ERRORS AND ISSUES IN SECONDARY DATA USED IN MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing research uses two sources of data: primary and secondary. There are many advantages in use of secondary data but also there are many limitations such as different types of errors and biases that can arise in these data. Secondary data should be accurate, reliable, precise, unbiased, valid, appropriate and timely. Four categories of potential errors can reduce accuracy of secondary data: sampling and non-sampling errors, errors that invalidate the data, errors that require data reformulation and errors that reduce reliability. All sources of errors can lower the reliability and validity of results. This implies that secondary data have to be treated carefully.