Marketing Research: Foundations, Design, and Measurement

50 vocabulary flashcards covering research designs, questionnaire development, validity types, biases, primary data collection, and measurement scales.

Information-systems Based Research

Research characterized by the ongoing analysis of incoming data on a regular basis, using discovery-oriented methods to find associations (such as pulling daily sales reports to track product popularity).

Project-based Research

One-time, structured research analyzing primary or newly gathered secondary data, with a tendency toward hypothesis testing.

Exploratory Research

A research design used to formulate problems more precisely, develop hypotheses, establish priorities for further research, eliminate impractical ideas, and clarify concepts.

Descriptive Research

A research design used to describe segment characteristics, estimate the proportion of people who behave in a certain way, and make specific predictions.

Relational Research

Research that examines relationships between variables by means of correlation and the time order in which variables occur.

Causal Research

Research designed to provide evidence regarding cause-and-effect relationships by means of concomitant variation, time order of variables, and elimination of other explanations.

Concomitant Variation

Evidence demonstrating the extent to which an independent variable and a dependent variable vary together as predicted in a causal relationship.

Population

The entire universe or complete target group from which a research sample is drawn.

Sampling Frame

A complete list of all the items, individuals, or elements in the target population from which a sample is selected.

Sampling Procedure

The specific method or process by which items or individuals are chosen from the sampling frame.

Sample Size

The total number of items or individuals included in a sample, calculated to achieve statistical significance.

Disguised Question

A question or research technique where the participant is not aware of the true purpose of the study.

Undisguised Question

A question or research technique where the participant is fully aware of the study's purpose.

Structured Question

A question format that provides predefined, standardized response alternatives for respondents to select from.

Unstructured Question

A question format that allows respondents to provide open-ended, free-response answers in their own words.

Structured-Undisguised Technique

A widely used data collection method combining predefined answer choices with transparent research intent, exemplified by typical questionnaires.

Unstructured-Undisguised Technique

A data collection method combining open-ended responses with transparent research intent, exemplified by interviews and open-ended questions.

Structured-Disguised Technique

The least frequently used research approach, which combines predefined answer choices with a concealed research objective.

Unstructured-Disguised Technique

A research approach combining open-ended responses with a concealed purpose, including motivation research, word association, sentence completion, and storytelling.

Dichotomous Question

A closed-ended question format that offers only two possible answer options, such as Yes/No or Agree/Disagree.

Multichotomous Question

A closed-ended question format that offers multiple possible predefined answer choices (multiple choice).

Open-ended Question

A question type that requires a free-response answer without predefined alternatives, allowing participants to answer in their own words.

Likert Scale

A multi-point rating scale designed to measure the intensity or strength of participants' attitudes or opinions.

Even Likert Scale

A Likert scale featuring an even number of response options, forcing participants to take a stance rather than remain neutral.

Odd Likert Scale

A Likert scale featuring an odd number of response options, providing a distinct midpoint that allows participants to choose a neutral response.

Double-barreled Question

A question-writing error that joins two distinct issues or inquiries into a single question, making it impossible to tell which part is being answered.

Leading and Loaded Questions

Question-writing errors where phrasing either steers respondents toward a particular desired answer (leading) or incorporates unjustified emotional or biased presuppositions (loaded).

Implicit Assumptions

Unstated premises taken for granted in question phrasing that can confuse or bias respondents who do not share those premises.

Exhaustive Alternatives

A questionnaire requirement ensuring that response categories cover all possible answers so that every respondent has an appropriate option to select.

Mutually Exclusive Alternatives

A questionnaire design rule requiring that response categories do not overlap, ensuring a respondent fits into only one category.

Internal Validity

The ability to attribute an observed effect directly to the experimental variable rather than to confounding factors, ensuring the construct is operationalized correctly.

Construct Validity

A facet of internal validity assessing whether the measurement tool accurately measures the theoretical construct it is intended to measure.

Concurrent Validity

A form of validity assessing whether the findings from a measurement align with and match results from other research.

Convergent Validity

A form of validity assessing whether multiple distinct operationalizations of the same construct yield consistent, identical results.

Divergent Validity

A form of validity evaluating whether a measure produces distinct results from measures of other, potentially similar constructs.

Causal Validity

The ability to demonstrate a definitive causal link between the independent variable and dependent variable while ruling out alternative hypotheses.

External Validity

The extent to which an observed effect or relationship can be generalized to other contexts, populations, and time periods.

Generalizability

The degree to which research findings apply to other settings, over time, and throughout the broader target population.

Predictive Validity

A dimension of external validity reflecting the ability to accurately forecast future outcomes based on research results.

Robustness

The property of research results holding up across multiple calculation methods and remaining consistent across all parts of the dataset.

Non-response Bias

A type of sampling bias that occurs when selected individuals in a sample are unable or unwilling to participate.

Under-coverage Bias

A type of sampling bias that occurs when certain parts or segments of the target population are not adequately represented in the sample.

Voluntary Response Bias

A type of sampling bias that occurs when participants are self-selected volunteers rather than randomly chosen individuals.

Response Bias / Demand Effects

A measurement bias describing the tendency of participants to provide inaccurate or false answers on self-report instruments such as surveys or interviews.

Communication Method

A direct, efficient primary data collection method involving the questioning of respondents, required to measure unobservable constructs like attitudes, awareness, and motivation.

Observation Method

An objective primary data collection method involving the systematic recording of facts or actions to secure behavioral data without direct questioning.

Contrived Setting

An artificial or laboratory environment created by researchers to observe behavior under controlled conditions.

Nominal Scale

A measurement scale consisting of mutually exclusive, labeled categories without numerical order or distance.

Ordinal / Rank Scale

A measurement scale that ranks objects or arranges them in an ordered sequence of magnitude or preference.

Interval Scale

A measurement scale where numbers rank objects and also represent equal increments of the attribute being measured, lacking an absolute zero point.