REFLECTIVE THINKING ASSIGNMENT

Deliverable 1: Explain the concept of causality as defined in marketing research and

distinguish between the ordinary meaning and the scientific meaning of causality.

“Causality" means something very different tothe average person on the street than to a
scientist. A statement such as "X causes Y" will have differentmeanings to an ordinary
person and to a scientist. The scientific meaning of causality is moreappropriate to
marketing research than is the everyday meaning. Causal Research is the most
sophisticated research market researchers conduct. Its goal is to establish causal
relationships—cause and effect—between two or more variables. With causal research,
market researchers conduct experiments, or test markets, in a controlled setting.
Researchers study how a dependent or response variable—brand sales or brand
preference—is effected by changes in a variety of predictor or independent variables:
retail price, advertising spending, advertising copy, or other promotional activities.
Causality is often expressed as an if/then statement: If X happens, then Y will occur.

Deliverable 2: In a short essay, define internal validity and external validity and
discuss the difference between each type of validity.

Validity, as we discussed in our lesson on measurement, is the extent to which a

measurement is free from sampling errors and systematic errors. With experiments there
are two kinds of validity that concern marketing researchers: Internal Validity and
External Validity. Internal Validity refers to the extent to which variations in the response
or dependent variable are due to changes in the independent or predictor variable.
Laboratory experiments tend to have higher internal validity and experiments conducted
in the field—the marketplace—because the laboratory situation makes in easier to isolate
the impact of other variables on the dependent variable. How about external validity?
External Validity is to which the extent the causal relationship measured in an experiment
can be generalized to the population. Field experiments offer higher levels of external
validity than laboratory experiments.

Deliverable 3: In a short essay, describe the broad categories of experimental

designs and discuss the various applications of each design category.

The types of experimental research design are determined by the way the researcher
assigns subjects to different conditions and groups. They are of 3 types, namely; pre-
experimental, quasi-experimental, and true experimental research.
In pre-experimental research design, either a group or various dependent groups are
observed for the effect of the application of an independent variable which is presumed to
cause change. It is the simplest form of experimental research design and is treated with
no control group.
When it comes to quasi-experimental, the word "quasi" means partial, half, or pseudo.
Therefore, the quasi-experimental research bearing a resemblance to the true
experimental research, but not the same. In quasi-experiments, the participants are not
randomly assigned, and as such, they are used in settings where randomization is difficult
or impossible.
The true experimental research design relies on statistical analysis to approve or disprove
a hypothesis. It is the most accurate type of experimental design and may be carried out
with or without a pretest on at least 2 randomly assigned dependent subjects.

The true experimental research design must contain a control group, a variable that can
be manipulated by the researcher, and the distribution must be random.
Deliverable 4: In a short essay, discuss the difference between laboratory and field
experimentation.

Marketing Research Experiments, or test markets, can be conducted in a laboratory or in

the field. Lets compare laboratory tests to field tests.

The first distinction between field test and laboratory tests is the environment in which
they are conducted. Field tests are conducted in the marketplace. A marketplace is a
much more realistic venue to test a marketing plan than the artificial environment of a
market laboratory. The big advantage of laboratory experiments is that the researchers
have much more control over extraneous variables. But, laboratory tests are more prone
to reactive error than field studies. Reactive errors occur when the subjects of a study
(survey respondents or consumers in test markets) are affected either by the instruments
of the study or the individuals conducting the study in a way that changes whatever is
being measured.

Internal validity is higher with laboratory tests than field tests, but external validity is
lower than that of field tests. Field tests take considerably more time to complete than lab
tests, they are conducted among larger samples, and they cost significantly more money.
And, because of the controlled environment, laboratory tests are easier to administer than
field tests.