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Research Design

Research Design. Research Design. Research design is a set of advanced decisions that make up the master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information. The Significance of Research Design.

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Research Design

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  1. Research Design

  2. Research Design • Research designis a set of advanced decisions that make up the master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information.

  3. The Significance of Research Design • Although every problem and research objective may be unique there are enough similarities that allow us to make some decisions in advance about the best plan to resolve the problem.

  4. The Significance of Research Design • There are basic marketing research designs that can be successfully matched to given problems and research objectives, and they serve the researcher much like the blueprint serves the builder.

  5. Types of Research Design • Three traditional categories: • Exploratory • Descriptive • Causal • The choice of the most appropriate design depends largely on the objectives of the research and how much is known about the problem and research objectives.

  6. Research Objective Appropriate Design To gain background information, Exploratory to define terms, to clarify problems and hypotheses, to establish research priorities To describe and measure marketing Descriptive phenomena at a point in time To determine causality, Causal to make “if-then” statements Basic Research Objectives and Research Design

  7. Types of Research Design: A Caution • Exploratory • Descriptive • Causal A Caution • It should not be implied that research design is a step-by-step process in terms of the order in which design should be carried out. Many research projects use only one design.

  8. Exploratory Research • Exploratory research is most commonly unstructured, informal research that is undertaken to gain background information about the general nature of the research problem. • By unstructured, we mean there is no formal set of objectives, sample plan, or questionnaire.

  9. Exploratory Research • It is usually conducted when the researcher does not know much about the problems. • Exploratory research is usually conducted at the outset of research projects.

  10. Exploratory Research • Uses • Gain Background Information • Define Terms • Clarify Problems and Hypothesis (refine research objectives) • Establish Research Priorities • Many questions; many sources • Defining the problem; getting a “feel”

  11. Exploratory Research • A variety of methods are available to conduct exploratory research. • Secondary Data Analysis • Experience Surveys • Case Analysis • Focus Groups • Projective Techniques

  12. Descriptive Research • Descriptive research is undertaken to describe answers to questions of who, what, where, when, and how. • Descriptive research is desirable when we wish to project a study’s findings to a larger population, if the study’s sample is representative.

  13. Research Design: Descriptive Research • Two basic classifications: • Cross-sectional studies • Longitudinal studies

  14. Classification of Descriptive Research Studies • Cross-sectional studiesmeasure units from a sample of the population at only one point in time. • Sample surveys: are cross-sectional studies whose samples are drawn in such a way as to be representative of a specific population. • These studies are usually presented with a margin of error.

  15. Classification of Descriptive Research Studies • Cross-sectional studies take “snapshots” of the population at a point in time.

  16. Classification of Descriptive Research Studies • Longitudinal studiesrepeatedly measure the same sample units of a population over time. • Longitudinal studies often make use of a panel which represents sample units who have agreed to answer questions at periodic intervals. • Many large research firms maintain panels of consumers.

  17. Descriptive Research • Marketing Survey • Questionnaire • Sample method and size • Data collection method • Data analysis (quantitative) • “Snapshot” versus Panel Design • Many questions; one or few sources • Formal sample and questionnaire

  18. Marketing Research Panels • Continuous panelsask panel members the same questions on each panel measurement. • Discontinuous panelsvary questions from one panel measurement to the next. • They are sometimes referred to as omnibus (“including or covering many things or classes”).

  19. Marketing Research Panels – Discontinuous Panels • Discontinuous panels have the advantage of being able to access large groups of people who have made themselves available for research. • Discontinuous panels represent sources of information that may be quickly accessed for a wide variety of purposes.

  20. Marketing Research Panels – Continuous Panels • Continuous panels are used quite differently from discontinuous panels in that one may use data from continuous panels to gain insights into changes in consumers’ purchases, attitudes, etc. • For example, brand switching studies are used to illustrate how consumers change brands, and market-tracking studies track some variable of interest over time.

  21. Changes From Two Cross-Sectional Studies • Pooch Plus dropped from 100 to 75 families. • Beggar’s Bits remained the same at 200. • Milk Bone increased from 200 to 225. • Conclusion: Pooch Plus is losing market share to Milk Bone. Target Milk Bones with a strategy to win back market share.

  22. Longitudinal Data Analysis • Pooch Plus kept 50 families and lost 50 families to Beggar’s Bits. • Pooch Plus gained 25 former Beggar’s Bits families. • Milk Bones gained 25 former Beggar’s Bits families. • Conclusion: Beggar’s Bits is the competition…Not Milk Bone!

  23. Causal Research • Causality may be thought of as understanding a phenomenon in terms of conditional statements of the form “If x, then y.” • Causal studies are conducted through the use of experiments.

  24. Experiments • An experimentis defined as manipulating an independent variable to see how it affects a dependent variable, while also controlling the effects of additional extraneous variables.

  25. Independent Variable • Independent variablesarethose variables which the researcher has control over and wishes to manipulate. • For example: level of ad expenditure; type of ad appeal; price; product features, etc.

  26. Dependent Variables • Dependent variablesarethose variables that we have little or no direct control over, yet we have a strong interest in. • Examples would be return on investment, net profits, market share, customer satisfaction.

  27. Extraneous Variables • Extraneous variables are those variables that may have some effect on a dependent variable yet are not independent variables. • Extraneous variables must be controlled through proper experimental design.

  28. Experimental Design • Experimental designis a procedure for devising an experimental setting such that a change in a dependent variable may be attributed solely to the change in an independent variable.

  29. Symbols of Experimental Design • O = measurement of a dependent variable • X = manipulation, or change, of an independent variable • R = random assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups • E = experimental effect

  30. Pretest and Posttest • Pretestrefers to the measurement of the dependent variable taken prior to changing the independent variable. • Posttestrefers to measuring the dependent variable after changing the independent variable.

  31. A “True” Experimental Design • A “true” experimental designis one that truly isolates the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable while controlling for the effects of any extraneous variables.

  32. Not “True” Experimental Design • After-Only Design: X O1 • One-Group, Before-After Design: O1 X O2

  33. Control of Extraneous Variables • A control group is a group whose subjects have not been exposed to the change in the independent variable. • An experimental group is a group that has been exposed to a change in the experimental variable.

  34. A “True” Experimental Design • Before-After with Control Group: • Experimental group: O1 X O2 • Control group: O3 O4 • Where E = (O2 – O1) – (O4 – O3)

  35. How Valid are Experiments? • An experiment is valid if it has: • Internal validity: which measures the extent to which the change in the dependent variable is actually due to the change in the independent variable.

  36. How Valid are Experiments? • An experiment is valid if it has: • External validity: which refers to the extent that the relationship observed between the independent and dependent variables during the experiment is generalizable to the “real world.”

  37. Types of Experiments • Laboratory experimentsare those in which the independent variable is manipulated and measures of the dependent variable are taken in a contrived, artificial setting for the purpose of controlling the many possible extraneous variables that may affect the dependent variable.

  38. Types of Experiments • Field experimentsare those in which the independent variables are manipulated and the measurements of the dependent variable are made on test units in their natural setting.

  39. Test Marketing • Test marketing is the phrase commonly used to indicate an experiment, study, or test that is conducted in a field setting. • Uses of test markets • To test sales potential for a new product or service • To test variations in the marketing mix for a product or service

  40. Types of Test Markets • Standard Test Market: one in which the firm tests the product and/or marketing mix variables through the company’s normal distribution channels. • Controlled Test Markets: ones that are conducted by outside research firms that guarantee distribution of the product through prespecified types and numbers of distributors.

  41. Types of Test Markets • Electronic Test Markets: those in which a panel of customers have agreed to carry identification cards that each consumer presents when buying goods and services.

  42. Types of Test Markets • Simulated Test Markets: those in which a limited amount of data on consumer response to a new product is fed into a model containing certain assumptions regarding planned marketing programs, which generate likely sales volume.

  43. Test Markets • Test marketing is used in both consumer markets and industrial B2B markets as well. • Lead country test market: test marketing conducted in specific foreign countries that seem good predictors for an entire continent.

  44. Criteria for Selecting Test Markets • Representativeness: Do demographics match the total market? • Degree of isolation: Phoenix and Tulsa are isolated markets; Los Angeles is not.

  45. Criteria for Selecting Test Markets • Ability to control distribution and promotion: Are there preexisting arrangements to distribute the new product in selected channels of distribution? Are local media designed to test variations of promotional messages?

  46. Test Marketing • Pros: • Allows most accurate method of forecasting future sales • Allows firms the opportunity to pretest marketing mix variables

  47. Test Marketing • Cons: • Does not yield infallible results • Are expensive • Exposes the new product to competitors • Takes time to conduct

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