4.4 Research methods

Question 1

Purpose of Market research

Answer 1

To aid in business decision making by collecting, analysing and reporting data related to a particular market, in particular:

● To identify consumer needs and wants, satisfaction levels and patterns in purchase behaviour (e.t who buys this will or not buy that?).

● To predict
● To reduce the risk of product failure
● To measure the effectiveness of a marketing strategy.
● To provide current or the latest information regarding activity in the market.

Question 2

4 Primary research methods?

Answer 2

Surveys,
interviews,
focus groups and
observations.

Question 3

Secondary research methods?

Answer 3

Academic journals,
media articles,
government publications and
market analyses.

Question 4

Quantitative research?

Answer 4

Collection, analysis and interpretation of numerical data.

●Less open to interpretations

●Frequent question is “how many”?

●More objective

Question 5

Qualitative research?

Answer 5

Analyses and interprets data about consumer opinions, attitudes or beliefs.
● higher degree of interpretation
● more subjective/biased;
●Frequent question is “why”?

Question 6

Disadvantages of surveys?

Answer 6

● May be poorly constructed and administered
● Even if the questionnaire is constructed well, the answers provided may still not be an accurate reflection of how they truly feel, depending on context, environment, time to reflect etc.
● Small samples may not be representative;
Large samples are costly

Question 7

Disadvantages of interviews

Answer 7

● time-consuming - setting up and carrying out of the interview, analysing responses, gathering feedback, and reporting.
● biased Interviewers may have more influence on interviewees’ responses than in the survey, because of a more intense contact.

Question 8

Focus groups?

Answer 8

5-10 people brought together to discuss a specific product or idea. They may also be asked to try a new product

Question 9

Disadvantages of focus groups?

Answer 9

● a small number of individuals do not reflect the segment (not representative).
● They may be hesitant to express their own views, especially when they oppose those of another participant.
● may be costly, if they are compensated in cash or in kind (a car to try out).

Question 10

Primary in parallel of secondary research?

Answer 10

Organizations may first carry out secondary research to get an overall background picture and then conduct primary research fill in the gaps.

Question 11

Advantages and Disadvantages of secondary (desk) research?

Answer 11

Secondary (Desk) research is a quicker and cheaper - readily available.

However,
●the information collected may be out of date or

● have been collected for other purposes not considering many factors relevant for business in question
● the source of data may not be reliable (e.g. ● Newspapers can be biased, depending on the type of organization that owns them).

Question 12

On-line vs printed media?

Answer 12

●Communication close to real-time may be important.

●The process of producing content, printing, and distributing the finished paper may result in articles that are out of date by the time they are delivered to the customer.

●Printed media may be more reliable, because there may be enough time to check the findings/peer-review

Question 13

Ethical issues?

Answer 13

●Deceptive practices, such as

not telling customers that information is being collected when they visit a website
misrepresenting research numbers by changing database numbers.
Any other action that uses lies and deception to get information.

●Invasion of privacy

Unprecedented ability of new technologies to find, collect, store and match personal information. The process of targeting can have an effect on personal freedom.

●Breaches of confidentiality

Companies regularly share information about customers with partners. Without prior permission, they may just give the option to opt-out. Ethically, any unauthorized disclosure of customer information is problematic.

●Objectivity
Researchers own opinions may bias their work and contribute to the continuation of stereotypes in advertising.

Question 14

Quota sampling

Answer 14

If proportions of different groups are know, this may provide more reliable findings than random sampling. The population is divided into a number of groups that share certain characteristics (mutually exclusive sub-groups) such as age or gender. Targets are then set for the number of people who must be interviewed in each segment. For example, in a school of 500 students offering the IB diploma programme, a researcher may target 15 males and 20 females to interview regarding their perception of the programme.

Question 15

Disadvantages of quota sampling

Answer 15

May be not representative (proportions of groups are not known),
Because in general is not regarded as a random sampling, he may be biased selecting the interviewee, based on their availability and readiness.

Question 16

Random sampling?

Answer 16

The sample of respondents is selected randomly. With technology, a list of random numbers can be generated from a target population by the use of a computer.

Question 17

Research vs culture

Answer 17

● Different populations may be more or less inclined to cooperate. They may lack trust in the aims of a survey, how their answers will affect their lives etc. I an authoritarian country people tend to be less open.
● Education levels, access to internet and related general skills have affect on the success of online surveys.

Question 18

Research vs innovation

Answer 18

Innovative media tools enable to access and process enormous amount of data, in order to (1) target effectively and to (2) collect and analyse feedback.

Question 19

Research and change

Answer 19

Research methods have changed considerably. Considerable part of research is conducted through online surveys, which definitely are:
● faster,
● often better quality (larger sample, possibly more representative if targeted well, more time allowed to consider questions etc), and
● cheaper than ever.

Question 20

Disadvantage of a random sampling?

Answer 20

You can miss the target population if the sample is not large enough.

Question 21

Methods of sampling:

Answer 21

Quota
Random
Stratified
Cluster
Snowballing

Question 22

Cluster sampling?

Answer 22

Usually, used when the population is geographically dispersed, by selecting a group from each region (cluster) and then taking a random sample from the clusters - may be biased, especially if the cluster sample is obtained from areas where people share similar characteristics

Question 23

Stratified sampling vs random?

Answer 23

A simple random sample is used to represent the entire data population and randomly selects individuals from the population without any other consideration. A stratified random sample, on the other hand, first divides the population into smaller groups, or strata, based on shared characteristics.

Question 24

Quota sampling vs stratified?

Answer 24

Quota sampling and Stratified sampling both require the division into groups of the target population. The main goal of both methods is to select a representative sample and facilitate sub-group research.

However,
Stratified sampling uses simple random sampling.

The quota uses sampling of availability.

For stratified sampling, a sampling frame is necessary (not needed for quota sampling). Probability sampling enables the calculation of the sampling error.

Market analysts mostly use Quota sampling, as it is mostly cost-effective, easy to conduct and has satisfying population reach. However, it disguises potentially significant bias.

Question 25

Snowballing

Answer 25

This is a process of sampling that involves surveying the first group or individual who then suggests other groups or individuals who could participate - may be vary biased and covering groups of similar characteristics

Question 26

Convenience sampling vs quota?

Answer 26

To some degree the quota sampling is as as well using sample based on availability but is much more representative and involves some degree of random sampling.
Convenience sampling selects the groups based solely on their easy access and proximity to the researcher

Question 27

Qualitative vs quantitative research?

Answer 27

Both methods can be combined to achieve better results.

Quantitative data can help highlight connections (correlations) among variables and also address other factors the researcher may not have considered. Findings from a qualitative focus group may be used to formulate a good questionnaire for a quantitative survey.

Collecting and analysing qualitative data can provide insight into the varying participant experiences, including what may need to be improved or changed. Qualitative data collected from a focus group may e.g. discuss the findings of a quantitative survey.