Research Design

1
Chapter 3

• Research Design

2
Focus

• Types of designs
• major sources of error in a research design

3
Definition (p. 83)

• A framework or blueprint for conducting the
  marketing research project
• specifies the details of the procedures necessary
  for obtaining the information needed to structure
  and/or solve marketing research problems
• makes data collection and analyses efficient

4
Components (p. 83)

• define the information needed (Ch. 2)
• design the exploratory, descriptive, and /or
  causal phases of research (Ch. 3-7)
• specify measurement procedures (Ch. 8,9)
• construct and pretest a questionnaire (Ch. 10)
• specify sampling details (Ch. 11, 12)
• develop a plan for data analysis (Ch. 14)

5
Exploratory vs Conclusive Research (p. 83-84)

• objective provide insights vs testing hypotheses
• information needed loosely defined vs clearly
  defined
• research process unstructured vs structured
• analysis qualitative vs quantitative
• findings tentative vs conclusive

6
Exploratory Research Applications (p. 85)

• define a problem more precisely
• identify alternative courses of action
• develop hypotheses
• isolate key variables and relationships (e.g.
  Frigidaire)
• gain insights
• establish priorities

7
Types of exploratory studies Patronage project
(p. 86)

• review of literature to identify relevant
  demographic and psychographic factors
• interviews with retail experts
• case analyses - three best versus three worst
  stores
• focus groups to understand store selection
  criteria

8
Descriptive Research (p. 87-89)

• is based on clear statement of the problem and
  detailed information needs
• it is therefore preplanned and structured
• typical descriptive studies
• market analysis
• sales and market share studies
• image studies
• product usage studies
• distribution studies
• pricing studies
• advertising studies

9
Example Advertising Study

• What of consumers are aware of the current ad
  campaign?
• What do consumers recall of the ad copy?
• What is the post-exposure brand attitude?
• What are consumer perceptions of the ad
  spokesperson?
• What do consumers like/dislike about the ad?

10
Two Types of Descriptive Research (p. 89-91)

• Cross-sectional designs
• single (surveys)
• multiple
• same sample (true panel)
• different sample (quasi-panel cohort)
• Longitudinal designs

11
Relative Advantages/Disadvantages of
Cross-Sectional Designs

• p. 93-94
• detecting change -
• amount of data -
• accuracy -
• representative sampling
• response bias

12
Causal Research (p. 94-95)

• to test cause-effect relationships
• e.g. does ad increase sales?
• Does price reduction increase sales?
• Discussed in a later chapter

13
Sources of Error (p. 97-98)

• error true population value - observed sample
  value
• error random sampling error non-sampling
  error
• random sampling error
• arises because of drawing a sample from the
  population
• the particular sample drawn may differ from the
  population
• can be reduced by increasing sample size

14
Nonsampling error (p.100)

• attributed to sources other than sampling
• may be random or non random
• include error in problem definition, scales,
  questionnaire design, interviewing methods, data
  preparation and analysis
• is made up of nonresponse error and response error

15
Nonresponse error (p. 100)

• some of the respondents included in the sample do
  not respond
• causes refusals, not-at-home
• final sample will end up being different from the
  planned sample

16
Response error (p. 100-101)

• researcher error
• population definition
• information sought
• measurement instruments used
• interviewer error
• respondent selection
• questioning
• cheating
• respondent error
• inability to answer
• unwilling to answer