Exam 2: Problem Definition and the Research Process

Large amounts of money, time, and effort are wasted because requests for marketing information were poorly formulated. The preceding could have been avoided if the researcher had:

In a causal study of the effect of shelf placement on sales of a brand of cereal, which is the dependent variable?

In analyzing the effects of shelf placement on sales, shelf placement of the product is the _______.

Preparing proposal may be the most important function a research supplier performs inasmuch as proposals, and their acceptance or rejection, determine the revenue of the firm.

Once the research project is completed, it is critical to determine if the ___________have been met.

Ideally, who should define the problem in the marketing research process?

Probability samples allow marketing researchers to project their sample results to the population they are studying.

Marketing researchers try to get a client or manger to prioritize their questions to avoid wasting resources and effort on unusable research.

If a network executive wondered if an audience would tune into a young adult series, what type of exploratory research would you recommend to help him answer the question?

A manager at a publishing house asks for a single question to be added to a research study because she's curious about whether customers would be interested in a different genre of romance novels. You advise her that the information may be interesting, but it isn't actionable. This is called:

Spurious association implies that the relationship between two variables is related to some explainable cause.

Which of the following is a key question at the problem-definition stage?

The President of a small state college commissions a marketing research firm to determine why the college's enrollment has been declining. The President contends that the college is under funded by the state, compared with other colleges of the same size. The research firm does a study and finds the main reason that enrollment is declining is the lack of relationships between faculty and students. Why might the President not be motivated to use the results of the marketing research study?

A _____________ sample is characterized by every element in the population having a nonzero chance of being selected.

Pilot studies are more scientific than other types of studies.

It is often quite easy to hold all factors constant in a field experiment.

The quality of a request for proposal is very important.

A firm is experiencing a 15% sales decline over the past year. The firm contracts with a marketing research firm to survey its customers to determine why sales are declining. Suggest how the principals in the marketing research firm should respond to their client's demands.

You are part of a consulting team that is doing a marketing research project for a businessman in a small community. The proposal is in the final stages as it is being written and prepared for presentation. You hear one of the consultants remark "the proposal should be written in as much detail, especially statistical detail, and as eloquently as possible. The thicker the proposal; the better. We want them to know they are getting their money's worth." How would you respond to your colleague's statement?

Observation is a method of research that enables the researcher to see if one variable causes another.