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Chapter Three: Research Design
Chapter Three: Research Design
Research Design
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Research Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Research Design Research Design
Descriptive Causal
Research Research
Cross-Sectional Longitudinal
Design Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Objective: To provide insights and To test specific hypotheses and
understanding. examine relationships.
Findings Conclusive.
/Results: Tentative.
Exploratory Research
The objective is to explore or search
through a problem or situation to provide
insights and understanding.
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The exploratory research phase was kicked off with a trends meeting with Waterpik
marketing professionals to list and prioritize key consumer wants and needs. This
was followed by a technology session with Waterpik engineers to uncover applicable
technologies and the company’s internal competencies. These meetings set the
foundation for conducting detailed marketing research. To get a variety of
perspectives and to speed up the process, Innovation Focus decided to conduct
what was named an
innovation session. The session had 21 participants, including consumers, external
designers and marketers and Waterpik specialists. More than 140 concepts were
generated. This was followed by validation and concept refinement sessions with
more consumers using a descriptive survey. And the winner (the final product)
emerged through this process.
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Two years after the first session. Waterpik was ready to introduce its new product.
The showerhead had seven unique and adjustable settings that addressed
consumers’ interest in being able to adjust the coverage, force and shape of the
shower spray. Mist and pressure control features were also incorporated to allow the
users to “turn their shower into a spa’ Powered by marketing research. Waterpik
was able to hit the ground running with its new product.
Note that Waterpik did not rely exclusively on exploratory research. Once new
product concepts were identified, they were further tested by descriptive research in
the form of consumer surveys. This example points to the importance of descriptive
research in obtaining more conclusive findings.
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Exploratory research is useful where the researcher does not have the
enough understanding to proceed with the research.
It is characterized by flexibilities and versatility with respect to methods
because formal research protocols and procedures are not employed.
It rarely involves large samples, structured questionnaire and
probability sample plans. Rather researchers are alert to new ideas and
insights as they proceed. Once a new idea or insight is discovered ,
they may redirect their exploration in that direction. The new direction
is pursued until its possibilities are exhausted or new direction is found.
Thus the focus of investigation may shift continuously as new insights
are discovered. Then the creativity and ingenuity of researcher plays a
major role in exploratory research . Yet the abilities of researcher are
not the sole determinants of good exploratory research.
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A descriptive design requires a clear specification of the who, what, when, where, why, and
way (the six Ws) of the research. This example is in the context of the department store
patronage project
The Six Ws
1. Who-Who should be considered a patron of a particular department store? Some
of the possibilities are:
a. Anyone who enters the department store, whether or not she or he purchases anything
b. Anyone who purchases anything from the store
c. Anyone who makes purchases at the department store at least once a month
d. The person in the household most responsible for department store shopping
2. What-What information should be obtained from the respondents? A wide variety
of information could he obtained. including:
a. Frequency with which different department stores are patronized for specific
product categories
b. Evaluation of the various department stores in terms of the salient choice criteria
c. Information pertaining to specific hypotheses to be tested
d. Psycho graphics and lifestyles, media consumption habits, and demographics
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3. When – When should the information be obtained from the respondents? The
available options include:
a. Before shopping
b. While shopping
c. Immediately after shopping
d. Some time after shopping to allow time for evaluation of their shopping experience
4. Where-Where should the respondents he contacted to obhin the required
information? Possibilities include contacting the respondents:
a. In the store
b. Outside the store but in the shopping mall
c. In the parking lot
d. At home
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b. Personal interviews
c. Telephone interviews
d. Mail interviews
e. Electronic (e-mail or Internet) interviews
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Cross-sectional Designs
Involve the collection of information from any given sample of population
elements only once.
In single cross-sectional designs, there is only one sample of respondents and
information is obtained from this sample only once.
In multiple cross-sectional designs, there are two or more samples of
respondents, and information from each sample is obtained only once. Often,
information from different samples is obtained at different times.
Cohort analysis consists of a series of surveys conducted at appropriate time
intervals, where the cohort serves as the basic unit of analysis. A cohort is a group
of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval.
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Longitudinal Designs
A fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is
measured repeatedly on the same variables
A longitudinal design differs from a cross-sectional design
in that the sample or samples remain the same over time
Cross – sectional design gives a snap shot of the variables
of interest at single point in time, a longitudinal study
provides a series of picture that give an in-depth view of
the situation and the changes that take place overtime.
Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of
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Detecting Change - +
Large amount of data collection - +
Accuracy - +
Representative Sampling + -
Response bias + -
Substantial Change
Table 3.6
Research Designs
Fig. 3.2
Total Error
Random Non-sampling
Sampling Error Error
Response Non-response
Error Error
4) The feasibility of the 10 ideas generated in step 3 was then tested. The ideas were
tested on the basis of whether they were possible in relation to the business. The
following list of questions was used as a series of hurdles that the ideas had to pass to
continue on to the next step.
6) The previous exploratory research was now followed up with descriptive research in the
form of mall intercept surveys of people in the target market range. The survey showed that
the list of special features was too long and it was decided to drop the features more
commonly offered by competitors.
Citicorp Banks on Exploratory, Descriptive,
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