Applied Research Quiz 1

Market Research Def:

the act of conducting research using systematic approaches to gathering appropriate information to answer a question. (no guessing or winging it....using research) 

Why market research?

To reduce risk

Market research is focused on: 

1. Understanding the target market 

2. Explore marketing opportunities and competitive trends  

3. Improve satisfaction, brand awareness, and perception, collaboration, and productivity 

Steps of Research:  

1. Finding the research objective  

2. Level of risk associated with the research based decisions (is it worth the risk/time/money) 

3. Level of Cost needed for data collection method 

4. Type of data required: which types of data is best needed for our research decision 

5. Timing: have fast we need the information 

Secondary Research (QUALITATIVE OR QUANITATIVE):

gathering information that CURRENTLY EXISTS (internal: sources in organization or external research: sources from outside of the organization) 

Primary Research

original research (to get information you couldn’t find) 

Quantitative:

projected upon a larger population: measured and can be counted

Qualitative:

cannot be projected with a larger population, no numbers, exploration research, idea generation, and meaning.

Steps of research: 

1. Research objective 

2. Research question 

3. Methods for research 

Definition of Research Objection:

is the overarching question that us or the client is trying to answer.  

Research questions:

help flesh out the overarching research objective (more detailed/tactical)--> help us answer our research objectives.  

Types of Research: 

1. Exploratory: discover new ideas, brainstorm solutions, clarify a question, test concepts, and generate ideas.  

2. Descriptive: describes our target: characteristics, demographics, psychographics, competitor behaviors 

3. Casual: if a change in one variable causes a change in another variable  

Qualitative Research Methods: 

1.FOCUS GROUPS (Primary/qualitivate):

2.INTERVIEWS (primary/qualitative):

3.Ethnography (primary/qualitative):

4.UX/UI:

5.Mystery Shopping (primary/qualitative):

Quantitative Research Methods: 

1.Surveys(primary/quantitative):

2.Central Location & Home use Test (primary/quantitative):

3. Experiments (primary/quantitative):

What is sampling? 

Process of selecting units from a population of interest  

Why do we Sample? 

• A way to avoid having to survey the entire target market  

• Results from the subset of the population to describe the population at large 

Population:

includes every member the group of interest 

Census:

studies every member of a population 

Parameter:

result from a census 

Statistic:

results from a sample

Determining our sample size:

how many people we need in our survey/research, to assume it can represent the whole population. 

Calculating Sample size:

target population estimate, desired confidence level, confidence interval  

Steps to Calculating Sample Size  

1. Estimate the Population size:population “N” and sample “n”  

2. Incidence rate:

3. Confidence Level: confidence level should be 95% for market research) 

4. Confidence Interval:(the lower the better- expressed as a percent range) 

• Market standard +/- 0.5%  

Example Sentence:

At the 95% confidence level, this study has a margin of error of +/- 2.5%. 

Probability Sample:

random selection to ensure members of a population have equal probabilities of being chosen, considered to be more sound  

3 types of Probability Sample:

1.Simple random:

2.Stratified Random:

3.Systematic:

Non-Probability Sampling:

not random sampling, researchers' subjective judgment about how the sample should be structured 

Pros

easier to deploy, can be used when a certain population is heard to reach.  

Cons:

cannot be used to project the survey findings upon the entire target population, not possible to calculate margin error and confidence levels. 

4 types of Non-probability sampling

1.Convenient:

2. Expert:

3.Quota:

4. Snowball:

Where can we find samples? 

• Company list- list of employees used in the employee engagement study  

• List brokers- can be purchased to gain a list of customers or population needed 

• Research Panel- collected group of protentional respondents who opt in to participate in future research studies  

Screening for an Appropriate Sample: 

Screener questions are developed to qualify protentional respondents, dictates who gets to take the survey and get paid.  

Ethnographic Market Research: 

• Trends lifestyles, habits, attitudes, and social influences  

• How consumers interact with and react to current product, product concepts, and services in the real-world setting.  

5 methods of Ethnography:  

1. Observation 

2. Virtual & mobile 

3. Diaries 

4. Passive tracking 

5. Netnography  

Observation Research Method

observing how consumer interact with products, services, or venues. 

What can be observed: focuses on the what and how....NOT THE WHY 

• Artifacts: examine clothes, accessories, belonging...determine trends in different demographics/geographics.  

• Body language 

• Eye movement 

• Facial expressions 

• Physical movement 

• Response times 

• Spatial behavior 

• Verbal statements  

Hawthorne Effect:

when subjects of an experimental study change or improve their behavior, it is being evaluated or studied.  

Direct observation:  

is when researchers observe in the direct setting, without manipulation the environment,  

Contrived observation: 

deliberately creates or control an environment, to study behaviors.

Common Observational Subtypes: 

• Wayfinding: look at the design and layout of a space, observing the best way to design something  

• Shopalong: observe how consumer shop, shop with them 

• In home: observe someone in their homes and watch how they are doing something.  

• Surveillance Technology: using video or other monitoring devices to help observe.  

•  Biometric Technology: uses equipment to track a participant physiological reactions, and response to stimuli

Eye tracking:  

Understanding eye tracking and heat maps:  

First Fixation:

the visual element, the first thing consumer look at.  

Time to First Fixation

the amount of time that has elapses form the start of visual processing 

Gaze Time:

the amount of time spent looking at individual elements of an ad 

Virtual and Mobile:

participants provide vlogs, pictures, or essay detailing their feelings, options, and reactions   

Diaries:

participant uses website or hard copy booklet to track their experience  

Passive Tracking:

uses wi-fi and cell phone technology, retailers gather data about consumers using signals from their phones and apps.  

Netnography

study of online communicatees and social interactions to gain insight into consumers in the digital space 

 

Mystery Shopping:

being undercover, shopping likes the consumers to observe how consumers or employee's work. Employees might know it's happening, but they may not know who is actually observing.  

Focus Groups 

Group of people, paid, open-ended questions, interactive

Interviews:  

In-depth, semi-structured, questions and answer sessions, trust and rapport  

Types of interviews:

one-on-one, dyad, triads(1 person, 2 people, 3 people)

Benefits of Focus Group

more exciting, interactive, can reveal agreement/disagreements, remind things people have forgotten, can help people verbalize their thoughts, opinions, and feed off each other.  

Benefits of Interviews

good for personal topics, make a safe place for people to open should topics be sensitive, and can avoid group influence.

onducting a Focus Group: 

• Can choose--> In person focus group or online focus groups

• Need to hold multiple focus groups for accurate results 

• Focus groups should reflect the demographic mix of the target market 

• Over-recruit by at least two (some don't show up) 

• Provide incentive  

Role of the Moderator in Focus Group: 

Most be trained, know the questions, build rapport, allow ideas, keep things on track, analyze situations, help control conversation for clear results 

Specific questions to ask for Focus Group: 

• Open ended questions 

• Use “think back” questions 

• Use different types of questions 

• Use questions participants have been and can be involved in 

Should avoid:  

• Asking dichotomous questions 

• Avoid interrupting 

• Avoid asking biased questions or leading questions 

• Stick closely to script 

Probing questions: 

• What did you mean by this? 

• How did you feel? 

• Why do you think? 

• What happened then? 

• Tell me more? 

Problems: 

• Moderator induced bias 

• Goes of topic 

• Dominating convo 

Steps of Analysis/Data Analysis: for Qualitive Research  

Step 1. Review necessary documents to refresh yourself on the research objectives and methodology:  

• Notes/documents from client meetings  

• Research proposal/objective 

• Discussion/interview guide  

Step 2. Evaluate the Sample 

• The sample of respondents is evaluated in terms of “goodness”  

• Does the sample possess the desired set of demographics, brand related, or attitude characteristics? 

• It their bias in samples? 

• Were there any sample difficulties? 

• Do you need more samples? 

Step 3. Get the Data Ready? 

• Collect all the sources data 

• Notes taken by moderator/interviewer 

• Audio/video 

• Respondent-generated materials  

Step 4. Familiarize yourself with the Data 

• Take some time to listen to the audio and read through the transcripts 

• Get an understanding of what was communicated and see if any themes stand out 

Step 5. Analyze the Data 

• The goals of data analysis are to: 

• Discover the reasons underlying attitudes and behavior 

• Understand why certain opinions are held and why certain behaviors are exhibited 

• Understand the intensity of respondent's feelings and point of views 

When preparing Themes:  

We want to use direct quotes as examples rather than paraphrasing.  

Revising themes: 

• Do these examples each support the theme? 

• Do we have enough data to fit into theme? 

• Do have data that doesn’t fit into themes? Are you missing some themes? 

Focus groups generally follow the flow of the moderator's guide 

• Reporting focus groups results 

Report: 

• The reasonings behind recruiting the specific participant mix 

• The number of recruited participants who showed  

• Number of focus group sessions and where they are were held  

Report: 

• Provide examples for the themes  

• Discuss the conclusions and insight you’ve drawn from the themes.  

Benefits of qualitative data should be leveraged in a focus group: 

• Representative participant comments 

• Photos from the focus group activities 

• Word Clouds