By what criteria may secondary data be evaluated?
> Okun’s Law—see, for example, Mankiw (1994, Chapter 2)—implies the following relationship between the annual percentage change in real GDP, pcrgdp, and the change in the annual unemployment rate, cunem: pcrgdp = 3 - 2 . cunem. If the unemployment rate is
> Define the growth in hourly wage and output per hour as the change in the natural log: ghrwage = ∆log(hrwage) and goutphr = ∆log(outphr). Consider a simple extension of the model estimated This allows an increase in pr
> What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of being able to observe covertly a focus group discussion?
> Why is the focus group moderator so important to the success of a focus group discussion?
> To what extent can a moderator achieve an ‘objective detachment’ from a focus group discussion?
> What does a ‘comfortable setting’ mean in the context of running a focus group?
> Evaluate the purpose of running an experimental focus group discussion.
> What determines the questions, issues and probes used in a focus group?
> What are the difficulties in conducting focus groups with managers or professionals?
> What are the key benefits and drawbacks of conducting focus group discussions?
> What is a Marketing Research Online Community (MROC)? How can an MROC be viewed as a group-based qualitative research technique?
> Describe the opportunities and difficulties that may occur if alcoholic drinks are served during focus group discussions.
> What arguments can be used by sceptics of marketing research?
> What is an online focus group? What are the distinct advantages and disadvantages of running online compared with traditional focus groups?
> Describe the purpose and benefits of using stimulus material in a focus group.
> What determines the number of focus groups that should be undertaken in any research project?
> What can the researcher do to make potential participants want to take part in a focus group?
> Why may researchers not wish to fully reveal the purpose of a focus group discussion with participants before it starts?
> Why may marketing decision makers wish to understand the context of consumption?
> What is netnography? What additional consumer insights can netnography deliver?
> What does ethnographic research aim to achieve in the study of consumers?
> What role does theory play in the approaches adopted by positivist and interpretivist researchers?
> In what ways may the positivist and the interpretivist view potential research participants?
> Explain why there may be the need for iterations between stages of the marketing-research process.
> Describe the characteristics of positivist and interpretivist researchers.
> Evaluate the differences between a European and an American approach to qualitative research.
> Why is it not always possible or desirable to use quantitative marketing research techniques?
> What do you see as the key advantages and challenges of conducting qualitative research online?
> Describe the key elements to be balanced in the application of action research.
> What does ‘listening’ mean for the qualitative researcher? How may researchers ‘listen’ to consumers?
> Is it possible for researchers to be objective?
> What stages are involved in the application of a grounded theory approach?
> Describe and illustrate two research techniques that may be utilised in ethnographic research.
> What criticisms do qualitative researchers make of the approaches adopted by quantitative researchers, and vice versa?
> Describe the steps in the marketing-research process.
> How may the data from web analytics support the practice of marketing research?
> How may data from customer relationship management systems support the practice of marketing research?
> What is a geodemographic classification of consumers?
> Why may the characteristics of consumers differ, based upon where they live?
> Describe the benefits to the researcher of being able to capture data that identify characteristics of consumers and their shopping behaviour in a store.
> Describe the benefits to the marketing decision maker of being able to capture data that identify characteristics of consumers and their shopping behaviour in a store.
> What other sources, beyond electronic scanner devices, electronically observe customer behaviour?
> What kinds of data can be gathered through electronic scanner devices?
> What might be the limitations of using Google Analytics as a source of data for marketing research projects?
> What is big data? What are the core dimensions of big data (the four Vs)?
> Explain one way to classify marketing research suppliers and services.
> How does the compilation of different types of data help to build a strong ‘picture’ of consumer characteristics?
> How may ‘operational data’ held in organisations help to build up an understanding of customer behaviour?
> What criteria would you look for when examining the design and specifications of secondary data? Why is it important to examine these criteria?
> How can intranets help in the location and dissemination of secondary data?
> What is the difference between internal and external secondary data?
> How may secondary data be used to validate qualitative research findings?
> Why is it important to locate and analyse secondary data before progressing to primary data?
> At what stages of the marketing research process can secondary data be used?
> What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of secondary data?
> What challenges exist in trying to quantify the size and growth of the marketing research industry on a global basis?
> What is an audit? Describe the uses, advantages and disadvantages of audits.
> Explain what an online panel is, giving examples of different types of panel. What are the advantages and disadvantages of online panels?
> List and describe the main types of syndicated sources of secondary data.
> Evaluate the desirability of using multiple sources of secondary data and intelligence.
> If you had two sources of secondary data for a project, the first being dependable but out of date, the second not dependable but up to date, which would you prefer?
> To what extent should you use a secondary data source if you cannot see any explicit objectives attached to that research?
> What are the differences between primary data, secondary data and marketing intelligence?
> Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of access panels.
> What are the major purposes for which descriptive research is conducted?
> Describe how quantitative techniques may be used in exploratory research.
> How may the effective problem-identification research enhance the practice of problem-solving research?
> What are the major purposes for which exploratory research is conducted?
> Differentiate between exploratory and conclusive research.
> How does formulating a research design differ from developing an approach to a problem?
> How does the subject of a study, as seen by potential research participants, affect research design?
> What expectations do marketing decision makers have of research designs?
> Why is it important to minimise total error rather than any particular source of error?
> What potential sources of error can affect a research design?
> Describe a line chart. What kind of information is commonly displayed using such charts?
> Explain what is meant by an eigenvalue.
> Define discriminant scores.
> What is the main distinction between two-group and multiple discriminant analysis?
> What is a classification matrix?
> Explain the meaning of standardised regression coefficients.
> What is the difference between ordinal and disordinal interaction?
> What is the relationship between exploratory, descriptive and causal research?
> What is the most common use of the covariate in ANCOVA?
> How is the total variation decomposed in n-way analysis of variance?
> How does n-way analysis of variance differ from the one-way procedure?
> What is the most powerful test for making a posteriori contrasts? Which test is the most conservative?
> What is an a priori contrast?
> What is meant by a suppressed association? How is it revealed?
> Define a spurious correlation.
> What measures of variability are commonly computed?
> Which non-parametric tests are the counterparts of the two-independent samples t test for parametric data?
> Which non-parametric tests are the counterparts of the paired samples t test for parametric data?
> What is a causal research design? What is its purpose?
> Describe the major sources of error related to survey fieldwork.
> What is the major difference between parametric and non-parametric tests?
> How can the researcher ensure that the generated confidence interval will be no larger than the desired interval when estimating a population proportion?
> What are the circumstances under which a researcher would use a mobile app rather than a mobile web browser?
> Why do researchers need to be careful when carrying out telephone research with mobile devices?
> How is the sample size affected when the degree of confidence with which a population mean is estimated increases from 95% to 99%?
> How is the sample size affected when the absolute precision with which a population mean is estimated is doubled?
