Basic Marketing Research with Excel 3rd Edition by Alvin Burns,Ronald Bush

Exercise 19

Your Integrated Case
Advanced Automobile Concepts: Using iReportWriter Assistant
Cory Rogers was about to write up the first draft of the final report for Advanced Automobile Concepts (AAC). He decided to go to the online report writing module he learned when he took his first marketing research course in college. Because the iReportWriter Assistant is constantly updated, Rogers knew he would have access to the latest links and information that would assist him in writing his report. Nick Thomas of AAC had told Rogers that ZEN Motors had its own marketing research department and that the department heads were eager to read his report. Rogers knew that they would be particularly interested in technical issues such as how the sample size was determined and the margin of error. He had also had a frank discussion with Thomas about conclusions and recommendations. Thomas had told him, "Cory I want to know what the numbers say. What are the conclusions based on those numbers? In terms of how to proceed, I will meet with my top staff members and we will make those decisions. We have to factor in many constraints that, frankly, I am not even aware of at this point."
As a trained marketing researcher, Rogers was very familiar with the steps in the marketing research process. Knowledge of these steps was useful in writing the "method" section of his marketing research reports. For example, Rogers knew that he should address the types and sources of information used in the report; he should also address the research design and why it was chosen over other designs; he knew the sampling plan and sample size should also be included in the "method" section. Rogers made a list of topics he should cover and he started organizing these topics in terms of headings and subheadings that would eventually be used in the final report.
Rogers thought, "Ah, yes! I have to properly cite every source I have used in this report." He dreaded this part. As many times as he had written a report, remembering every detail that goes in a reference was just something that would not stay in his memory bank. Yet, he knew it was important to use the proper form for his reference list.
Before you start on the questions that follow, access the iReportWriter Assistant by going to www.pearsonhighered.com/burns and click on the Companion Website link for this text. Now read over the major topics covered in the iReportWriter Assistant before you read the following questions. Once you are finished reviewing the contents of the iReportWriter Assistant you should be ready to answer the following questions.
What is it about the information in the case above that Rogers should consider doing before he actually begins to write the report? Name some specific issues Rogers should address.