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ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Briefly explain the features of the iReportWriting Assistant.
The iReportWriting Assistant that is described at the beginning of the chapter has the
following features:
The Writing Process PowerPoints that describe pre-writing, writing, and
revising.
2. Discuss the relative importance of the marketing research report to the other stages
in the marketing research process.
The marketing research report is the product that represents the efforts of the
marketing research team, and it may be the only part of the project that the client will
see. If the report is poorly written, riddled with grammatical errors, sloppy or inferior
3. What are the components of the marketing research report?
These are identified in Table 15.1 and each one is described in the chapter.
Front Matter
Body
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End Matter
4. When should you include or omit a letter of authorization?
The letter of authorization is the marketing research firm‘s certification to do the
project. It includes the name and title of the persons authorizing the research to be
performed, and it may also include a general description of the nature of the research
5. When should a letter of transmittal versus a memo of transmittal be used?
Use a letter of transmittal to release or deliver the document to an organization for
which you are not a regular employee. Use a memo of transmittal to deliver the
document within your own organization. The letter/memo of transmittal describes the
6. What is the difference between a table and a figure?
7. Why is the abstract or executive summary important?
The abstract or executive summary is a “skeleton” of your report. It serves as a
8. What should be covered in the body of the report?
The body is the bulk of the report. It contains an introduction to the report, an
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9. What are your options regarding placement of the research objectives in the report?
10. Discuss what information should be included in the method section of the report.
The method describes, in as much detail as necessary, how you conducted the
11. What is found in the findings section and how is this information logically organized?
The findings section is the most important and most detailed portion of the report.
12. Distinguish conclusions from recommendations.
Conclusions are the deductions and inferences that have come about based on the
13. Why are headings and subheadings important to use?
In a long report, your reader needs signals and sign posts that serve as a road map.
Headings and subheadings perform this function. Headings indicate the topic of each
14. Illustrate the differences between levels of headings.
Headings indicate the topic of each section. All information under a specific heading
15. What are guidelines to preparing tables, pie charts, and bar charts?
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Effective table guidelines are as follows:
Some guidelines for pie charts are:
Some guidelines for bar charts are:
16. What are guidelines to preparing ethical visuals?
To ensure that you have objectively and ethically prepared your visuals you
should do the following:
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
17. Assume you have conducted a marketing research project for your university and that
the project basically consists of providing them with a descriptive study of the student
population. You’ve collected demographic information and information on students’
attitudes toward various campus services and student life activities. Write a title page
for the report. Would you use a memo or letter of transmittal? Write it.
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The title page:
STATE U STUDENT PROFILE:
DEMOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD
CAMPUS SERVICE AND CAMPUS LIFE
Prepared for
Dr. John Appleseed
Dean, Office of Student Services
Prepared by
Sydney Student
Marketing Major
Date
Because the researcher is “within” State U (i.e., is a student), he should prepare a
memo of transmittal. It should be personal and slightly informal. Here is a sample:
Dr. Appleseed:
18. Using your XL Data Analyst and Excel, prepare a pie chart and a bar chart using any
data you have.
Students should select a categorical variable and create a chart. If a pie chart, it
should have no more than eight segments, and the percentages should be outside the
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19. Why do you think we included a discussion of ethics in preparing visuals? If you
wanted to make your pie chart or bar chart you prepared in the question above
unethical, describe what you could do.
An unethical figure misrepresents the findings. It intentionally distorts the figure so
its interpretation is slanted in some way, and not consistent with the actual data. To
render a figure unethical, do not do or do the opposite of what was recommended in
order to have ethical charts. That is,
20. Now look at some of the answers you have written above. Evaluate your answers in
light of the information contained in this chapter in Marketing Research Application
15.2 on developing logical paragraphs.
This question should sensitize students to the fact that answering review or
application questions is not reporting writing. The typical answer (unless specifically
21. Visit your library and ask your reference librarian if he or she is aware of any
marketing research reports (you can also ask for “reports written by faculty of the
university”) that have been placed in the library. Chances are good that you will be
able to find several reports of various kinds. Examine the reports. What
commonalities do they have in terms of the sections that the authors have created?
Look at the sections carefully. What types of issues were addressed in the introduction
section? The method section? How did the authors organize all of the information
reported in the findings section? Are recommendations different from conclusions?
The point of this exercise is to make students realize that the report format and it
sections are fairly universal to research reports in professional areas. The specific
terms used in the section titles may differ somewhat, but in general the Introduction
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CASE SOLUTIONS
Case 15.1 Integrated Case: Advanced Automotive Concepts: Using iReportWriter
Assistant
Case Objective: This case requires students to identify features of iReportWriter
Assistant.
Answers to Case Questions
1. What is it about the information in this case that Rogers should consider doing before
he actually begins to write the report? Name some specific issues Rogers should
address.
Rogers needs to revisit the consider the factors identified in the chapter under
“Organizing the Written Report,” specifically:
2. Should Rogers include the standard “Conclusions and Recommendations” section
of the report? Why or why not?
Yes, he should include this section. However, although his conclusions about the
findings can be stated with considerable confidence, Rogers does not know all of
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3. We are told that Rogers has made a list of issues to include in the “Method”
section of the report. What, if anything, is included in the iReportWriter Assistant
that could help him ensure that he has included everything?
4. What section of the iReportWriter Assistant should Rogers seek out to help him
with properly citing the secondary sources used in the marketing research report?
Case 15.2 Integrated Case: Advanced Automotive Concepts: Making a PowerPoint
Presentation
Case Objective: This case study requires students to think about and to use XL Data
Analyst to construct presentation quality tables and graphs. The
Advanced Automobile Concepts survey dataset is to be used.
Answers to Case Questions
Students should follow the instructions in Chapter 15 in order to create professional
quality tables and graphs.
1. Using a word processing program, write out several of the statements that you think
would be appropriate to present to the client, Nick Thomas, for an oral presentation.
Nick will be interested in the key findings, so here is a quick summary.
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Each hybrid model vehicle proposed by Advanced Automobile Concepts
2. Import the statements you prepared in question 1 into PowerPoint using copy and
paste. Experiment with different color text and font sizes and styles.
3. Using the XL Data Analyst, run several frequency distributions. Using Excel or
Microsoft Word, select a table style that embodies the guidelines for good tables
provided in this chapter. Make any modifications to the table style that result in an
effective table format.
Students should use the guidelines and instructions in Chapter 15 to accomplish this
task. There are many variations that are possible under the Excel Table style or Word
4. Using Excel, make a bar chart of the answers to the question regarding the variable
“Americans Use Too Much Gasoline.” Experiment with the different options of bar
charts available to you in Excel. Select a bar chart and import that chart into
PowerPoint using copy and paste. Experiment with making edits on your slide.
Again, students should use the guidelines and instructions in Chapter 15 to
accomplish this task. The possible variations are myriad. This exercise is intended to
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