Research Methods

Chapter 1-2

Prepared by Dr. Ali Bavik revised by Dr. Shanhsan Qi

What is Research
 The systematic investigation into and study of materials and
sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Research
Basic research (Pure research) is driven by a scientist's curiosity or
interest in a scientific question.
• The main motivation is to expand man's knowledge, not to create
or invent something
• There is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result
from basic research.

Example,
How did the universe begin?
What are protons, neutrons, and electrons composed of?

Pure Research
 Applied Research
Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern
world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake. One
might say that the goal of the applied scientist is to improve the human
condition.

Example,
Improve agricultural crop production

Treat or cure a specific disease

How to improve employee performance

 What is the objectives of research?
• To discover new facts
e.g. Gender differences in preferences
• To verify and test important facts
e.g. Consumer behavior and tourism
• To analyse an event or process or phenomenon to identify the cause and
effect relationship
e.g. Dose service failure influence customer loyalty?
• To develop new scientific tools, concepts and theories to solve and
understand scientific and nonscientific problems.
e.g. A method for generating plans for retail store improvements using text mining and conjoint analysis
…

6
What makes people do
research
&
The importance of
research

7
 Because Marketing Research Is Part of
Marketing We Should Understand:

• What is marketing?

• What is the marketing concept?

• What is marketing strategy?

• The Marketing Research Process

8
 What is Marketing?

Organizational function & a set of processes for creating,

communicating & delivering value to customers & for managing
customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization & its
stake-holders

9
A business philosophy that holds that the key to
achieving organizational goals
• Being more effective than competitors
• Creating, delivering, & communicating customer
value to its chosen markets.

Marketing Concept? 10
Being more effective than competitors!

Creating, delivering, & communicating customer value to its

chosen markets!

Marketing Concept Purpose 11

Make the “Right” Decisions to:
• Implement marketing
• Practice the marketing concept
• Select the right marketing strategy

We Need Marketing Research To:

Ch 1 12
The process of designing, gathering, analyzing, & reporting information
that may be used to solve a specific marketing problem

What is Marketing Research? 13

 What is Marketing Research?

• Marketing Research: The function that links the consumer, customer,

& public to the marketer through information used to –
– identify & define marketing opportunities & problems;
– generate, refine, & evaluate marketing actions;
– monitor marketing performance; &
– improve the understanding of marketing as a process

Ch 1 14
 Hot Topics in Marketing Research

• On-line Marketing Research

• Growing Consumer/ Respondent Resentment

• Globalization

Ch 1 15
 Hot Topics – On-line Marketing Research
• On-line Research
The use of computer networks (including the Internet) to
assist in any phase of the marketing research process
including:
– Development of the problem
– Research design,
– Data gathering
– Data analysis
– Report writing & distribution
Ch 1 16
 Hot Topics – Online Marketing Research
• Web-based Research:
Research that is conducted on web applications. May use traditional
methods as well as on-line research methods in conducting research on
web-based applications… Usability Studies

• On-line survey research: collection of data using computer

networks… Ordering samples online via Survey Sampling, Inc.

Ch 1 17
Hot Topics – On-line Marketing Research

• On-line Survey Research:

Collection of data using computer networks…
Ordering samples on-line via Survey Sampling Inc.

Ch 1 18
Research
Process
 The Marketing Research Process: 11 Steps

 Step One: Establishing the Need for Marketing Research

 Step Two: Defining the Problem
 Step Three: Establishing Research Objectives
 Step Four: Determining Research Design
 Step Five: Identifying Information Types and Sources
 Step Six: Determining Methods of Accessing Data
 Step Seven: Designing Data Collection Forms
 Step Eight:Determining Sample Plan and Size
 Step Nine: Collecting Da
 Step Ten: Analyzing Data
 Step Eleven: Preparing and Presenting the Final Report

20
The Marketing Research
Process: 11 Steps 21
 Steps in the Marketing Research
Process
Steps
1 Establish Need Figure out what to research
2 Define Problem
3 Research Objectives (Chapters 2 & 4)

4 Determine Design
5 Identify Information Sources
6 Decide Data Collection Method Design the way to do the
7 Design Questionnaire
8 Determine Sample Plan & Size
research (Chapters 5-13)

9 Collect Data Gather data from respondents

(Chapter 14)

10 Analyze Data
11 Write and Present Report Generate findings & interpret them
(Chapters 15-20)
Ch 2 22
h2

The Marketing Research Process

• An 11-step process: there is nothing magic about them

• Not all studies use all 11 steps

• Few studies follow the steps in order

about 11 steps
23
 Key Point

☝ An 11-step process: there is nothing

magic

☝ Not all studies use all 11 steps

☝ Few studies follow the steps in order

24
h2

Step 1: Establish the Need for Marketing Research

25
h2

Is there a real need for

marketing research?

26
Research takes time & costs
money

27
The information is
already
available!

28
We can’t afford
research!

29
 The cost outweighs the
value of marketing research

Value
Cost

30
h2

Step 2: Define the Problem

31
If the problem is incorrectly
defined, all else is wasted effort

32
h2

Problems stem from gaps between what

is supposed to happen & what did
happen; and gaps between what did
happen & what could be happening

33
Step 3: Establish Objectives

34
Research objectives state - What the researcher
must do?

35
Step Four: Determine Research Design

36
 Exploratory Research

Collecting
information in an
unstructured &
informal manner

37
 Descriptive Research

Refers to a set of methods & procedures describing

marketing variables 38
 Causal Research

Experiments - Allows isolation of cause &

effect 39
 Step 5: Identify Information Types and Sources

• Primary information:
information collected
specifically for the problem at
hand.

• Secondary information:
information already collected.
40
Step 6: Determine Methods of Accessing Data

41
h2

• Secondary data is relatively easy to access;

Primary data is more complex

• Three main choices for primary data:

– Have a person ask questions
– Use computer assisted or direct
questioning
– Allow respondents to answer questions
themselves without computer
assistance
42
h2

Step 7: Design Data Collection Forms

• Questionnaires must be worded

objectively, clearly, & without bias in
order to communicate with
respondents

• Software programs are available to

assist marketing researchers in
preparing forms
43
Step 8: Determine Sample Plan & Size 44
Sampling Plan refers to the
process used to select units from
the population to be included in
the sample

Sample Size refers to determining

how many elements of the
population should be included in the
sample
 Step 9: Collect Data

• Data collection is very important

because, regardless of the data
analysis methods used, data
analysis cannot fix bad data

• Non-sampling errors may occur

during data collection

46
 Step 9: Collect Data

• Data collection errors may be

attributed to field workers or
respondents

• Researchers must know the

sources of these errors & the
controls to minimize them
47
Step 10: Analyze Data 48
Data Cleaning is a process by which raw data are checked to
verify that the data have been correctly inputted from the data
collection form to the computer software program

49
Data Analysis involves entering data into computer files,
inspecting data for errors,& running tabulations & various
statistical tests

50
h2

Step 11: Prepare & Present the

Final Research Report

• The last step is one of the

most important phases of
marketing research

• Its importance cannot be

overstated because it is the
report, or its presentation, that
properly communicates the
results to the client
51