– You have received a business research report done by a consultant or your firm, a life
insurance company. The study is a survey of customer satisfaction based on a sample of 600.
You are asked to comment on its quality. What will you look for?
In order to find out the quality of the survey, I will go through every aspect of the survey report. I
will find that whether the purpose of the research had been clearly defined or not. Another aspect
which need to taken care while reading the report is the research process. It is very important that
researcher give detail description of the research process in the beginning of research report.
Every research has some limitations and it is the duty of the researcher to reveal all the
limitations of the research. I will go through, all the limitations of the research and then will
analyze it impact on the conclusion of the report. The conclusion of the report should be
justified. Addition to this, finding should be straightforward (unambiguous). The most aspect,
which will study in detail, is sampling method. There are various ways to collect the samples. It
is the duty of the researcher to make sure that sample should be collected randomly. Samples
should be collected from different geographical regions. The demographics of the 600 also need
to be analyzed. It has been found that, many times, the researcher collect the samples from
specific region. As a result of this, we did not able to know the general perception of the public
towards the insurance sector.
2 – As area sales manager for a company manufacturing and marketing outboard engines, you
have been assigned the responsibility of conducting research study to estimate the sales potential
of your products in the domestic (U.S. or Canadian) market. Discuss key issues and concerns
arising from the fact that you, the manager, are also the researcher.
Answer 2: This is a touchy situation. Since am the employee of the company, there are chances
that on some occasions my behavior shows the sign of biasness but I will try my best that I
represent the present fair and unbiased facts in front of the management. But there are chances
that, it would be tempting to slant the information. For example, a common source of bias is to
understate demand. This makes sales goals easier to achieve, which makes the sales department
look good. Understating demand, however, may mean that production gears down, which can
negatively impact availability and customer satisfaction, and hence the ability to make sales. And
if sales projections are too low, it may mean layoffs or territory consolidations. Addition to this,
research work is not easy. I need to take proper training in order to perform this new task in
efficient manner. I should be allowed to choose the research team myself. I should study the
various methods of conducting research. Since am the manager of the company, so it will be
easier for me to understand the objective of conducting the research. On the plus side, it would
help me pinpoint key products, territories, salespeople, and customers. All of which could help
me refine the sales force, its methods, and training needs.
3- An automobile manufacturer observes the demand for its brand increasing as percapita income
increases. Sales increases also follow low interest rates, which ease credit conditions. Buyer
purchase behavior is seen to be dependent on age and gender. Other factors influencing sales
appear to fluctuate almost randomly (competitor advertising, competitor dealer discounts,
introductions of new competitive models).
a. If sales and percapita income are positively related, classify all variables as dependent,
independent, moderating, extraneous, or intervening.
Answer: In the above case, brand is dependent variable because demand for its brand increasing
as per capita income increases. Per capita income is independent variable. Sales directly get
affected by the per capita income and low interest rates. Both age and gender can be placed
under extraneous variable as buyer purchase behavior dependent on age and gender.
Alternatively, competitor dealer discounts, competitor advertising, and new model introductions
are extraneous, because they do not have a consistent affect on sales. Interest rates are
moderating variable.
Depend variables depends on independent variables. Moderating variables are secondary
independent variable affecting the dependent variable. Introductions of new competitive models
are used to show variables that occur randomly. Intervening variables are used to show variable
that theoretically affect the dependent variable but not have actually been empirically in the
study.
References
Marketing Research: Tools & Techniques By Nigel Bradle
Marketing Research By A. Parasuraman, Dhruv Grewal, R. Krishna
http://www.uncp.edu/home/collierw/ivdv.htm