Untitled Flashcards Set

Quantitative research

Research that emphasizes using formal standard questions and predetermined response options in questionnaires or surveys administered to large numbers of respondents.

Qualitative research

The collection of data in the form of text or images using open-ended questions, observation, or 'found' data.

In-depth interviews

A data collection method in which a well-trained interviewer asks a participant a set of semistructured questions in a face-to-face setting.

Focus group research

A qualitative data collection method in which responses to open-ended questions are collected from a small group of participants who interactively and spontaneously discuss topics of interest to the researcher.

Bulletin board

An online research format in which participants agree to post regularly over a period of four to five days.

Purposive sampling

Selecting sample members to study because they possess attributes important to understanding the research topic.

Stratified purposive sampling

Selecting sample members so that groups can be compared.

Theoretical sampling

Selecting sample members based on earlier interviews that suggest that particular types of participants will help researchers better understand the research topic.

Focus group moderator

A person who is well-trained in the interpersonal communication skills and professional manners required for a focus group.

Moderator's guide

A detailed outline of the topics, questions, and subquestions used by the moderator to lead the focus group session.

Debriefing analysis

An interactive procedure in which the researcher and moderator discuss the subject's responses to the topics outlined in the focus group session.

Content analysis

The systematic procedure of taking individual responses and grouping them into larger theme categories or patterns.

Groupthink

A phenomenon in which one or two members of a group state an opinion and other members of the group are unduly influenced.

Purposed communities

Online brand communities that can be used for research.

Private communities

Purposed communities whose primary purpose is research.

Ethnography

A form of qualitative data collection that records behavior in natural settings to understand how social cultural influences affect individual behaviors and experiences.

Participant observation

An ethnographic research technique that involves extended observation of behavior in natural settings to fully experience cultural or subcultural contexts.

Case study

An exploratory research technique that intensively investigates one or several existing situations that are similar to the current problem/opportunity situation.

Projective techniques

An indirect method of questioning that enables a subject to project beliefs and feelings onto a third party, into a task situation, or onto an inanimate object.

Word association test

A projective technique in which the subject is presented with a list of words or short phrases, one at a time, and asked to respond with the first thought that comes to mind.

Sentence completion test

A projective technique where subjects are given a set of incomplete sentences and asked to complete them in their own words.

Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET)

A visual research technique used in in-depth interviewing that encourages research participants to share emotional and subconscious reactions to a particular topic.

Observation research

Systematic observation and recording of behavioral patterns of objects, people, events, and other phenomena.

Technology-mediated observation

Data collection using some type of mechanical device to capture human behavior, events, or marketing phenomena.

Scanner-based panel

A group of participating households that have a unique bar-coded card as an identification characteristic for inclusion in the research study.

Social media monitoring

Research based on conversations in social media.

Listening platform/post

An integrated system that monitors and analyzes social media sources to provide insights that will support marketing decision-making.

Sentiment analysis/opinion mining

The application of technological tools to identify, extract, and quantify subject information in textual data.

Netnography

A research technique that requires deep engagement with online communities.

Survey research methods

Research procedures for collecting large amounts of data using question-and-answer formats.

Respondent errors

Consist of both non-response error and response error.

Nonresponse error

A systematic bias that occurs when the final sample differs from the planned sample.

Response error

When respondents have impaired memory or do not respond accurately.

Person-administered surveys

Data collection techniques that require the presence of a trained human interviewer who asks questions, records, and the subject's answers.

In-home interview

A structured question-and-answer exchange conducted in the respondent's home.

Mail-intercept interview

A face-to-face personal interview that takes place in a shopping mall.

Telephone interviews

Question-and-answer exchanges that are conducted via telephone technology.

Computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)

Integrated telephone and computer system in which the interviewer reads the questions from a computer screen and enters respondents' answers directly into the computer program.

Wireless phone survey

A method of conducting a marketing survey in which the data are collected using wireless phones.

Self-administered survey

A data collection technique in which the respondents read the survey questions and record his or her own answers without the presence of a trained interviewer.

Mail surveys

Surveys sent to respondents using the postal service.

Mail panel survey

A questionnaire sent to a group of individuals who have agreed in advance to participate.

Drop-off survey

A self-administered questionnaire that a representative of the researcher hand-delivers to selected respondents; the completed surveys are returned by mail or picked up by the representative.

Online surveys

Survey data collected using the internet.

Propensity scoring

Used to adjust survey results to be more like those a representative sample would have produced.

Generalizable

Projectable to the population represented by the sample in the study.

Topic sensitivity

The degree to which a survey question leads the respondent to give a socially acceptable response.

Incidence rate

The percentage of the general population that is the subject of the market research.

Ability to participate

The ability of both the interviewer and the respondent to get together in a question-and-answer interchange.

Willingness to participate

The respondent's inclination or disposition to share his or her thoughts.

Knowledge level

Degree to which the selected respondents feel they have knowledge of or experience with the survey's topics.

Causal research

Studies that enable researchers to assess 'cause-and-effect' relationships between two or more variables.

Independent variables

Variables whose values are directly manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent variables

Measures of effects or outcomes that occur as a result of changes in levels of the independent or causing variable(s).

Experiment

An empirical investigation that tests for hypothesized relationships between dependent variables and manipulated independent variables.

Variable

A concept or construct that can vary or have more than one value.

Control variables

Variables that the researcher does not allow to vary freely or systematically with independent variables; control variables should not change as the independent variable is manipulated.

Extraneous variables

Any variables that experimental researchers do not measure or control that may affect the dependent variable.

Validity

The extent to which the conclusions drawn from an experiment are true.

Internal validity

The extent to which the research design accurately identifies causal relationships.

External validity

The extent to which a causal relationship found in a study can be expected to be true for the entire target population.

Laboratory (lab) experiments

Causal research designs that are conducted in an artificial setting.

Field experiments

Causal research designs that manipulate the independent variables in order to measure the dependent variable in a natural setting.

Test marketing

Using controlled field experiments to gain information on specified market performance indicators.

Stratified random sampling

Separation of the target population into different groups, called strata, and the selection of samples from each stratum.

Proportionately stratified sampling

A stratified sampling method in which each stratum is dependent on its size relative to the population.

Disproportionately stratified sampling

A stratified sampling method in which the size of each stratum is independent of its relative size in the population.

Cluster sampling

A probability sampling method in which the sampling units are divided into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subpopulations called clusters.

Area sampling

A form of cluster sampling in which the clusters are formed by geographic designations.

Convenience sampling

A nonprobability sampling method in which samples are drawn at the convenience of the researcher.

Judgment sampling

A nonprobability sampling method in which participants are selected according to an experienced individual's belief that they will meet the requirements of the study.

Quota sampling

A nonprobability sampling method in which parties are selected according to prespecified quotas regarding demographics, attitudes, behaviors, or other criteria.

Snowball sampling

A nonprobability sampling method, also called referral sampling, in which a set of respondents is chosen, and they help the researcher identify additional people to be included in the study.

Precision

The acceptable amount of error in the sample estimate.

Sampling plan

The blueprint or framework needed to ensure that the data collected are representative of the defined target population.