4.4 Market Research

Academic journals

Academic journals are periodical publications from educational and research institutions that publish data and information relating to a particular academic discipline.

Ad-hoc market research

Ad-hoc market research is market research conducted as and when required in order to deal with a specific problem or issue.

Continuous market research

Continuous market research is market research conducted on an ongoing basis, rather than a one-off (ad-hoc) basis.

Convenience sampling

Convenience sampling uses research participants who are easy (convenient) to reach. It relies on the ease of reach because of the convenient availability of volunteers.

Focus groups

Focus groups involve forming small discussion groups to gain insight into the attitudes and behaviour of respondents. The group is typically made up of participants who share a similar customer profile.

Government publications

Government publications are a type of secondary market research, referring to official documents and publications released by government entities and agencies.

Interviews

Interviews are a type of primary research that involve discussions between an interviewer and interviewees to investigate their personal circumstances, preferences and opinions.

Market analysis

A market analysis is a form of secondary market research that reveals the characteristics, trends and outlook for a particular product or industry, such as market size, market share and market growth rate.

Market research

Market research refers to marketing activities designed to discover the opinions, beliefs and preferences of potential and existing customers.

Media articles

Media articles are a type of secondary market research referring to the documents (articles) in print or online media. They are written by skilled journalists and authors.

Observations

Observations are a method of primary research that involves watching how people behave or respond in different situations.

Online secondary market research

Online secondary market research refers to sources available on the Internet for research purposes. These include media articles, government publications, academic journals and market analyses available on the Internet.

Population

The population, in marketing terms, refers to all potential customers of a particular market.

Primary market research

Primary market research involves gathering new data for a specific purpose, using methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups and observations.

Qualitative market research

Qualitative market research involves getting non-numerical responses from research participants in order to understand their behaviour, attitudes and opinions.

Quantitative market research

Quantitative market research is about collecting and using factual and measurable information rather than people's perceptions and opinions.

Quota sampling

Quota sampling involves using a certain number of people (known as the quota) from different market segments for primary market research purposes.

Random sampling

Random sampling gives everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample.

Sample

A sample is a selected group or proportion of the population used for primary market research purposes.

Sampling

Sampling is a primary research technique that selects a sample of the population from a particular market for research purposes.

Sampling errors

Sampling errors are caused by mistakes made in the sample design, such as an unrepresentative sample being used or the sample size being too small.

Secondary market research

Secondary market research involves the collection of second- hand data and information that already exists, previously gathered by others, such as media articles and government publications.

Survey

A survey is a document that contains a series of questions used to collect data for a specific purpose. Surveys are the most common method ofprimary research.