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Smiling and Facial Expressions Research: Types of Research

Primary Research

Types of research

Primary research
Primary research is the collection of original data directly from primary sources, and the interpretation of such data. Primary research methods include observation, interviews, surveys, experiments, close-reading of creative works, etc.  

You may be required to refer to primary research in your assignments—usually complemented by secondary research material (see below). Alternatively, your assignment may require you to design and carry out primary research of your own, using one or more of the methods above.

 

Secondary Sources

 
Secondary research
Secondary research is the process of gathering and using existing data, information, scholarship, theory, etc. to support your own research or the work you are doing in your assignment. You will refer to secondary material in most assignments you write. Ideally, the secondary material you use will be authoritative, peer-reviewed, and gathered from a variety of sources such as books, journals, and the scholarly resources available in the Library Databases.