89
Chapter 8: Primary Data Collection: Observation
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following are not observation situations?
a. people watching people
b. people watching phenomena
c. machines watching people
d. machines watching phenomena
e. All of the above are observation situations.
2. Target Stores is evaluating several locations for locating a new Super-Target
Super-Center. To do this, a traffic counting machine records the number of cars
passing each location every day of the week for a 3-month period. This is an
example of which kind of observation situation?
a. people watching people
b. people watching phenomena
c. machines watching people
d. machines watching phenomena
f. none of the above
3. Wal-Mart has a highly sophisticated system of recording data and being able to
view results. For instance, Wal-Mart managers know from their scanner data that
five pair of Wrangler Blue Jeans were sold from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on a
certain day, and by what size. If the sales were made via credit card, Wal-Mart
also knows “who,” and has developed histories of what combinations of products
its customers buy. The preceding is an observational situation involving which of
the following?
a. people watching people
b. people watching phenomena
c. machines watching people
d. machines watching phenomena
90
e. All of the above are observation situations.
4. Which of the following is not a condition conducive to observation?
a. The behavior of interest lasts over a long period of time.
b. The behavior must not be repetitive.
c. The behavior needs to be observable or inferable.
d. (a) and (b)
e. all of the above
5. Which of the following is not a “natural” situation for observation?
a. getting people to participate in a simulated store situation so that their
behavior can be observed
b. when the observed has no knowledge that they are being observed
c. observer plays no part in the behavior of interest
d. (a) and (c)
e. all of the above
6. A contrived observational environment would not:
a. allow the researcher to collect data faster.
b. allow for more control over things that might distort the behavior being
studied.
c. result in lower project costs.
d. provide a more realistic environment in which to observe the behavior in
question.
e. none of the above
7. Observing consumers’ behavior through a one way mirror is a common type of
_______.
a. open observation
b. disguised observation
c. structured observation
d. unstructured observation
8. Counting how many people use the drive-in window at a bank during certain
hours is a good example of what type of observational research?
a. contrived
b. natural
c. disguised
d. none of the above
9. Which of the following is not a primary advantage of observation research?
a. information gathered more quickly than with a survey
b. doesn’t depend on willingness of the respondent
c. ability to predict future behavior
d. not subject to biases that plague survey research
e. none of the above
92
Ref: Nature of Observation Research
Learning Objective 8.3: To understand the advantages and disadvantages of
observation research.
10. Which type of research is most closely associated with human observation?
a. qualitative
b. quantitative
c. ethnographic
d. none of the above
11. Observational research is most effective if the observed behavior occurs _______.
a. intermittently
b. infrequently
c. rationally
d. frequently
e. none of the above
12. Ethnographic research is derived from which field?
a. mathematics
b. anthropology
c. sociology
d. garbology
e. none of the above
13. The customer service department of a large department store recently received a
complaint about a store associate. The store associate’s manager has been unable
to detect any problems with the associate’s performance. Then the service
department received another complaint concerning the same associate. Which of
the following would be the best approach to investigate the situation?
a. depth interview with associate
b. mystery shoppers
c. depth interview with customers
d. close observation by the department manager
e. one-way mirror observations
14. Which of the following is an example of machine observation?
a. mystery shoppers
b. one-way observation mirrors
c. people meters
d. none of the above
15. Which of the following best describes a Level 2 mystery shopper?
a. shopper investigates communication skills as visit involves a home loan or
auto purchase
b. shopper makes quick purchase and evaluates transaction and image of the
facility
c. interaction might involve the possible purchase of a cell phone
d. interaction might involve only a telephone call
e. none of the above
94
Learning Objective 8.4: To explore the types of human observation.
16. A researcher who wants to measure emotional reactions to advertisements would
be most likely to use which type of observation technique?
a. pupilometer
b. EEG
c. Voice-pitch analysis
d. GSR
e. none of the above
17. Which of the following is not a physiological measurement device for
observational research?
a. pupilometer
b. EEG
c. voice pitch analysis
d. GSR
e. people meter
18. Which of the following types of research would be least likely to use
physiological measurement devices?
a. response to advertising
b. attitude toward products
c. opinion of specific celebrity endorsers
d. customer satisfaction research
95
Learning Objective 8.5: To understand the types of machine observation and their
advantages and disadvantages.
19. __________________ is/are used to measure magazine or newspaper reading
habits.
a. RAMS
b. Peoplemeters
c. MOBILTRAK
d. People Reader
e. none of the above
20. ______________ is a device that measures a person’s alertness level, especially
with regard to reactions to advertisements.
a. RAMS
b. Peoplemeters
c. Electroencephalograph (EEG)
d. People Reader
e. none of the above
21. Which company provides scanner based data to its clients?
a. Predictive Networks
b. Virgin Entertainment
c. IRI
d. MRA
e. none of the above
96
Ref: Machine Observation
Learning Objective 8.5: To understand the types of machine observation and their
advantages and disadvantages.
22. __________ are researchers who sort through people’s garbage to analyze
household consumption patterns.
a. Garbologists
b. Pirates
c. Hoarders
d. Consumption Analyst
23. The first step in conducting Ethnographic Research is___________________.
a. Assess the information at hand
b. Find participants
c. Seek answers
d. Analyze information
24. Which of the following is the type of data that mystery shopping firms attain?
a. Facility conditions
b. Guest experience
c. Dress code compliance
d. Parking lot condition
e. All of the above
97
25. _______________ are used to measure vehicular flow over a particular stretch of
roadway.
a. Traffic signals
b. Traffic cops
c. Traffic stands
d. Traffic counters
True /False
26. If a lot is already known about the behavior of interest, a structured observation
approach will work best.
27. One of the advantages of observation research is its ability to predict future
behavior.
28. If the type of behavior in question occurs infrequently, observation would be
preferable to survey research.
29. Ethnographic research is based on the field of anthropology.
30. Ethnography research can be conducted online.
31. Mystery Shoppers have been used to evaluate the service employees are providing
customers.
32. The most common type of machine observation is a traffic counter.
99
33. Consumers’ physiological reactions to stimuli can be measured if the researcher
has the proper equipment.
34. Laser scanners can produce instantaneous information on sales.
35. IRI is the founder of scanner-based research.
36. A consumer’s level of arousal while watching an ad can be measured with
observational research.
37. Facial Action Coding Service (FACS) is especially valuable when the client
wants to evaluate rationally based advertising.
100
Ans: False
Difficulty: Hard
Response: See page 230-231
Ref: Machine Observation
Learning Objective 8.5: To understand the types of machine observation and their
advantages and disadvantages.
38. Clickstreams are the most basic way to measure online marketing programs.
39. Internet tracking is fundamentally another form of observation research.
40. In Scraping, the researchers selects the terms, much like a search engine, and then
the tool crawls in the Web in search of UGC (user-generated content) relating to
these search terms.
41. Advances in computer technology have not enable researchers to simulate an
actual retail store environment on a computer screen.
101
Essay Questions
42. A manufacturer of a new product is conducting a test market. Two of the test
market objectives were trying to estimate total market sales and examining the
consumer’s in-store decision process. How would you collect data to support
those two objectives?
43. Compare several of the key advantages and disadvantages of observation and
survey research.
44. What is Ethnographic research and list at least 5 advantages of it in marketing
research?
45. Describe the mystery shopper and how they are used by marketing researchers.
46. How is online tracking a type of observation research? How can it be of value to
the marketing researcher?