1
Module 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN (RD)
•
RD is the framework or blue print or plan for the collection, measurement & analysis of data, so as to obtain answers to research questions
to
solve
management problems • Research design lays down the method and procedure for
collection
of
required
2
information
and
measurement
&
its
analysis
with a view to arriving at certain
meaningful
conclusions for management decision making. •
So a Research Design:-
– is an activity and time based plan –
is
always
based
research question
on
the
3
– guides sources
the
selection
of
types
of
&
information. – is a framework for specifying relationships
among
the
study’s variables. – outlines
procedures
for
every research activity. – Provides
answers
for
questions such as (i)
The
methodology
that
research will
employed in the survey
be
4
(ii)
What techniques will
be used to gather data? (iii)What kind of sampling will be used? ( iv)
How will time & cost
constraints be overcome? Types of Research design – three types RD classified into – Explanatory RD –
Descriptive RD ) Conclusive RD
5
–
Causal RD
)
---do----Refer
earlier
figure
in
research process
1. EXPLORATORY RESEARCH (ER) Exploratory research is a study that seeks to develop initial
6
insights
and
to
provide
direction
for
any
further
research
needed
regarding
problems that are vague or lack clarity. •
Exploratory Research could be
used
for
any
of
the
followimg purposes:oDefine a problem more precisely oIdentify
alternative
courses of action. o
Develop Hypothesis*
7
o
key
Identify / Isolate variables
for
further
examination o
Gain
insights
for
developing an approach to the problem oEstablish
priorities
for
further research. oIncreasing familiarity
an
analyst’s
with
problem oClarifying concepts.
the
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• Exploratory study is helpful in
breaking
problem
broad
vague
statements
into
smaller, more precise sub problem statements. This will be helpful to form specific hypothesis. • In
the
early
stages
of
research, we usually lack sufficient understanding of the problem to formulate a specific hypothesis due to several
tentative
9
explanations
for
a
given
marketing concept. E.g.
1. Sales are low
because our prices are too high; 2.Our dealers are not doing their job properly 3.Our representatives
are
sales not
following up well 4.Our advertising is weak etc.,
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• Exploratory Research can be
used
to
establish
priorities in studying these competing
explanations.
Priorities
would
established
subsequently
because hypothesis the
a
be
particular
discovered
exploratory
in
study
appears to be promising. •
Exploratory
research
is,
therefore, characterized by flexibility and versatility
11
w.r.t
methods
because
formal
research
protocols
and
procedures
are
not
employed. •
E.R
rarely
structured large
involves
questionnaires, samples
and
probability sampling plans. •
Once a new idea or insight is discovered, exploration is redirected in that direction until
its
possibilities
are
12
exhausted or failing another direction is sought/found. •
So focus of investigation may shift constantly as new insights are discovered. creativity
Thus,
and
ingenuity of the researcher plays
a
major
role
in
exploratory research. *
Hypothesis
unproven
is
an
statement
of
research question
13
*
Hypothesis
statement
that
is
a
specifies
how two or more measurable variables are related
and
the
tests
relationship. Vauge Problem Exploratory Research Hypothesis New Ideas
Conclusive Research Decision
Types of Exploratory Studies
Literature Search (Secondary data) Experience survey (Opinion of experts) Focus Groups (Qualitative Research) Analysis of selected cases
that
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Exploratory Research involves assessing the quality of iiry data :1.Secondary
sources
information
eg:-
of Trade
Journals, published statistics (external sources) Company’s
own
records.(internal sources) Both
are
analyzed
in
a
qualitative manner, including quantitative data
15
2.Experience Survey’s refer to the
informally
opinions
and
gathered insights
of
knowledgeable experts in the field. 3.Focus groups no
of
are a small
individuals
brought
together in a room to discuss some topic of interest to the focus of sponsor to gain new insights to the problem
16
4.Analysis of selected cases of similar problems from past records 5.Unstructured
interviewing
of concerned people eg:- if in marketing the sales people and distributors are interviewed. It is an in depth study of subjects of interest that will serve as inputs to understand the problem on hand.
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Other
sources
can
be
customers, stores, websites, market areas etc., Eg:- Exploratory Res. Design:Take the case of a chocolate manufacturer whose product was found defective (infected with worms) at the retail end. Application of exploratory res can help identify the problem. With the batch no. of the product records
the
production
(secondary
data)
18
pertaining to that batch can be reviewed. Experience
survey
can
get
opinion of experts to find out where the production process could have gone wrong. This may help management to look at specific production records which may reveal a defect in the sterilization process of the production or lack of proper supervision or both. This will
19
help take necessary corrective action. Subsequently, a descriptive research study can help find the effectiveness of publicity campaign and image building exercise. EXPLORATORY
RESEARCH
MORE EXAMPLES 1.A chocolate manufacturer wants to identify the ten most important variables his
20
consumers use to decide in buying a brand of chocolate. The
results
exploratory
of
study
this could
provide him with inputs for a second study using factor analysis
techniques
to
reduce the ten variables into a smaller set of factors. 2.Focus
group
discussion
among
house
wives
to
debate
the
fortune
of
convenience foods in India.
21
It may be used to throw in new
ideas
products
about or
modifications
new
suggest to
existing
products, modifications in packaging etc., through an inhibition free discussion. 3.
Soft
drinks
manufacturer
faced with decreasing sales might exploratory generate
conduct
an
study
to
possible
explanations. The study may
22
establish the attributes that consumers seek in a soft drink to gain satisfaction. An
open
ended
question
may result in consumers freely opinion
expressing which
their
can
be
reduced to some ten key factors
(by
experts).
A
consulting Focus
group
discussion may reveal that the present soft drink meets most consumer expectations
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and packing is satisfactory. The
focus
exploratory
of
further
research
may
shift towards study of sales force and distribution. 4.
3M
home
conducted research steel
products exploratory
on
wool
its
standard
pads
through
focus groups. The research revealed that standard steel wool
pads
expensive
scratched
cookware.
This
24
finding produced the idea for “Scotch Brite” scrub pads made of gentle fibers, reducing
the
odds
of
damaging cookware. 5.
A luxury car manufacturer may want to know the real reasons why consumers buy up market
limousines through in-depth interviews and utilize this message / information in
25
product
positioning and
creative ads. 2. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH •
It is a type of conclusive research that has its major objective
description
of
subjects
of
interest
in
such
as
various
fields
marketing,
finance,
HR
etc., • It is intended to generate data
describing
the
26
composition
and
characteristics of relevant groups such as consumers, sales people, organization and market areas. •
1.Descriptive conducted
research for
is
following
reasons. 1.
To
describe
characteristic
the of
relevant groups such as consumers sales people, organizations or market
27
areas eg: - Developing a profile
of
shoppers
the of
heavy
Shopper’s
Stop, Pantaloons Dept Stores. E.g.:-2. profile of an average user of
product
w.r.t Age, Income, Gender, Education level etc., 2.
To
estimate
the
percentage of units in a specified
population
28
exhibiting
a
certain
behaviour
eg:-
Estimating
the
percentage who
of
people heavy
are
shoppers of Shopper’s Stop
who
vacation
also
take
packages
of
Mahindra Holidays. 3.
To
determine
the
perceptions of product characteristics eg:- how do households perceive
29
supermarkets like Food World, Nilgiris, to Local Grocery Stores. Eg:-
how
do
people
perceive herbal products 4.
To determine the degree to
which
variables
marketing are
associated eg:- to what extent is shopping at super markets related to eating out
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5.
To
make
predictions eg.,
specific what
will be the retail sales of up-market shirt brands in
Shoppers’
Stop
outlets in Bangalore
•
2. Descriptive studies are rigid > It needs to
specify how the study is to be conducted.
31
> It requires a clear specification of who, what, when, where, why and how, of the research eg:- who should be considered a regular customer of a
particular Dept Stores.
- What information is needed from respondents - How should the information be obtained - Where should the respondents be contacted - Why are we obtaining this information -Similar questions need be asked until information to be obtained is clearly defined. >Hence,descriptive research is preplanned and structured.
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3. It is typically based on relatively
large
representative samples. •
A formal Research Design specifies the methods for selecting
the
sources
information and
of
collecting
data from those resources. •
Descriptive marked
research by
a
is clear
statement of the problem, specific
hypothesis
and
33
detailed information needs. l. Eg. 1. Market studies to describe size of market, either local or Overseas ; Gallup nationwide survey of China on profiles, attitudes and life style trends (1997) is an example of Des. Res. Study at national level.
34 •
Size
of
power
markets, of
Buying
consumers,
Distribution chain Consumer profile etc. Eg. 2. Market Share studies
Eg. 3. Sales Analysis
studies Eg. 4. Image studies Eg. 5. Product usage studies Eg. 6. Distribution Studies studies
Eg. 7. Pricing Eg 8. Ad. Studies. Etc.,
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•
A
majority
of
research
studies in marketing
are
descriptive research which incorporates following major methods: i)
secondary data analyzed in a quantitative manner
ii) surveys iii)panels iv) Observational data.
and
other
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Combination of exploratory research
and
research
descriptive
example
to
understand. The miller Brewing Co. in the US
was
the
pioneer
in
introducing light colour beer, light weight beer and offered it as a premium product with a higher price. The product was designed for the efficient, the occasional drinkers and women
and
sold
only
in
37
bottles to be drunk at pubs and homes. Over the years competition
increased
with
similar products miller lost its product distribution and also its market share and fall from top slot to eighth place. Millers investigated the beer market. On the basis of its market contacts, pub owners, bar tenders, established
the company through
exploratory research that blue
38
collar workers are the big market. On the basis of this the
company
could
hypothesize that “Blue collar workers
are
the
biggest
market segment for the beer in the US” The company commissioned a market
research
to
get
a
profile of the American beer drinker research
----
a
study
descriptive -----
that
revealed that the heavy users
39
of beer were young, male and highly concentrated in the blue
collar
occupations
confirming the hypothesis. The study also revealed that he drank at a bar, not at home, and he drank with his buddies from the job and not with
his
wife.
It
further
estimated that some 20% of the drinkers consume 90% of the beer and that some 60% of the adult population does
40
not drink beer at all. The study helped miller make certain product modification – a
stronger
beer
made
available on taps in pubs, with promotion to go with it – and regain the top slot second only to Budweiser.
Difference between Exploratory and Conclusive Research Sl Research Project no. Components
Exploratory Research
Conclusive Research
41 1.
Research purpose
General :- To generate insights about a situation
2. 3.
Data Needs Data sources
4.
Data Collection
Vague Secondary defined Open ended rough
5.
6. 7. 8.
Specific:- To verify insights and aid in selecting a course of action. Clear Well defined i ry
Usually structured and smooth Sample Relatively small: Relatively large: Subjectively objectively selected to selected to maximize permit generalization of generalization of insights findings. Data collection Flexible : no set Rigid: well laid procedure out procedure Data analysis Informal: typical Formal typical qualitative quantitative. Inferences/recommendations More tentative More final than than final tentative
42
43
CAUSAL /EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH •
This is intended to generate the
type
necessary
of for
evidence confidently
making causal inferences / reasons
about
relationships
among
variables. •
Helps decide level
of
the
the optimum independent
variable in order to get the
44
desired
result
of
the
dependent variable. • Helps
establish
consumer
preference levels. Eg. Consider a consumer goods firm that wants to determine the impact of advertising on sales. To achieve this objective, the
firm
can
proceed
follows: How to do this?
as
45
1.Select a group of distinct market
areas
that
have
similar demographic, socio economic
and
competitor
characteristics. Eg
Jayanagar
/
Koramangala ; or Chennai / Bangalore 2.
Vary the level of advertising expenditure variable)
from
(independent market
to
market, keeping all other marketing variables, such
46
as
price
and
promotion
constant. 3.
Monitor
sales
(dependent
variable) over a sufficient length of time 4.
Analyze
the
data
to
see
whether or not the pattern of variation in sales across markets is consistent with the pattern of variation in advertising expenditure.
In
experimental design, it is called
47
Causal
Variable
=
Independent Variable Effective
variable
=
dependent variable •
To make causal inferences with confidence, we must manipulate variable and
the
(eg: study
variables
causal
advertising) the
called
other effect
variable, namely sales •
Another condition is that the
causal
variable
48
(advertising)
&
effect
variable (sales) must occur in
proper
the
time
sequence. To ascertain if advertising first
we
causes must
sales, change
advertising levels (without being
influenced
anticipated measure
the
sales) change
by and in
sales later •
A plan is developed for controlling
conditions
49
relevant to the experiment so that some test unit or experimental units can be exposed experimental
to or
the causal
variable and their results measured. •
The
researcher
hypothesis
that
has
on
if
an
experimental variable (egadvertising, shelf display, training) is applied to an experimental unit (eg. a
50
group
of
store,
consumers, some
a
sales
representatives etc) it will have a measurable effect (eg
the
No.
remembering
of
people
the
brand
name, no. of units sold, No. of calls made etc.,) What is experimentation It is a research process in which
one
or
more
variables are manipulated, so as to demonstratate the
51
cause
and
effect
relationship. Experimentation is done to find out the effects
one
factor/
the
variable
on
other facor/variable. Fig.
Different
Elements of Experiment Input
Extrane Outpu ous variable s
t
52
Experim ental
Experi
Variable mental
test units
Variable OR Explanat Extrane ory
dent or
units or Effect
OR Indep.
Depen
ous
Variable variable s
Variabl e
53
Test Units: These are units on which the experiment is carried out. It is done with one or more independent variables controlled by
a researcher
to find out its effect on a dependent variable Eg.
consumers,
markets,
stores, product etc Explanatory/ Independent / Experimental variable:
54
These are variables whose effects the researcher wishes to
examine.Eg.advertising,
pricing, packaging, display, promotion etc Dependent Variable: This is the variable/ factor which is under study. Eg. Sales, consumer attitudes, brand loyalty Extraneous Variables These are also known as blocking variables and affect
55
the
results
experiments.
of
the
These
are
present in the environment of the experiment. They are of two types. Controllable
extraneous
variable This is under the physical control of the
researcher.
Eg Price of a product under experiment Uncontrollable extraneous variable
56
This may be factors in the macro environment not in the
control
researcher. condition
of
Eg. of
competition,
the
economic
the
market,
govt.
policies
etc., Eg.1
Suppose
a
toffee
manufacturer is making an attempt
to
measure
the
response of the buyers to two
different
types
of
packaging, at two different
57
locations.
For
the
two
groups of buyers, all factors of the product must remain same except the packaging. Suppose the manufacturer changes the price for one group,
the sales will not
indicate which packaging is preferred because the price has acted as an extraneous variable. physically hence
But price can be contolled
called
and
controllable
58
extraneous variable. Eg.2 Suppose a company is introducing a product in two different cities. It would like to
know
the
impact
of
advertising on sales. During the experiment, suppose a major
competitor
in
the
market has a strike in the factory and maintain
is unable to
supplies
in
the
market. Now the researcher cannot conclude that his
59
sales
in
that
increased
city due
has to
advertisement. In this case, strike
the
is
an
uncontrollable extraneous variable
or
variable as can
be
confounding no conclusion
reached
on
the
experiment. •
Other studies
experimental
60
- impact
of
change
retail
price
on
in
brand
market share - Effect
of
different
advertising themes upon sales of a product -
Impact
of
certain
promotional offers -
To
measure
sales
effectiveness of a new packaging display etc.
/
shelf
61
•A
research
manipulate
study on
may
or
more
such variables & examine the
effect
of
this
on
consumer action Special
types
of
Exptl,
Design used in MR 1.
After Only Design / Purely Post-Design This
design
measuring
the
consists
of
dependent
variable after exposing the
62
test unit (consumers) to the experimental / independent variable. Eg1:- Consumers are given a discount coupon along with the
newspaper
(independent
ad
variable)
to
buy the brand. The study measures
the
coupons
redeemed
coupons
extent
collected
at
of (ie the
retail level) and the resulting sales (dependent
variable)
63
from the sample covered ie., consumer response
to an
ad in a given market can be measured by relating it
to
sale of the product) Eg2:-
Suppose, HLL wants
to conduct
an
experiment
on the “ Impact of free sample on the sale
of toilet soaps.
A
small sample of toilet soaps are
mailed
customers
to
selected
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2.Before – after Design In this design, each test unit is
measured
dependent
on
the
variable
once
“before” and again “after” exposure
to
experimental variable.
the The
difference between the two measures is treated as the
65
effect
of
exptl
/
independentg variable (ad + Coupon = ind variable) ie., sales before ad for a given period and after ad for the same period, the difference can be attributed to effect of the
advertisement
(ie.,
independentg variable). 3.Before
–
after
with
Control GP Design In this design the research study
includes
a
control
66
group in the experiment, but the
control
group
is
not
subject to the experimental variable. Sales/Mkt. Share
Sales/Mkt. Share
Measurement Group
Exptl.
Control Group
Before
E1
C1 After
E2
C2
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The
idea
of
choosing
the
control group is to incorporate any change in the result due to same
extraneous
varables.
Then the effect of experimental variable is given by (E2-E1) – (C2-C1) E.g.: Consider the example in the
‘before
–after”
design.
Suppose the market share had increased
by
10%
(Say
E1=25%, E2=35%) between the advertising
campaigns.
68
However suppose in this period there was a general decrease in the market share by 4% (due to say dull season), i.e.,
C1
25%
assuming
similarity, C2 21% dull season effect. then
the
net
effect
of
the
advertising should be (E2-E1) – (C2-C1) because C2 > C1 10% - (-4%) because C2 > C1
69
10% + 4% = 14% season effect Note: In general, it is assumed that members of the control group are similar in nature to the experimental test units. Suppose the general market share increased by 4% owing to boom season then net effect would be: 10%-4%
(E2-E1) – (C2-C1) C125%
Net effect 6%C2 29%
70
4. “After-Only with control group” design. The
effect of experimental
variable
is
computing between
determine the
the
by
difference after
two
measurements. i.e E2-C2 = net effect In
test
marketing
experiments conducted
are to
such
frequently
examine
the
possible impact of the new
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product in the market with appropriate
selection
experimental
and
of
control
markets. Eg:-
Suppose, HLL wants to
conduct an experiment on the “ Impact of free sample on the sale of toilet soaps. A sample of toilet soaps are mailed to selected locality.
customers
in
a
After a month, a
coupon of 50 paise off on one cake of soap is mailed to each
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customer to whom free sample was sent earlier. An equal no of these coupons are mailed to people (control
in
another group)
neighborhood.
The
locality in
the
coupons
are coded to keep an account of the no of coupons redeemed from
each locality. Suppose
400 coupons were redeemed from exptl., group and 250 coupons were redeemed from the
control
group
.
The
73
difference 150 nos is the effect of free samples In this method, conclusion can be only drawn from the two “after” measurements.
Factorial Design (FD)
74
FD permits the
researcher to
test two or more variables at the
same
time
FD
helps
determine the effect of each of the variables
and measure
the interacting effect of many variables Eg., A huge dept stores wants to study the impact of price reduction for a product . There is promotional display
being
carried out in the stores a)
near the entrances B1;
75
b)
at
the
actual
sales
counters B2; c)no
promotional
displayB3 Now assume mgmt applies two price
levels
namely
regular
price A1 and reduced price A2. There
are
2
x
3
six
combinations Which of these combination is best suited?
76
There are 60 dept stores of the chain
divided into groups of
ten each Now
randomly
assign
ONE
combination to the ten stores as follows Combination Sales B1A1 S1 BIA2 S2
77
B2A1 S3 B2A2 S4 B3A1 S5 B3A2 S6 S1 TO S6 represents the sale resulting from each variable combination.
The
data
gathered will provide details on product sales on account of
78
two
independent
variables
price and promotion Outcome
of
the
experiment
could be as follows 1.Price redn with display at entrance 2.Price redn with diplay at actual sales counters 3.No display and regular price 4.Display at entrance with regular price Advantage
79
There is a possibility of testing every
combination
of
the
variables Disadvantage As the no of variables increase, the
no
of
combinations
increase exponentially, making the experiment cumbersome. In the above example if three types of packaging were to be included,
the
combinations
increase to 18 (2x3x3=18) Latin Square Design (LSD)
80
In
LSD,
the
experiment square.
It
layout
of
the
represents
a
is
classification blocks
a
that
the
effect
out by
extraneous the
randomization (effect
of
way
scheme
confounding factors
two
row
process
of
of
treatments
and
column
variables) within each cell. The researcher chooses to test three shelf arrangements A, B, C , in three stores. He would
81
like
to
observe
the
sales
generated in each of the stores at different time periods.
The
researcher must make sure that
one
type
of
shelf
arrangement is used in each store only once and ensures this is not repeated in any row or column If we choose three stores and three time periods the total no of combination (treatments) is
82
3x 3 = 9 as follows ( with random selection of A,B & C): Time
period
Stores 1 2
3
T1 C
B A
T2 A
C B
T3 B
A C
83
A single dependent variable SALES is tested in the above combination in each of the combination
above
and
its
siginificance is tested by
ANOVA Ex-Post Facto Design In EPFD,
the
researcher
tries to find out one or more causal variable that can give
84
plausible( likely ) explanations as to why variable
the dependent
reflected
adverse
values. Eg 1 Why the sales in a showroom measures
dropped. the
causes
It in
retrospective affect. Eg 2 A magazine publisher wants to ascertain the impact of an advertisement on frozen foods in
“Women’s Era”.
He
asks those who read and do not read the magazine about
85
frozen foods. The difference in response
indicates
the
effectiveness of the ad - after effects of the ad.