Shadowing Practice: Using Primary and Secondary Research | Episode 33 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Over the course of this video, I'm going to discuss using primary as well as secondary research.
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In addition, I'll go over some scenarios in terms of which method would be appropriate.
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Obviously, like most things, one particular method of research isn't necessarily appropriate in all situations.
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And also provide some examples of some of the different research methods
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that would fall underneath the umbrella of both primary as well as secondary research.
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conducting some type of research.
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Usually we start with some type of problem.
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And we have to be presented with some type of issue first
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and have a clear depiction of what that problem is before we can get to the stage in which we're conducting research.
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Because typically in a business setting, research is conducted for the sake of answering some type of question or solving some type of problem.
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to answer that particular question.
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Now, there are two different types of research, the first of which, as I mentioned before, is known as primary research.
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Primary research is research that you actually go out and conduct research on your own.
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This is best served when your particular issue is not necessarily presented already.
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It isn't something that is widely researched.
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And so if you have a specific problem, you may not be able to find existing sources of information to answer your particular question.
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It may be so specific, maybe you can find more general information,
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demographic specifically the types of issues that are affecting your particular group.
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So for example, maybe you're conducting some type of research study to assess the effect of
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television viewing habits within a specific demographic.
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Now maybe there are certain statistics available for television use with regards to general populations
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and even geographic information but what
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if you're looking for a specific show that's on during a specific time
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and you're trying to whittle it down to a specific audience?
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It'd be very difficult to do and the more specific that you get, the less likely you are to find some existing those circumstances,
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it would be appropriate to go through what we call primary research.
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And that means you're actually going to be conducting the research on your own.
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Existing research is not available specifically for your issue and
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so your job is going to be developing an instrument to obtain the information that you need, gather the data, analyze it,
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and evaluate what that says and obviously answer your particular question or hope to whatever that might be.
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Now primary research typically is not done initially.
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And the reason for that is it can be very expensive, not only from a monetary standpoint, but also from a time standpoint.
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And so usually what most people do first is they do some secondary research.
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It's very more common.
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Before I go on to the different primary research methods, I do want to go into secondary research.
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And the reason that you want to do this initially that is already made available to you, you simply have to find it.
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And so the research has already been done, the information is already presented,
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maybe it's not necessarily quite geared towards your particular problem or issue, but you can still use the information.
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And so typically in a research setting, usually we start with the secondary research because it is relatively easy
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process in trying to create different surveys and various instruments for the purpose of gathering information.
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So if you were to utilize a secondary research method, if you were doing research for some type of report or anything similar to that,
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what would you do?
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Some common secondary research methods.
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There are printed sources and then obviously with technology we have a wealth of electronic sources as well.
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Printed sources include books, either textbooks or just other kind of non -fiction type books,
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periodicals, newspapers, things like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, as well as government documents as well.
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towards the issue that you're researching.
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But once again, you can gather information and at least apply it possibly to your particular situation.
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Another great thing that secondary research allows you to do is frame your problem even further.
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Maybe you start off by thinking your problem is one thing and after conducting a little bit of secondary research, you gather a little more information.
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Maybe you start to fine tune what your problem is.
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You start with.
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Now, electronic sources are obviously in great supply as well, and those include generally academic databases.
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Most colleges and four -year universities usually provide academic databases for their students
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and for those enrolled for the sake of gathering information.
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Things like EBSCOhost and LexisNexis and ProQuest are all databases geared towards specific subjects.
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And depending upon what you're researching, a certain database will be more conducive to that.
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So you will want to research generally where the database pulls the information from.
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But they provide a wealth of information, usually different periodicals that are kind of consolidated from the internet.
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And the great thing that it does is it builds credible sources.
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So you don't necessarily have to worry about if the information is reliable.
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The database ensures the information they
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So that's a great place to start if you have access to those databases with your particular institution.
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That would be a great place to look.
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Obviously you can do what many of us do
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and that's go through a search engine like Google or Yahoo
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or Bing and try to look for or search for our particular issue here.
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The problem that you get into is obviously trusting the source.
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You're going to pull information from a wide variety of sources.
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It can be credible.
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It cannot be credible, it can be blogs which really are more of someone's opinion potentially.
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And so you do want to be careful with that because
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if you're doing any type of objective analysis where you're drawing conclusions and you're making recommendations to anyone,
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If you're making your recommendation off of inaccurate information, obviously your recommendation is not going to be accurate and that's going to reflect poorly on you.
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So you do want to make sure that you do your due diligence
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and you check your sources to make sure that they're certainly credible.
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Now, in the event that you go through the process of conducting your secondary research and you discover that, "You know what?
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I can't adequately answer my question here.
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There isn't research available based upon my particular problem because it's
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so specific that the chances of somebody doing this may be in my specific geographic area,
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wherever you're located, then maybe you have to do the research your own." Then you would go to primary research, which as I said before,
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It is more expensive, it is more taxing on your time, but you're going to get more valid information.
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You're going to get information that is geared specifically towards your problem, versus maybe information that was gathered for another purpose,
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and you're trying to use it for your purposes of course.
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There may be a problem with that.
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So let's say you have to conduct some primary research.
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There's a number of different options available to just so you get kind of an idea on what this looks like,
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you have first mailed surveys.
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So in this particular type of secondary or primary research, you would actually create a survey
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obtain a database of some sort where you have access to people's home addresses
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or you can purchase these from various places as well.
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And you would essentially send out your particular survey en masse to a number of addresses
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and kind of cross your fingers and just hope and pray that people actually fill them out and send them back.
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zip codes or certain areas.
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The problem though Although they're relatively inexpensive, Obviously, if you're sending them out en masse, you have to pay for postage and then printing and all those different things.
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But if you're dividing that by the number of people you reach, then it is relatively inexpensive.
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But they have very, very low response rates.
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And if you think about when you get something in the mail that you don't recognize the sender, do you really open it?
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Do you even look at it?
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If you do, how long is it before you actually toss it in the trash?
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If you're like me, you're literally looking at some of your mail near a trash can, and as your hand is dropping down into the trash can,
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you're kind of looking through it just to see if there's anything important, and then, boom, you drop it in the trash can, you never see it again.
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So it's very difficult to get a very high response rate with these types of mailed surveys we say,
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it's not someone that necessarily is probably interested in the actual survey, so chances are they're not going to take the time to do that.
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They also have low response rates because people's time are valuable.
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Unless you offer them some type of incentive or reason to participate, we all think about it, what's in it for me, then you're not likely to get very good responses.
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The difficult thing too, is that you're not going to get is you don't really know who is actually completing that survey.
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And so it's really difficult when you talk about inferential statistics
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and being able to infer certain things based upon how people respond.
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It's very difficult to do that when you don't know who it is that's responding.
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And so there may be some disconnect there.
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The person that's responding may not be part of the target market that you're trying to get their opinion for.
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It might be somebody else.
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Also, with surveys, it's very difficult to obtain detailed information.
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And the reason for that is the surveys can't be very complex, because if they're complex, people aren't going to respond to them.
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And so they have to be very basic, questions are very short, very direct, not requiring a whole lot of thought process, because if people have to think in great detail about them,
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they're likely not to respond.
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The next thing you can do are telephone surveys.
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And telephone surveys attempt to kind of counteract some of the disadvantages of mailed surveys, mainly with the allowing for clarification.
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Because if someone is confused, if you have more of a complex survey you're trying to administer,
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it generally helps to have someone on the phone who can explain maybe how to complete the survey
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if you're actually mailing them a survey or if they're taking it over the phone.
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you know, obviously explain what it is that they're looking for and all those different things.
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It is a little more expensive than mailed surveys because you do have somebody's time, obviously, to collect all the information.
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And so they're calling people individually.
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This also has a very low response rate.
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And the reason for that is a lot of people don't necessarily even have home phones now.
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We often just utilize our cell phones for both.
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graphically.
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But, another thing on top of that is with caller ID and that type of technology available, usually if we don't recognize the number,
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we're less inclined to pick up the phone to begin with.
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And so, it's very difficult to get someone on the line with the age of telemarketing
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and the do not call and opt out lists.
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This has become increasingly unpopular, people being bothered at home.
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And so, you're seeing a lot of people kind of go away from this method of research simply standpoint,
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it isn't very popular and it's relatively or very unsuccessful I might add.
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The next thing you can do are personal interviews.
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This can be either in a one -on -one setting
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or you can do what we call a focus group in
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which you have a group of people in a room
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and you're asking them all similar questions or the same question and eliciting responses from them.
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So those are various things you can do.
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You can get more detailed information here which is great.
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You can seek clarification because you have someone that's actually asking the questions person,
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but you have a small reach here because if you're doing an interview one -on -one, The interviewer can only reach one person at a time.
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And so you're paying for that person's time, and they're only interacting with one person.
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So it gets very, very expensive.
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The reach is very small.
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It is very time consuming.
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But another issue here is that when we start to introduce people into the equation and asking questions.
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we have the potential for a lot of errors to occur.
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I'm not going to go over specifically all the different rater biases and things that get introduced, but there are a lot of errors that interviewers can make that can throw off the results,
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so they're not necessarily reliable, they're not what you would hope to obtain.
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The last thing we can do is email polling and we've seen an insurgence of email polling
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strictly because technology has allowed for it.
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It allows to get quick responses.
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Facebook now has a polling function in which you can poll certain people and ask them questions.
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Survey Monkey is a very popular site in
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which you can register for a free account
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and create a survey of 10 questions and have that emailed out to a certain number of people or sent responses immediately.
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It has a statistics function as well so it tabulates responses
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and percentages so you know exactly how people responded on various questions.
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Very easy to use.
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You can pay a little extra and obviously increase the number of questions.
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I've used it myself before and it's great for gathering just a little bit of information, basic questions.
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Once again, you have a wide reach of people which is very helpful, relatively inexpensive.
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response rates.
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And the reason is that people are completely inundated with just emails and junk mail and different things.
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And, you know, once again, a lot of times when I go through my inbox, I'm looking at who the subject or who it's from.
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And if I don't necessarily recognize the sender, I don't even bother reading it.
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So chances are if you're using email polling as a way of gathering information,
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unless credibility with the viewer, you're going to have a very, very low response rate.
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And similar to mailed surveys, you're going to have to sell the benefit for the user.
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Why would they benefit participating in the survey?
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Do they receive something?
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Is it in their best interest too?
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Because ultimately, if we don't feel like it's in our best interest, it's not worth our time, we're not going to follow through with it.
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But it is still widely used, but there's different tricks that we can do to make it so that it's more effective.
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Now, hopefully, if you're doing any type of research, you keep these different tools in mind.
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And as I said before, there isn't one situation or one scenario that's conducive to all situations.
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Ideally, maybe we'd like to do personal interviews all the time, right?
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Maybe they're more effective because we're interacting directly with the person, but you have to also deal with feasibility.
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don't have the time, maybe you don't have the skill set.
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Interviewers specifically related to market research are trained very heavily, I might add, to ask questions a certain way
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so they're not necessarily swaying the responses one way or another
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because you want to get accurate information for better or for worse.
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So keep these things in mind here.
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Most likely you'll be looking at secondary research for the most part and gathering information in of the information you're gathering.
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Look at the credibility of the person providing it, and do go through those academic databases if you have access to them, because they can provide a wealth of information,
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but also make sure that the information is from a reliable source.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This episode on using primary and secondary research provides an excellent opportunity for English learners to practice speaking in a practical context. By focusing on methods of gathering information, learners can enhance their vocabulary and improve their ability to articulate research concepts effectively. Engaging with this content helps build confidence in formal speaking situations, such as presentations or academic discussions, where articulating points clearly is crucial.
Utilizing a shadowing app while watching this video allows learners to mimic the speaker’s intonation and rhythm, reinforcing their understanding of the material and improving their overall fluency. Through the shadowing technique, learners not only memorize vocabulary and expressions but also practice the natural flow of language common in research discussions.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Throughout the video, several key phrases and grammatical structures can aid learners in mastering spoken English. Here are three notable examples:
- “Conducting some type of research” - This phrase emphasizes the action of carrying out research. Understanding how to use “conduct” in various contexts helps learners improve their academic vocabulary.
- “You may not be able to find existing sources” - The conditional structure used here is critical for discussions about limitations in research. It highlights the importance of expressing possibility in academic contexts.
- “Gather the data, analyze it, and evaluate” - This sequence of actions is common in research settings and teaches learners the appropriate verb forms related to academic analysis. It’s vital for explaining processes clearly during discussions.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While engaging with the video, learners should pay attention to certain pronunciation challenges that could arise:
- The word “research” - This term may be pronounced with varying stress, often leading to confusion. Practice saying it as “REE-search” to establish clarity in conversations.
- “Evaluate” and “analyze” - These two multi-syllable words can be tricky. Ensure the emphasis is on the second syllable (e-VAL-uate) and the first syllable (AN-alyze).
- The phrase “available to you” - The speed at which this is spoken can make it difficult. Focus on smoothly linking the words together in practice to ensure it sounds natural, resembling the flow of natural speech in the context of shadowspeak.
By utilizing a shadow speak approach, learners can tackle these pronunciation traps effectively. Engaging with the video through shadowing allows for better retention and practical application of these elements.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be presented · is conducted · is known |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has already been done · has become · we've seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | here which is · people which is |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.