Lecture 1: MR Process Flashcards
MR Process Planning Stage: Figure out what to research
- Establish the need
- Define the problem
- Establish research objectives
MR Process Data Collection Design: Design the ways to do the research
- Identify information types and sources
- Determine methods of accessing data
- Design data collection forms
- Determine the sample plan and size
MR Process Data Collection Stage: Gather data
- Collect data
MR Process Analysis Stage: Generate findings and interpret them
- Analyze data
- Prepare and present the research report
Problem Definition
The most important step
- A problem well defined is half-solved
- “If you don’t know where you want to go, any road will get you there”
- Exploratory research is often needed to find out real problems (detecting symptoms is not enough!)
- Good communication b/w marketers and marketing researchers is important
Problems vs. Symptoms: Problem
A situation requiring some type of action
Problems vs. Symptoms: Symptom
Evidence that a problem exists
Problems = Opportunities (in many cases)
- A competitor’s new product - developing our new product
A customer’s complaint letter - quality improvement
Constructs are
Information
Operational definitions are
Data
When formulating research objectives
- Researchers should consider relevant & necessary constructs and their operational definitions to be used in the research
- Each decision problem may need multiple constructs, and each construct may need multiple operational definitions / measurements
Exploratory research
- Clarifying ambiguous problems
- What are probable causes?
(Our market share is declining, I don’t know why!)
Descriptive research
- Describing characteristics of a population
- Who, what, when, where, how
(Who buys our product? What features of our product do consumers like?)
Causal research
- Identifying cause and effect relationships among variables
- Why, what-if
(Will consumers buy more of our product if we change the product package design?)
Secondary data
Collected for some other purposes
