Appendix B: Research Methods

Question 1

Primary data

Answer 1

Information that is collected by the researcher for a specific purpose

Example: Professor assinging you to interview your friends and family on their thoughts about snack food brands

Question 2

Secondary data

Answer 2

Information about a topic that already exists and can be consulted by a researcher

Example: Professor assigns you to analyze information from Stats Canada

Question 3

Qualitative Methods

Answer 3

Interview
Focus Group
Stories, Photos, and Diaries
Ethnography
Netnography
Shop-along

Question 4

Interview

Answer 4

One-on-one interaction between an interviewer and respondent, allowing for the collection of in-depth data

Example: Going to a skate park and asking people opinions and questions about skate boards, usually offering an incentive like a discount

Question 5

Focus Group

Answer 5

Discussion of a topic that a moderator leads with approximately 6-12 participants

Question 6

Stories, Photos, and Diaries

Answer 6

Write stories about their won experiences with products or those of others

Take pictures of people using the product, or react to pictures they provide

Pay people to keep a diary about their product usage

Question 7

Ethnography

Answer 7

The observation of people in their natural habitat

Brittany could spend a good amount of time among skateboarders, and over time, document their likes and dislikes. After time they will open up to her and give high quality feedback

Question 8

Netnography

Answer 8

Analyzes posts on social media platforms to determine consumers’ thoughts and feelings about a product

Example: Recipe suggestions brand users post that incorporate a food product, or examming blogs, forums, and online content to get a sense of the issues people grapple with in real life and how they view brands as a solution to their problems

Question 9

Shop-along

Answer 9

Interviewer accompanies people while they shop in a store

Example: Brittany walks around in her skate shop and identify pain points in the shopping experince (such as difficulty finding an item) or letting them try out boards to see what shopper truly look for

Question 10

Pantry Check

Answer 10

Cataloguing of the products in respondents kitchens

Question 11

Garbology

Answer 11

Sifting through trash to determine what residents actually consume

Example: Examming how much liquor one drinks by how many bottles and cans they have

Question 12

Quantitative Methods

Answer 12

Survey
Experiment
Big Data and Data Mining
Neuromarketing

Question 13

Survey

Answer 13

Respondents self-report answers to a set of questions posed by a researcher

Example: Phone or email surveys on gun control, body piercings, Census

Example 2: Brittany may survey boarders attitudes towards various brands and if they prioritize boarding in their leisure time over other activities

Question 14

Closed ended questions

Closed-ended questions

Answer 14

Respondents choose an answer on a numerical scale

Question 15

Open ended questions

Open-ended questions

Answer 15

Asked respondents to write their own response to questions rather than choosing numbers on a scale

Question 16

GIGO

Answer 16

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Saying that reminds us that any research results will be meaningless if the data that we collect are not valid

Question 17

Experiment

Answer 17

Independent variable is manipulated, holding constant everything else, to determine its impact on a dependent variable; used when the goal is establishing cause-and -effect relationships

Question 18

Independent variable

Answer 18

Variable manipulated in an experiment in order to see its effect on the dependent variable

Example: Showing a commercial with a celebrity vs not a celebrity

Question 19

Dependent Variable

Answer 19

A measurement of changes in an outcome variable to determine if the manipulation of one or more other factors influences it

Example: The number of calls the company receives after showing the commercial

Question 20

Control group

Answer 20

A neutral version of the manipulation to use as a baseline

Question 21

A/B Test

Answer 21

Two versions of a message to respondents to determine if one option is more effective

Question 22

Field experiment

Answer 22

Is conducted in the real world opposed to a laboratory

Question 23

Conjoint Analysis

Answer 23

Statistical technique that exposes respondents in a laboratory setting to many different permutations of an object in order to identify the optimal mixture or ingredients, colours, and other variable

Example: Brittany might name four attributes of skateboarding hates (number of panels, price, colours, etc) and then researchers will show respondents a series of pictures of slides that vary the levels of each variable in each configuration. They will see if participants prefer one level of attribute over another

Question 24

Big Data

Answer 24

The collection and analysis of extremely large datasets to identify patterns of behaviour in a group of consumers

Question 25

Data mining

Answer 25

The search for patterns in a very large dataset

Example: A book recommendation from Amazon would use this sort of pattern recognition

Question 26

Web scraping

Answer 26

A research technique that involves the use of software to collect and summarize online social media posts

Question 27

A type of web scraping

Answer 27

Sentiment analysis / opinion mining

The process of determining emotional tone behind a series of words, used to gain an understanding of the attitudes, opinions, and emotions expressed within an online mention

Question 28

Neuromarketing

Answer 28

The use of brain-scanning instruments to identify changes in the brain when subjects are exposed to market stimuli

-The measures include involuntary changes in our bodies when we become emotionally aroused or stressed such as Galvanic Skin Response, pupil dilation, heart rate, and facial muscle movements