Compléter MarketingVersion en ligne Marketing par Louise Bagnall 1 advantage questionnaires quota competitors Qualitative population Quantitative existing relevant cheaper market journals Market Research is the process of finding out about the needs of consumers and the activities of . There are two types of market research . Primary research involves collecting new data whereas secondary research finds data . The benefits of primary research are that it is reliable , up - to - date and to the requirements of the business , however it is expensive and time consuming . It can also give a business a competitive because rivals have not seen it . Secondary research is usually quicker and to carry out but it may not be specifically about the organisation or its products . Examples of primary research methods include and focus - groups . Secondary data may be collected from government publications and trade . research involves finding numerical data . research , on the other hand , is concerned with finding opinions and attitudes . A sample is a smaller group of people who are representative of the target . When carrying out primary research it is easier and less time consuming to question a sample instead of the whole . Sampling methods include random , and systematic .