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or duplicated, or posted to a publicly
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Churchill Brown Suter

Basic Marketing Research

and Exploratory Research

Types of Research Design

Chapter 5
 Learning Objectives

 Explain what a research design is

 List the three basic types of research design

 Describe the major emphasis of each type of research design

 Describe the basic uses of exploratory research

 Specify the key characteristics of exploratory research

 Discuss the various types of exploratory research and

describe each

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part.
 Learning Objectives

 Identify the key person in a focus group

 Discuss two major pitfalls to avoid with focus groups (or any
other form of exploratory research)

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part.
 Stages in the Research Process

Formulate Problem

Determine Research Design

Determine Data Collection Method

Design Data Collection Forms

Design Sample and Collect Data

Analyze and Interpret Data

Prepare Written/Verbal Report

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part.
 Research Design

 The framework or plan for a study that guides the collection

and analysis of the data

 Once the research problem is formalized, the next question

to ask is, “Exactly what information is needed to solve the
research problem?”

 The research design

 Is driven by the research problem
 Depends upon how much is known about the problem

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part.
 Types of Research Design

 Exploratory Research
 Major emphasis: gaining ideas and insights

 Descriptive Research
 Major emphasis: determining the frequency with which
something occurs

 Causal Research
 Major emphasis: determining cause-and-effect relationships

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part.
 Relationships Among the
Research Designs

Descriptive
Research

Exploratory
Research

Causal
Research
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 Exploratory Research

 Basic uses
 Better understanding of the situation
 Not designed to come up with final answers and decisions

 Key Characteristics
 Small scale
 Flexibility

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 Types of Exploratory Research

 Literature Search  Nominal Groups

 Depth Interviews  Case Analyses

 Focus Groups  Projective Methods

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 Types of Exploratory Research

 Literature Search
 A search of statistics, trade journal articles, other articles,
magazines, newspapers, and books for data or insight into the
problem at hand

 Depth Interviews
 Interviews with people knowledgeable about the general
subject being investigated

 Focus Groups
 An interview conducted among a small number of individuals
simultaneously
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part.
 Types of Exploratory Research

 Nominal Groups
 A group interview technique which initially limits respondent
interaction to a minimum while attempting to maximize input
from individual group members

 Case Analysis
 Intensive study of selected examples of the phenomenon of
interest

 Projective Methods
 Methods that encourage respondents to reveal their own
feelings, thoughts, and behaviors by shifting the focus away
from the individual through the use of indirect tasks
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Churchill Brown Suter/Basic Marketing Research
or in part.
 Focus Groups

 Extremely popular research technique

 Format
 Typically 8-12 people
 Homogeneous within group
 1.5 to 2 hours in length
 Sessions recorded and transcribed

 Key person: the moderator

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 Two Major Pitfalls to Avoid with Focus
Groups

 It is easy for managers see what they expect to see in focus

group results

 Focus groups are one form of exploratory research – it (or any

other type of exploratory research) should not be expected to
deliver final results or answers to decision problems – yet
many managers seem to use them for that purpose

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part.