Conducting Primary Research
Remember with secondary sources someone else collected and analyzed the information and data, but when it comes to primary sources you the researcher access the information or data first-hand and do your own analysis. For example, to conduct primary research you might visit an archive to find historical documents. Or you might conduct surveys or interviews of people. You might also conduct field observations. A number of research methodologies ask you to combine these primary research tools; ethnography, for example, asks you to combine these practices to study the culture of a community by collecting “artifacts,” participating and observing in the community, and conducting interviews.
Recall from the discussion of knowledge domains of writing in Chapter 2 that subject matter not only includes content, but also how knowledge of that content gets discovered and created within various discourse communities. Many academic disciplines and professional fields employ various primary research methods in order to study topics and phenomena, the subject matter of their discourse communities. For example, researchers in the biological and physical sciences may conduct experiments, those in the social sciences may conduct surveys and interviews, those in education may conduct observations, and those in design or technical fields may conduct focus groups and usability testing.
Read more about primary research, including ethics and design, in Writing 250 – Writing & Rhetoric Advanced Composition.
If primary research is required for an assignment, your instructor will guide you through the specific research process you are to follow. The process will involve collecting and analyzing data, but the first step is gaining access by seeking permission.
Here is an example of a general research process for primary research:
- Complete a research proposal, including an initial research question or hypothesis
- Recruit participants requesting their permission
- Collect data
- Conduct secondary source research (as needed throughout the primary research process)
- Analyze data
- As needed change the research question and then collect and analyze additional data
- Plan, draft, and revise a research report
Like writing, primary research is a process, and your instructor will guide you through it.