What is the difference between primary and secondary research?

Primary research is new research carried out to solve specific issues. Secondary research is data that has already been found, it determines what is already known and what may then need to be found out. Primary research is more acute and up to date and the researcher has a higher level of control over the information. However primary research requires more time and is more costly than secondary research. The advantages of secondary research is that it is quicker and a researcher is not needed as you are simply collating pre-existing data. However it may be difficult to find specific and up to date data.