Exercises for Students

Exercise 1: Is it secondary research data?

Methods: Pair Work Activity

Duration: 15 minutes

Instruction:

Work with your classmates and identify what constitutes sources of secondary data. 

Exercise 2: Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data

Methods: Group Work Activity

Duration: 15 minutes

Instructions

Work with your group partners, discuss and list the advantages and disadvantages of secondary data. 

Advantages

Disadvantages

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise 3: Analysing an Abstract to Understand Secondary Data

Methods: Individual Activity

Duration: 15 minutes

Instruction:

First, read carefully the abstract below from the article by Faucher et al. (2015) and decide which type of research this article uses (e.g., primary, secondary, or another type). Explain your answer. 

Abstract

As research advances in the areas of bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment in various sectors, it is a useful endeavour to consider the connections between research studies conducted in what may appear to be parallel spheres. In this paper, we examine the similarities and differences between research on bullying, harassment, and especially cyberbullying in the K-12, higher education, and general workplace sectors. First, we review the research literature on the nature and extent of these issues, taking into account variations in conceptual definitions, types of experiences, distinctions between different socio-demographic groups, underreporting, and prevalence rates. Next, we consider the range of impacts reported in the different areas. Finally, we examine the solutions proposed within each of these research literatures. Despite some contextual differences between the K-12, higher education, and workplace sectors, there are many commonalities among them in terms of the acts, impacts, and solutions, thus suggesting the need for a more concerted approach to these problems and a cross-pollination of ideas between the sectors for solutions.

Source: Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts, impacts, and solutions of bullying in K-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(6), 111-125. doi:10.11114/jets.v3i6.1033

Exercise 4: Analysing Secondary Research

Methods: Individual Activity

Duration: 25 minutes

Instruction:

First, read carefully the vignette below and make step-by-step suggestions to Researcher 2 on how they can improve their secondary research (literature review).

Vignette

Researcher 1 publishes a research study (primary research) in 2019 that is focused on 9th grade students’ smartphone usage in their self-study processes. Researcher 1 surveyed 800 9th graders in Riga and asked a specific question (‘Do you have a smartphone?’). Researcher 1 gathered the following answers to the question: 10% don’t have a smartphone, 70% have a smartphone and 20% have a smartphone but they share it with a sibling(s) or another family member. Researcher 2 uses Researcher 1’s research in their literature review (secondary data) published in 2021 and summarises Researcher 1’s findings as “one survey found that 90% of ninth graders in Riga have smartphones.”

Exercise 5: Reserach process