Desk Research (or Desktop Research) consists in researching, evaluating, and possibly reworking information already collected by others. This information comes mainly from sources outside the company (public institutions, trade associations, specialized press, commercial databases, marketing research institutes, internet), or from sources within the company (such as financial statements and sales statistics). Desk research is particularly useful in the preliminary phase of projects, when ideas are still unclear and looking for data that allows us to frame good opportunities and risks of initiatives. If the product or service offered by the company is very innovative, however, or if the company has a very particular question, there may not be information already collected by others. In this case, the only way to collect data is field research, which consists of creating new information through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and so on. With web search engines, you have the opportunity to conduct desk research without having to pay fees to the search providers database.
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