Deck 4: Research Design, Exploratory Research, and Qualitative Data

Question 1

Research designs

A) should be relevant to the decision problem.
B) should use economical procedures.
C) are standardized into three formats.
D) a and b.
E) a, b, and c.

Answer 1

a and b.

Question 2

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) In exploratory research, the major emphasis is on determining the frequency with which the phenomenon occur together, e.g. sex of driver with frequency of accidents.
B) A study aimed at making predictions such as the number of college students who are likely to go on to graduate school is an exploratory study.
C) It is generally true that in an exploratory study, cases that provide sharp contrasts or have striking features are most useful.
D) The estimation of the proportion of people who behave in a certain way, e.g. proportion of college students who smoke, is an example of an exploratory study.
E) They are all true.

Answer 2

It is generally true that in an exploratory study, cases that provide sharp contrasts or have striking features are most useful.

Question 3

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Marketing research studies employing the exploratory strategy generally have as a starting point a hypothesis specifying relationships between variables.
B) Exploratory research may generally be considered the step that defines the problem.
C) Exploratory research is characterized by lack of a prespecified formal design.
D) Descriptive studies involve the examination of one or more hypotheses.
E) Descriptive studies are rather demanding in terms of the decisions that must be made before data collection begins.

Answer 3

Marketing research studies employing the exploratory strategy generally have as a starting point a hypothesis specifying relationships between variables.

Question 4

An experience survey

A) tries to get an accurate picture of current practice.
B) should contact all people who possess some knowledge of the general subject.
C) should use a probability sample.
D) should use a selected sample of people who might be familiar with the industry or problem.
E) should sample selectively from the same homogeneous group.

Question 5

An experience survey

A) should contact all people who possess some knowledge of the general subject.
B) should emphasize developing tentative explanations.
C) should sample selectively from the same homogenous group.
D) should be conducted in an informal, unstructured manner.
E) b and d.

Question 6

In an experience survey

A) the respondents are able to choose the factors to be discussed.
B) the emphasis is on developing tentative explanations.
C) the emphasis is not on demonstrating that an explanation is the primary explanation.
D) the interviews are unstructured and informal.
E) all of the above are true.

Question 7

The experience survey is a procedure most appropriate for

A) exploratory studies.
B) descriptive studies.
C) laboratory experimentation.
D) field experimentation.
E) computer simulation.

Question 8

An experience survey

A) requires interviewing only those people with a great amount of experience or knowledge.
B) is designed to obtain an accurate picture of current practices.
C) requires the researcher to contact all possible sources of information.
D) should be conducted in a formal, structure manner.
E) should emphasize developing tentative explanations.

Question 9

Focus groups are useful for all of the following purposes EXCEPT

A) generating hypotheses.
B) gaining new insights into product usage.
C) testing cause-effect relationships.
D) a and c.
E) b and c.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is TRUE of focus groups?

A) The sessions are easy to moderate.
B) It is difficult to support a preconceived position because focus group members have different attitudes on most subjects.
C) The results of sessions are representative of the general population.
D) Coding, tabulation, and analysis of responses is difficult in comparison to a written survey.
E) They are all true.

Question 11

Focus groups consist of eight to twelve members because

A) moderators typically cannot control larger groups.
B) smaller groups are often dominated by one or two members.
C) in larger groups, individuals have to wait to speak.
D) a and c.
E) b and c.

Question 12

Firms conducting a focus group

A) attempt to develop relatively homogeneous groups.
B) attempt to develop relatively heterogeneous groups.
C) heavily recruit previous focus group members.
D) a and c.
E) b and c.

Question 13

Focus group weaknesses include

A) difficult to moderate the session.
B) responses are not representative of general population.
C) ideas never thought of before may be discovered during the session.
D) a and b.
E) a and c.

Question 14

Benchmarking is an example of what kind of research?

A) a literature search
B) focus group
C) analysis of selected cases
D) descriptive research
E) causal research

Question 15

You are product manager for Brand X coffee, a nationally distributed brand. Brand X has been declining in absolute level of sales for the last four consecutive months. You ask the marketing research department to do a study to determine why sales have declined. The most appropriate research strategy would be

A) an experimental study.
B) a field experiment followed by an exploratory study.
C) an experimental study followed by a descriptive study.
D) an exploratory study.
E) a descriptive study involving a field survey of actual and potential customers.

Question 16

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) When using structured-undisguised questionnaires, the researcher presents the subjects with an initial stimulus which necessarily varies across subjects.
B) The depth interview is an example of the use of an unstructured-disguised questionnaire.
C) An unstructured-disguised communication method might be useful for getting at respondents' feelings about sensitive issues.
D) a and c.
E) b and c.

Question 17

Which of the following about the word-association and sentence-completion methods is FALSE?

A) Both are structured in regard to presenting the stimuli and are unstructured in regard to the response.
B) The degree of structure associated with these methods tends to substantially reduce the coding problems of unstructured methods.
C) Sentence-completion in comparison to word-association has the advantage in that the respondent can be provided with a more directed stimulus.
D) Both are examples of unstructured-undisguised questioning.
E) Both are examples of projective techniques.

Question 18

In marketing a respondent's interpretation of a Thematic Apperception Test is used to interpret the individual's

A) personality.
B) intentions.
C) behavior.
D) awareness.
E) attitudes.

Question 19

The Thematic Apperception Test is:

A) a series of copyrighted pictures.
B) an example of verbal association techniques.
C) an example of a story-telling technique.
D) a and c above.
E) a and b above.

Question 20

Which of the following is FALSE?

A) In behavioral observation the observer can be an advantage and a disadvantage.
B) Undisguised observation can be made directly or indirectly, but disguised observation can only be made directly.
C) The pantry audit is an example of an indirect method of observation.
D) An advantage of an observation in an artificial situation over one in a natural situation is that it can be contrived at convenient times and places and can be set up so as to yield observations of the type desired.
E) Observation is more limited than communication in the types of data it can secure.

Question 21

The ____ is a device that provides the researcher timing control over a visual stimulus.

A) galvanometer
B) eye camera
C) tachistoscope
D) videocart
E) none of the above

Question 22

Ethnographers (circle one):

A)watch consumers use products in their homes
B)talk to consumers about how they use products in their homes
C)make some field observations without talking to consumers
D)all of the above are true
E)only a and b are true

Question 23

Which is not true of exploratory research (circle one):

A)it is best followed up with descriptive and/or causal research
B)it may be comprised of focus groups or interviews
C)it may be comprised of open-ended questions on surveys
D)it can be used to shape the design of surveys
E)it is often sufficient for a manager's marketplace decisions