Overview of Research Designs

The Marketing Research Process

Step 1: Defining the Problem

Step 2: Developing an Approach to the Problem

Step 3: Formulating a Research Design

Step 4: Doing Field Work or Collecting Data

Step 5: Preparing and Analyzing Data

Step 6: Preparing and Presenting the Report

 Research Design

• A master plan that specifies the

methods and procedures for collecting
and analyzing needed information.
Tasks Involved In a Research Design

Define the Information Needed

Design the Exploratory, Descriptive,

and/or Causal Phases of the Research
Today’s
Specify the Measurement and Scaling Topic
Procedures

Construct a Questionnaire

Specify the Sampling Process and the

Sample Size

Develop a Plan of Data Analysis

 A Classification of Market Research Designs
Research
Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Research Research

Secondary Experience Pilot Case

Data Surveys Studies Studies

See next slide

 A Classification of Market Research Designs
Research
Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Research Research

Cross-sectional
Study
Descriptive Causal
Longitudinal Design Design
Study
Experiment
Secondary Survey Observation
Data Study
 Types of Research Designs

Exploratory research to gain ideas and insights

 Newspaper facing decreasing sales to generate possible
explanation.

Descriptive research to obtain summary measures to address

research questions (research objectives are clearly defined).
 Trends in lifestyle with respect to age, sex, etc.

Causal research for cause-and-effect connection between

managerial decisions and market outcome.
– How people react to a newspaper’s topic selection and
space allocation.
 Exploratory Research
• Usually conducted during the initial stage of the
research process
• Purposes
– To narrow the scope of the research topic, and
– To transform ambiguous problems into well-defined
ones
 Exploratory Research Techniques
• Secondary Data Analysis
– Secondary data are data previously collected & assembled for
some project other than the one at hand
• Pilot Studies
– A collective term for any small-scale exploratory research
technique that uses sampling but does not apply rigorous
standards
– Includes
• Focus Group Interviews
– Unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of people
• Projective Techniques
– Indirect means of questioning that enables a respondent to project beliefs
and feelings onto a third party or an inanimate object
– Word association tests, sentence completion tests, role playing
 Exploratory Research Techniques

• Case Studies
– Intensively investigate one or a few situations similar
to the problem situation
• Experience Surveys
– Individuals who are knowledge about a particular
research problem are questioned
 Conclusive Research
• Provide specific information that aids the decision maker in
evaluating alternative courses of action
• Sound statistical methods & formal research methodologies are
used to increase the reliability of the information
• Data sought tends to be specific & decisive
• Also more structured & formal than exploratory data
 Types of Conclusive Research
• Descriptive Research
– Describes attitudes, perceptions, characteristics, activities and
situations.
– Examines who, what, when, where, why, & how questions
• Causal Research
– Provides evidence that a cause-and-effect relationship exists
or does not exist.
– Premise is that something (and independent variable) directly
influences the behavior of something else (the dependent
variable).
 Common Characteristics of
Descriptive Studies
• Build on previous information
• Show relationships between variables
• Representative samples required
• Structured research plans
• Require substantial resources
• Conclusive findings
 Major Types of Descriptive Studies
Descriptive
Studies

Consumer Perception Market Characteristic

Sales Studies
And Behavior Studies Studies

• Market • Image •Distribution

Potential
• Product Usage •Competitive
• Market Analysis
Share • Advertising

• Sales • Pricing
Analysis
 Cross Sectional vs. Longitudinal Designs

Cross Sample
Sectiona Surveye
l Design d at T1

Same
Sample Sample
Longitudina Surveyed also
l Design at T1 Surveyed
at T2

Time T1 T2
 Cross-Sectional vs. Longitudinal Designs
Cross-Sectional Longitudinal

Detecting change Worse Better

Amount of data collected Worse Better

Accuracy Worse Better

Representativeness Better Worse

Response bias Better Worse

 Some Alternative Research Designs
Exploratory
Research
(a) • Secondary Data Conclusive Research
Analysis •Descriptive/Causal
• Focus Groups

(b) Conclusive Research

•Descriptive/Causal

Exploratory
(c) Conclusive Research Research
•Descriptive/Causal • Secondary Data
Analysis
• Focus Groups
 Common Characteristics of Causal
Studies
• Logical Time Sequence
– For causality to exist, the cause must either precede
or occur simultaneously with the effect
• Concomitant Variation
– Extent to which the cause and effect vary together as
hypothesized
• Control for Other Possible Causal Factors
 How Descriptive & Causal Designs
Differ
• Relationship between the variables
– Descriptive designs determine degree of association
– Causal designs infer whether one or more variables influence
another variable
• Degree of environmental control
– Descriptive designs enjoy lesser degrees of control
• Order of the variables
– In descriptive designs, variables are not logically ordered
 Comparison of Research Designs
Exploratory Descriptive Causal

Purpose ID problems, gain insights Describe things Determine cause-and-

effect relationships

Assumed Minimal Considerable Considerable

background
knowledge

Degree of structure Very little High High

Flexibility High Some Little

Sample Non-representative Representative Representative
Research Relaxed Formal Highly controlled
environment
Cost Low Medium High
Findings Preliminary Conclusive Conclusive
 Which is the “Best” Research Design &
Method?
• “You cannot put the same shoe on every foot.”
– Publilius Syrus
• It depends on the
– problem of interest,
– level of information needed,
– resources,
– researcher’s experience, etc.
 What is Descriptive Research?
• Can involve collecting quantitative
information
• Can describe categories of qualitative
information such as patterns of interaction
when using technology in the classroom.

• Does not fit neatly into either category

 What is
Descriptive Research?
• Involves gathering data that describe events
and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and
describes the data.
• Uses description as a tool to organize data
into patterns that emerge during analysis.
• Often uses visual aids such as graphs and
charts to aid the reader
 Descriptive Research
takes a “what is” approach
• What is the best way to provide access to computer
equipment in schools?
• Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward using
computers in schools?
• What have been the reactions of school administrators to
technological innovations in teaching?
 Descriptive Research
• Refers to the nature of the research question
• The design of the research
• The way that data will be analyzed for the
topic that will be researched
The type of research question will determine
whether descriptive research approach is
appropriate to use.
Descriptive Research Advantages
• Educational research • Data collection may be
and experiences may spread over a large
contain many number of people over
variables that cannot a large geographic
be realistically
controlled. area
• Educational research
may require
observations of life
experiences
 Data Collection Methods
Surveys Interviews

Observations Portfolios
 Descriptive Research
1. Surveys
• May be used to reveal • May be used to
summary statistics by explore relationships
showing responses to between 2 or more
all possible variables.
questionnaire items.
• Often provide leads in
identifying needed
changes
 Descriptive Research
Critical Components
Sound Well-designed
methodology data collection
instruments
 Descriptive Research
Survey Forms
• Written questionnaires Factors to be considered
• Sampling
• Type of population
• Personal interviews • Question Form
• Question Content
• Telephone interviews
• Response rates
• Costs
• Available facilities
• Length of data collection
• Computer assisted techniques
for data collection
 Descriptive Research
2. Survey Form - Interviews
• More time efficient
• Allow the researcher to establish a rapport
with the respondent
• Allow the acquisition of more in-depth
information
• Allow for interviewer observation
• Allow the interviewer to obtain visual cues
• May be personal or telephone interviews
 Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Personal
Interviews
Disadvantages
• Require more staff time
• Require more travel time
 Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Telephone
Interview
Advantages Disadvantages
 Less expensive  Limited telephone
 Less time-consuming access
 Lack of interviewer’s
ability to observe the
respondent and obtain
visual cues
 Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Mailed
Questionnaires
Advantages Disadvantages
 Ability to reach large  Lower response rate
number of people across a
wide geographic area  Need to design a
 Ease and low cost of survey instrument with
distribution a simple format
 Minimal amount of staff
required
 Allows respondents to
respond in their time
frame
 Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Mailed
Questionnaires
• A letter of transmittal should accompany mailed
questionnaires.
• Should state purpose and importance of research
• Should state importance of responding
• Should give a time frame to respond
• Should include a confidentiality statement
• Should include an offer to share results
• Should include a thank-you note to the respondent
 Descriptive Research
Characteristics of a Good Survey
• Good questioning techniques
• Use complete sentences
• Offer a limited set of answers
• Interesting
• Worded so that questions mean the same to all
• Provide definitions for confusing terms
• Uses the “I don’t know” answer very carefully
 Descriptive Research
3. Observational Research
Methods
1. Naturally occurring behaviors observed in
natural contexts
2. Contexts that are contrived to be realistic
 Descriptive Research
Observational Research Methods
• Require direct observation of behavior
• Data gathered without intermediary
instruments
• Can yield a wealth of invaluable
information
• Can be a complicated process
 Descriptive Research
Observational Research Methods
• Can be employed productively to support
many purposes in educational technology
• Can be used to determine how people
interact with technology in various stages of
design and implementation
 Descriptive Research
Observation Research Methods
• How do learners interact with a specific program?
• How do learners interact with a new hardware
system?

Observation makes it possible to explore the

implementation of a particular technological
innovation and assess the instructional outcomes.
 Descriptive Research
Observational Research Methods
• 2 Forms of Observational Research
– Structured
– Unstructured
 Descriptive Research
Observational Research Methods
Structured Observations Unstructured Observations
 Used to determine
Rigid and controlled unselective, detailed,
Predetermined continuous description of
behavior.
methods  Detects unintended effects
 More time consuming
because of time and labor
required to collect and
analyze sets of extensive
observations
 Descriptive Research
Observational Research Methods
Develop observation form
May be paper and pencil or electronic
May use a rating scale to evaluate behavior
A 3-point rating scale is sufficient
 Descriptive Research
Observational Research Methods
Newer Mediated Observation Techniques
• Audio
• Videotape
• Computers provide on-line monitoring (process of
capturing characteristics of the human-computer
interaction automatically)
– Keystroke records
– Audit trails
– Logging data
 Descriptive Research
4. Portfolios
• Provide a descriptive measure of student
work based on actual performance
• Consist of learner-created products that
reflect the processes of learning and
development over time
 Impact and Future of
Descriptive Research
• Although descriptive studies are important,
most educational studies involve questions
about cause.
– What causes underachievement?
– Will multimedia cause students to be more
motivated or lead to high achievement levels?
 Impact and Future of
Descriptive Research
• Not always easy to isolate variable that will
explain those causes, so descriptive research can
play an important role in providing information
from another perspective.
• By gathering descriptions of “what is” and
comparing them to “what we would like”
educators can see the area that needs to be
addressed.
 Impact and Future
of Descriptive Research
• Descriptive Research methods have gained
acceptance
• Number of descriptive studies published in
research journals has increased
• Descriptive research leads to prescriptions
that instructional designers and educators
can heed as they consider future direction
 Questions Addressed by Causal
Research
* Marketing director of local beer company,
“Will replacing TV commercial A with commercial B lead to
increase in consumer preference on our brand?”
* Chairman of a charity organization. “Will it be worthwhile to
mail to previous donors an attractive and expensive brochure
to solicit higher contributions this year?”
* The sales manager of a local life insurance company.
“Will training in the use of computers for client management
increase agents’ sales?”
* Marketing VP of fashion chain, “Can we improve profitability
of our fashion clothing line by increasing its price by 10%?”
 Causality: Cause-and-Effect
Change-in-X causes change-in-Y
Evidence of Causality
• Concomitant variation:
– If X changes, then Y also changes.
– If X does not change, then Y does not
change.
• Time order: cause (X) occurs before effect (Y).
• Elimination of alternative explanation:
– Could changes in Y be caused by
changes in Z?
 Concepts and Terminology
Causality
Manipulation (experimentation)
Independent variable (X, manipulated,
computer skill)
Dependent variable (Y, reflect the impact of
independent variable, sales)
Treatment Group: subject exposed to
manipulation (salespeople with training)
Control Group: part of sample that sees no
change in independent variable (no computer
training)
 Validity of Experiment
Internal validity: elimination of other possible causes.
–Sources: external factors (Asian crisis),
maturation of subjects (agents more experienced).
–Lab experiment > Field experiment.

External validity: generalizability of results.

–Artificial situation; inappropriate sample;
inappropriate time.

–Field experiment > Lab experiment:

 Types of Experiments
Laboratory experiment
Research investigation in which
investigator creates a situation
with exact conditions so as to
control some, and manipulate
other, variables

Scientific investigation in which

an
investigator manipulates and
controls
one or more independent
variables and Field experiment
observes the dependent Research study in a realistic
variable for situation in
variation concomitant to the which one or more independent
manipulation variables are manipulated by the
of the independent variables experimenter under as carefully
controlled conditions as the
situation will permit
 Experiments are the
STRONGEST Design Logic

• The “best” Research

• Design to determine
CAUSAL
RELATIONS
 Use Experimental designs
whenever possible
• Types of
EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS:
• Lab
• Field Experiment
• Quasi-Experimental