As a decision-oriented course, one which focuses on how and when organizations should gather marketing intelligence for strategic marketing decision-making, this course introduces students to the research process, reviewing both qualitative and quantitative methods and techniques. The course covers topics such as problem definition, research design formulation, measurement, research instrument development, sampling techniques, data collection, data interpretation and analysis, and presentation of research findings. Students form teams and choose a marketing research project: formulate research hypotheses, collect secondary and primary data, develop an SPSS database, analyze data, write a report, present findings and recommendations for further research. Students will develop their skills is focus group interviewing, questionnaire construction, and statistical analysis and data presentation.
This course is a comprehensive, practical presentation of the field of marketing research, particularly as it serves as an aid to managerial decision making. Accordingly, the course is primarily intended for prospective users of research results (i.e. aspiring marketing managers) rather than for the doers or specialists in marketing research. The rationale for potential users to study the "how" of marketing research is two fold.
First, the more one is aware of the tools of marketing research and their strengths and limitations, the more realistic will be the demands placed upon those responsible for the marketing research function.
Second, the more one knows of proper marketing research procedure, the better one will be able to judge the quality of the performance of the marketing research specialist(s), and thereby, the degree to which one may rely on the results.