Marketing Research Exam 2

What is primary data?

research done by the researcher about the problem at hand

what is secondary data?

data that has already been collected for other purposes

advantages of secondary data?

saves the researcher time and money

what are the major drawbacks of secondary data?

could be outdated, could be inaccurate

what is reliability?

it means consistent

what is validity?

it means accuracy

what is data relevancy?

How well the data fits your research purpose

can relevancy be increased? How?

yes—by refining research questions, combining data sources, or reanalyzing existing data.

what research objectives is secondary data typically useful for?

Exploratory research, trend studies, market research

What is syndicated data and why is it valuable?

Data collected and sold by research firms to many clients

why is syndicated data valuable?

Cost-effective, reliable, updated regularly, and useful for comparing markets or brands

What are some advantages survey research?

easy to administer, reliable, simple

What are some disadvantages of survey research?

limited control, prone to error/bias

What is systematic error ?

occurs when the design or execution of a survey is poor.. for example, admin error

What is meant by self-selection bias?

people who feel strongly about the topic are more likely to respond

What are the types of response bias?

deliberate falsification and unconscious representation

What types of errors are considered administrative errors?

mistakes made during the data collection or processing stages of research

data processing error

mistakes in coding, entering, or analyzing data

interviewer error

when an interviewer influences responses

interviewer cheating

when an interviewer falsifies responses

sample selection error

choosing the wrong participants or mishandling the sampling process

What are some things to consider when selecting the most appropriate survey method?

Target population, type of information needed, budget, time available, desired response rate, participation (e.g., phone or in-person), questionnaire length and complexity, geographic reach (Whether respondents are local, national, or global).

what is an experiment and why is it useful?

A research method in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables to observe their effect on another variable. Useful to learn about the topic at hand in a testing setting

what is a construct?

unobservable abstract ideas that are measured indirectly

what is a variable?

observable or measurable elements associated with constructs (easily be measured)

what is an independent variable?

a variable that is manipulated or categorized and whose effects are measured and compared

what is a dependent variable?

variable that is measured

what is an extraneous variable?

something that may impact the experiment but is not supposed to

what are test units?

the subjects whose responses to the experimental treatment are measured

what is a null hypothesis?

prediction of status quo, one of no difference or no effect

what is an alternative hypothesis?

a prediction in which difference is expected

what are the three forms of causality?

absolute, conditional, and contributory

What conditions are necessary for causal inferences to be made?

temporal sequence, concomitant, non-spurious association

what is a control group?

the group that does not receive the treatment

what is the experimental group?

the group that receives the treatment

purpose of control/experimental groups?

The purpose of having experimental and control groups is to determine whether a change in the independent variable actually causes a change in the dependent variable

for example: does the temp in class affect test scores?

What does random assignment mean?

Subjects assigned to experimental conditions on a random basis
--> Minimizes confounding variables

what is a field experiment?

realism, less control

what is a lab experiment?

control, less realism

what are descriptive statistics?

stats that are used to present, organize, and summarize data

what are inferential stats?

stats that test and draw conclusions about a population based on data (drawn from sample)

What is a frequency distribution and what type of information does it provide?

ONE variable at a time.

-summarizes # of times something occurs.
-indicates the shape of the distribution of the variable/extent of missing responses.

what are three measures of location?

mean, median, and mode

What are the three measures of dispersion (i.e., variability) discussed in this chapter?

range, standard deviation, standard error

What do measures of dispersion help us to understand?

help us understand the spread or variability of data in a dataset.

what is a symmetric (normal) distribution?

mean, median, mode are the same

what is a skewed distribution?

mean, median, mode are different

What are some reasons data may be skewed or non-normal?

outliers, natural limits, population characteristics, measurement issues, and sampling bias

Outliers

Extremely high or low values pull the distribution in one direction.

Natural limits

Data bounded at one end (e.g., percentages between 0 and 100).

Population characteristics

Some traits naturally produce skewed distributions (e.g., income, age at retirement).

Measurement issues 

Errors or bias in how data is collected

Sampling bias

The sample doesn't represent the full population

why does sample size matter?

results obtained from bigger group is more likely to reflect the actual population