading Research , have to say about this:

"The distinction also needs to be made between primary and original sources . It is by no means always necessary, and all too often it is not possible, to deal only with original sources. Printed copies of original sources, provided they have been undertaken with scrupulous care (such as the published letters of the Founding Fathers), are usually an acceptable substitute for their handwritten originals." (E. J. Monaghan and D. K. Hartman, "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy," in Handbook of Reading Research , ed. by P. D. Pearson et al. Erlbaum, 2000)

When to Use Primary Sources

Primary sources tend to be most useful toward the beginning of your research into a topic and at the end of a claim as evidence, as Wayne Booth et al. explain in the following passage. "[Primary sources] provide the 'raw data' that you use first to test the working hypothesis and then as evidence to support your claim . In history, for example, primary sources include documents from the period or person you are studying, objects, maps, even clothing; in literature or philosophy, your main primary source is usually the text you are studying, and your data are the words on the page. In such fields, you can rarely write a research paper  without using primary sources," (Booth et al. 2008).

When to Use Secondary Sources

There is certainly a time and place for secondary sources and many situations in which these point to relevant primary sources. Secondary sources are an excellent place to start. Alison Hoagland and Gray Fitzsimmons write: "By identifying basic facts, such as year of construction, secondary sources can point the researcher to the best primary sources , such as the right tax books. In addition, a careful reading of the bibliography in a secondary source can reveal important sources the researcher might otherwise have missed," (Hoagland and Fitzsimmons 2004).

Finding and Accessing Primary Sources

As you might expect, primary sources can prove difficult to find. To find the best ones, take advantage of resources such as libraries and historical societies. "This one is entirely dependent on the assignment given and your local resources; but when included, always emphasize quality. ... Keep in mind that there are many institutions such as the Library of Congress that make primary source material freely available on the Web," (Kitchens 2012).

Methods of Collecting Primary Data

Sometimes in your research, you'll run into the problem of not being able to track down primary sources at all. When this happens, you'll want to know how to collect your own primary data; Dan O'Hair et all tell you how: "If the information you need is unavailable or hasn't yet been gathered, you'll have to gather it yourself. Four basic methods of collecting primary data are field research, content analysis, survey research, and experiments. Other methods of gathering primary data include historical research, analysis of existing statistics, ... and various forms of direct observation," (O'Hair et al. 2001).

• Booth, Wayne C., et al. The Craft of Research . 3rd ed., University of Chicago Press, 2008.
• Hoagland, Alison, and Gray Fitzsimmons. "History."  Recording Historic Structures. 2nd. ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
• Kitchens, Joel D. Librarians, Historians, and New Opportunities for Discourse: A Guide for Clio's Helpers . ABC-CLIO, 2012.
• Monaghan, E. Jennifer, and Douglas K. Hartman. "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy." Handbook of Reading Research. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
• O'Hair, Dan, et al. Business Communication: A Framework for Success . South-Western College Pub., 2001.
• Sproull, Natalie L. Handbook of Research Methods: A Guide for Practitioners and Students in the Social Sciences. 2nd ed. Scarecrow Press, 1988.
• "Using Primary Sources." Library of Congress .
• Secondary Sources in Research
• Documentation in Reports and Research Papers
• Primary and Secondary Sources in History
• Definition and Examples of Primary Verbs in English
• What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
• Research in Essays and Reports
• An Introduction to Academic Writing
• Definition and Examples of Science Writing
• Definition and Examples of Interjections in English
• What Is Zimbabwean English
• Definition and Examples of Humorous Essays
• Definition and Examples of Target Domain in Conceptual Metaphors
• Definition and Examples of Explication (Analysis)
• Definition and Examples of Corpora in Linguistics
• What Is the Genitive Case?

× Indigenous People's Weekend: The Libraries will be closed from Saturday - Monday, October 12 - 14 . Sherrill Library and Moriarty Library will reopen on Tuesday, October 15 at 10am. Enjoy the holiday!

× sherrill library will be closed from may 18 - september 2 due to construction. services by appointment: research consultations, library instruction, pick up appointments moriarty library will be open through august 31, monday - friday from 10am-6pm. closed weekends and holidays. as always, our web resources are available 24/7. questions our chat and ask us services are available monday-friday, 10am-6pm., × the libraries will be closed for memorial day weekend from friday-monday, may 24-27. enjoy the holiday, × spring break: monday, 03/13/2023 - sunday, 03/19/2023: library pickups are by appointment. need an appointment email us at sherrill library: [email protected] or moriarty library: [email protected], × alert mm/dd/yyyy: something is broken please contact us with questions., × alert 12/14/2023: ebsco allsearch is unavailable. we are working to fix this as quickly as we can. in the meanwhile, please try searching for articles from our proquest central database and for ebooks and books from our flo catalog . we're very sorry for the inconveniance. --> × welcome back our remote services guide has everything you need to know about library services we're offering this semester, including research help, study spaces, and more for other campus plans, see the lesley university covid-19 response. any other questions ask us, × welcome back our remote services guide has everything you need to know about library services we're offering this semester, including research help, study spaces, and more any other questions ask us, finding and using primary resources.

• Where to Find Primary Resources
• How to Find Primary Resources
• Interpreting Primary Resources
• Advanced Primary Resource Research Tools
• Front Matter
• Collection Inventory
• Understanding Linear Feet
• Citing Primary Resources

Primary sources are those created contemporaneously to whatever period a researcher is studying. In contrast to secondary sources, they don't provide any analysis on a given topic after the fact; instead, they reflect on information or events as they unfolded (for example, a newspaper article, from the time of a particular historical event, discussing the historical event as it happened). Primary sources are especially useful for researchers because they reveal how certain topics and ideas were understood during a specific time and place. The particular primary sources you might use in your research, as well as how you find them, can vary a lot based on your field of study. This guide aims to provide helpful information on where to go about searching for primary sources

What is a primary resource .

Each academic discipline or field defines and uses primary sources differently. Therefore, the definition of a primary source is contextual and dependent on that specific discipline or field of inquiry. Furthermore, any definition of primary sources also includes distinguishing them from secondary sources. Some disciplines use the term tertiary sources which typically include all three types (primary & secondary).

The  humanities  and the arts define primary sources as text, images, artifacts, and architecture (any material) that conveys the experience or life at time they are from. 

The  sciences  define primary sources as original research. The  social sciences  define primary sources similar to both the humanities, sciences, and author created data/evidence. They depend on the nature of the inquiry and research methodology. 

The  health sciences  define primary sources as original research.

Examples of Primary Resources

Walden  by Henry David Thoreau published in 2016, is a primary resource as the text was written in 1897, and offers insight into life in rural Massachusetts in the late 19th century. 

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp ,  1632. This painting is a good visual example of medical history in 17th century Holland. 

Ledgers of imports and exports, 1731, Held by The National Archives, Kew Gardens. This is a digital scan of an original ledger of imports and exports to London in 1731. This can give us a general idea of what trade looks like in 18th-Century England.

Tapestry Room from Croome Court, Various artists/makers,  1763–71, Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was designed in 1763–1771, . Around 1902 the ninth Earl sold the tapestries and seating to a Parisian dealer. The Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the ceiling, floor, chimneypiece, chair rails, doors and door surrounds in 1949; they were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1958. This room provides insight as to what an 18th-century Country house room might look, and help historians understand domestic life. 

• Next: Where to Find Primary Resources >>
• Last Updated: Sep 5, 2024 1:50 PM
• URL: https://research.lesley.edu/c.php?g=1400378

Moriarty Library

Porter Campus 1801 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02140 617-349-8070

Sherrill Library

South Campus 89 Brattle Street Cambridge, MA 02138 617-349-8850

Does Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Increase the Risk of Sepsis and Its 28-day Mortality? A Causal Study Using a Mendelian Randomization Approach

• Original Article
• Published: 04 September 2024

Cite this article

• Runquan Zhou 1 ,
• Wenjuan Li 2 ,
• Yuanhui Sheng 2 ,
• Shan Xu 3 ,
• Dan Zhang 1 &
• Mingxing Wang 2  

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder. Recent studies indicate that GERD may exert systemic effects, potentially elevating the risk of severe infections, including sepsis. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between GERD and sepsis, as well as sepsis-related 28-day mortality, remains uncertain.

The aim of this study is to investigate the causal relationship between GERD and the risk of sepsis, including 28-day mortality of sepsis.

This study utilized a two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) approach to analyze data from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) databases ( https://gwas.mrcieu.ac.uk/ ). The analysis comprised 129,080 cases and 473,524 controls for GERD; 11,643 patients and 474,841 controls for sepsis; and 1,896 patients and 484,588 controls for 28-day mortality from sepsis. The objective was to evaluate the causal impact of GERD on the risk of sepsis and 28-day sepsis mortality. Genetic variation data pertinent to GERD were obtained from the most recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The primary analysis employed the Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) method. Sensitivity and pleiotropy analyses were performed to validate the robustness of the findings.

MR analysis revealed a notable link between genetically predicted GERD and increased sepsis risk (odds ratio [OR] 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24–1.52; p  = 2.79 × 10–9). Moreover, GERD correlated with elevated 28-day mortality of sepsis (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.11–1.85; p  = 5.34 × 10–3). These results remained consistent throughout various sensitivity analyses, indicating their resilience against potential pleiotropy and other biases.

This study indicates that genetic predisposition to GERD may be linked to an elevated risk of sepsis and its associated 28-day mortality. However, the study does not establish a direct causal relationship for GERD itself, nor does it assess the impact of GERD treatment. Further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic interventions involved.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Causal relationship between gut microbiota and gastrointestinal diseases: a mendelian randomization study

Causal effects of gut microbiota on sepsis and sepsis-related death: insights from genome-wide Mendelian randomization, single-cell RNA, bulk RNA sequencing, and network pharmacology

Relationship between Sjogren's syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Data availability.

No datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

Li J, Shen L, Qian K. Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality of neonatal sepsis and other neonatal infections, 1990–2019. Front Public Health. 2023;11:1139832.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Rudd KE, Johnson SC, Agesa KM, Shackelford KA, Tsoi D, Kievlan DR et al. Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990–2017: analysis for the global burden of disease study. Lancet. 2020;395:200–211.

Weng L, Xu Y, Yin P, Wang Y, Chen Y, Liu W et al. National incidence and mortality of hospitalized sepsis in China. Crit Care. 2023;27:84.

Zou M, Zhang W, Xu Y, Zhu Y. Relationship between COPD and GERD: a bibliometrics analysis. Int J Chron Obstr Pulm Dis. 2022;17:3045–3059.

Article   Google Scholar  

Sakae TM, Pizzichini MM, Teixeira PJ, Silva RM, Trevisol DJ, Pizzichini E. Exacerbations of COPD and symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Bras Pneumol. 2013;39:259–271.

Morehead RS. Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and non-asthma lung disease. Eur Respir Rev. 2009;18:233–243.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Emdin CA, Khera AV, Kathiresan S. Mendelian Randomization. JAMA. 2017;318:1925–1926.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Bowden J, Holmes MV. Meta-analysis and Mendelian randomization: a review. Res Synth Methods. 2019;10:486–496.

Skrivankova VW, Richmond RC, Woolf BAR, Yarmolinsky J, Davies NM, Swanson SA et al. Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology using mendelian randomization: the STROBE-MR statement. JAMA. 2021;326:1614–1621.

Relton CL, Davey SG. Two-step epigenetic Mendelian randomization: a strategy for establishing the causal role of epigenetic processes in pathways to disease. Int J Epidemiol. 2012;41:161–176.

Sekula P, Del Greco MF, Pattaro C, Kottgen A. Mendelian randomization as an approach to assess causality using observational data. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2016;27:3253–3265.

Burgess S, Thompson SG. Use of allele scores as instrumental variables for Mendelian randomization. Int J Epidemiol. 2013;42:1134–1144.

Bowden J, Davey Smith G, Burgess S. Mendelian randomization with invalid instruments: effect estimation and bias detection through Egger regression. Int J Epidemiol. 2015;44:512–525.

Lei P, Xu W, Wang C, Lin G, Yu S, Guo Y. Mendelian randomization analysis reveals causal associations of polyunsaturated fatty acids with sepsis and mortality risk. Infect Dis Ther. 2023;12:1797–1808.

Verbanck M, Chen CY, Neale B, Do R. Detection of widespread horizontal pleiotropy in causal relationships inferred from Mendelian randomization between complex traits and diseases. Nat Genet. 2018;50:693–698.

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Burgess S, Thompson SG. Interpreting findings from Mendelian randomization using the MR-Egger method. Eur J Epidemiol. 2017;32:377–389.

Pneumatikos J, Koulouras B, Frangides C, Goe D, Nakos G. Cisapride decreases gastric content aspiration in mechanically ventilated patients. Crit Care. 1999;3:39–43.

Diamant NEJGMo. Pathophysiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease. 2006.

Ivashkin V, Evsyutina Y, Trukhmanov A, Lyamina S, Malyshev I. Systemic inflammatory response in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Am J Clin Med Res. 2015;3:64–9.

Google Scholar  

Clayton S, Cauble E, Kumar A, Patil N, Ledford D, Kolliputi N et al. Plasma levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-17, IL-22, and IL-23 in achalasia, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). BMC Gastroenterol. 2019;19:28.

Tisoncik JR, Korth MJ, Simmons CP, Farrar J, Martin TR, Katze MG. Into the eye of the cytokine storm. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2012;76:16–32.

Mittal M, Siddiqui MR, Tran K, Reddy SP, Malik AB. Reactive oxygen species in inflammation and tissue injury. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014;20:1126–1167.

Froio S, Valenza F. Aspiration of gastric contents in the critically ill Oxford Textbook of Critical Care . Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2016.

Book   Google Scholar  

Iov DE, Barboi OB, Floria M, Neamtu A, Iliescu R, Drug VL. pepsin and the lung-exploring the relationship between micro-aspiration and respiratory manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease. J Pers Med. 2022;12(8).

Dong R, Zhang Q, Peng H. Gastroesophageal reflux disease and the risk of respiratory diseases: a Mendelian randomization study. J Transl Med. 2024;22:60.

Iov DE, Bărboi OB, Floria M, Neamțu A, Iliescu R, Drug VL. Pepsin and the lung-exploring the relationship between micro-aspiration and respiratory manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease. J Pers Med. 2022;12(8).

Zhang X, Liu H, Hashimoto K, Yuan S, Zhang J. The gut-liver axis in sepsis: interaction mechanisms and therapeutic potential. Crit Care. 2022;26:213.

Chang JC. Sepsis and septic shock: endothelial molecular pathogenesis associated with vascular microthrombotic disease. Thromb J. 2019;17:10.

Bercis Imge U, Gulberk U. Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction, Bacterial translocation and inflammation: Deathly Triad in Sepsis. Rijeka: IntechOpen; 2021. p. Ch. 15.

O’Boyle CJ, MacFie J, Mitchell CJ, Johnstone D, Sagar PM, Sedman PC. Microbiology of bacterial translocation in humans. Gut. 1998;42:29–35.

Download references

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank the participants of all GWASs who provided summary statistics.

This study was supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Chongqing (Grant NO. cstc2020jcyj-msxmX0922), the Science and Technology Commission of Chongqing Yuzhong District (Grant NO. 20210138) and the Chongqing Graduate Research Innovation Project (Grant No. CYB240195).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Emergency, First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 12th Floor, Building 5A, 1 Youyi Rd, Yuzhong Qu, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of China

Runquan Zhou, Fan Wu & Dan Zhang

Intensive Care Unit, First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

Wenjuan Li, Yuanhui Sheng, Yi Liu & Mingxing Wang

Department of Emergency, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Runquan Zhou: Data analysis and drafting the manuscript. Wenjuan Li: Methodology design. Fan Wu: Investigation. Yuanhui Sheng, Shan Xu: Data visualization. Mingxing Wang, Yi Liu: Reviewing and editing the manuscript. Dan Zhan: Overall supervision.All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dan Zhang .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (CSV 35 KB)

Supplementary file2 (csv 38 kb), rights and permissions.

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Zhou, R., Li, W., Wu, F. et al. Does Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Increase the Risk of Sepsis and Its 28-day Mortality? A Causal Study Using a Mendelian Randomization Approach. Dig Dis Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-024-08625-0

Download citation

Received : 14 June 2024

Accepted : 26 August 2024

Published : 04 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-024-08625-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• 28-day mortality
• Genetic epidemiology
• Mendelian randomization
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Professor João Velloso recognized for research exploring the legal legacy of the G20 mass arrests

By Common Law

Communication, Faculty of Law

Professor João Velloso addressed this topic in an article entitled “La gouvernance plurinormative des manifestants : reconfigurations pénales, exceptionnalité et dégradation des droits pendant le G20 à Toronto” (The plurinormative governance of protesters: penal reconfigurations, exceptionalism and the degradation of rights during the Toronto G20 Summit), and that publication has now been awarded the Canadian Law and Society Association (CLSA) Article Prize (French Language) for 2024.

Professor Velloso’s article analyzes the creation, adaptation, and use of specific legal provisions employed to control protesters during the G20. The general lack of government transparency regarding the laws applicable to protesters created a maelstrom of confusion and uneasiness in 2010. A class action lawsuit eventually saw $16.5-million awarded in 2020 to those arrested, along with an acknowledgement by police that the arrests were unlawful and a commitment that protests would be policed differently in the future. In the context of more recent efforts to manage protesters and public spaces, including, for example, the Freedom Convoy protesters, the subject of the legal mechanisms used to exert social control is as relevant as ever. Professor Velloso’s article examines the punitive shortcuts that concentrated excessive power in the hands of the police and explores what legal safeguards exist to prevent this kind of dangerous activity from occurring again in the future.

Click here to read the full article via the Canadian Journal of Law and Society .

The CLSA French Article Prize is awarded biennially to the best French language article published in the Canadian Journal of Law and Society in the previous two years. The CLSA jury unanimously chose Professor Velloso’s article as this year’s winner, recognizing its relevance to current discussions about the punitive use of administrative law for democracy and fundamental rights. They also noted the potential of this article to lead to future research on the topic and praised, specifically, the text’s lively and energetic style. 

Congratulations to Professor Velloso!