Quantitative Research Techniques

Survey Research ...

is a method of descriptive research used for collecting primary data based on verbal or written communication with a representative sample of individuals or respondents from the target population. It requires asking the respondents for information either face-to-face or using the telephone interview, or through mail, fax or Internet.
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Survey Research
Objectives:
Most survey research studies attempt to identify and explain a particular marketing activity. Marketing surveys typically have multiple objectives.
Although surveys are generally conducted to quantify certain factual information, certain aspects of surveys may also be qualitative.
For example, testing and refining new product concepts is often a qualitative objective in a new product development.

Has non-business application as well. [e.g. donor research].

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Example
What survey research objectives might Daewoo [motor car] develop to learn about car buyers?
Consumer preference in design and features and how best to satisfy these preferences;
shopping mall intercepts; mail interview etc.

Demographic details, customer satisfaction; Testing certain aspects of advertising; Study product image.
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Person administered surveys I

1. Direct, face-to-face Interview: Interviewer and interviewee see and talk to each other face-to-face. Includes In-home/In-office Interview
Appointment first, Face to face Interview Needs Skill

Mall Intercept Interview

Interview outside home, in supermarkets, departmental stores, other public places
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Face to face interview

Advantages
Direct interaction Clarity and display of exhibits Better quality and quantity of data Higher response rate No sequence bias Identifying respondents Unstructured

Disadvantages
High cost Longer time Interviewer bias Anonymity not maintained Interviewer cheating Time bias exists Field control needed
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Person Administered Surveys II

2. Indirect, non- face-to-face Interview:
The interviewer and the interviewee do not see but talk direct to each other. Telephone Interview

Telephone Interview
Advantages
Faster Results Inexpensive Better geographical coverage Irresistibility Reaching hard-to-reach people Timing: early or late OK Privacy and better control Coincidental data: immediate feedback.

Disadvantages
No exhibits Long interview not possible Inability to make judgment Answering machines and caller identification device Sampling problem Obsolete directory: poor sampling frame

Self-administered surveys
Mail Survey
Advantages
Wide geographical coverage Providing thoughtful answers Ability to ask sensitive questions No interviewer bias Inexpensive Better control Anonymity Clarity

Disadvantages
Mailing list problem Unidentifiable respondent Questionnaire exposure Data limitation No interviewer assistance
no exhibits

Assumed literacy Poor response rate Longer time

Survey through Internet has similar advantages and problems

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A questionnaire
[also called research instrument]
Data collection instrument used for gathering data; A formalized schedule of an assembly of a carefully formulated questions;

Six important functions

Converts research objectives into specific questions Standardizes the questions Keeps respondents motivated to complete the research Serve as a permanent record Speed-up the process of data analysis Reliability and validity purposes
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Questionnaire Development Process

Steps in a Questionnaire Development Process

Determine Survey Objectives

Decide Data Collection Methods

Question Development

Pre-design activities

Question Evaluation by Researcher and by Client

Post-design activities
Tabulate and Analyze Data and Finalize Report Gather Data Using the Questionnaire

Pretest the Questionna ire Revise, Finalize, and Duplicate

Design activities

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Basic Question Formats

Various Question Formats
Basic Question Formats

Open-ended Questions

Closed-ended Questions

Scaled Questions

Basic Open-ended Questions Probing Questions

Dichotomous Questions

Labeled Questions

Multiple-Choice Responses

Unlabeled Questions

Clarifying Questions

Single-coded Multiple-coded

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OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: Questions to which respondents give their responses freely, according to their own will.
Basic Open Ended Questions.

Q. What do you particularly like about Lipton Tea? ______________________________________________________________________________ Q. Why are you unwilling to buy a cellular phone when it is available in the market?

________________________________________________________________________

Probing Questions
Q. What do you particularly like about Johnson & Johnson baby oil? __________________________________________________________________________ PROBE: Anything else?

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Advantages and disadvantages of

Open-ended Questions
Advantages Since they do not restrict the respondents response, the widest scope of response can be attained. Most appropriate where the range of possible responses is broad, or cannot be predetermined. Less subject to interviewer bias. Responses may often be used as direct quotes to bring realism and life to the written report. Disadvantages
Inappropriate for self-administered questionnaire since people tend to write more briefly than they speak. The interviewer may only record a summary of the responses given by an interview and fail to capture the the interviewers own ideas. It is difficult to categorize and summarize the diverse responses of different respondents. May annoy a respondent and prompt him/her to terminate the interview, or ignore the mail questionnaire.
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CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS: Questions to which respondents are required to answer from set of alternative responses provided by the researcher. Could be dichotomous or multiple choice.
Dichotomous Questions With No Neutral Response _________________________________________________ Q.Do you have a cellular phone? Yes ...................................... 1 without neutral No ...................................... 2 response Dichotomous Questions With Neutral Response Q.Is it likely that you will purchase a cellular phone in the next six months? Yes ...................................... 1 with neutral No ...................................... 2 response Not Sure .............................. 3
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Single- and multi-coded multiple choice questions

_____________________________________________________________________ Q. On an average, how much do you spend on newspapers, books and magazines in a month? (Please check one from the following responses.) Less than $15 ................................... Between $16 & $30 ....................... Between $31 & $45 ....................... Between $46 & $60 ....................... $60 or more ................................... 1 2 3 4 5 Single-coded question

Q. Which of the following household appliances does your household have? (Please check as many responses that are applicable to you.) TV LCD PC Fax 1 .2 3 4 VCR 5 Microwave . 6 Cellular phone .7 Others .8 Specify ____________

Multi-coded question

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ __

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Advantages and Disadvantages of

Closed-ended Questions
ADVANTAGES
All respondents reply on a standard response set. This ensures comparability of responses, facilitates coding, tabulating and interpreting the data. Easier to administer and most suited for self-administered questionnaire. If used in interviews, less skilled interviewer may be engaged to do the job.

DISADVANTAGES
Preparing the list of responses is timeconsuming. If the list of responses is long, the respondents may be confused. If the list of responses is not comprehensive, responses may often fail to represent the respondents point of views.
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Scaling questions
Scaling questions are special types of closed-ended questions. They include, among others, the following categories of questions.

Behavioral/Attitudinal questions Buying-intent questions Agree-Disagree questions Preference questions Ranking questions Semantic differential questions Constant-sum questions

The questions can be labeled or unlabeled

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Labeled and Unlabeled Scaling Questions

Type of Scaled Questions Unlabeled scaledresponse question Examples Advantages Disadvantages

On a scale of 1 to 7, how would you rate the IBM Thinkpad on ease of operation?

Labeled scaledresponse question

1. Allows a respondent to express the degree of his/her intensity of feelings. 2. Easy to administer and code. Do you disagree 1. Allows a respondent to strongly, disagree, express the degree of agree, or agree strongly his/her intensity of with the statement, feelings. IBM laptops are a 2. Easy to administer and better value than code. Compaq laptops? 3. Respondents can relate to the scale.

Respondents may not relate to the scale well.

Scale may be forced or overly detailed.

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Considerations in choosing a question format Nature of the property being measured

Subjective Vs objective

Previous research studies

Need for comparison with past studies

Data Collection Mode

Telephone/face-to-face-interview/mail

Scale level desired

Statistical analysis

Ability of the respondents

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Phrasing and Sequencing of Questions

PHRASING Focus on a single issue or topic Ask precise questions using respondents core vocabulary Avoid
use of vague words asking leading or loaded questions estimation questions double barreled questions presumptuous questions

SEQUENCING Start with simple opening questions Place

broad-based questions first; more specific and narrow questions and difficult, sensitive, embarrassing questions should come later(Funnel approach) Classification questions last.

Transition from one topic to another should be smooth

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Questionnaire Layout
Provide sufficient spaces Use prominent print for instructions Use filtered questions Do not slit the same question over two pages Number the questions Layout should facilitate editing and coding
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Comparative Evaluation of Various survey Methods.

________________________________________________________________________ Face-to-face Interview Criteria In-home/ MallTelephone Mail In-office intercept Interview Survey
Flexibility of data collection Diversity of questions Sample control High High Potentially high Control of data collection Moderate to environment high Response rate High Show of exhibits Yes Quantity of data High Anonymity of the respondents Absent Access to sensitive information Low Speed Moderate Cost High Potential interviewer bias High High High Moderate High High Yes Moderate Absent Low Fast Moderate Moderate to Moderate Low Moderate to high Moderate Moderate No Low Moderate High Fast Moderate Moderate Low Moderate Low Low Low No High High High Slow Low Low
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Causal Research/Experiments
In causal research, the emphasis is on specific hypotheses about the effects of changes of one variable on another variable. Deals with cause-effect relationship. Involves experiment where an independent variable is changed or manipulated to see how it affects a dependent variable by controlling the effects of extraneous variables. Extraneous variables:
Different from dependent or independent variables Variables that may have some affects upon a dependent variable but yet are not independent variables.
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Experimental design
A set of procedures for devising an experiment such that a change in a dependent variable may be attributed solely to the change in an independent variables. Various notations used:
O = The measurement or the process of observation of a dependent variable on the subjects or groups of subjects to be tested. O1 and O2 refer to different measurements made of the dependent variable. X = The manipulation, or change, of an independent variable. R = Random assignment of subjects (consumers, stores, and so on) to experimental and control groups. E = Experimental effect; that is, the change in the dependent variable due to the independent variable.
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Types of Experimental Designs

Many Designs

Quasi- and true experimental designs

Quasi designs: designs which do not properly control for the effects of extraneous variables. True designs: designs which properly control for the effects of extraneous variables and isolate the effects of independent variables on the dependent variables.

Three examples:
After only design

One Group, Before-After Design

Before-After with control group
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Three Examples
After only

Involves one group, shown as X

O1

X represents the change in the independent variable

One group, Before-After Design

Involves one group, shown as O1 X O2

Both are examples of quasi experimental design Before-after with control group
Experimental group: Group subjected to experimental treatment: O1 X O2 Control group: Group not subjected to experimental treatment: O3 O4 Change = (O2 -- O1) -- (O4 -- O3 )
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Illustrated Example
A supermarket intended to determine the affect of change in packaging style (independent variable) on sales of mangoes (dependent variable) through experimentation. At the time of the decision, the store sold the produce in pre-weighted packs containing two mangoes. After recording the sales of mangoes in this manner management changed (manipulates the independent variable) the packaging system and started selling the mangoes from open produce bins. The change yielded better sales figures. Now the question was Did the change in the system from the packs of two to free selection from produce bins caused this sales increase?
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Question: Did the change from selling in packs of two to

free selection from produce bins caused this sales increase?
In answering this question, the following questions need to be answered:
Could there be other variables that could have effected mango sales? What would happen to the sales if the weather changed from rainy to fair? Did the change take place during a festive season?

In this example, weather and the onset of the festive season etc. may be viewed as extraneous variables, having an effect on the dependent variable. However, these are not independent variables. This example clearly shows that isolating the effects of independent variables on dependent variables without controlling for the effects of the extraneous variables is very difficult. Experimental designs help to accomplish this task.
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Experimental Design: the mango example

Divide the 16 supermarkets in two equivalent groups of 8 - one control group, the other experimental group. In the shops in control group, DO NOT CHANGE the packaging style, in the experimental group, make the change. Measure the sales for both groups before the experiment date and after the experiment date. Assume that the difference in the two groups are as below:
After Control group 30,720units [O4] Experimental group 31,688 [O2] Sales increase due to new system
Change = (O2 -- O1) -- (O4 -- O3 )
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Before 27,980 [O3] 27,816 [O1]

Difference 2,740 [O4 - O3] 3,872 [O2 - O1] 1,132

Basic Research Designs Compared

EXPLORATORY Objectives Gather background information, define terms, clarify problems and hypotheses, establish research priorities. Relatively simple, versatile and flexible; Often the first phase of a multiple research design, unstructured. Secondary data analysis Qualitative research Expert surveys Pilot surveys DESCRIPTIVE CAUSAL

Describe and measure Establish causality, develop marketing phenomena, if-then statements characteristics, or functions of interest. Prior formulation of specific hypotheses; Pre-planned and structured design. Manipulation of one or more independent variables; Pre-planned and structured design; Control of other mediating variables Experiments: Laboratory Field Test marketing

Characteristics

Methods

Secondary data analysis Surveys Panels Observational and . other data Conclusive

Results/Findings Tentative

Conclusive
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Other points related to experiments

Validity
An experiment is valid if: the observed change in the dependent variable is, in fact, due to the independent variable >> internal validity if the results of the experiment apply to the real world outside the experimental setting >> external validity.

Test marketing
A special type of field experiment used to test sales potential for a new product or service, variations in the marketing mix for a product or service.

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Laboratory Experiment and Field Experiment Laboratory (Studio) Experiment STRENGTHS Better control of the environments and the experimental variables Lower cost Faster data collection Competitors less likely to be aware More adaptable to the use of mechanical/electrical equipment Sometimes difficult to project test results Less representative sample of respondents Field Experiment More representative sample of respondents Better generalization of test results

WEAKNESSES

More difficult to control the environment and the experimental variables Competitors more likely to be aware Higher cost Slower data collection

TEST MARKETING
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Difference between Surveys and Experimental Designs

The fundamental difference concerns the manipulation of independent variables. In surveys, an effect is observed and a search for a cause follows. In experimental research, on the other hand, independent variables are manipulated to establish a cause-effect relationship.
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Alternative Research Strategies for collecting consumer information about a product.

Elements of Strategy Survey Method

Strategy 1
Telephone interview

Strategy 2
Mail survey

Strategy 3
Personal interview

Strategy 4
Personal interview

Research instrument
Sampling plan

Few factual questions

A small sample of households chosen by random digit dialing in the

A 2-page questionnaire
All subscribers to a consumer magazine

Many questions
A large sample of subjects chosen on a national probability sampling

Projective tests
A dozen people found using the product

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Quantitative Research in Asia-Pacific Region

Unavailable/inaccurate secondary data:
Much data on Asian markets are either non-existent, difficult to obtain or unreliable. For example, in many Asian countries consumers income estimates are inaccurate since they omit the unreported or underreported income.

Problem with primary data

Survey research suffers from lack of sampling frame; shortage of qualified researchers/interviewers; respondents unfamiliarity with research and lack of trust on researchers; less than truthful responses; and other cultural idiosyncrasies. Poor postal and telephone system; poor rate of literacy of respondents; high rate of change and political instability etc.

The nature and magnitude of problems vary from country to country.

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