The Marketing Research Planning Process free essay sample

Introduction In this paper we will discuss the process used in marketing research planning. There are eight steps to take in this process, identifying the problem, creation of the research design, choosing the method of research, selection of the sampling procedure, collection of data, analysis of the data, writing and presenting the report, and follow up. These steps will insure that the data collected answered the right problem and is useful to the client. Step 1: Identifying the Problem Identifying the problem is the first step in the marketing research planning process. You must find out what kind of data you are looking for. There are a few different types of data to be collected such as descriptive studies or causal studies. Descriptive is the kind of study that asks who what where when and how. The causal studies ask us more they why, they follow the line of thought that if one variable changes then the other will change in a consistent way. We will write a custom essay sample on The Marketing Research Planning Process or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Step 2: Research Design Creation of the research design is a plan of attack for accomplishing our research objectives or we can call it a hypothesis. The book describes a hypothesis as a conjectural statement about a relationship between two or more variables that can be tested with empirical data. Step 3: Method of Research Choosing the method of research is to find out what kind of means we will use to gather data. The three basic methods are survey, observation and experiment. A survey is a where the participant is asked a number of questions, such as a mail survey. Observation is monitoring without direct interaction, such as watching peoples habits at the mall. Experiments are types of research that are defined by the experimenter changing one or more ariables. Step 4: Sampling Procedure Selection of the sampling procedure is picking out a group of people to research. You must define the population, this should include all the people whose opinions, behaviors, preferences, attitudes and such which will gain information that will help us answer the research problem. The next step would be to fine out if you will use a probabil ity or non probability sample. Step 5: Collecting Data Collection of data can be anything from counting boxes on the shelf of your local grocery store to firms doing interview surveys and test/focus groups. This is the gathering of the info for our reports. You must at all cost make sure that each and every kind of collecting is consistent and monitored for errors. Primary Research Primary research is done by gathering information ones self or hiring a firm to gather it for you. This is the kind of information that is gathered to answer the specific question that was asked by management, or project leader. An example of primary research is when an internet survey is presented to various people in the focused area of the market in which we are studying. I do surveys for home depot after each time I buy stuff from them. Secondary Research Secondary research is data that was all ready gathered. It could be information that was gathered by a local government department, a national department, or any in between. This info could also come from another source like an older study, a study conducted by a school or university. This kind of data can both, help or hurt the current project. Qualitative Research The kind of research that is not subject to quantifying and can not be counted of measured is â€Å"Qualitative research†. This kind of research gets down to the feelings of people. The question of â€Å"why? Is sought after here. The information is usually gathered by a highly trained interviewer, and used on a smaller group of people. Using a smaller group of people can dramatically reduce the cost of the research. This kind of research can find out the motivations of the participants of the studies. A great example of qualitative research would be when you are asked about why you voted for a particular person. Quantitative Research Quantitative research is research that uses mathematical analysis. It looks at the numbers and measures them to various variables. This kind of research is generally done with a very large sample size, asking the same questions to each person. Then measuring the results. The type of information that is gathered here will not be very probing with no open ended questions. Most questions will be a yes or no or multiple choices. One of the last examples of this kind of research that I participated in was when I rated this class. Step 6: Analyzing the Data Analysis of the data is where you break down the collected data and try to find links and of patterns in it to help answer the research problem that we started with. Step 7: Presenting the Report One of the most important and most often messed up is, writing and presenting the report. The person heading up the research will have to make sure that the information and recommendation is both credible and justified by the data, if he wants the recommendation to be followed. The report can be presented in many different ways such as a printed report, digital report, a presentation, or even a combination of them all. The recommendation that you make should reflect the knowledge gathered from the data collected. You must also state why you recommended the course of action. Step 8: Following Up Follow up with the firm, make sure that the research is being used and interpreted correctly. A good way make sure that the information is going to be used is to make it so each department don’t conflict with the others. Also doing these kinds of follow up can let management know that you care about the work that was done for the company. Making it a higher chance that they will use you next time that there is research to be done. Conclusion In conclusion there are 8 steps to planning your next marketing research process. You will have to take into consideration at the things we discussed such as the 8 steps and the types of data to be collected. Make sure the gathering process is consistent and complete. Let the report speck the same. Reference McDaniel, C. , Gates, R. (2005). Marketing Research Essentials. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Marketing Research Process: An Overview. (n. d) Retrieved on June 20, 2009, from http://www. polarismr. com/edctr_overview. html Marketing Research. (n. d) Retrieved on June 20, 2009, from http://www. quickmba. com/marketing/research/