Research Design

RESEARCH DESIGN

RESEARCH DESIGN » Design » Classification » Differences between Exploratory and conclusive design » Comparing and contrasting differences between basic research design » Sources of error » Managerial aspects of coordinating research projects » elements of a marketing research proposal » Its formulation in international marketing research » ethical issues and conflicts » use of the Internet and computers

RESEARCH DESIGN: DEFINITION • A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure and/or solve marketing research problems.

COMPONENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN • Define the information needed • Design the exploratory, descriptive, and/or causal phases of the research • Specify the measurement and scaling procedures • Construct and pretest a questionnaire (interviewing form) or an appropriate form for data collection • Specify the sampling process and sample size • Develop a plan of data analysis

RESEARCH DESIGN: CLASSIFICATION Research Design Exploratory Research Design

Conclusive Research Design Descriptive Research

Cross-Sectional Design Single Cross-Sectional Design

Casual Research Longitudinal Design

Multiple Cross-Sectional Design

DEFINITION: • Exploratory Research: It provides insights into, and an understanding of, the problem confronting the researcher • Conclusive Research: It assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating, and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH OBJECTIVE : Exploratory research is to explore or search through a problem or situation to provide insights and understanding Used for following purposes: • Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely. • Identify alternative courses of action. • Develop hypotheses. • Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination. • Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem. • Establish priorities for further research

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH Methods used in Exploratory Research: • A review of academic and trade literature to identify the relevant demographic and psychographic factors that influence consumer patronage of department stores • Interviews with retailing experts to determine trends, such as emergence of new types of outlets and shifts in consumer patronage patterns (e.g., shopping on the Internet) • U A comparative analysis of the three best and three worst stores of the same chain to gain some idea of the factors that influence store performance • Focus groups to determine the factors that consumers consider important in selecting department stores • Further illustration of exploratory research is provided by the following example.

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH • Descriptive Research is to describe market characteristics or functions • Descriptive research is conducted for the following reasons: • Describing the characteristics of relevant groups, such as consumers, salespeople, organizations, or market areas. • Estimating the percentage of units in a specified population exhibiting a certain behavior. • Determining the perceptions of product characteristics. • Determining the degree to which marketing variables are associated. • Making specific predictions.

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH • Descriptive Design requires clear specifications of : – Who—Who should be considered a patron of a particular department store? – What—What information should be obtained from the respondents? – When—When should the information be obtained from the respondents? – Where—Where should the respondents be contacted to obtain the required information? – Why—Why are we obtaining information from the respondents? Why is the marketing research project being conducted? – Way—In what way are we going to obtain information from the respondents?