Business Research Methods

1. Business Research Methods Survey Research:

2. Survey Research • Survey research methods are used for primary data collection • Surveys ask a respondent for information using verbal or written questioning • Surveys provide valuable information on peoples’ opinions , perceptions ,attitudes,& other personal characteristics on issues related to research problems • Surveys cannot measure behaviour

3. Survey Research • Surveys can be classified on the basis of ----Methods of communications ---- Timeframe for data collections

4. Survey Research: Basic Communication Methods

5. Communicating with Respondents • Personal interviews • Door-to-door • Shopping mall intercepts • Telephone interviews • Self-administered questionnaires

6. Door-to-Door Personal Interview It is a traditional survey method which involves consumers being interviewed at their homes It has direct face to face contact with the interviewee

7. Mall Intercept Personal Interview It involves stopping or intercepting shoppers in a mall at random Asking their willingness to participate Conducting the interviews right on the spot or in the research agency’s interviewing facility located at the mall

8. Telephone Surveys It has come of age as one of the best cost effective alternatives on account of various developments in telephonic interviews Random digit dialing as a sampling procedure ----Central location telephone interviews (CLTI) ----Computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) ----Completely automated telephone surveys (CATS)

9. Central location telephone interviewing (CLTI) Interviewers make calls from a centrally located marketing research facility Wide Area Telecommunication Service (WATS) lines are used Facilitates unlimited long distance calls at fixed rates Supervisors can monitor &control the whole process

10. Computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) Telephonic interview responses can be directly entered into the computer The telephonic interviewer is seated at a computer terminal Closed ended questions appear on the computer screen one at a time Interviewer reads out the question & enters the response of the interview into the computer CATI technology has useful features like random selection of tel.nos, dialing them, data entry & its speedy tabulation

11. Completely automated telephone surveys( CATS) Computer uses recorded voice of a professional interviewer to ask questions Respondents answer by pressing number button on their telephone sets to mark their choice Options selected are recorded by the computer If respondent does not answer first couple of questions computer dials next respondent Produces quality data at good speed &less cost

12. Self Administered questionnaires Questionnaire filled out by respondents without intervention of interviewer Mostly conducted at locations with captive audiences: theatres, airports ,malls, hotels or sent through posts (mail surveys) or through e-mails/Nets Brief questionnaires are given to respondents & collected back either through drop box or return of mail

13. Self-Administered Questionnaires

14. Kiosks Kiosks are multimedia touch screen computers Have ability to display full colour screen images, play stereo sound clips & show videos Computers are pre-programmed to administer complex surveys Successfully tried at trade shows & now also at retail stores Does not involve interviewer & less expensive

15. There is no best form of survey; each has advantages and disadvantages.

16. Selected Questions to Determine the Appropriate Technique • Is the assistance of an interviewer necessary? • Are respondents interested in the issues being investigated? • Will cooperation be easily attained? • How quickly is the information needed? • Will the study require a long and complex questionnaire? • How large is the budget?

17. Pretesting • A trial run with a group of respondents to iron out fundamental problems in the instructions of survey design

18. Survey Research: Time Frame For Data Collection

19. Time Frame For Data Collection For some research projects data can be gathered in a single survey Some other studies require multiple surveys & extend over a longer period of time Based on time period surveys are classified as ---- Cross sectional studies -----Longitudinal studies

20. Cross sectional Studies Most commonly used in BR One shot research study at a given point in time Consists of a sample (Cross section) of population of interest It is simple & flexible in nature Analysis can be simple or complex To study profile of bank customers

21. Longitudinal Studies Research studies that use multiple surveys to gather data over a period of time Help in measuring current situations as also their variations over time Different types of longitudinal studies are ----Trend Studies ----Panel Surveys ----Cohert Panels

22. Trend Studies A series of cross sectional surveys conducted at two or more pointsin time New sample taken each time is from the same segment of population originally surveyed Consistent questions are asked in each study Data from several cross sectional studies are compared to find trend in characteristics of interest Changes in customer satisfaction levels over a period of time

23. Panel Studies A longitudinal survey that involves collecting data from same sample units across time (Individuals, HHs, Retail stores) Panel is a sample of respondents who have agreed to provide information at specified intervals over an extended period Consumer panel to study consumption of products/brands, viewer ship of TV, readership of magazines . Retail panel (audit) to study products/brands stocked, shelf space allotted, sales, promotions etc

24. Cohort Panels A longitudinal survey that takes process of generation replacement explicitly into account One or more generations are followed over their life course Cohort is a group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval A birth (or age) cohort is a group of people who were born during the same time interval, say, 1951 to 1960. Cohort analysis is a study in which there are measures of some characteristics of two or more cohorts at two or more points in time

25. Cohort Panels It is unlikely that any of the individual studied at time one will also be in the sample at time two Age cohort of people between 8-19 years old was selected & their soft drink consumption was examined every 10 years for 30 years In other words every 10 years a different sample of respondents is drawn from population of those who then were between 8-19 years old Similar findings were obtained for other age cohorts

26. Consumption of Various Soft Drinksby Various Age Cohorts Percentage consuming on a typical day Age 1950 1960 1969 1979 8-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ 52.9 45.2 33.9 23.2 18.1 73.2 76.0 67.7 58.6 50.0 C2 81.0 75.8 74.4 68.8 59.9 C3 62.6 60.7 46.6 40.8 28.8 C1 C8 C7 C6 C5 C4 C1: cohort born prior to 1900 C2: cohort born 1901-10 C3: cohort born 1911-20 C4: cohort born 1921-30 C5: cohort born 1931-40 C6: cohort born 1940-49 C7: cohort born 1950-59 C8: cohort born 1960-69

27. Cohort Panels Consumption of cohort did not decrease as the cohort aged (Diagonal readings) Contradiction to common belief that consumption of soft drink would decline with graying of America A single cross sectional study (each column read in isolation) leads to this erroneous conclusion Cohort of voters ( people with similar voting pattern during a given interval) are questioned about their voting preference to predict election results

28. DETAILS GIVING ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF EACH METHOD

29. Door-to-Door Personal Interview • It is a traditional survey method which involves consumers being interviewed at their homes • It has direct face to face contact with the interviewee

30. Door-to-Door Personal Interview • Speed of data collection • Moderate to fast • Geographical flexibility • Limited to moderate • Respondent cooperation • Excellent • Versatility of questioning • Quite versatile

31. Door-to-Door Personal Interview • Questionnaire length • Long • Item nonresponse • Low • Possibility of respondent misunderstanding • Lowest

32. Door-to-Door Personal Interview • Degree of interviewer influence of answer • High • Supervision of interviewers • Moderate • Anonymity of respondent • Low

33. Door-to-Door Personal Interview • Ease of call back or follow-up • Difficult • Cost • Highest • Special features • Visual materials may be shown or demonstrated; extended probing possible

34. Mall Intercept Personal Interview • It involves stopping or intercepting shoppers in a mall at random • Asking their willingness to participate • Conducting the interviews right on the spot or in the research agency’s interviewing facility located at the mall

35. Mall Intercept Personal Interview • Speed of data collection • Fast • Geographical flexibility • Confined, urban bias • Respondent cooperation • Moderate to low • Versatility of questioning • Extremely versatile

36. Mall Intercept Personal Interview • Speed of Data Collection • Fast • Geographical Flexibility • Confined, urban bias • Respondent Cooperation • Moderate to low • Versatility of Questioning • Extremely versatile

37. Mall Intercept Personal Interview • Questionnaire length • Moderate to long • Item nonresponse • Medium • Possibility of respondent misunderstanding • Lowest

38. Mall Intercept Personal Interview • Degree of interviewer influence of answers • Highest • Supervision of interviewers • Moderate to high • Anonymity of respondent • Low

39. Mall Intercept Personal Interview • Ease of call back or follow-up • Difficult • Cost • Moderate to high • Special features • Taste test, viewing of TV commercials possible

40. Telephone Surveys • It has come of age as one of the best cost effective alternatives on account of various developments in telephonic interviews • Random digit dialing as a sampling procedure -----Central location telephone interviews -----Computer assisted telephone interviews -----Completely automated telephone surveys

41. Telephone Surveys • Speed of Data Collection • Very fast • Geographical Flexibility • High • Respondent Cooperation • Good • Versatility of Questioning • Moderate

42. Telephone Surveys • Questionnaire Length • Moderate • Item Non response • Medium • Possibility of Respondent Misunderstanding • Average • Degree of Interviewer Influence of Answer • Moderate

43. Telephone Surveys • Supervision of interviewers • High, especially with central location WATS interviewing • Anonymity of respondent • Moderate • Ease of call back or follow-up • Easy

44. Telephone Surveys • Cost • Low to moderate • Special features • Fieldwork and supervision of data collection are simplified; quite adaptable to computer technology

45. Central location telephone interviewing (CLTI) • Interviewers make calls from a centrally located marketing research facility • Wide Area Telecommunication Service (WATS) lines are used • Facilitates unlimited long distance calls at fixed rates • Supervisors can monitor &control the whole process

46. Computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) • Telephonic interview responses can be directly entered into the computer • The telephonic interviewer is seated at a computer terminal • Closed ended questions appear on the computer screen one at a time • Interviewer reads out the question & enters the response of the interview into the computer • CATI technology has useful features like random selection of tel.nos, dialing them, data entry & its speedy tabulation

47. Completely automated telephone surveys( CATS) • Computer uses recorded voice of a professional interviewer to ask questions • Respondents answer by pressing number button on their telephone sets to mark their choice • Options selected are recorded by the computer • If respondent does not answer first couple of questions computer dials next respondent • Produces quality data at good speed &less cost

48. Self Administered questionnaires • Questionnaire filled out by respondents without intervention of interviewer • Mostly conducted at locations with captive audiences: theatres, airports ,malls, hotels or sent through posts (mail surveys) or through emails • Brief questionnaires are given to respondents & collected back either through drop box or return of mail

49. Self-Administered Questionnaires

50. Kiosks Kiosks are multimedia touch screen computers Have ability to display full colour screen images, play stereo sound clips & show videos Computers are pre-programmed to administer complex surveys Successfully tried at trade shows & now also at retail stores Does not involve interviewer & less expensive