The PRC has been quickly adopted by both clients and research professionals.
Although there are separate differences tests for means versus percentages, all these test
for differences between two or more values. As long as you have at least two
percentages or two means, any one test will be appropriate.
The final research report is often the client’s only record of the research project.
Hershey’s can monitor the sales of its candy bars as well as the sales of its competitors’
brands through the use of tracking research studies.
Subjective properties are observable and tangible.
Cross-tabulation tables allow us to look at two variables simultaneously and are
arranged in a row and column format.
The data taken from a sample reveals that 45 percent are males and 55 percent are
females, and 10 percent of the sample members earn over $50,000 per year. Comparing
these figures with known data, such as census data for the geographical area defined by
the population, would be a way of validating the sample.
Respondent cooperation rates have gone down in the marketing research industry.
Online reporting software electronically distributes marketing research reports to
selected managers in an interactive format that allows each user to conduct his or her
own analyses.
Row cell percentage is calculated by dividing a cell frequency by the cell row total.
There are different statistical tests for differences between means and differences
between percentages.
There are three general sources of unintentional interviewer errors: interviewer personal
characteristics, interviewer misunderstandings, and interviewer fatigue.
One of the disadvantages of physiological measurements is that even when the
respondent reacts to a stimulus we can’t tell if the response is positive or negative.
Different tests are required to test the differences between the means of two samples
depending upon whether or not the two samples are independent or are paired.
When we present findings on cross-tabulations with chi-square analysis, we cannot use
the characteristics of direction or strength because we are dealing with categorical, or
nominal scaled, variables.
Market research becomes unnecessary when managers are:
A) aware of the causes of a problem at hand.
B) uncertain about consequences of decision alternatives.
C) certain about the consequences of decision alternatives.
D) certain about the symptoms of a problem at hand.
E) uncertain about the symptoms of a problem at hand.
In evaluating your bivariate regression analysis findings, you first determine whether or
not a linear relationship between the independent and dependent variable exists in the
population and secondly you:
A) determine the significance of the intercept and the slope.
B) determine the significance of the covariation.
C) determine if the two variables vary together.
D) determine if the two variables belong in the same regression matrix.
E) determine if the two variables predict the intercept and the slope.
Nissan Motor Corporation sent a Japanese researcher to stay at the home of a California
couple as part of a student exchange program. However, the researcher was really
spying on the couple to better understand automobile buying behavior. This illustrates
that:
A) all good observations should be covert.
B) observation raises ethical questions.
C) observation is not a good research technique.
D) structured observation is legal.
E) unstructured observation is legal.
Michelle Steward is a marketing professor at Wake Forest University. Michelle had
been asked by the administration to study a sample of classes at Wake to help the
university understand the student population better particularly in terms of factors that
differentiate students with high versus low GPAs. One of the questions asked was,
“What score did you earn (0 to 100) on the last test that you took?” and another
question in the study asked, “How much time, estimated in numbers of minutes, did you
study for the last test you took?” Michelle decided to run a Pearson product moment
correlation analysis on these two questions. When she did, SPSS generated the
following output: Pearson Correlation .98; Sig. (2 tailed) .0001. Michelle knew that this
meant:
A) there was a significant, nonmonotonic association between the two variables.
B) there was the presence of an association because the probability of supporting the
alternative hypothesis is very low, less than 1 percent.
C) there was the presence of a negative association; the probability of supporting the
null hypothesis that there is no association is only .01 percent.
D) there was the presence (aka ‘significant”) of a positive, “very strong” association
between the variables.
E) None of the above; Michelle should not have run a Pearson product moment
correlation because the two variables are both categorical (aka nominal).
When a scale has “labels” as opposed to “levels,” we can normally assume the level of
measurement is:
A) nominal or categorical.
B) ratio.
C) interval or ordinal.
D) interval or ratio.
E) metric.
Which of the following is NOT a situation in which exploratory research should be
used?
A) to measure the relationships among variables
B) to clarify problems
C) to establish research priorities
D) to gain background information
E) to clarify hypotheses
Which type of relationship would you have when you have a general direction assigned
to the relationship; that is, as one variable increases, the other variable may increase (or
decrease)?
A) causal relationship
B) duotonic relationship
C) monotonic relationship
D) nonmonotonic relationship
E) curvilinear relationship
Researchers measure:
A) properties of objects.
B) numbers of customers.
C) objects of measurements.
D) objects of properties.
E) types of products.
Tom Cardinal, of “Healthy” Cookies, is concerned about the costs of conducting some
upcoming research. He understands that mail surveys have some of the lowest costs of
all the data collection methods. He asks Jeanne Daniel, marketing research consultant,
what would happen if a mail survey were used. Jeanne explained that, compared to
online or telephone surveys, a mail survey would have taken much longer, and the
response rate would have been:
A) under 20 percent.
B) between 35 and 37 percent.
C) above 60 percent.
D) around 30 percent.
E) about 55 percent.
Descriptive research studies are conducted to:
A) answer who, what, when, where, and how questions.
B) specify the causality in the problem.
C) describe previous findings in similar problems.
D) answer who, what, when, where, how, and why questions.
E) determine if x, then y, relationships.
Zoom-IT is a high-technology firm specializing in electronic consumer products. In
particular, the company has worked on expansion systems for LCD and plasma screens.
The company has developed a method for expanding the 2-inch screen on Apple iPod
video display units to 8 inches by increasing the weight of the iPod by only 3 ounces.
The “pop out” screen relies on Space Age plastics and an electronic expansion system
that works similar to camera shutters. The only drawback is that the add-on device costs
an additional $350, more than the cost of the iPod. Before going into production and
marketing, Zoom-IT CEO Jane Ellen Roberts, decides she wants some evidence that the
device will sell. She commissions the marketing research department to conduct a
survey and the critical question asks for likelihood to purchase the product on a
10-point scale. The researchers, attempting to determine the ideal sample size, realize
there is no former study on this issue on which they could estimate the standard
deviation in the population. They are considering the expense of a small pilot test, but
researchers James Hughes and Bennet Alford make a reasonable recommendation to:
A) use 50/50.
B) use the standard deviation from a study they conducted on expanding plasma screens
from 40 inches to 90 inches.
C) use a table of random numbers to generate a random standard deviation.
D) divide the 10 scale points by 6 because ±3 (or 6) standard deviations covers the
range of observations (10) and by dividing by 6 will yield a reasonable estimate of 1
standard deviation which they may use for s.
E) None of the above; you do not need to estimate standard deviation in the sample size
formula for the mean.
Which of the following names two examples highlighted in the text as online reporting
software that helps improve marketing research efficiency?
A) Bloomberg; Burke’s
B) Burke’s; ChatBack Dashboard
C) ChatBack Dashboard; Facebook
D) Facebook; SKOPOS
E) SKOPOS; SPSS’s Quantum
Which item below is NOT a key advantage of syndicated data?
A) the currency of the information
B) the client has absolute control over which data are to be collected
C) the shared costs
D) high quality of the data
E) data are quickly disseminated to users
If you were asked to orally present the conclusions of a research project, you would:
A) practice your presentation.
B) identify and analyze your audience.
C) determine the key points.
D) make sure your graphs are ethical.
E) all of the above
Regarding client approval of a questionnaire:
A) it serves to let the client understand the technical aspects of the research.
B) it serves as a check that the researcher is still in tune with the survey’s objectives.
C) when signed by the client, it means that the questionnaire should not be changed for
any reason, even if it performs poorly in the pretest.
D) client approval of the questionnaire is carried out at the original signing of the
agreement to conduct research but it merely gives the researcher approval to use a
questionnaire as clients should not be involved in approving the final questionnaire
developed by expert researchers.
E) client approval is merely a legal requirement, and researchers do not encourage
clients to review a questionnaire prior to its approval.
Classification questions are:
A) usually put in the middle of the questionnaire and are used to classify respondents
into various groups for purposes of analysis.
B) usually put at the beginning of the questionnaire and are used to classify respondents
into various groups for purposes of analysis.
C) usually put at the end of the questionnaire and are used to classify respondents into
various groups for purposes of analysis.
D) usually put at the end of the questionnaire and are used to classify the questions
themselves, so that report writing is made easier after data collection and analysis are
complete.
E) usually put at the beginning of the questionnaire and are used to classify the
questions themselves, so that report writing is made easier after data collection and
analysis are complete.
The main purpose of ANOVA in bivariate regression is to:
A) tell us if there are significant differences between three or more means.
B) tell us if ANOVA is an issue.
C) tell us if the straight-line model fits the data we are analyzing.
D) provide a frequency table for further analysis.
E) None of the above; ANOVA is not used in regression.
Assume you have two questions of the same format, a 5-point scale measuring
importance level. One question measures importance of prices in the selection of a
restaurant and the other measures food quality. If you want to know if the two mean
scores to each question are significantly different, you would use:
A) a z test of the differences between two percentages.
B) a paired samples test for the differences between two means.
C) an independent samples t test.
D) a two mean comparison z test.
E) a two question, mean comparison test.