Name: 

Marketing management involves the systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data about problems related to the marketing of goods and services.

Marketers will often contract their marketing research to specialists when (a) the problems they are facing are well-defined and can be broken down into specific, easy-to-delegate, projects, (b) there is a need for specialized market research know-how or equipment, and (c) intellectual detachment is needed to get  objective, nonbiased information.

A clearly defined problem is essential to gathering information that can help marketing managers make decisions that will solve their problems.

Exploratory research to find the cause of a problem can involve discussing the problem with informed sources from inside and outside the firm, and also examining secondary sources of information from inside and outside the firm.

The owner of Werlein's Music Store hypothesized that, due to changing music trends, electronic acoustic guitars would no longer be a best-selling item.  A hypothesis like this must be developed before exploratory research is conducted in order to provide a focus for gathering information.

A hypothesis is a tentative explanation about the relationship among variables that carries clear implications for testing the relationship.  It sets the stage for developing the research design.

Canadian Facts Inc. has been contracted to conducted research on a new product concept for Lever Brothers.  Canadian Facts is currently determining what types of questions need to be answered and what type of study or studies should be employed to fully capture consumer reaction to a prototype of the proposed new product.  Canadian Facts is at the second step, research design, of the marketing research process.

The Canadian Government is a weak source of information for marketers since it only collects census information every 10 years.

Trade associations represent an excellent source of private data on the activities in particular industries.

There are two major problems with using secondary data: (1) the information may be out-of-date, and (2) it may not have been collected in a way that makes it usable for solving the problem at hand.

Even if the secondary data collected for the study cannot fully address the problem at hand, it may narrow the scope of the primary data that will have to be collected.

There are three methods for collecting primary data: observation, survey, and controlled experiment.  Observation is applicable to a wider variety of research projects and problems than the other two methods.

Researchers generally use surveys to obtain information on consumer attitudes, motives, and opinions.

Self-completed surveys are often distributed by mail.  The percentage returned by the people who have been mailed these surveys depends upon factors like the length of the questionnaire and respondent interest.  A 20 percent return rate is common.

The most common form of controlled experiment is the test market conducted in a laboratory setting.

In the future, controlled experiments will become more common because  sophisticated simulation techniques are being developed that will allow researchers to better control all of the variables in a given situation.

The development of a questionnaire for a particular research study is quite easy once the problem has been defined, the research design has been developed, and the data collection method(s) have been determined.

Questionnaires must be pre-tested in order to plan and set up the computer coding needed for data entry following data collection.

The most basic type of probability sample is the simple random sample, in which every item in the relevant universe (for example, every name on a list) has an equal opportunity of being selected.

Data refers to statistics, opinions, facts, or predictions categorized on some basis for storage and retrieval. Information is data that is relevant to the marketing manager in making decisions.  A marketing information system (MIS) systematically gathers internal and external information, and should not include irrelevant data.

Marketers conduct market research so that they can do a better job of

Mediamark Research Inc. periodically conducts personal interviews with adults about their exposure to advertising media and sells its findings to an array of regular clients.  It is a(n)

Marketing research is actually conducted by

One thing that researchers must carefully avoid doing is

A small, private college facing declining enrollments hired a consultant to conduct marketing research.  The consultant said, "First, we must formulate the problem."  Based on this information, which of the following is true?

Research design involves decisions made _____________ conducting the research; these decisions allow the researcher to ________________________.

Secondary data, such as internal company records, are part of the ______________ phase of the marketing research process.

Primary data

An example of the observation method to collect market research information is

A telephone interview is a good method to use when

The ________________ technique is usually considered to be the best means of obtaining detailed consumer information.

A focus group interview can be used for which of the following purposes?

A manufacturer of pet products is conducting ______________ when it introduces a new dog food in Calgary, Alberta in order to assess consumer reactions before introducing the product nationwide.

A representative group of people chosen from a defined population is called a

A Westinghouse Electric Company engineer who identifies various warehouses that stock light bulbs and then randomly selects cartons of light bulbs from those on hand in the warehouses is using the probability sampling method known as

Which of the following statements regarding nonprobability samples is true?

A marketing professor wished to test her idea that the proneness of humans to certain decision biases is a function of a personality trait called "need for cognition." She designed a questionnaire that measured need for cognition and posed a hypothetical decision task.  The professor then administered the questionnaire to 50 marketing students at her business school.  This is an example of the sampling technique known as a

The final step of the marketing research process involves interpreting and presenting the information.  This consists of

The primary purpose of a marketing information system (MIS) is to

An MIS gathers information from