Research design indicates a plan of action to be carried out in connection with a proposed research work that provides simply a guideline for the investigator to enable him to keep track of his actions and to know that he is moving in the right direction in order to achieve his objectives.
The research design may be a specific presentation of the various steps involved in the process of research. The process of research includes the selection of a research problem, the presentation of a problem, the formulation of the hypothesis, , methodology of research, review of literature and documentation, collection of data, hypothesis testing, interpretation of results, presentation of findings and report writing. When Apple India Ltd. launched its Apple juice with extraordinary caution no comprehensive study had ever been done by Apple India Ltd. In this chapter various types of research designs are explained with suitable examples.
The research design may be a specific presentation of the various steps involved in the process of research. The process of research includes the selection of a research problem, the presentation of a problem, the formulation of the hypothesis, , methodology of research, review of literature and documentation, collection of data, hypothesis testing, interpretation of results, presentation of findings and report writing. When Apple India Ltd. launched its Apple juice with extraordinary caution no comprehensive study had ever been done by Apple India Ltd. In this chapter various types of research designs are explained with suitable examples.
The purpose of marketing research is to provide information, which will aid in management decision-making. A marketing manager, for example, in a large consumer goods company may want to collect information to assess whether or not to launch a new product or to determine why the sales of a particular product are declining. In collecting this information, three major steps may be identified. First and the foremost is establishing of research objectives. Then a research plan needs to be formulated and implemented; and finally data analyzed followed by a presentation of research findings. A clear and precise definition should be made by the management of the decision problem, this should be expressed not only in terms of problem symptoms such as a decline in market share but also with possible contributing factors such as changes in competitors’ strategies or in consumers’ tastes, as well as the actions the management might take based on research findings. Otherwise, irrelevant information may be collected.
Development of a research plan requires what data are to be collected; what research techniques and instruments are to be used; how a sample is to be selected; and how information is to be collected from this sample. Sometimes the required information may already be available in secondary sources such as the government or trade reports, company records, or sales force reports. This will not, however, have been collected with the particular problem in mind. Consequently, primary data collection may be required, in other words, collect information specifically for the particular problem.
Where primary data are collected, observational or other qualitative techniques, experimentation or survey research may be conducted. Observations and other qualitative techniques, such as projective techniques (word association, sentence completion tasks and focus group interviewing) are most appropriate in the initial stages of research, when little is known about the problem. The onus of interpretation is, however, placed on the researcher and consequently, such techniques are open to criticisms of subjectivity.
Experimental techniques are also potentially applicable, but they are rarely used except in-store experiments study, for example, the impact of in-store promotions on sales. Test marketing can also be viewed as a field experiment. Survey research is the technique most commonly used in marketing research. A standard questionnaire can be administered to large samples and systematically analysed using computerized techniques.
In observational or qualitative research instruments such as coding scheme, recording sheets and other tests may need to be designed. The most common instrument used is a questionnaire. For unstructured interviews and focus groups, only an interview guide indicating the topics to be covered may be required. A crucial aspect of survey research is, however, the design of a carefully worded questionnaire to elicit desired information from respondents. Attention to question form and sequencing is also essential in order to avoid biased responses.
Three principle methods of data collection may be considered-telephone, mail or personal interviewing. Telephone interviewing is quick and can be conducted from a central location where interviewers are controlled by a supervisor. However, only with this method the persons having telephones can be interviewed and a limited number of questions can be asked. Mail questionnaires are the cheapest method of survey administration, but suffer from low response rates and also assume that the respondent clearly understands and can respond to questions. Personal interviewing is the most flexible method since the interviewer can select the sample by judgment or convenience sampling and is able to explain questions to the respondent. It is, however, an expensive method of data collection and susceptible to interviewer bias. In implementation of the research plan, this is where major sources of data inaccuracy and unreliability often arise. In the case of surveys, for example, respondents may bias findings by refusing to cooperate, by providing inaccurate answers, for example on income or by giving socially undesirable responses. Interviewers may also bias results by encouraging a specific response, by inaccurate recording of responses or in extreme cases, by falsifying responses.
Current developments in telecommunications and computer technology are rapidly changing data collection procedures and improving their efficiency. The results can also be analyzed and updated with each successive response, thus, considerably reducing research time and costs. Data analysis includes tabulating, classifying and interpreting the information collected. The complexity of the analysis depends to a large extent on management needs. In many cases tabulation or cross-tabulation of results with averages and other summary statistics may suffice. In other cases, more sophisticated multivariate techniques such as factor or cluster analysis or multidimensional scaling may be required, if more complex interactions in the data are to be examined. Finally the presentation of research findings may be verbal and/or written. In either case, the main focus should be on clear presentation of key research findings and their implications on the decisions to be made by the management. As it is obvious from the above exposition on the process of marketing research process, the most vital element in this process is research plan or the research framework/design. For the research to be valid and reliable it is imperative that proper thought should go into the design of research, otherwise it may lead to GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) or mere data collection exercise with no information to the management for its problem-solving exercise.
A marketing research design may be described as a series of advance decisions that, when taken together, comprises a master plan or model for the conduct of the investigations. It is the blueprint that is followed in completing a study. An appropriate design requires careful consideration of the problem and objectives to be met in relation to the time and resources available for the study. The design or plan of a research investigation is best put in writing and it ordinarily covers the following aspects: 1.Objectives of the research including a statement of general objectives and other operational objectives in as specific form as possible. 2.The relation of these objectives with the problem at hand.
Development of a research plan requires what data are to be collected; what research techniques and instruments are to be used; how a sample is to be selected; and how information is to be collected from this sample. Sometimes the required information may already be available in secondary sources such as the government or trade reports, company records, or sales force reports. This will not, however, have been collected with the particular problem in mind. Consequently, primary data collection may be required, in other words, collect information specifically for the particular problem.
Where primary data are collected, observational or other qualitative techniques, experimentation or survey research may be conducted. Observations and other qualitative techniques, such as projective techniques (word association, sentence completion tasks and focus group interviewing) are most appropriate in the initial stages of research, when little is known about the problem. The onus of interpretation is, however, placed on the researcher and consequently, such techniques are open to criticisms of subjectivity.
Experimental techniques are also potentially applicable, but they are rarely used except in-store experiments study, for example, the impact of in-store promotions on sales. Test marketing can also be viewed as a field experiment. Survey research is the technique most commonly used in marketing research. A standard questionnaire can be administered to large samples and systematically analysed using computerized techniques.
In observational or qualitative research instruments such as coding scheme, recording sheets and other tests may need to be designed. The most common instrument used is a questionnaire. For unstructured interviews and focus groups, only an interview guide indicating the topics to be covered may be required. A crucial aspect of survey research is, however, the design of a carefully worded questionnaire to elicit desired information from respondents. Attention to question form and sequencing is also essential in order to avoid biased responses.
Three principle methods of data collection may be considered-telephone, mail or personal interviewing. Telephone interviewing is quick and can be conducted from a central location where interviewers are controlled by a supervisor. However, only with this method the persons having telephones can be interviewed and a limited number of questions can be asked. Mail questionnaires are the cheapest method of survey administration, but suffer from low response rates and also assume that the respondent clearly understands and can respond to questions. Personal interviewing is the most flexible method since the interviewer can select the sample by judgment or convenience sampling and is able to explain questions to the respondent. It is, however, an expensive method of data collection and susceptible to interviewer bias. In implementation of the research plan, this is where major sources of data inaccuracy and unreliability often arise. In the case of surveys, for example, respondents may bias findings by refusing to cooperate, by providing inaccurate answers, for example on income or by giving socially undesirable responses. Interviewers may also bias results by encouraging a specific response, by inaccurate recording of responses or in extreme cases, by falsifying responses.
Current developments in telecommunications and computer technology are rapidly changing data collection procedures and improving their efficiency. The results can also be analyzed and updated with each successive response, thus, considerably reducing research time and costs. Data analysis includes tabulating, classifying and interpreting the information collected. The complexity of the analysis depends to a large extent on management needs. In many cases tabulation or cross-tabulation of results with averages and other summary statistics may suffice. In other cases, more sophisticated multivariate techniques such as factor or cluster analysis or multidimensional scaling may be required, if more complex interactions in the data are to be examined. Finally the presentation of research findings may be verbal and/or written. In either case, the main focus should be on clear presentation of key research findings and their implications on the decisions to be made by the management. As it is obvious from the above exposition on the process of marketing research process, the most vital element in this process is research plan or the research framework/design. For the research to be valid and reliable it is imperative that proper thought should go into the design of research, otherwise it may lead to GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) or mere data collection exercise with no information to the management for its problem-solving exercise.
A marketing research design may be described as a series of advance decisions that, when taken together, comprises a master plan or model for the conduct of the investigations. It is the blueprint that is followed in completing a study. An appropriate design requires careful consideration of the problem and objectives to be met in relation to the time and resources available for the study. The design or plan of a research investigation is best put in writing and it ordinarily covers the following aspects: 1.Objectives of the research including a statement of general objectives and other operational objectives in as specific form as possible. 2.The relation of these objectives with the problem at hand.
3. The form in which the results will be obtained and how they may be used. 4. The methods to be used in attaining each of the objectives of the research. 5. A time schedule for the entire research, including speculations, deadlines for specific phases of the research. 6. Personnel and administrative set-up, with duties specified for each person working on the research project.
No comments:
Post a Comment