A researcher is interested in studying the effect of geographic location of grocery stores
on the prices they charge for various food items. A typical “market basket” is selected
and the researcher obtains data on the total basket price from 15 randomly selected
stores as shown below. Note that 5 of the stores were inner city stores, 5 suburban
stores and 5 campus stores.
Campus Inner City Suburban
xC= 59 xI=51 xS=52
x = 54
The within’‘group sum’‘of’‘squares in the above problem is calculated as
k nj
a. Σ Σ (Xij ‘‘ x..)2 = (56’‘54)2 + (60’‘54)2 + … + (55’‘54)2.
j=1 i=1
k
b. Σ nj (x.j‘‘x..)2 = 5(59’‘54)2 + … + 5(52’‘54)2.
j=1
k nj
c. Σ Σ (Xij ‘‘ x.j)2 = (56’‘59)2 + (60’‘59)2 + … + (55’‘54)2.
j=1 j=1
k
d. Σ (x.j ‘‘ x..)2 = (59’‘54)2 + … + (52’‘54)2.
j=1
e. none of the above.
In determining the type of questionnaire and the method of administration the
researcher must specify
a. precisely what primary data are needed.
b. how these data might be collected.
c. what degree of structure and disguise will be used.
d. what degree of disguise will be used.
e. all of the above.
Which of the following is effective in reducing the incidence and problems of
not-at-homes?
a. using a straight callback
b. using a modified callback
c. making advance appointments
d. b and c
e. a, b, and c.
Which of the following is NOT a key decision that needs to be made when factor
analyzing data?
a. What is the dependent variable?
b. Should factor analysis be applied to the data?
c. Which factor model should be used?
d. Should the initial solution be rotated?
e. All of the above are key decisions that need to be made when factor analyzing data.
New ideas as a source of marketing research problems arise from
a. customer complaint letters.
b. salesperson’s call reports.
c. comments in trade publications.
d. customer calls to toll’‘free service assistance centers.
e. all of the above are sources of new ideas.
The distinguishing feature of probability samples is that
a. they involve personal judgment somewhere in the selection of sample elements.
b. each population element has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
c. each population element has an equal chance of being included in the sample and
every combination of n population elements is a sample possibility.
d. each population element has a known chance of being included in the sample.
e. they will always be more representative of the population than nonprobability
samples.
The sample design stage of the research process includes specifying
a. the population from which the sample elements will be drawn.
b. the sampling frame.
c. the type of sample.
d. the sample size.
e. all of the above.
Which of the following is capable of providing more convincing evidence of causal
relationships?
a. an exploratory design
b. an experiment
c. turnover analysis
d. cross’‘sectional analysis
e. a descriptive design
Questions which are open ended but predetermined represent
a. a highly unstructured questionnaire.
b. completely predetermined responses.
c. a highly structured questionnaire.
d. an intermediate degree of structure.
e. an intermediate degree of disguise.
Consider the following scenarios:
SCENARIO A: The research director for a large chain of department stores is interested
in examining the sales of a certain product in a sample of stores located on the west
coast with sales of the product in a sample of stores located along the east coast in order
to determine any differences in sales patterns.
SCENARIO B: The product manager for a large ice cream company believes that sales
of his product in supermarkets greatly depends upon the amount of space given to the
product in the ice cream section and the amount of in’‘store promotion given his
product. To determine if this is the case, the manager collected data from 20
supermarkets.
Which of the following statistical procedures is appropriate for use with Scenario B?
a. factor analysis
b. discriminant analysis
c. multiple regression analysis
d. Spearman’s Rank Correlation
e. all of the above are appropriate
Which of the following is NOT true about question sequencing?
a. The first few questions should be simple and interesting to respondents.
b. Narrow questions should be asked first and the questions should get progressively
broader.
c. Classification information should be asked last.
d. Basic information, or the information most germane to the study, should be asked for
first.
e. All of the above are true.
An observation error is the
a. difference between the reported value and the “true” value.
b. failure to obtain information from some elements of the population which were
selected from the sample.
c. duplication in the list of sample units.
d. failure to include some units of the defined survey population in the actual sampling
frame.
e. difference between the observed values of a variable and the long’‘run average of the
observed values in repetitions of the measurement.
All of the following are reasons why a researcher might choose a sample over a census
for making inferences about population, except
a. a census may not be plausible.
b. samples are less expensive.
c. a census has less nonsampling error.
d. a census is less accurate.
e. All of the above are reasons to choose a sample over a census.
Which of the following is FALSE?
a. It is true about psychological measurement that the situation in which the
measurement is obtained can affect the score obtained.
b. Random error is also known as constant error. This is due to the fact that there are
typically an equal number of positive and negative errors that yield a constant sum.
c. The validity of a measurement instrument refers to the extent to which differences in
scores reflect true differences among entities on the characteristic that the instrument
seeks to measure.
d. a and b.
e. a, b, and c.
Which of the following is the best criterion to use to partition owners of sports cars?
a. income
b. age
c. gender
d. occupation
e. education
Suppose a researcher has constructed a 95 percent confidence interval using the
formula, x – σ < µ > x + z σ _. The interval means that
x x
a. there is a 95 percent probability that the population mean is within the established
interval.
b. 95 percent of the sample values lie within the established interval.
c. 95 percent of the population values lie within the established intervals.
d. 95 percent of the intervals constructed employing this procedure would contain the
true population mean and this interval is hopefully one of those 95 out of 100.
e. none of the above.
An analyst wishes to analyze a set of nominal data to determine if some observed
pattern of frequencies is in accord with a stated null hypothesis. The preferred statistical
technique is:
a. the z’‘test for one mean
b. Chi’‘square goodness’‘of’‘fit test
c. the z’‘test for two means
d. the Kolmogorov’‘Smirnov test
e. the z’‘test for one proportion
The first step in designing a Marketing Information system is
a. determining which decision makers will use the system.
b. collecting as much data as possible.
c. selecting the computer hardware needed for the system.
d. hiring a special design team to put the system together.
e. identifying possible sources of the necessary data.
A written report may be considered incomplete because it
a. is too brief.
b. includes interesting but not vital information.
c. is too long.
d. includes statistical calculations unfamiliar to the reader.
e. all of the above are sources of report incompleteness.