Research

Research Methods
Methods &&
Report
Report Preparation
Preparation

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 Redefining Marketing
Research
The American Marketing Association (AMA)
redefined Marketing Research as:

The function which links the consumer, the

customer, and public to the marketer
through INFORMATION

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Redefining Marketing
Research Used to identify and
define market
opportunities and
problems
Generate, refine, and
evaluate marketing
performance
Monitor marketing
performance

Improve understanding
of marketing as a
process
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Definition of Marketing
Research
Marketing research is the systematic and objective

 identification
 collection
 analysis
 dissemination
 and use of information

for the purpose of improving decision making related to the

 identification and
 solution of problems and opportunities in marketing.

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 Market Research
• Specifies the information necessary to
address these issues
• Manages and implements the data collection
process
• Analyzes the results
• Communicates the findings and their
implications

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 The Role of Marketing
Research Customer Groups
Consumers •
Employees •
Shareholders •
Suppliers • Uncontrollable
Controllable Environmental
Marketing Factors
Variables
Marketing •Economy
•Product
Research •Technology
•Pricing
•Laws &
•Promotion Regulations
•Distribution •Social & Cultural
Assessing Marketing Factors
Providing
Information Information Decision •Political Factors
Needs Making

Marketing Managers
• Market Segmentation
• Target Market Selection
• Marketing Programs
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• Performance & Control
 Definition of MR
• American Marketing Association defines MR as- MR
is the function which links the consumer, customer
& public to the marketer through information,
information used to identify & define marketing
opportunities & problems, generate, refine &
evaluate marketing actions, moniter marketing
performance & improve understanding of marketing
as a process
• MR specifies the information required to address
these issues, designs the method for collecting
information, manages & implements the data
collection process, analyses the results &
communicates the findings & their implications
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 Why MR has evolved &
grown
• Managers are seperated from their final consumers
• Managers need information from their final
consumers regarding target market,
products/services, price, distribution & promotion
• There has been a shift from a seller’s to a buyer’s
market
• Emergence of specialists such as statisticians,
psychologists & behavioural scientists in a fairly
large number enhanced the importance of MR
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 OBJECTIVES OF
RESEARCH
• To discover answers to questions through the application
of scientific procedures
• To find out the truth which is hidden and which has not
been discovered as yet
• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new
insights into it
• To portray accurately the characterstics of a particular
individual, situation or a group
• To determine the frequency with which something occurs
or with which it is associated with something else
• To test a hypothesis of a casual relationship between
variables
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 Motivation in Research
• Desire to face the challenge in solving the
unsolved problems
• Desire to get a research degree along with
its consequential benefits
• Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some
creative work
• Desire to be of service to society
• Desire to get respectability
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 Interaction between
Management & MR
• Some of the management’s complaints about
researchers are-
1)Research is not problem oriented. It tends to
provide plenty of facts & not actionable results
2)Researchers are too involved with techniques &
they appear to be reluctant to get involved in
management problems
3)Research is slow, vague & of questionable validity
4)Researchers cannot communicate, they do not
understand & they do not talk the language of
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• Researchers have their complaints about
management-
1)Management does not include research in
discussions of basic problems. Management
tends to ask only for specific information
about parts of problems
2)Management pays no more than lip service to
research & does not really understand or
appreciate its value
3)Mangement does not allow enough time for
research. They draw preliminary conclusions
based on early or incomplete results
4)Mangement relies more on intuition &
judgement than on research. Research is used
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as a crutch, not a tool
 Types of Research
• Descriptive Vs Analytical Research- Descriptive
Research includes surveys & fact finding enquiries
of different kinds. The major purpose is
description of the state of affairs as it exists at
present. The main characterstics of this method is
that the researcher has no control over the
variables, he can only report what has happened or
what is happening eg frequency of shopping,
preference of people etc. Ex post Facto studies
also include attempts by researchers to discover
causes even when they cannot control the variables
In analytical research the researcher has to use
facts or information already available & analyse
these to make a critical evaluation of the material
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 Applied Vs Fundamental
Research
• Applied research aims at finding a solution for an
immediate problem facing a society or an
industrial/business organisation. Research aimed
at certain conclusions facing a concrete social or
business problem is applied research
• Fundamental Research is mainly concerned with
generalisations & with the formulation of a
theory. Gathering knowledge for Knowledge’s sake
is termed pure or basic research eg
generalisations about human behaviour

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 Quantitative Vs
Qualitative Research
• Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantity or amount. It is
applicable to phenomena that can be
expressed in terms of quantity
• Qualitative research is concerned with
phenomena relating to or involving quality
or kind ie discovering underlying motives &
desires- Motivational research

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 Conceptual Vs Empirical
Research
• Conceptual research is that related to
some abstract idea(s) or theory. It is
generally used by philosophers & thinkers
to develop new concepts or to reinterpret
existing ones
• Empirical research relies on experience or
observation alone, often without due
regard for system & theory

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 One time research Vs
Longitudinal Research
• One time research is confined to a
single time period
• Longitudinal research is carried on
over several time periods

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 Field setting research Vs
Laboratory Research Vs
Simulated Research
• Depends upon the environment in
which it is to be carried out

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Clinical or Diagnostic
Research

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 Historical Research
• Historical research is that which
utilises historical sources like
documents, remains etc to study
events or ideas of the past

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Conclusion oriented Vs
Decision oriented

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 Criteria of good research

• The purpose of the research should be clearly defined and common concepts be
used
• The research procedure used should be described in sufficient detail to permit
another researcher to repeat the research for further advancement, keeping
the continuity of what has already been attained
• The procedural design of the research should be carefully planned to yield
results that are as objective as possible
• The researcher should report with complete frankness, flaws in procedural
design & estimate their effects upon the findings
• The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to reveal its significance &
the methods of analysis used should be appropriate. The validity & reliability of
the data should be checked carefully
• Conclusions should be confined to those justified by the data of the research &
limited to those for which the data provide an adequate basis
• Greater confidence in research is warranted if the researcher is experienced,
has a good reputation in research & is a person of integrity

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 Qualities of a good
research
• Good research is systematic- It means
that research is structured with specified
steps to be taken in a specified sequence
in accordance with the well defined set of
rules
• Good research is logical- Logical reasoning
makes research more meaningful in the
context of decision making

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 Significance of Research
• Research inculcates scientific & inductive thinking & it promotes the
development of logical habits of thinking & organisation
• The role of research in several fields of applied economics, whether related to
business or to the economy as a whole, has greatly increased in modern times
• Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in our economic
system
• Research has its special significance in solving various operational & planning
problems of business & industry
• Research is equally important for social scientists in studying social
relationships & in seeking answers to various social problems
• To those students who are to write a master’s or Ph.D thesis, research may
mean a careerism or a way to attain a high position in the social structure
• To professionals in research methodology, research may mean a source of
livelihood
• To philosophers & thinkers, research may mean the outlet for new ideas &
insights
• To literary men & women, research may mean the development of new styles &
creative work
• To analysts & intellectuals, research may mean the generalisations of new
theories
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 Ethics in Market
Research
• Intrusions on privacy
• Misuse of research findings
• Competitive information gathering
• Sugging ( selling under the guise of marketing research)
• Unrealised promise of anonymity
• Use of disguised questionnaires & interviews
• Faked sponsor identification
• Lying about research procedure
• Faked testing in experimental research
• Promise of undelivered compensation
• Implication of required response

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