Chpter 3 secondary data, literature reviews, and hypothesis

secondary data / desk research

data gathered for some other purpose

primary research is also called

field research

2 types of secondary data

internal and external

internal secondary data

data collected by the individual company for accounting purposes or marketing activity reports

• sales

• accounting

• cost info

external secondary data

data collected by outside agencies such as the federal government, trade associations, or periodicals, marketing research services, or academic researchers

• popular sources

• scholarly sources

• government sources

• NAICS

• commercial sources

literature review

a comprehensive examination of available information that is related to your search topic

criteria to evaluate quality of information obtained from secondary sources

1. purpose - eval data and how it relates

2. accuracy- is it from og source or out of date

3. consistency- seek multiple of same data

4. credibility- always question credibility

5. methodology- flaws result in invalid, unreliable, or not generalizable data beyond original study

6. bias - org motivated by other purpose

secondary data often sought by researchers include

• demographic characteristics

• employment data

• economic stats

• comp and supply assessments

• regulations

• internal market characteristics

several kinds of secondary sources:

• internal

• popular

• academic

• commercial

syndicated data

data that has been compiled according to some standardized procedure; provides customized data for companies such as market share ad effectiveness and sales tracking

collected packaged and sold to other firms

suppliers have used 2 methods of data collection

• consumer panels

• store audits

• optical scanner tech

consumer panels

large samples of households that provide specific detailed data on purchase behavior for an extended period of time

panel data benefits

1. lower cost than primary

2. rapid availability and timelines

3. accurrate reporting of socially sensitive expenditures (beer liquor)

4. high level of specificity

store audits

formal examinations of how a particular product of brand has sold at the retail level

precise, timely

media panels

similar and measure media consumption habits

2 types of data panel sources

• those reflecting the actual purchase of products and services

• those reflecting media habits

variable

an obervable item that is used as a measure on a questionaire

construct

an unobservable concept that is measured by a group of related variables

relationships

associations between 2 or more variables

independent variable

the variable or construct that predicts or explains the outcome variable of interest

dependent variable

the variable or construct researchers are seeking to explain

descriptive hypothesis

possible answers to a specific applied research problem

casual hypothesis

theoretical statements about relationships between variables

descriptive hypothesis takes 3 steps

1. review problem

2. writing questions

3. brainstorm answers to questions

theoretical statements based on

• previous research findings

• management experience

• exploratory researchposi

positive relationship

association between 2 variables in which they increase or decrease together

negative relationship

An association between 2 variables in which one increases while the other decreases

conceptualization

development of a model that shows variables and hypothesized or proposed relationships between variables

1. identifying variables

2. specifying hypothesis and relationships

3. preparing a diagram that visually represents the relationships

hypothesis

testable but unproven statement to explain a phenomena - it suggests relationships between variables

null hypothesis

statistical hypothesis that is tested for possible rejection under the assumption that it is true

alternative hypothesis

the hypothesis contrary to the null, it suggests that 2 variables are related

parameter

the true value of a variable

sample statistic

the value of a variable that is estimated from a sample