THE COOP: MARKET RESEARCH

Session 2

1/12/2020 1
THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1/12/2020 2
PROCESS

Business Research Research

Research Recommendations
problem/ objective method Interpretation
Questions
symptom

1/12/2020 3
DETAILED PROCESS: SECOND HALF

• Establish Research Design

• Identify Information types and sources
• Determine Methods of Accessing Data
• Design Data collection Instruments
Research Method • Determine Sample Plan and Size
• Collect Data

• Analyze Data
Interpretation

• Prepare Final Report

• Present Final Report
Recommendation
1/12/2020 4
 THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP?

Alice: Oh, no, no. I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.
Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.
Alice: Oh, it really doesn't matter, as long as...
Cheshire Cat: Then it really doesn't matter which way you go.
• Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)

1/12/2020 5
IT ALL STARTS WITH DETERMINING OBJECTIVES

“The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its

solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or

experimental skill”

• Albert Einstein.
1/12/2020 6
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• State what the researchers must do.

• When achieved, provide the information necessary to solve the

problem identified.

1/12/2020 7
DEFINING THE PROBLEM: DISCUSSIONS AT LEPAKSHI

• SM: We have seen a decline in store patronage

• R: How do you know that
• SM: Sales are going down
• R: Why is it happening
• SM: I wish I knew!!
• R: What about competition
• SM: They are there, we are good at some things and they are good at others
• R: What about customers, how do they see your store
• SM: Most should see us positively, we may have some weaknesses too 1/12/2020 8
• Management Problem:
• What should be done by Lepakshi drive store patronage
• Research Problem
• Determine the relative strengths and weaknesses of Lepakshi vis-à-vis its competitors with respect to factors that
influence patronage

1/12/2020 9
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AT ACGL
2012-13

1/12/2020 10
BUSINESS PROBLEM

• Board mandated: are our employees satisfied with the management?

1/12/2020 11
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• To measure job satisfaction of the employees at ACGL

• To measure trust and fairness perceptions of the employees at ACGL

• To study the interrelationships between satisfaction, trust and fairness

• Does fairness and trust in general lead to satisfaction?

• What components of fairness and trust impact satisfaction the most?

1/12/2020 12
ISSUES

• Is the study feasible?

• Trade-offs between rigor and practicality
• How long the research will take
• Ethical constraints
• Needed cooperation
• Costs
• The Literature Review
• Any worthwhile idea/ problem you will have has been thought of before
• Concentrate efforts on the scientific literature
• Acknowledging Literature (Referencing)
• What does it do
• Helps include all of the major relevant constructs in the study
• Helps select appropriate measurement instruments 1/12/2020 13

• Anticipate common problems

• The degree to which the research
question has been crystallized
• Exploratory study
• Formal study
• The time dimension
• The method of data collection • Cross-sectional
• Monitoring • Longitudinal
• Communication Study
• The topical scope—
• The power of the researcher to produce breadth and depth—of the
effects in the variables under study study
• Experimental • Case

• Ex post facto • Statistical study

• The purpose of the study • The research

environment
• Reporting
• Field setting
• Descriptive
• Laboratory research
• Causal-Explanatory or Causal-Predictive 1/12/2020 14
DATA TYPES
Longitudinal (Panel) Data
• A longitudinal data is one that
collected over time -- we have at
least two (and often more) waves of
measurement in a longitudinal
design
• Eg.
• Sales data of your products over
time
• No. of defective parts over time
Cross-sectional Data
• A cross-sectional data is one that is
collected at a single point in time. In
effect, we are taking a 'slice' or cross-
section of whatever it is we're
observing or measuring.
• Eg.
• Employee Satisfaction in 2014
• Value consciousness in Indian
consumers
1/12/2020 15
 SCOPE
Statistical Study
• Capture a population’s characteristics by
making inferences from a sample’s
characteristics and then testing resulting
hypotheses
Case Study
• Emphasis on full contextual analysis
of a few events and their
interrelations.
• Case studies rely on qualitative data
and emphasize the use of results for
insight into problem-solving,
evaluation, and strategy
1/12/2020 16
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

Alternate Null

• The hypothesis that will support your prediction
• As a result of the XYZ company employee training
program, there will be a significant decrease in
employee absenteeism.
• As a result of addition of 300mg of the ABC
ingredient, there will be a significant difference in
costs
• The hypothesis that describes the remaining
possible outcomes
• As a result of the XYZ company employee training
program, there will either be no significant
difference in employee absenteeism or there will
be a significant increase (one-tailed)
• As a result of addition of 300mg of the ABC
ingredient, there will be a no significant difference
in costs (two-tailed)

1/12/2020 17

Note: A model in which two mutually exclusive hypotheses that together exhaust all possible outcomes are tested,
such that if one hypothesis is accepted, the second must therefore be rejected.
SOURCES OF DATA

• Primary Data: information collected specifically for the problem at hand

• Quantitative Data

• Data that appears in numerical form

• Qualitative Data

• Data in which the variables are not in a numerical form, but are in the form of text, photographs, sounds bytes, and so on

• Secondary Data: information already collected

1/12/2020 18
 TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS
Correlation Causation
• Two variables perform in a • Two variables are not only in
synchronized manner correspondence, but that one causes the
other
• Growing taller might make us a bit heavier, but height
certainly doesn't tell the whole story about our
weights.
• Assuming causality in the other direction would be just
plain wrong. Although we may wish otherwise!

• ?

1/12/2020 19
 TYPES OF VARIABLES

Independent Dependent
• What you (or nature) manipulates • What is affected by the independent
variable
• Cause
• Effect or outcome

Suppose, your CFO asks you, what is the relationship between CSR spends and
firm performance.

What is independent and dependent variable?

1/12/2020 20
SOFTWARE FOR DATA COLLECTION

• Software programs are available to assist marketing researchers in collecting data

1/12/2020 21
DATA ANALYSIS

• Data analysis involves entering data into computer files, inspecting data for errors, and running
tabulations and various statistical tests.
• SPSS
• Excel
• Any other software
• It is important to master the method and not the software!

1/12/2020 22
RESEARCH AND ETHICS

1/12/2020 23
• A research company decides to leave a message on prospective respondents’
answering machines telling them that if they call back in the next 24 hours,
they will receive a valuable prize if they take part in a survey.
• Ethical as long as true

1/12/2020 24
• Upon completion of an interview, the respondent is asked to provide the
names and telephone numbers of others he or she thinks should take part in
the survey.
• Ethical - snowball sampling, referral sampling

1/12/2020 25
• A door-to-door salesman finds that by telling people that he is conducting a
survey, they are more likely to listen to his sales pitch.
• Unethical – sugging
• Selling under the guise of research

• What is frugging?
• Fund-raising under the guise of research

1/12/2020 26
• The cover letter of a mail questionnaire says that it will "only take a few
minutes to fill out." But pre-tests have shown that at least fifteen minutes are
needed to fill it out.
• Unethical as “few” is vague

1/12/2020 27
• A client insists on inspecting the completed questionnaires to assess their
validity, but the researcher suspects that the client is really interested in
finding out what specific respondents said about the client.
• Unethical if the survey is confidential or anonymous.

1/12/2020 28
• Respondents get a gift by Lottery.
• Considered unethical by some – Gambling.

1/12/2020 29
 PROTECT RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

• Voluntary Participation & Informed Consent

• Risk of harm
• Physical and psychological

• Confidentiality & Anonymity

• Employee Surveys

• Right to Service
• Persons in control groups

1/12/2020 30