Proposal Guidelines

Marketing Research
Fall 2015
Applying concepts and methods learned in class, you will complete a marketing research project.
You will identify a marketing research problem, create an appropriate research design for your
problem, collect data, statistically analyze your data, and report your findings.
Your first steps are to: 1.) form a group of 4-5 students and 2.) outline a marketing research
problem in a brief proposal (1-2 pages, double spaced). You should turn your proposal in by
October 1.
In determining a marketing research problem, you should keep a few guidelines in mind:
1. You must investigate a confirmatory stage research problem your research must
examine the effect of a proposed marketing strategy. You may also include exploratory
research in your final paper; however, exploratory research will not be the primary focus
of your paper.
2. You must perform quantitative research in this project (confirmatory stage research is
typically quantitative, not qualitative). You may also include qualitative research in your
final paper; however, qualitative research will not be the primary focus of your paper.
3. Your research may pertain to either a for-profit business or a non-profit organization.
Acceptable non-profit organizations include student clubs at Rutgers.
4. You may use secondary data as long as the data addresses your specific research
problem. If you propose to use secondary data, you will need to submit your proposed
data set with your research proposal.
I will examine your proposal and determine whether your research problem is suitable for this
course.
If I do not approve your proposal, you will need to revise your proposal before beginning
subsequent stages of research. I will work with you and suggest changes if you need to revise
your proposal.
If you have any questions about this proposal, please email me or visit during office hours.
I have included a basic template below:
1. Marketing Problem
What is the company or organization that is the focus of your research project?
What goods and services are provided by the company/organization?

What is the underlying problem facing your company/organization?

What is a potential marketing strategy to address this underlying problem?

2. Purpose of Research Project

What questions will you answer with your research? (Hint: your research should examine the
proposed marketing strategy in the prior section)
How will your research help address the problem faced by your company/organization? (Hint:
your research will provide information about examined marketing strategy)

3. Data Sources & Method

Will you collect primary data or use secondary data? If you plan to use secondary data, provide
a copy of the data (link to data if online). Also discuss how the data relates to your specific
research problem.

If you are collecting primary data, answer the following:

Will you collect observational or survey data?
If observational data, how will you observe behavior? How will you record your
observations?
If survey data, will you distribute your questionnaire in person or online? If you
distribute online, how will you reach your participants? Via email? Using a specific
social media platform?
Will you collect descriptive or causal data?
If descriptive data, what variables are included in your proposed dataset?
If causal data, what variable do you intend to manipulate? Please note that we will cover
experiments (i.e., causal data) on 10/29 and 11/05.
You do not need to specify your sampling plan (i.e. sample type and size) at this point in time.