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Michigan State University

Capstone Guide for MPH Students

Primary Research

"Primary research involves the original collection of data to answer research questions and hypotheses. This type of research is the most common representation of research in journal articles, theses, and dissertations...Primary data are collected during a new study. Researchers specifically design the study to gather information to assess their conceptualized variables."

Lefebre, Leah. (2017) Data. In Allen, M. (2017). The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, pg 336.

Sage Research Methods Online