Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marketing Research
William G. Zikmund
Chapter 5:
Problem Definition and the
Research Proposal
Remember - Uncertainty Influences the Type of Research
• First Step
– Problem, Opportunity, or Monitor Operations
• Discovery before Definition
• Problem means Management Problem
Problem definition
Analysis of
the Situation
Exploratory
Research
(Optional)
Problem Definition
Statement of
Research Objectives
The Process of
Problem Definition
Ascertain the Determine unit of
decision maker’s analysis
objectives
.
Problem Definition
Organization Symptoms Based on Symptom True Problem
• An unproven proposition
• A possible solution to a problem
• Guess
• Problems are interrogative
• Hypotheses are declarative and more
specifically related to research operations
and testing.
Decision-oriented
Research Objectives
• Objective is researcher’s version of the marketing
problem.
• Objective is derived from the problem definition
and it explains the purpose of the research in
measurable terms.
• Objectives must specify the information needed to
make a decision.
• Objectives should be managerial action standard.
– If measurement turns out to be X, then management will
do A, if measurement is Y, management will do B.
Basic Questions -
Problem Definition
• What is the purpose of the study?
• How much is already known?
• Is additional background information necessary?
• What is to be measured? How?
• Can the data be made available?
• Should research be conducted?
• Can a hypothesis be formulated?
Basic Questions -
Basic Research Design
• Dummy tables
• Representations of the actual tables that will
be in the findings section of the final report;
used to gain a better understanding of what
the actual outcomes of the research will be.
Example of
Dummy Table
Smokes Non-Smoker
Male
Female
End of
Chapter 5