Preliminary research allows you to

develop an outline

start an argument

determine the sources you will use

locate basic information

The correct answer should be locate basic information.

When you are doing the preliminary research, you are just reading through a bunch of sources and information that you may or may not use while writing. You still aren't deciding which exact sources you are actually going to use, but rather just trying to find them and later on make that decision during another stage of writing.

the answer is industry