Chapter 3—The Marketing Research Process
TRUE/FALSE
1. Research is the process of developing and selecting from alternative ways of resolving a problem or
choosing from among alternative opportunities.
2. A market opportunity is a situation that makes some potential competitive advantage possible.
3. The purpose of exploratory research is to provide conclusive evidence for a particular marketing
action.
4. Descriptive research often helps describe market segments.
5. Descriptive studies are conducted with a considerable understanding of the situation being studied.
6. Concomitant variation is sufficient evidence to determine causality in experiments.
7. Absolute association means that any covariation between a cause and an effect is true and not simply
due to some other variable.
8. Terminal causality means the cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the effect.
9. An experiment is a carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed cause
and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect.
10. Conditional causality means that a cause is necessary but not sufficient to bring about the effect.
11. Exploratory research is typically conducted in the early stages of decision-making.
12. The first stage in the research process is to plan a research design.
13. Properly defining a problem can be more difficult than solving it.
14. The purpose of exploratory research is to refine and narrow the scope of the research topic.
15. A directed search of published works (including periodicals and books) that discusses theory and
presents empirical results relevant to the topic at hand is called a literature review.
16. Pilot studies are a formal research method that produce precise results.
17. In its simplest form, a research hypothesis is a “guess” about the outcome of a research study.
18. Statistics can be used to prove that a research hypothesis is true.
19. One of the major advantages of observation studies is that they record actual behavior rather than
relying on reports of behavior from respondents.
20. There is always one best research design for a marketing research study.
21. A sample of respondents is a subset of the population of interest to the researcher.
22. Unobtrusive methods of data gathering are those in which the subjects do not have to be disturbed for
data to be collected.
23. Coding is the application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered.
24. Management is most interested in detailed reporting of the research design and statistical findings.
25. A research project refers to numerous related studies that come together to address issues about a
single company.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. _____ is the process of developing and selecting from alternative methods of resolving a problem or
choosing from among alternative opportunities.
a.
Marketing
b.
Marketing research
c.
Decision making
d.
Verification
2. Janna discovers a market segment that is underserved by competitors’ products. For Janna’s company,
this segment represents a:
a.
market threat
b.
market opportunity
c.
backward linkage
d.
test market
3. Over the past two years, home values have been decreasing. This is an example of a(n):
a.
symptom
b.
ambiguous situation
c.
descriptive hypothesis
d.
causal inference
4. All of the following are types of marketing research EXCEPT ____.
a.
exploratory marketing
b.
selective marketing
c.
descriptive marketing
d.
causal marketing
5. Companies, such as Kraft and Procter & Gamble, conduct research to clarify ambiguous situations or
discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities. What type of marketing research is this?
a.
inferential
b.
causal
c.
descriptive
d.
exploratory
6. Which type of marketing research address who, what, when, where, why, and how questions?
a.
causal research
b.
exploratory research
c.
descriptive research
d.
proscriptive research
7. Which process seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes and focuses specifically on the beliefs
and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products?
a.
causal research
b.
diagnostic analysis
c.
concomitant research
d.
test-market
8. Which type of research is being conducted when a researcher conducts an experiment to answer the
question, “Will consumers purchase more of our brand if we change the package design?”
a.
causal research
b.
exploratory research
c.
pilot study research
d.
descriptive research
9. A conclusion that, when one thing happens, another specific thing will follow is known as a ____.
a.
diagnostic analysis
b.
manipulation
c.
causal inference
d.
deliverable
10. Juan has noticed that when the temperature rises, sales at his retail clothing store also rise. This is an
example of ____.
a.
concomitant variation
b.
nonspurious variation
c.
diagnostic variation
d.
absolute variation
11. Which of the following is the weakest form of causality, but is still a useful concept?
a.
absolute causality
b.
contributory causality
c.
conditional causality
d.
secondary causality
12. _____ means that the researcher alters the level of the experimental variable in specific increments.
a.
Causality
b.
Testing
c.
Analyzing
d.
Manipulation
13. What is the first stage of the marketing research process?
a.
planning a research design
b.
defining the research objectives
c.
analyzing the data
d.
planning a sample
14. What type of research is being conducted to answer the question: “Would this target market be
interested in this type of new product?”
a.
causal research
b.
exploratory research
c.
situation analysis research
d.
descriptive research
15. All of the following are examples of exploratory research techniques EXCEPT:
a.
previous research
b.
pilot studies
c.
case studies
d.
experimentation
16. Which procedure refers to a small-scale study in which the results are only preliminary and intended
only to assist in design of a subsequent study?
a.
pretest
b.
focus group
c.
primary test
d.
preliminary study
17. Carol was invited to participate in a research study along with ten other consumers to discuss their
experiences using cleaning products. The group was asked to discuss their experiences and were
encouraged to feed on each other’s comments. What is this type of study called?
a.
multivariate research
b.
literature review
c.
pretest
d.
focus group interview
18. A formal, logical explanation of some events that includes descriptions of how things relate to one
another is called a(n):
a.
hypothesis
b.
theory
c.
causal statement
d.
empirical study
19. A statement such as: “Consumers with more favorable attitudes toward our advertising will exhibit
more favorable attitudes toward the brand advertised” is an example of a(n):
a.
hypothesis
b.
backward linkage
c.
forward linkage
d.
non-spurious association
20. Which term means that something has been examined against reality using data?
a.
causality
b.
manipulation
c.
empirical testing
d.
spurious association
21. When the data from an empirical study are consistent with a hypothesis, we say that the hypothesis is:
a.
Rejected
b.
Conclusive
c.
Supported
d.
True
22. Which term refers to a research technique in which a sample is interviewed in some form or the
behavior of respondents is observed and described in some way?
a.
experiment
b.
observation study
c.
survey
d.
personal interview
23. All of the following are examples of an observational study EXCEPT:
a.
a mystery shopper pretending to be a customer in a McDonald’s outlet
b.
a cable laid across the street that records the number of cars that pass a certain intersection
c.
scanning and recording bar codes of products purchased
d.
a consumer responding to a questionnaire about advertising
24. An employee who pretends to be a customer in order to observe the sales behavior of a clerk at a
cosmetics counter in a department store is called a(n):
a.
secondary data researcher
b.
mystery shopper
c.
pilot researcher
d.
undercover researcher
25. Which refers to any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurements of a portion of the entire
population?
a.
sampling
b.
theorizing
c.
segmenting
d.
causal inference
26. When drivers are unaware that a machine is recording how many cars pass a certain intersection that is
being considered for a site for a new Wendy’s franchise, this is an example of a(n):
a.
obtrusive method
b.
unobtrusive method
c.
experiment
d.
exploratory research study
27. Evan has completed the fieldwork of collecting data, and now he is checking the data collection forms
for omissions, legibility, and consistency in classification. What is Evan doing?
a.
analyzing the data
b.
editing the data
c.
coding the data
d.
reporting the results
28. The application of computation, summarizing, and reasoning to understand the information gathered is
research is called:
a.
experimentation
b.
coding
c.
theorizing
d.
analysis
29. When the researcher has only one or a small number of research objectives that can be addressed in a
single study, that study is referred to as a:
a.
research project
b.
research program
c.
research assessment
d.
research snapshot
30. Managers at Procter & Gamble view marketing research at a strategic planning level. Therefore, the
company conducts numerous related studies that come together to help in their product planning
decisions. This is referred to as a:
a.
research project
b.
research program
c.
research philosophy
d.
research integration
COMPLETION
1. The initial stages of a research study that are intended to clarify the nature of the research problem are
called ____________________ research.
2. A research design that is intended to describe important characteristics of a population (e.g. age,
gender, income) is called ____________________ research.
3. Research that is conducted to identify cause-and-effect relationships between variables is called
____________________ research.
4. When two events occur at the same time, we say that they have ____________________ variation.
5. The last stage of the marketing research process is ____________________.
6. Having an appropriate causal order, or ____________________, is a necessary criterion for causality.
7. In consulting, the term ____________________ is often used to describe the objectives to a research
client.
8. When considering a study, researchers should search for ____________________ reports within the
company’s archives.
9. A small-scale exploratory research project that collects data from respondents similar to those that will
be used in the full study is called a(n) ____________________ study.
10. A formal statement explaining some outcome is called a(n) ____________________.
11. A plan that specifies the methods and procedures that will be used for collecting and analyzing data in
a research study is called a ____________________.
12. Any procedure that involves selecting a small number of people who are part of a larger population of
people is called ____________________.
13. Checking the data collection forms to correct omissions, illegibly written responses, and the
consistency of answers is called ____________________.
14. The application of computation, summarizing, and reasoning to understand the gathered information is
called ____________________.
15. The overall series of marketing research projects is called a ____________________.
ESSAY
1. Compare and contrast exploratory, descriptive, and causal research. Which approach is the best?
2. Explain how a researcher makes causal inferences.
3. List the major stages in the research process.
4. What is a theory and a hypothesis, and what role do they play in marketing research?
5. Explain the difference between a research project and a research program.