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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
Chapter 5
Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
Learning Objectives (PPT slides 5-2)
1. Explain the purpose and advantages of survey research designs.
2. Describe the types of survey methods.
Key Terms and Concepts
1. Ability to participate
2. Causal research
3. Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI)
4. Control variables
5. Dependent variables
6. Drop-off survey
7. Experiment
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
26. Response error
27. Self-administered survey
28. Survey research methods
29. Telephone interviews
Chapter Summary by Learning Objectives
Explain the purpose and advantages of survey research designs.
The main advantages of using descriptive survey research designs to collect primary data from
respondents are large sample sizes are possible, generalizability of results, ability to distinguish
small differences between diverse sampled groups, ease of administering, and the ability to
Describe the types of survey methods.
Survey methods are generally divided into three generic types. One is the person-administered
survey, in which there is significant face-to-face interaction between the interviewer and the
respondent. The second is the telephone-administered survey. In these surveys, the telephone is
used to conduct the question-and-answer exchanges. Computers are used in many ways in
Discuss the factors influencing the choice of survey methods.
There are three major factors affecting the choice of survey method: (1) situational
characteristics; (2) task characteristics; and (3) respondent characteristics. With situational
factors, consideration must be given to elements such as available resources, completion time
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
frame, and data quality requirements. Also, the researcher must consider the overall task
requirements and ask questions such as “How difficult are the tasks?” “What stimuli (e.g., ads or
Explain experiments and the types of variables used in causal designs.
Experiments enable marketing researchers to control the research situation so that causal
relationships among the variables can be examined. In a typical experiment, the independent
variable is manipulated (changed) and its effect on another variable (dependent variable) is
measured and evaluated. During the experiment, the researcher attempts to eliminate or control
Define test marketing and evaluate its usefulness in marketing research.
Test markets are a specific type of field experiment commonly conducted in natural field
settings. Data gathered from test markets provide both researchers and practitioners with
invaluable information concerning customers’ attitudes, preferences, purchasing habits/patterns,
and demographic profiles. This information can be useful in predicting new product or service
acceptance levels and advertising and image effectiveness, as well as in evaluating current
marketing mix strategies.
Chapter Outline
Opening Vignette: Magnum Hotel’s Loyalty Program
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
The opening vignette in this chapter describes the loyalty program used by the Magnum Hotel to
attract and retain customers traveling on business. Management needs to evaluate whether the
strategy works and will it provide a competitive advantage. No data other than a list of members
I. Value of Descriptive and Causal Survey Research Designs (PPT slide 5-3)
Some research problems require primary data that can be gathered only by obtaining information
from a large number of respondents considered to be representative of the target population.
Quantitative methods of collecting primary data generally involve much larger samples,
including survey designs used in descriptive and causal research.
II. Descriptive Research Designs and Surveys (PPT slides 5-4 to 5-6)
Selection of a descriptive research design is based on the following three factors.
• The nature of the initial problem or opportunity
• The research questions
• The research objectives
When the research problem/opportunity is either to describe characteristics of existing market
situations or to evaluate current marketing mix strategies, then a descriptive research design is
The following two general approaches are used to collect data for descriptive research.
• Asking questions
• Observation
Descriptive designs frequently use data collection methods that involve asking respondents
structured questions about what they think, feel, and do. Thus, descriptive research designs often
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
The term “descriptive” is sometimes used to describe qualitative research, but the meaning is
different than when the word is used to describe quantitative research. Qualitative research is
descriptive in the sense that it often results in vivid and detailed textual descriptions of
consumers, consumption contexts, and culture. Quantitative studies are descriptive in the sense
that they use numbers and statistics to summarize demographics, attitudes, and behaviors.
III. Types of Errors in Surveys (PPT slides 5-7 and 5-8)
Errors can reduce the accuracy and quality of data collected by researchers. Survey research
errors can be classified as being either sampling or nonsampling errors.
A. Sampling Errors (PPT slide 5-7)
Any survey research design that involves collecting data from a sample will have some error.
Sampling error is the difference between the findings based on the sample and the true values
for a population. It can be reduced by increasing sample size and using the appropriate
sampling method.
B. Nonsampling Errors (PPT slide 5-8)
Errors that occur in survey research design not related to sampling are called nonsampling
errors. Most types of nonsampling errors are from the following four major sources.
• Respondent Error
• Measurement/questionnaire design errors
Nonsampling errors have the following characteristics.
• They tend to create “systematic variation” or bias in the data.
• They are controllable.
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
Respondent errors occur when respondents either cannot be reached, are unwilling to
participate, or intentionally or unintentionally respond to questions in ways that do not reflect
their true answers. Respondent errors can be divided into the following categories.
• Nonresponse error—a systematic bias that occurs when the final sample differs from
the planned sample. It occurs when a sufficient number of the preselected prospective
respondents in the sample refuse to participate or cannot be reached.
IV. Types of Survey Methods (PPT slide 5-9)
Improvements in information technology and telecommunications have created new survey
approaches. Nevertheless, survey methods can be classified as person-administered, self-
administered, or telephone-administered. Exhibit 5.2 provides an overview of the major types of
survey methods (PPT slide 5-9).
A. Person-Administered Surveys (PPT slide 5-9 and 5-10)
Person-administered survey methods have a trained interviewer that asks questions and
records the subject’s answers. Exhibit 5.3 highlights some of the advantages and
disadvantages associated with person-administered surveys (PPT slide 5-10).
An in-home interview is a face-to-face structured question-and-answer exchange conducted
in the respondent’s home. Interviews are also occasionally conducted in office environments.
This method has several advantages. These are given below.
• The interviewer can explain confusing or complex questions and use visual aids.
Following are the disadvantages of in-home interview.
• In-home interviewing may be completed through door-to-door canvassing of geographic
areas. Interviewers who are not well supervised may skip homes they find threatening or
even fabricate interviews.
• The interviews are expensive and time-consuming.
Mall-intercept interviews are face-to-face personal interviews that take place in a shopping
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mall. Mall shoppers are stopped and asked to complete a survey (PPT slide 5-9).
Mall-intercept interviews share the advantages of in-home and in-office interviews, but the
environment is not as familiar to the respondent. But mall-intercepts are less expensive and
more convenient for the researcher.
B. Telephone-Administered Surveys (PPT slide 5-9)
Telephone interviews involve question-and-answer exchanges that are conducted via
telephone technology (PPT slide 5-9). Compared to face-to-face interviews, telephone
interviews are less expensive, faster, and more suitable for gathering data from large numbers
of respondents.
Telephone survey methods have a number of advantages over face-to-face survey methods.
These are given below.
• Interviewers can be closely supervised if they work out of a central location.
• Although there is the added cost of the telephone call, they are still less expensive than
face-to-face interviews.
The telephone method also has several drawbacks. These are given below.
• Pictures or other nonaudio stimuli cannot be presented over the telephone.
• Some questions become more complex when administered over the telephone.
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dinner, or their relaxation time.
The increased use of telemarketing and the illegal and unethical act of “sugging,” or selling
under the guise of research, has contributed to a poor perception of telephone interviewing
among the public.
Computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) are integrated telephone and computer
system in which the interviewer reads the questions from a computer screen and enters
Although the major advantage of CATI is lower cost per interview, there are other advantages
as well. These are given below.
• Computer technology can send inbound calls to a particular interviewer who “owns” the
interview and who can complete the interview at a later time.
Use of CATI systems continues to grow because decision makers have embraced the cost
savings, quality control, and time-saving aspects of these systems.
Wireless phone survey is a method of conducting a marketing survey in which the data are
collected using wireless phones. Wireless phone surveys are growing in use due to the
following reasons.
• High percentage of wireless phone usage
Many research firms are expanding usage of wireless phone surveys as a result of the
following two advantages over Internet and landline phone surveys.
• Immediacy
• Portability
Wireless phone surveys provide immediacy in the sense that consumers can fill out surveys
close to the moments of shopping, decision making, and consuming. For example, wireless
phone surveys have been used for the following:
• capturing impulse purchases as they are made and consumed
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
• collecting data about side effects in real time from patients who are participating in
pharmacological testing
• surveying wireless customers
A company named Kinesis Survey Research offers researchers the option of attaching a
miniature bar code reader to a mobile phone that will discretely collect and store bar codes of
purchased items. Wireless phone panels may be especially appropriate for surveying teens,
early adopters, and impulse buyers.
In the United States, wireless web surveys are used more often than text message surveys. As
compared to text messaging, wireless web surveys have the following benefits.
• The web facilitates a continuous session, with no time delay between questions and
receipt of responses.
When CATI abilities are added to wireless web surveys, the result is called CAMI, or
computer aided mobile interviewing.
Marketing researchers usually do not call wireless phone users to solicit participation as often
as they do over landlines for the following reasons.
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prevent the use of
autodialing. Thus, when potential respondents are called, each one must be dialed by
hand.
• Wireless phone respondents may incur a cost when taking a survey.
A second advantage of wireless surveys is their ability to reach mobile phone only
households, which are increasing. Utilizing wireless phone surveys along with other methods
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
enables research firms to reach consumers they otherwise could not include in their surveys.
Several challenges are facing the use of wireless phone surveys. Because of limited screen
space, wireless phone surveys are not suitable for research that involves long and/or complex
questions and responses. Second, even though mobile phones have some capacity to handle
graphics, that capacity is somewhat limited. Third, wireless panels currently provide relatively
small sample sizes.
C. Self-Administered Surveys (PPT slides 5-9 and 5-11)
A self-administered survey is a data collection technique in which the respondent reads the
survey questions and records his or her own answers without the presence of a trained
interviewer (PPT slides 5-9). The advantages and disadvantages of self-administered surveys
are shown in Exhibit 5.4 (PPT slide 5-11).
The advantages are as follows.
• Low cost per survey
The disadvantages are as follows.
• Limited Flexibility
• High nonresponse rates
Following are the four types of self-administered surveys.
• Mail surveys
• Mail panels surveys
• Drop-off surveys
• Internet surveys
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Chapter 05 – Descriptive and Causal Research Designs
time lag between when the survey is mailed and when it is returned.
Mail panel surveys are questionnaires sent to a group of individuals who have agreed to
participate in advance. The panel can be tested prior to the survey so the researcher knows the
Drop-off survey is a self-administered questionnaire that a representative of the researcher
hand-delivers to selected respondents; the completed surveys are returned by mail or picked
up by the representative. The advantages of drop-off surveys include the availability of a
person who can answer general questions, screen potential respondents, and create interest in
completing the questionnaire. The disadvantage of drop-offs is they are more expensive than
mail surveys.
Online surveys are the most frequently used survey method today in marketing research.
They collect data using the Internet (Exhibit 5-5). An important advantage for online surveys
is they are less expensive per respondent than other survey methods. Surveys are self-
administered, and no coding is necessary. The ability of Internet surveys to collect data from
In addition to using online panels created by marketing research firms, companies may survey
their own customers using their existing e-mail lists to send out invitations to participate in
surveys.
While the benefits of online surveys include low cost per completed interview, quick data
collection, and the ability to use visual stimuli, Internet samples are rarely representative and
nonresponse bias can be high.
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be evaluated. With propensity scoring the responses of underrepresented sample members are
weighted more heavily to adjust for sampling inadequacies. The primary disadvantage with
propensity scoring is that respondents who are demographically similar may be otherwise
different.
V. Selecting the Appropriate Survey Method (PPT slides 5-12 to 5-15)
Researchers must consider situational, task, and respondent factors when choosing a survey
method.
A. Situational Characteristics (PPT slide 5-12)
In an ideal situation, researchers could focus solely on the collection of accurate data.
However, in reality, researchers must cope with the competing objectives of budget, time, and
data quality. In choosing a survey research method, the goal is to produce usable data in as
short a time as possible at the lowest cost. It is easy to generate large amounts of data in a
short time if quality is ignored. But excellent data quality often can be achieved only through
expensive and time-consuming methods. In selecting the survey method, the researcher
commonly considers the following situational characteristics in combination (PPT slide 5-12):
• Budget—includes all the resources available to the researcher. The budget is considered
along with data quality and time in selecting a survey method.
• Quality requirements—data quality is a complex issue that encompasses issues of scale
measurement, questionnaire design, sample design, and data analysis. Three key issues
that help explain the impact of data quality on the selection of survey methods are as
follows:
o Completeness of data—refers to the depth and breadth of the data
B. Task Characteristics (PPT slide 5-13)
Researchers ask respondents to engage in tasks that take time and effort. Task characteristics