MArketing research notes chapter2

R E S E A R C H M E T H

LESSON 2: STEPS IN RESEARCH PROCESS O D O L O G Y

Students, in our introduction to the subject lecture we had conquered the areas where research is used as a tool for decisionmaking. making. Also we know that all business operat es in the th e world of  uncertainty. Research methodology minimizes the degree of  uncertainty involved in management decisions. Research lays the structure for decision-making

Descriptive Research Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks to describe users of a product, determine the prop ortion of  o f  the population that uses a product, or predict future demand for a product or describes the happening of a certain phenomenon. As opposed to exploratory research, if you are doing descriptive research you should define questions, people surveyed, and the method of analysis prior to beginning data collection. In other o ther words, the t he who, what, where, when, when, why, and and how h ow aspects of the research should be defined. Such preparation allows you the opportunity to make any required changes before the costly process of data collection has begun. There are two basic types of descriptive research:

Let us recapitulate what we have studied stud ied in the th e last lecture. We saw that research plays a dominant role in the field of  •

Marketing

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Production

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Banking

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Materials

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Human Resource Development

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Government

You can classify Research in one of three categories: 1. Explorator Exploratory y resea research rch 2. Descripti Descriptive ve resea research rch 3. Causa Causall resea research rch These classifications are made according to your objective of the research. In some cases the research will fall into one of these categories, categories, but in other o ther cases different ph phases ases of the same research project will fall into different categories. Now No w we will will discuss these categories in d etail:

Exploratory Research Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses. Exploratory research can be performed using a literature search, surveying certain people about their experiences, focus groups, and case studies. When you will be surveying people, exploratory research studies would not try to acquire a representative sample, but rather, seek  to interview int erview those who are knowledgeable and who might be able to provide you the insight concerning the relationship among variables. Case studies can include contrasting situations or benchmarking against an organization known for its excellence. Exploratory research may develop hypotheses, but it does not seek to test them. Exploratory research is characterized by its flexibility.

Lon gitud inal Studies Longitudinal studies are time series analyses that make repeated measurements of the same individuals, thus allowing you to monitor behaviour such as brand switching. switching. However, longitudinal longitudinal studies are not necessarily representative since many people may refuse to participate because of the commitment required. Cross-sectional Studies

Cross-sectional studies sample the population to make measurements at a specific point in time. A special type of crosssectional analysis is a cohort analysis, which tracks an aggregate of  individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval over time. You can can use Cohort analyses analyses for longforecasting of product demand. Causal Research Casual Casual Research Research seeks to t o find cause and affect relationships r elationships between variables. It accomplishes this goal through laboratory and field experiments. Research process involves important steps•

Problem Prob lem definition definition

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Research Research proposal pr oposal

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Research Design

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Data Collection Collection

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Data Analysis Analysis & interpret ation

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Report writing

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Interpretation of Research

Refer diagram diagram below to un derstand each steps st eps clearly The Research Process

Let us assume that the alternative choices are clearly specified: specified: either II or I be employed.We employed.We have identified the alternative choices but not completely specified the problem. The complete prob lem is is concerned with the criterion that will determine the superiority of the two methods. The criterion could be: •

Cost

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Efficiency of materials

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Availabili Availability ty of resources, resour ces, etc.

There are three aspects of research research problem pro blem a. The specifica specification tion of units to be studied studied b. The identificati identification on of the th e particular particular units units within within the scope of study c. The specifi specificati cation on of the kind of information information to be sought.

What would you like to kno w if informat informat ion is free and without error?

A complete answer to this question defines defin es the initial research problem. It can be redefined later if some difficulty arises.

Re s e a r ch ch P r o p o s a l Research proposal are necessary for all business research, it may be the internal proposal or it may be the external proposal. But research proposal is not required in case of research research studies for P. P . hd., or paper presentation as concerned. A proposal is known as a work plan, prospectus, outline, statement of intent, or draft plan. The proposal pro posal tells us what, why, how, where, and to whom it will will be done. do ne. The proposal of research is:

Problem Definition First of all one should be clear as what exactly the problem is. If you are working in a company, compan y, the prob p roblem lem is assign by the top t op management; management; usually you get bro ad ideas regarding the p roblem. Then with the broad concept from the top management you define the specific problem statement. Or if you are doing some research project then th en you have to identify your problem p roblem statement o f your own. Remember Remember your prob lem statement should be specific. Let us suppose th at we want want to know kn ow which which of th e two methods can be employed Metho d I or Meth od II The researcher should be clear with the alternative choices he has.Should has.Should ot her Methods b e also considered?

1. To present the managem management ent question question to be researched and its importance 2. To discuss discuss the research research efforts of others who have worked on related management management questions. 3. To suggest suggest the data necessary necessary for solving the management management question q uestion and how the th e data will will be gathered, gathered, treated, tr eated, and interpreted. We will will discuss discuss the research propo pr oposal sal in detail in lesson 3. Research Design Data Collection ollection -Types -Types and Sources:

Once On ce the researcher has decided the t he ‘Research ‘Research Design’, Design’, the next job is is of data collection. collection. For data to be useful, our observations need to be organized so

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that we can get some patterns and come to logical conclusions.

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Statistical investigation requires systematic collection of data, so that all relevant groups are represented in the data.

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To determine the th e potential potent ial market for a new product, for example, the researcher r esearcher might might study 500 consumers in a certain geographical area. area. It must be ascertained ascertained that the group contains people people representing variables such as income level, race, education and neighborh ood . The quality of data will will greatly affect the conclusions and hence, utmost import ance must be given given to this process and every possible possible precaution should b e taken to ensure accuracy, while gathering and collecting data. Depending upon the sources utilized, whether the data has come from actual observations observations or from records that are kept for normal purposes, statistical data can be classified into two categories, primary and secondary. Prima Prima ry Data

Primary data is one, which is collected by th e investigator investigator himself  for the t he purpose purp ose of a specific inquiry inquiry or study. Such data is original original in character and is generated by survey surveyss conduct ed by individuals individuals or resea r esearch rch institutions.

Questionnaire The questionnaire question naire is an important importan t tool too l for gather gathering ing primary data. Poorly Poo rly constructed const ructed questions quest ions can result in large large erro errors rs and invalidate invalidate the research data, so significant effort should be put into the Questionnaire Second ary Data When an investigator uses the th e data, which has already been collected by others, such data is called called secondary data. This data is primary data for the t he agency that colle co llects cts it and becomes b ecomes secondary data data for someone else who uses this data for his own purposes. The secondary data data can be obtained from journals, reports, government publications, publication publication of o f professional pro fessional and and research organiza o rganization tion and so on. For example, if if a researcher desires to analyze analyze the weather conditions of different regions, he can get the required information or data from the records of the meteorology department. There are several criteria that you should use to evaluate evaluate secondary data. •

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Some common types of primary data are: •

Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics

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Psychological and lifestyle characteristics

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Attitudes and opinions

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Awareness and knowledge:for example, brand awareness

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Intentions:for Int entions:for example, purchase intentions. While useful, useful, intentions are not a reliable indication of actual future behavior. Motivation:a Motivation:a person’s person’s motives are more stable than h is/ her behavior, behavior, so motive is a better predictor o f future behavi b ehavior or than is past behavior.

Behaviour Primary data data can be obtained by: b y: Communication Involves questioning respondents either verbally or in writing. This method is versatile, since you need only to ask for the information; however, the response may not be accurate. Communication usually is quicker and cheaper than observation. Observation Involves the recording of actions and is performed by either a person or some mechanical or electronic device. Observation is less versatil versatilee than communication communication since some attributes attr ibutes of a person p erson may not be readily observable, such as attitudes, awareness, knowledge, intentions, intent ions, and motivation. O bservation also might take longer since observers may have to wait wait for appropriate events to occur, though o bservation bservation using scanner scanner data might be quicker and more cost effective. Observation typically is more accurate than communication. Persona l Inte Inte rview rview s Have an interviewer bias that mail-in questionnaires do not have. For example, in a personal interview the respondent’s perception of the interviewer may affect the responses

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Whether the data is useful in the research study. How current t he data is and whether it applies applies to t ime period period of interest. Errors and accuracy - whether the data is dependable and can be verified. verified. Presence of bias in the data. Specifications and methodologies used, including data collection method, response rate, quality and analysis of the data, sample size and sampling technique, and questionnaire design. Objective of the original data collection. Nature of the t he data, including definition definition of variables, variables, units of measure, categories used, and relationships examined.

D a t a Co l le l e c t i o n P r o c e d u r e f o r P r im im a r y Data Plann ing the Stud y Since the quality of results gained from statistical data depends upon the quality of information collected, it is important that a sound investigativ investigativee process be established to ensure t hat the th e data is highly highly representative represen tative and unbiased. This requires a high high degree of skill and also certain precautionary measures may have to be taken. Mode s of Data Collection ollection Following are widely widely used methods meth ods for fo r collection of o f primary data: •

Observation

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Experimentation

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Questionnaire

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Interviewing

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Case Study Method

Observation Process Observing the pro cess at work work collects information. information. The following following are a few examples. Service Stations:Pose as a customer, go to a service station i. Service and observe

ii. ii. To evaluate evaluate the effectiveness effectiveness of display of the D unlop cushions in a departmental store, an observer not es: •

How many pass by?

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How many stopped to look at the display?

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How many decide to buy?

iii. iii. Super Market Market What What is the best location location in the shelf? Hidden cameras are used. iv. Concealed tape recorder with the investigator investigator helps to determine typical sales arguments and find out sales enthusiasm shown b y various various salesmen. By this method, meth od, response bias is eliminated. The method can be used to study sales techniques, customer movements, customer response, etc. However, the customer’s/  consumer’s consumer’s state of mind, their buyi b uying ng motives, their images are not revealed. revealed. Their income and education education is also also not known. It also takes time for the investigator to wait for particular sections to take place.

R E S E A R Simple tabulations count the occurrences of each variable C H independently of the other variable variables. s. M •

Finally, Finally, the data is tabulated tabulated to count t he number of samples falling falling into various categories.

Cross tabulations, tabulation s, also also known as contingency tables or cross tabs, treats two or more variables simultaneously. However, since the variables are in a two-dimensional table, cross tabbing more than two variables is difficult to visualize since more than two dimensions would be required. Cross tabulation can be perfo rmed for nominal and ordinal variables. Cross tabulation is the most commonly utilized data analysis method in marketing research. Many Many studies take the analysis analysis no fur ther than cross tabulation. This technique divides the sample into into sub-groups su b-groups t o show how the dependent variable varies from one subgroup to another. A third variable can be introduced to uncover a relationship that initially was not evident.

Ex p e r im im e n t a l M e t h o d : Many of the important decisions facing the marketing executives cannot be b e settled by secondary research, research, observation ob servation or by b y surveying surveying the opinions of customers or experts. Experimental method may be used in the following situations. i. What is the best method method for training training sales salesmen? men? ii. ii. What is the best remuneration plan for salesmen? salesmen? iii. iii. What is the best shelf arrangement for displaying displaying a product? iv. What is the effectiveness effectiveness of a point-of-purch point -of-purchase ase display? display? v. What package package design design should be used? vi. Which Which copy is the most effective? vii.W vii.What hat media are t he most effective? viii.Which version of a product would consumers like best? In a marketing experiment, the experimental units may be consumers, stores, sales sales territories, etc.\ etc.\ Factors or marketing variables variables under the control of o f the th e researcher which which can be studied are price, pr ice, packaging, packaging, display, display, sales incentive plan, p lan, flavor, color shape, Competitor’s actions, actions, weather weather changes, in cooperative dealers, etc. are environmental factors. To study the effect of the marketing variables in the presence of  environmen tal factors, a sufficiently large large sample should be used. Or sometimes a control contr ol group group is set up. A Cont Control rol group is a group equivalent equivalent t o t he experimental group and differing only in in not receiving any treatment. The result/ response of a marketing experime experiment nt will will be in the form of sales, attitudes or behaviour. Data Analysis-Preliminary Steps •

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Before the analysis can be performed, raw data must be transformed into the right format. Then, it must be edited so that errors can be corrected or omitted. The data must then be coded; this procedure converts th e edited raw data into numbers o r symbols. A codebook codeboo k is created created to document how th e data was coded.

Conjoint Analysis The Conjoint Analysis is a powerful technique for determining consumer preferences preferences for product attributes. Hypot he sis sis Testing A basic fact fact about testing hypotheses is that a hypothesis may be rejected but that the hypothesis never can be unconditionally accepted until all possible evidence is evaluated. In the case of sampled data, the information set cannot be complete. So if a test using such data do does es not reject a hypoth esis, the conclusion is not necessarily that the hypothesis should be accepted. The null hypothesis in an experiment is the hypothesis that the independent independ ent variable has no effect on the th e dependent variable. The null hypothesis is expressed as H0. This hypoth esis is assumed assumed to be true unless proven otherwise. The alternative to the null hypothesis is the hypothesis that the independent variable does have an effect on t he dependent variable. variable. This hypothesis is known known as the alternative, research, or experimental hypothesis and is expressed as H1. This alternative hypothesis states that the relationship observed between the variables cannot be explained by chance alone. There are two types of errors in evaluating hypotheses: •

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Type I error: occurs when one rejects the null hypothesis and accepts the alternative, when in fact the null hypothesis is true. Type II error: occurs when one accepts the null hypothesis when in fact the null hypothesis is false.

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Because Because their names are not no t very descriptive, these types of errors erro rs sometimes are confused. Some people jokingly define a Type III error to occur when one confuses Type I and Type II. To illustrate illustrate the difference, it is useful to consider a trial by jury in which the null hypoth hypothesis esis is is that the defendant is innocent. If t he jury convicts convicts a truly innocent defendant, a Type I error has occurred. If, on the other hand, the th e jury declares declares a truly guilty guilty defendant to be innocent, innocent , a Type II error has occurred. Hypothesis testing involves th e following steps: Y

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Formulate the null and alternative hy hypoth poth eses.

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Choose the appropriate test.

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Choose a level of significance (alpha) - determine the rejection rejection region. region. Gather the data and calculate the test statistic. Determine the probability of the observed value of the test statistic under th e null hypothesis given given the th e sampling sampling distribution that applies to the chosen test.

This is equal to the number of categories minus one. The convention conven tional al critical level of 0.05 normally no rmally is used. If the th e calculated calculated output outp ut value from the function is greater than th e chi-square looklookup table value, the null hypothesis is rejected. Anova Another test of significance significance is the th e Analysis Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test. The primary purpose of ANOVA is to test for differences between multiple means. Whereas the t-test can be used to compare two means, ANO ANOVA VA is needed to compare th ree or more means. If multiple t-tests t-t ests were applied, the probability pro bability of a TYPE I error (rejecting (rejecting a true null hypothesis) increases increases as the number of  comparisons increases increases

Based Based on t he comparison, reject reject or do d o not reject reject the null hypothesis. Make Make the marketing research conclusion.

To run a one-way Anova, use the following steps:

Compare the value of the test statistic to the rejection threshold.

Tests of Statistical Significance The chi-square goodness-of-fit goodness-of-fit test t est is used to determine whether a set of proportions have specified numerical values. It often is used to analyze bivariate cross-tabulated data. Some examples of situations that are well suited for this test are:

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(number of columns - 1) (number of rows - 1)

One-way ANOVA examines whether multiple means differ. The test is called an F-test. ANOVA calculates the ratio of the variation between groups to t o the th e variation variation within group s (the F ratio). While ANOVA was designed designed for comparing several means, means, it also can be used to compare two t wo means. Two-way Two-way ANO ANOVA VA allow allowss for a second independent variable and addresses interaction.

In order to analyze whether research results are statistically significant or simply by chance, a test of statistical significance can be run

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of freedom (df). For chi-square applied to cross-tabulated data, the number of degrees of freedom is equal to

A manufacturer of packaged products test markets a new product and wants to know if sales of the new product will be in the same relative proportion of package sizes as sales of existing products. A company’s company’s sales revenue comes from fr om Product P roduct A (50%), (50%), Product B (30%), and Product C (20%). The firm wants to know whether whether recent fluctuations fluctuations in th ese proportions are random or whether they represent a real shift in sales.

Defining k categories and observing the number of cases falling into each category perform the chi-square test. Knowing the expected number of cases falling falling in each category, one can define chi-squared as:

?2 = SOi - Ei )2 / E i i

Where O i = the number of observe ob served d cases in category category i,” i,” E i = the number of expected cases in category i, k = thenumber the number of o f categories, categories, th e summation runs from i = 1 to i = k. Before calculati calculating ng the chi-square value, value, one needs to t o determine t he expected frequency for each cell. This is done by dividing the number of samples by the number of cells in the table. To use the output of the chi-square function, one uses a chisquare table. To do so, one needs to know the number o f degrees

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Identify Ident ify the independent and dependent variables. variables. Describe the variation by breaking it into three parts - the total variation, the portion that is within groups,and groups,and the portion that is between groups (or among groups for more than two groups).

The total variation (SStotal) is the sum of the squares of the differences between each valueand valueand the th e grand mean of all the values in all the groups. The in-group variation (SSwithin ) is the sum of  the squares of the th e differencesin differencesin each element’s element’s value and th e group mean. The variation between group means (SSbetween) is the total variation variation minus the in-group variation (SStotal - SS SSwithin ). 1. Measure Measure the difference between each each group’s group’s mean mean and the grand mean. 2. Perform a signifi significanc cancee test on the differences differences.. 3. Interpret Interpret the resul results. ts. This F-test assumes that the group variances are approximately equal and and that t hat the th e observations are independent. It also also assumes normally distributed data; ho wever, wever, since this is a t est on means the Central Centr al Limit Limit Theor em holds as long as the sample size is not too small ANOVA is efficient for analyzing data using relatively few observations observation s and can be used with categorical variables. variables. Note Not e that regression can perform a similar analysis to that of ANOVA. Discriminant Analysis Analysis of the difference in means between groups provides information about individual variables, it is not useful for determine their individual impacts when the variables are used in combination. Since some variables will not be independent from one another, one needs a test that can consider them simultaneously simultaneously in in order ord er to take t ake into into account their interrelationship. One such test is to construct a linear combination, essentially a weighted sum of the variables. To determine which variables

discriminate between two or more naturally occurring groups, discriminant analysis iiss used. D iscriminant analysis can can determine det ermine which which variables variables are the best predictors of group membership. It determines which groups differ with respect to the mean of a variable, and then th en uses that variable to predict pr edict new cases of group membership. Essentially Essentially, the th e discriminant discriminant function problem prob lem is a one-way ANOVA problem in that one can determine whether multiple groups are significantly different from one another with respect to the mean of a particular variable. variable. Adiscriminant analysis analysis consists of the following steps: 1. Formulate Formulate the problem. problem. 2. Determine the discrim discriminant inant function coefficie coefficients nts that result in the highest ratio of between-group variation to withingroup variation. 3. Test the signific significance ance of the discrim discriminant inant function. 4. Interpret Interpret the resul results. ts. 5. Determine the validity validity of the analysis analysis.. Discriminant analysis analysis analyzes analyzes the t he dependency d ependency relationship, whereas factor analysis and cluster analysis address the interdependency among variables. Factor Analysis Factor analysis is a very popular technique to analyze interdependence.Factor analysis studies the entire set of  interrelationships without without defining variable variabless to be dependent or independent. Factor analysis analysis combines variables variables to create a smaller set of factors. Mathematically, a factor is a linear combination of variables. A factor is not directly observable; it is inferred from the variables. The technique techn ique identifies underly underlying ing structure among amon g the variables, reducing the number numb er of variables to a more manageable set. Factor analysis analysis groups variables according to t heir correlation corr elation The factor loading can be defined as the correlations between the factors and their underlying variables. A factor-loading matrix is a key output of the factor analysis. An example matrix is shown below.

R E S E A R C H To facilitate facilitate interpr etation, the th e axis axis can can be rotated. Rotation of o f the M

eigen value is greater than one are used. Other criteria for determining the number of factors include the Scree plot criteria and the percentage of variance criteria.

axis is equivalent equivalent to forming f orming linear combinations of o f the facto rs. A commonly common ly used rotation rot ation strategy str ategy is the varimax rotation. Varimax attempts to fo rce the column entries to be either close close to zero or one.

E T H O D O L O Cluster Analysis G Market segmentation usually is based not on one factor but on Y

multiple factors. Initiall I nitially, y, each each variable represents its own cluster. The challenge ch allenge is is to find fin d a wayto combine co mbine variables so th that at relatively homogenous clusters can be formed. Such clusters should be internally homogenous and externally heterogeneous. Cluster analysis is one way to accomplish this goal. Rather than being a statistical test, it is more of a collection collection of algorithms for fo r grouping objects, or in the case of marketing research, grouping people. Cluster analysis is useful in the exploratory phase of research when there are no a-priori hypotheses. Cluster Analysis Steps Formulate th e problem, collecting data and and choosing cho osing the variables to analyze. Choose a distance measure. The most common is the E uclidean uclidean distance. Other Ot her possibili po ssibilities ties include the squared Euclidean distance, city-block (Manhattan) distance, Chebychev distance, power distance, and percent disagreement. Choose a clustering procedure (linkage, nodal, or factor procedures). Determine Det ermine the numb er of clusters. They should be well well separated and ideally ideally they should be distinct enough eno ugh to give them descriptive names such as professionals, buffs, etc. Profile the clusters. Assess t he Validity alidity o f th e Clust Clust ering The format for mat of the marketing research report varies with with the th e needs of the organization. The report often cont ains the following following sections: sections:

Factor 1 Factor Factor 2 Factor 3 Variable 1 Variable 2 Variable 3 Column's Sum of Squares: Co lu m n ’s Su m o f Sq u a r e s Each cell in the matrix represents correlation betwee b etween n the th e variable variable and the th e factor associated wi with th that t hat cell. The square of this correlation represents th e proportion propo rtion of o f the variation in the variable variable explained explained by the factor. The sum of the squares of the factor loadings in each column is called an eigen value. An An eigen value represents represent s the th e amount of variance in th e original variables variables that is associated associated with that factor. factor . The communality is is the amount of the th e variable variable variance variance explained by common factors A rule of thumb for deciding on the number of factors is that each included factor must explain at least as much variance as does an average variable. In other words, only factors for which the

Authorization letter for the research •

Table of Contents

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List of illustrations

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Executive summary

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Research objectives

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Methodology

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Results

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Limitations

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Conclusions Conclusions and recommendation s

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Appendices containing copies of the questionnaires, etc

Data is then p rocessed in in order ord er to summarise the results results It seeks to determine how units covered in the research project respond to the items under investigation. It could be •

Univariate

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Bivariate

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Multivariate

Inte rpreta tion of Results Results H M E T H O D O L O G

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Formulating an objective or theoretical framework,

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analytical models,

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Research Research questions, and hypotheses and identifying identifying the th e information needed.

This process pro cess is guided guided by

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Discussion with management management and industr y experts, experts,

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Analysis of secondary data,

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Qualitative research, and

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Pragmatic considerations

Step 3: Rese Rese arch Design Form Form ulation

It is the “so what”? of research. Research is wasted wasted if it is not used u sed in decision making or influencing actions. Not only the results should be interpreted into action recommendations but the recommendations must also be communicated in an understandable manner. Results should be presented in as simple manner manner as possible. Basic Req Req uireme nt 1. Resea Researcher rcher must must understand the proper interpretation interpretation of  research results and the assumptions embodied in them. 2. Resea Researcher rcher should should understand the kinds of questions questions research can handle and the type of structure required making a problem prob lem “researchable” “researchable” 3. Researcher Researcher must be capable of appraising the feasibility feasibility of  research research proposals Spe cial cial Case In management maximum research is done in the field of  marketing.

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It detail det ailss the procedures pro cedures necessary necessary for obtaining the required information, and its pur pose is to design a study that will will test the th e hypotheses of int erest, determine possible answers to the research questions, and provide the information needed for decision making. Conducting exploratory research precisely defines the variables, and designing appropriate scales to measure them are also a part of the research design The issue of how the data should be obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) experiment) must be addressed. It is also necessary necessary to design design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select respondents for the study. More formally, formulating the research design involves the following following steps: st eps: 1. Definition Definition of the information information needed needed 2. Secondary Secondary data data analysis analysis 3. Qualitativ Qualitativee resea research rch 4. Methods of collecting collecting quantitative data (survey, (survey, observation, and experimentation)

We conceptualize the marketing research process as consisting of  six steps. Each and every step in market research we will will be doing in detail. First let us discuss these briefly now.

5. Measure Measurement ment and scaling scaling procedures procedures

Step 1: Problem Definition

8. Plan Plan of data anal analy ysis sis

The first step in any marketing research project is to define the problem. In defining the problem, the you you should take into account •

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The purpose of the study, The relevant background background information,the information needed, and How it will will be used in decision-making.

Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers, •

Interviews with industry experts,

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Analysis of secondary data, and

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Perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups.

Once the problem of investigation has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly Step 2: Development Development of an Approach to the Problem

Development of an appro ach to the th e problem includes includes

6. Questionnair Questionnairee desig design n 7. Sampling Sampling process and sample sample size size

Step 4: Fieldwo Fieldwo rk or Dat a Collection Collection

Data collection involves a field field force or staff st aff that operates o perates either in the field, field, as in the case of personal p ersonal interviewing interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer-assisted personal interviewing), from an office by telephone (telephone or computer-assisted telephone interviewing), through mail (traditional mail and mail panel surveys with pre-recruited households), or electronically (e-mail or I nternet). nternet). Proper selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of the field force help minimize minimize data-collection data-collection errors. Step 5: Data Data Preparat ion and Analysis nalysis

Data preparation includes includes the editing, editing, coding, transcription and verifica verification tion of data. Each questionnaire or observation form is inspected or edited and, if if necessary, necessary, corrected. Number or letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaire are are transcribed or key punched onto magnetic tape or disks, or input directly into

the comput er. The data are analyzed analyzed to derive information related to the th e components of t he marketing research problem and, thus, provide input in to the management decision problem. Step 6: Repo rt Prepa Prepa ration an d Presen Presen tat ion

The entire project should be do cumented in a written written report r eport that t hat addresses the specific research questions identified, describes the approach, the research design, data collection, and data analysis procedures adopted, and presents the results and the major findings. The findings should be presented in a comprehensible format so that management management can readily use them in the decision making process. In addition, an oral presentation should be made to management using tables, figures, and graphs to en hance clarity and impact

Activity Activity 2

Explain the importance of interpretation of results?

Activity Activity 3

Name and briefly discuss the five steps of research process?

Errors in Research Process There are 2 types of errors a. Sampli ampling ng error error b. Non sampli sampling ng error error Sampling error is the difference between sample value and corresponding po pulation value. Non No n sampling error are errors in the th e difference stages of research.as a. Defective Defective problem design design b. Defectiv Defectivee population population definiti definition on c. Frame Frame set set

Activity Activity 4

Explain with the help of a suitable example the need for introducing two types of environmental conditions in a research problem?

d. Surrogate urrogate informati information on error e. Non respons responsee error error f. Measur easurem ement ent error error g. Experimenta Experimentall error h. Poor questionnai questionnaire re design design i. Intervi Interview ew bias bias  j. Data processi processing ng error l. Interpretation errors

Clue The environmental conditions specified in the research problem are of two types:

Re f e r e n c e s a n d Fu r t h e r Re Re a d i n g s

i. Those beyond beyond firm’ firm’ss control control

1. Boyd, Boyd, westfall, westfall, and and stasch, “Marketing Research Research Text and Cases”, All India Traveller Bookseller, New Delhi.

ii. ii. Those within within the firm’s firm’s control

k. Data anal analy ysis sis errors

2. Brown, F.E. “Marketing Research, Research, a structure for decision making”, making”, Addison – Wesley publishing company 3. Kothari, C.R. C.R. “Research “Research Methodology-M Methodology-Methods ethods and Techniques”, Wiley Wiley Eastern Ltd. 4. Stockton and Clark, Clark, “Introduction to Business Business and Economic Econo mic Statistics”, Statistics”, D.B D .B.Taraporeval .Taraporevalaa Sons andCo. Private Limited, Bombay.

Activity Activity 5

Activity Activity 1

A local supermarket has experienced a decline in unit _sales and little change in rupee value sales. Profits have almost vanished. The chief executive in searching for ways to revitalize the operat ion was was advised advised to increase increase the number n umber of hours the t he market is open for business. b usiness. He comes to you for _advice _advice in structuring structur ing a research research problem that will provide relevant information for decisionmaking.

The definition of the problem comprise

Define the problem, taking care to:

5. Dunn Dun n Olive O live Jean and Virginia Virginia A Clarck, Clarck, “Applied Statistics” John Wiley and Sons. 6. Green Paul E and Do nald S. S. Tull, Tull, “Researc “Research h for Marketing Marketing Decisions” Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi

a. State the releva relevant nt question question b. Enumerate the alternative alternative answers, answers,

R E S E A R C H M

E T H O D O L O G Y

R E S E A R C

c. Clearly Clearly define the units of analysis analysis and and characteristics of  interest. H M E T H O D O L O G

What are the relevant relevant “ states st ates of nature” which would lead lead to th e selection each alternative answer? answer?

Y

Activity Activity 6

A shampoo shampoo manuf acturing company wishes wishes to test two types of  makes in in order t o determine which is is the best o ne . A. Propose and defend a precise precise definition definition of “best” B. What What is the set of hypothesis hypothesis that should be tested? C. What What action would be associated with with each hypothesis?

Activity 7

Define and state the research problem for the following case: “Why is is the productivity p roductivity in Japan Japan so much h igher igher th an in India”? In dia”? Think about problem in a broader sense and narrow down the research problem.