Learn the many secondary data sources available to you, including those known as “big data.”

This online Principles Express course introduces the many secondary data sources available to you. You will learn about the value and challenges you might encounter when linking primary and secondary data, and gain insights into the “big data” world in which businesses now operate.

Driven by the growth of big data, secondary data is getting increasing attention from the market research industry. This course will give you perspectives on how to stay at the forefront of that growth.

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Snapshot

Format: Online

Hours: 12

Credits: 1.2 CEUs

When: Start anytime

Cost: $329 - $359

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After completing this course, you should be able to:

  1. Discuss how the integration of technology into our daily lives is creating new opportunities for market researchers.
  2. Define secondary data as distinct from primary data.
  3. Describe the various types of data sources available to researchers including syndicated data, transaction data, social media data, and Internet of Things data, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of each.
  4. Describe the various components of the “big data” ecosystem, reinforcing that all data sources—primary and secondary—have compromises and the researcher’s responsibility to select the “best available data” given the business issue being studied.
  5. Identify some of the typical barriers a researcher encounters in gaining access and using secondary data.
  6. Discuss the related concepts of data governance, data curation, and data provenance and their importance in assessing the quality of secondary data.
  7. Discuss the value and the challenges that can be realized by linking primary and secondary data, including the role of data brokers.
  8. Discuss the ways in which traditional analytic techniques can be applied to secondary data.
  9. Describe what is meant by machine learning and its relevance when working with large secondary datasets.
  10. Discuss the challenges and emerging solutions that researchers face when dealing with unstructured data—text, photographs, video, etc.
  11. Discuss the challenges the researcher faces when using secondary data in a global context.
  12. Describe the ethical issues, especially related to privacy and confidentiality, when using secondary data.

Who Should Attend?

  • Entry-level researchers looking for a solid introduction to secondary data.
  • Mid-level staff seeking to expand their skillset.
  • Experienced researchers looking to catch up with the latest developments.
  • Corporations seeking professional development options for their internal training portfolio.
  • Suppliers seeking courses for new-employee onboarding.
  • Researchers interested in understanding the important role that syndicated data can play in research design and execution.
  • Analysts needing to understand what secondary data sources exist and where to find them.
  • Client-side interested in understanding how to leverage data their companies may already possess.
  • People just entering the research field who want to understand the full process of market research from beginning to end.

Course Note:
The volume of secondary data available is increasing exponentially. Working with this data sometimes requires resources and techniques that are outside the standard market research toolkit. Some are described in this course. A more thorough overview of some of these techniques can be found in another Principles Express course, Advanced Analytic Techniques.

Course Information

Course Number: 

0592-004

Course Date Info: 
Course format: 

Online

Course Fee(s): 

$359 - Standard Fee

$329 - Association Discount (Members* of: Insights Association; ESOMAR; Canadian Research Insights Council, The Research Society, Intellus Worldwide, QRCA, AMAI, WAPOR-Latinoamérica, MRII Board of Directors, UGA MMR Advisory Board.)

$50 - One-Month Extension (only one extension is granted per participant)

*Membership will be verified.

Prepayment is required to be registered. The prices listed are per person (US Funds). Prices are subject to change.

Bill Bean imageBill Bean – Principal, Bean and Associates Consulting
Bill is a senior marketing executive specializing in research and analytics. He has founded shopper insights practices at four Fortune 500 consumer goods companies, conducted research in over 20 countries worldwide, and pioneered many applications of advanced analytics techniques to assess marketing performance. He served on the advisory board for the University of Wisconsin A.C. Nielsen Center for Market Research for ten years as well as a trustee of the Marketing Science Institute