What is Desk Research?

When creating a new product, service or experience (i.e. a creation) it is strongly recommended that a company or individual carries out research to get a better understanding of the target audience (i.e. who it is that you are creating for, what their needs are and how they are not being met).

Desk Research is considered both quantitative and qualitative and is particularly powerful as it enables a company or individual to gather a deep understanding of the target audience, field or topic through the research carried out by others.

It is recommended that you only consider desk research from credited sources.

Here's a list of examples to help kick start your journey:

Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.

The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people and economy.

The ONS's main responsibilities are collecting, analyzing and disseminating statistics about the UK's economy, society and population.

The United Nations Statistics Division is committed to the advancement of the global statistical system. We compile and disseminate global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems. We facilitate the coordination of international statistical activities and support the functioning of the United Nations Statistical Commission as the apex entity of the global statistical system.

It is also recommended that you draw inspiration from sources that can be found generically through Google. This said, make sure that they are credible and ideally that multiple sources point to the same point.

To learn more about our approach to desk research, consult the link below.