Desk research examines credible evidence that already exists before the business collects more. Official statistics, academic studies, company records and market reports can establish definitions, benchmarks and disagreements, but their dates and methods rarely align automatically. Marketways evaluates provenance and reconciles these differences around the client’s question. Existing evidence then narrows the decision and shows where primary research is still worth conducting.
The decision this method supports
We use Desk & Secondary Research to help clients answer: What relevant evidence already exists, and is the evidence current, comparable and suitable for the decision?
How the method works
Desk research examines evidence that already exists, including official statistics, industry reports, academic work, company records and competitor information. The analyst checks definitions, dates, methods and provenance before comparing sources. Secondary evidence can narrow the question and reduce unnecessary primary research.
A business example
Two reports may give different estimates of the same market because one measures revenue and the other counts transactions. Reconciling the definitions is more useful than selecting the larger number.
How the client uses the result
Desk research helps a business learn from evidence that already exists before paying to collect more. It can narrow the question, establish benchmarks and expose disagreements in definitions or estimates that primary research must resolve.
What we deliver
We produce structured responses, coded qualitative evidence, observation records or a secondary-evidence base. The result include the population, collection conditions and limits needed for responsible interpretation.
Limits and complementary methods
Secondary research is efficient, but available sources may use different definitions, dates and methods. Convenience should not be mistaken for comparability.
Selected methods and techniques
We select from these established methods according to the decision, evidence and operating conditions.
- Competitive and substitute scanning: Define the customer need or job, then search systematically for direct competitors, adjacent offers, workarounds, internal solutions and doing nothing. Compare who uses each alternative, the outcome it provides, its cost and inconvenience, and the reasons people switch or stay. The method broadens the competitive set beyond products with the same category label. It shows how a need is currently addressed, but it does not by itself measure market demand or prove that a proposed alternative will win.
- Confidence provenance analysis: Determine what produced a stated confidence level, including the initial model score or prior, later evidence, repeated or dependent signals, questions, tool results and update rules. Separate final confidence from evidence newly earned during the process and from empirical calibration. The analysis can expose decorative reasoning or confidence inflation; provenance alone does not say whether the conclusion is correct.
- Decision provenance analysis: Trace material parts of a decision, such as its frame, assumptions, evidence, alternatives and recommendations, to their documented origins and subsequent changes. Use timestamps, version history and independent pre-exposure records where available, while marking mixed or unknown origins. The method establishes lineage and sequence; a claim that a source influenced judgement requires additional evidence.
- Desk research: Answer defined questions using existing documents, databases, statistics, reports and published material rather than collecting new evidence from participants. Specify the search scope, dates, inclusion rules and source quality; trace material claims to their origin; reconcile definitions and periods; and distinguish independent sources from copies of the same evidence. Desk research can establish context, benchmarks and provisional estimates. It cannot fill a question that available sources do not measure, and published figures are not automatically current or comparable.
- Environmental scanning: Review political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legal and competitive conditions that could affect the organisation or question, using defined sources, geography and review periods. Record material developments, their evidence, direction and possible implications. Environmental scanning covers the broad external operating context, including established conditions and current change; horizon scanning concentrates on early developments and possible longer-term discontinuities. A detected factor is an input to opportunity reasoning, not an opportunity or forecast by itself.
- Horizon scanning: Search systematically across varied sources for early developments, weak signals and emerging drivers that could alter the business environment over a stated horizon. Record each signal's source, novelty, uncertainty, possible direction and implications, and revisit it as evidence develops. Unlike ordinary trend analysis, horizon scanning can examine changes too new or discontinuous for a stable time series; unlike broad environmental scanning, it is deliberately oriented towards emerging futures. It explores what may become relevant rather than predicting one inevitable future.
- Patent / publication / ecosystem scanning: Search defined patent classes, publications, trials, investments, partnerships and ecosystem activity to identify emerging technologies, organisations and applications. Specify queries, databases, dates and inclusion rules, remove obvious duplication, and inspect the underlying records before interpreting counts or growth. The method can reveal knowledge formation, capability and network change. Patent or publication activity does not by itself establish technical validity, freedom to operate, commercial readiness or customer demand.
- Regulatory / institutional scan: Identify and verify the formal and practical rules that could govern entry into a defined jurisdiction and activity. Search authoritative legislation, regulations, regulator material, licensing records, ownership and investment rules, standards, procurement requirements and relevant institutional practices; record the issuing authority, instrument, effective date, geographic scope, applicability and change status. Separate binding requirements, official guidance, observed practice and unverified stakeholder claims, and identify specialist questions where interpretation remains unresolved. The scan maps constraints and dependencies for the strategy; it does not grant approval, guarantee compliance or assume that rules from another market transfer.
- Secondary-data analysis: Analyse data collected earlier or for another purpose after testing whether it fits the current market question. Record the original source and collection purpose, definitions, population, geography, dates, coverage, revisions, missing data, transformations and any dependence between sources. Harmonise units and boundaries before combining figures and investigate breaks caused by changed classifications or reporting. Secondary data can provide market counts, trends, benchmarks and comparison evidence efficiently. A published or official source is not automatically current, independent or suitable for the required market definition, and unresolved gaps may require primary research.
Parent method family
Research & Evidence Collection explains how this method connects to adjacent methods and relevant services.
Related service families
These service families contain business questions supported by this method. Service pages link to the wider method family so readers can understand the complete analytical approach.