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Introduction to Primary Research:

Observations, Surveys, and

Interviews

by Dana Lynn Driscoll

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153

Introduction to Primary Research:

Observations, Surveys, and

Interviews

Dana Lynn Driscoll

Primary Research: Definitions and Overview

How research is defined varies widely from field to field, and as you

progress through your college career, your coursework will teach you

much more about what it means to be a researcher within your field.*

For example, engineers, who focus on applying scientific knowledge

to develop designs, processes, and objects, conduct research using

simulations, mathematical models, and a variety of tests to see how

well their designs work. Sociologists conduct research using surveys,

interviews, observations, and statistical analysis to better understand

people, societies, and cultures. Graphic designers conduct research

through locating images for reference for their artwork and engaging

in background research on clients and companies to best serve their

needs. Historians conduct research by examining archival materials—

newspapers, journals, letters, and other surviving texts—and through

conducting oral history interviews. Research is not limited to what has

already been written or found at the library, also known as secondary

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Dana Lynn Driscoll154

research. Rather, individuals conducting research are producing the ar–

ticles and reports found in a library database or in a book. Primary

research, the focus of this essay, is research that is collected firsthand

rather than found in a book, database, or journal.

Primary research is often based on principles of the scientific meth-

od, a theory of investigation first developed by John Stuart Mill in

the nineteenth century in his book Philosophy of the Scientific Method.

Although the application of the scientific method varies from field to

field, the general principles of the scientific method allow researchers

to learn more about the world and observable phenomena. Using the

scientific method, researchers develop research questions or hypoth-

eses and collect data on events, objects, or people that is measurable,

observable, and replicable. The ultimate goal in conducting primary

research is to learn about something new that can be confirmed by

others and to eliminate our own biases in the process.

Essay Overview and Student Examples

The essay begins by providing an overview of ethical considerations

when conducting primary research, and then covers the stages that

you will go through in your primary research: planning, collecting,

analyzing, and writing. After the four stages comes an introduction

to three common ways of conducting primary research in first year

writing classes:

•Observations. Observing and measuring the world around

you, including observations of people and other measurable

events.

•Interviews. Asking participants questions in a one-on–one or

small group setting.

•Surveys. Asking participants about their opinions and behav-

iors through a short questionnaire.

In addition, we will be examining two student projects that used sub–

stantial portions of primary research:

Derek Laan, a nutrition major at Purdue University, wanted to

learn more about student eating habits on campus. His primary re–

search included observations of the campus food courts, student be–

havior while in the food courts, and a survey of students’ daily food

intake. His secondary research included looking at national student

Introduction to Primary Research 155

eating trends on college campuses, information from the United States

Food and Drug Administration, and books on healthy eating.

Jared Schwab, an agricultural and biological engineering major at

Purdue, was interested in learning more about how writing and com-

munication took place in his field. His primary research included

interviewing a professional engineer and a student who was a senior

majoring in engineering. His secondary research included examining

journals, books, professional organizations, and writing guides within

the field of engineering.

Ethics of Primary Research

Both projects listed above included primary research on human partic-

ipants; therefore, Derek and Jared both had to consider research ethics

throughout their primary research process. As Earl Babbie writes in

The Practice of Social Research, throughout the early and middle parts

of the twentieth century researchers took advantage of participants

and treated them unethically. During World War II, Nazi doctors

performed heinous experiments on prisoners without their consent,

while in the U.S., a number of medical and psychological experiments

on caused patients undue mental and physical trauma and, in some

cases, death. Because of these and other similar events, many nations

have established ethical laws and guidelines for researchers who work

with human participants. In the United States, the guidelines for the

ethical treatment of human research participants are described in The

Belmont Report, released in 1979. Today, universities have Institutional

Review Boards (or IRBs) that oversee research. Students conducting

research as part of a class may not need permission from the univer–

sity’s IRB, although they still need to ensure that they follow ethical

guidelines in research. The following provides a brief overview of ethi-

cal considerations:

•Voluntary participation. The Belmont Report suggests that, in

most cases, you need to get permission from people before

you involve them in any primary research you are conduct–

ing. If you are doing a survey or interview, your participants

must first agree to fill out your survey or to be interviewed.

Consent for observations can be more complicated, and is dis-

cussed later in the essay.

Dana Lynn Driscoll156

•Confidentiality and anonymity. Your participants may reveal

embarrassing or potentially damaging information such as

racist comments or unconventional behavior. In these cases,

you should keep your participants’ identities anonymous

when writing your results. An easy way to do this is to create

a “pseudonym” (or false name) for them so that their identity

is protected.

•Researcher bias. There is little point in collecting data and

learning about something if you already think you know the

answer! Bias might be present in the way you ask questions,

the way you take notes, or the conclusions you draw from the

data you collect.

The above are only three of many considerations when involving

human participants in your primary research. For a complete under–

standing of ethical considerations please refer to The Belmont Report.

Now that we have considered the ethical implications of research,

we will examine how to formulate research questions and plan your

primary research project.

Planning Your Primary Research Project

The primary research process is quite similar to the writing process,

and you can draw upon your knowledge of the writing process to un-

derstand the steps involved in a primary research project. Just like in

the writing process, a successful primary research project begins with

careful planning and background research. This section first describes

how to create a research timeline to help plan your research. It then

walks you through the planning stages by examining when primary

research is useful or appropriate for your first year composition course,

narrowing down a topic, and developing research questions.

e Research Timeline

When you begin to conduct any kind of primary research, creating a

timeline will help keep you on task. Because students conducting pri-

mary research usually focus on the collection of data itself, they often

overlook the equally important areas of planning (invention), analyz-

ing data, and writing. To help manage your time, you should create a

research timeline, such as the sample timeline presented here.

Introduction to Primary Research 157

When Primary Research Is Useful or Appropriate

In Evaluating Scientific Research: Separating Fact from Fiction, Fred

Leavitt explains that primary research is useful for questions that can

be answered through asking others and direct observation. For first

year writing courses, primary research is particularly useful when you

want to learn about a problem that does not have a wealth of published

information. This may be because the problem is a recent event or it

is something not commonly studied. For example, if you are writing

a paper on a new political issue, such as changes in tax laws or health–

care, you might not be able to find a wealth of peer-reviewed research

because the issue is only several weeks old. You may find it necessary

to collect some of your own data on the issue to supplement what

you found at the library. Primary research is also useful when you

Fig. 1: The Research Process

Fig. 2: A sample timeline for Jared’s research project.

Dana Lynn Driscoll158

are studying a local problem or learning how a larger issue plays out

at the local level. Although you might be able to find information on

national statistics for healthy eating, whether or not those statistics are

representative of your college campus is something that you can learn

through primary research.

However, not all research questions and topics are appropriate for

primary research. As Fred Leavitt writes, questions of an ethical, phil-

osophical, or metaphysical nature are not appropriate because these

questions are not testable or observable. For example, the question

“Does an afterlife exist?” is not a question that can be answered with

primary research. However, the question “How many people in my

community believe in an afterlife?” is something that primary research

can answer.

Narrowing Your Topic

Just like the writing process, you should start your primary research

process with secondary (library) research to learn more about what is

already known and what gaps you need to fill with your own data. As