Module #3 - Research Design Flashcards
Define “Research Design”
A FRAMEWORK for conducting the research project, including the details of the information sought, how it will be sought, and how it will be analyzed.
What is the basic difference between primary and secondary research?
Primary research is conducted specifically for the project at hand.
Secondary research is existing data that is re-purposed to answer your current questions.
Name 3 common types of Primary Research
1) Survey/Individual Interviews,
2) Focus Groups
3) Observation
How can locating and reviewing any existing secondary research help you before beginning your project?
It can help you define your issue more clearly,
develop your approach,
identify key and relevant variables,
test hypotheses and
interpret your primary data more insightfully.
What are the four key considerations when evaluating the usefulness of secondary data?
Timeliness - is it recent enough to still be valid?
Relevance - how closely does it address the business questions you’re looking at?
Completeness - Does it cover everything you were looking to investigate? Is something missing?
Quality - You may not know the details of how the research was conducted, thus you can’t know if the data is valid.
Name the 3 broad categories of primary research design.
1) Exploratory
2) Descriptive
3) Causal
Describe “Exploratory Research”
PRELIMINARY research used to GAIN INSIGHT into the market or business issue, especially when tackling a NEW TOPIC - one where there has not been a lot of other research. However, even for well-researched topics such as laundry detergents, exploratory research can yield new insights or hypotheses. Very often exploratory research is the first phase of a multi-phase research project
Describe “Descriptive Research”
Research that DESCRIBES the CURRENT state of the market - DEMOGRAPHIC characteristics of current users, BRAND ATTITUDES and perceptions, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.
It is the most common research type and answers basic questions such as who are our users, when do they use our product, why are they using it or not using it, and where do they buy or use our product.
Describe “Causal Research”
Research that seeks to find out about CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIABLES. Researchers use causal research when they want to assess the EFFECT OF A CHANGE IN ONE OR MORE OF THE MARKETING VARIABLES.
For example, what will happen to sales if we change the price of the product? Will consumers be more attracted to our product if we change the packaging design? In causal research, we test the effect of one variable such as price on another variable such as sales
Which of the 3 types of research design are considered “conclusive”?
Descriptive and Causal
Which of the 3 types of research design are NOT considered “conclusive”?
Exploratory
“Descriptive” research answers which questions?
Who, What, Where, When and How
“Causal” research answers which question?
Why
Describe and draw the breakdown of Descriptive Research types.
Split into Cross section and Longitudinal.
Then split Cross Section into Single Cross section and Multiple cross section
Name 3 types of Exploratory Primary research
1) Expert Interviews
2) Focus groups
3) Pilot surveys
What type of research design is used when you want to explain, monitor or test hypotheses?
Descriptive research
What is the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal designs?
Cross-sectional deals with a single point in time, and longitudinal deals with 2 or more points in time
What is a single cross-sectional design?
A single sample at a single point in time
What is a multiple cross-sectional design?
Two or more surveys conducted at 2 or more points in time (e.g., many tracking studies or pre- and post-tests).
What is a longitudinal design?
Same sample tested at multiple points in time, often using a panel.
What is the main advantage to using a longitudinal or panel design?
To be able to assess changes at the individual level. Multiple cross-sectional allows for assessing changes at the group level only.
Name 3 advantages of a cross-sectional design over a longitudinal design.
1) more representative (panelists are, by definition, not)
2) less response bias from prior surveys
3) speed and flexibility in data collection
Name 3 advantages of a longitudinal design over a cross-sectional design.
1) can detect change at respondent level
2) greater accuracy in reporting actual usage and behavioral data (panelists asked to record usage in real time)
3) Ability to collect more data.
What is the key disadvantage of multiple cross sectional vs. longitudinal.?
Cannot detect changes at the respondent level
Name 3 disadvantages of a longitudinal design.
1) not representative because people who agree to be in a panel are different from those who don’t, and respondents drop out from wave to wave.
2) Panelists are paid, thus are “professional” respondents.
3) The act of taking the survey may change the responses of some respondents in later surveys; response bias.
In causal research, which type of variable do marketing management elements (e.g., price, packaging, positioning) tend to be? Dependent or independent?
Independent
In causal research, which type of variable do business outcomes (e.g., sales volume, market share) tend to be? Dependent or independent?
Dependent
Why are experimental designs good for causal research?
They are an efficient way to infer cause and effect
How can you conduct causal research if an experimental design is not possible or advisable?
You can use a non-experimental design and infer cause and effect through statistical methods
What are the two classes of experimental design?
Field and laboratory
What is another term for a “Field experiment”?
In-market test or test market
What does a lab experiment attempt to do?
Simulate the real world, but in a controlled environment
