Chapter 3—The Marketing Research Process
TRUE/FALSE
1. The three types of marketing research are exploratory, descriptive, and causal.
2. Exploratory research is not intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine a
particular course of action.
3. Negative consumer attitudes is an example of a symptom.
4. Descriptive studies are conducted with a considerable understanding of the situation being studied.
5. Correlation is sufficient evidence to determine causality in experiments.
6. When a researcher varies price levels and examines the impact on sales, he is conducting an
experiment.
7. Exploratory research is typically conducted in the early stages of decision-making.
8. The first stage in the research process is planning a research design.
9. Deliverables is the term used when describing the expected outcomes of basic research.
10. A directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and
presents empirical results that are relevant to the topic at hand is called a literature review.
11. Pilot studies are a formal research method that produce precise results.
12. In its simplest form, a research hypothesis is a “guess” about the outcome of a research study.
13. Statistics can be used to prove that a research hypothesis is true.
14. A mystery shopper acts like a customer while observing and recording data.
15. There is always one best research design for a marketing research study.
16. Researchers shouldn’t draw conclusions from a sample.
17. Unobtrusive methods of data gathering are those in which the subjects do not have to be disturbed for
data to be collected.
18. Coding is the application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered.
19. Analysis involves checking the data collection forms for omissions, legibility, and consistency in
classification.
20. A research project refers to numerous related studies that come together to address issues about a
single company.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. All of the following are types of marketing research EXCEPT _____.
a.
exploratory
b.
selective
c.
descriptive
d.
causal
2. _____ research aims to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may amount to true
business opportunities.
a.
Exploratory
b.
Preliminary
c.
Clarifying
d.
Descriptive
3. Companies, such as Kraft and Procter & Gamble, invite consumers to discuss ways to make their
products better or to share ideas for new products that may be potential business opportunities. What
type of marketing research is this?
a.
inferential
b.
causal
c.
descriptive
d.
exploratory
4. _____ are observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem because they are caused by that problem.
a.
Signs
b.
Descriptors
c.
Opportunities
d.
Symptoms
5. Over the past two years, food prices have been increasing. This is an example of a(n) _____.
a.
symptom
b.
ambiguous situation
c.
descriptive hypothesis
d.
causal inference
6. What type of research is being conducted to answer the question: “Can we describe the age, gender,
and income of our typical purchaser?”
a.
exploratory research
b.
focus group research
c.
descriptive research
d.
causal research
7. Which type of marketing research addresses who, what, when, where, why, and how questions?
a.
causal research
b.
exploratory research
c.
descriptive research
d.
proscriptive research
8. Which of the following 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
9. 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
10. Which type of research allows decision makers to make causal inferences?
a.
exploratory research
b.
descriptive research
c.
causal research
d.
all of these choices
11. 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
12. Which of the following should a marketing researcher do in order to infer causality?
a.
recognize the presence of alternative plausible explanations for the results
b.
establish a sequence of events
c.
measure the concomitant variation between the cause and the effect
d.
all of these choices
13. Which aspect of causality deals with the time order of events?
a.
concomitant variation
b.
temporal sequence
c.
nonspurious association
d.
parallel sequencing
14. Ron has noticed that when the economy is strong, sales at his retail clothing store rise. This is an
example of _____.
a.
concomitant variation
b.
nonspurious variation
c.
diagnostic variation
d.
absolute variation
15. Which type of association is said to occur when any covariation between a cause and effect is indeed
due to the cause and not simply due to some other variable?
a.
nonspurious association
b.
spurious association
c.
concomitant association
d.
temporal association
16. Which of the following is a carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed
cause and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect?
a.
survey
b.
unobtrusive observation
c.
diagnostic analysis
d.
experiment
17. The Food and Drug Administration is targeting salt in processed foods as a health hazard, and some
experts believe the agency will require food manufacturers to limit the amount of salt in processed
foods. However, the reduction will occur in phases, with salt content being reduced in steps so that
consumers will be weaned off of salt gradually. Carefully controlled research studies are underway in
which the salt levels are varied and consumers’ reactions to the taste are measured. This research is
an example of a(n) _____.
a.
exploratory study
b.
descriptive study
c.
experiment
d.
diagnostic analysis
18. The proposed cause which the researcher controls by manipulating its value in an experiment is
referred to as a(n) _____.
a.
experimental variable
b.
dependent variable
c.
endogenous variable
d.
concomitant variable
19. _____ means that the researcher alters the level of the experimental variable in specific increments.
a.
Causality
b.
Testing
c.
Analyzing
d.
Manipulation
20. The first stage of the marketing research process is _____.
a.
planning a research design
b.
defining the research objectives
c.
analyzing the data
d.
planning a sample
21. All of the following are stages in the research process EXCEPT _____.
a.
analyzing data
b.
formulating conclusions and preparing a report
c.
demonstrating causality
d.
planning a sample
22. The goals that researchers intend to achieve by conducting research as referred to as _____.
a.
results
b.
causal inferences
c.
research outcomes
d.
research objectives
23. In research conducted for a specific client, research objectives are often referred to as _____.
a.
deliverables
b.
outcomes
c.
conclusions
d.
action items
24. The _____ is a written statement of the research design emphasizing what the research will
accomplish.
a.
research report
b.
research proposal
c.
deliverable
d.
research objective
25. 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
26. All of the following are examples of exploratory research techniques EXCEPT _____.
a.
previous research
b.
pilot studies
c.
case studies
d.
experimentation
27. Before designing a research study on consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence, Cindy is
searching for other studies that have addressed similar issues. This search is called a(n) _____.
a.
pilot study
b.
experiment
c.
preliminary analysis
d.
literature review
28. The Small Business Development Center is conducting an email survey with 25 of its client small
businesses to examine the use of mobile marketing applications. This is a precursor to a larger study
in which the questionnaire will be sent nationwide to more than 1,000 similar small businesses. This
initial small-scale project is known as a _____.
a.
testing study
b.
pilot study
c.
preliminary study
d.
test market
29. Which of the following 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
30. Carol was invited to participate in a research study along with ten other consumers to discuss her
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
31. 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
32. A _____ is a formal statement explaining some outcome.
a.
theory
b.
hypothesis
c.
causal inference
d.
symptom
33. A statement such as: “Consumers with more favorable attitudes toward an advertisement will exhibit
more favorable attitudes toward the brand advertised” is an example of a _____.
a.
hypothesis
b.
backward linkage
c.
forward linkage
d.
non-spurious association
34. Which of the following means that something has been examined against reality using data?
a.
causality
b.
manipulation
c.
empirical testing
d.
spurious association
35. When a researcher collects data to test the hypothesis that consumers will be more satisfied if a
business offers compensation after the consumer complains, we say that _____ testing is being
conducted.
a.
validation
b.
confirmation
c.
observational
d.
empirical
36. When the data from an empirical study are consistent with a research hypothesis, we say that the
hypothesis is _____.
a.
confirmed
b.
conclusive
c.
supported
d.
true
37. The _____ is a master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the
needed information.
a.
research design
b.
research objective
c.
research program
d.
sample plan
38. The most common way to generate primary data in marketing research is by means of _____.
a.
experimentation
b.
surveys
c.
observation
d.
focus groups
39. Which of the following is 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
40. Which of the following is a method of data collection that is used in surveys?
a.
telephone
b.
mail
c.
the Internet
d.
all of these choices
41. All of the following are examples of an observation 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
42. 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
43. Which of the following involves any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurements of a
portion of the entire population?
a.
sampling
b.
theorizing
c.
segmenting
d.
causal inference
44. 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
45. 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
46. The application of computation, summarizing, and reasoning to understand the gathered information is
called _____.
a.
data transformation
b.
editing
c.
coding
d.
data analysis
47. Which of the following determines the appropriate analytical technique for data analysis?
a.
management’s information requirements
b.
characteristics of the research design
c.
nature of the data gathered
d.
all of these choices
48. 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
49. When a researcher conducts numerous related studies that come together to address multiple, related
research objectives, we refer to this as a research _____.
a.
agenda
b.
project
c.
program
d.
conglomeration
50. 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. _____ research aims to clarify ambiguous situations.
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. _____ association means any covariation between a cause and an effect is true and not simply due to
some other variable.
5. A carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed cause and observes any
corresponding change in the proposed effect is called a(n) _____.
6. The second stage of the marketing research process is _____.
7. In consulting, the term _____ is often used to describe the objectives to a research client.
8. Information from a marketing research study conducted by the company last year assessing
consumers’ attitudes toward the company’s brands is an example of ______.
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(n) ______.
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. _____ is the application of computation, summarizing, and reasoning to understand the gathered
information.
15. The overall series of marketing research projects is called a research ______.
ESSAY
1. Compare and contrast exploratory, descriptive, and causal research. Which approach is the best?
2. Explain how a researcher makes causal inferences.
3. Your marketing research company has been asked to help a business understand why their sales are
decreasing. Describe the procedure you should follow to address this research request and the type of
marketing research you would recommend.
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.
6. Think of a marketing activity that can be studied through research and develop one hypothesis.
Which type of marketing research is most appropriate for testing your hypothesis? Explain.