Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
William G. Zikmund
Exploratory Research
B) Pilot study
Pilot Studies A small-scale research project which uses
sampling without the normally rigorous scientific standards to
generate primary data.
The primary data generated from pilot studies are collected
from specific groups (e.g. employees, consumers, students,
voters) and not from experts or from a case situation
Major components of pilot studies are:
1) Focus group interviews
2) Projective techniques and
3) Depth interview
B) Pilot Study
1) Focus Groups Interviews:
This is a free-flowing interview
usually, and supervised over by one or two moderator or
interviewer.
B) Pilot Study:
2) Projective Techniques
Sentence Completion
I like ______________________
At home ___________________
The best ___________________
When I was younger _________
The future _________________
I need _____________________
C) Case Studies
Using information and experiences gained from a similar
problem situation.
D) Experience Surveys Conversation or interviews with
knowledgeable persons and experts, inside or outside the
organization, who have some previous experience with the
problem area in question
If you wish to know the road up the mountain, you
must ask the man who goes back and forth on it.
- Zenrinkusi
Management Problem
Setting the selling price for a new product line
Research Questions
What are our costs of production and marketing (COGS)?
What are our pricing objectives and position in the market?
What price does similar types of products sell for?
What is the perceived value of our product in the marketplace?
Research Objectives
To assess the costs involved in producing and selling our
product
To determine corporate objectives and their implications for
pricing
To examine current prices for direct and indirect competition
To determine potential customer reaction to various prices and
their perception of the benefits of owning the product
Survey Methods
Telephone
Personal
In-Home
Traditional
Telephone
Mall
Intercept
Computer-Assisted
Telephone Interviewing
Electronic
Mail/Fax
Interview
E-Mail
Mail Panel
ComputerAssisted Personal
Interviewing
Internet
Traditional Internal
Sources of Secondary
Data
Internal data usually
centers on sales or cost
information and includes:
Sales invoices - customer
profiles, sales trends.
Accounts receivable reports profit margins.
Quarterly sales reports dollar and unit sales.
Sales activity reports - sales
and competition.
Other forms - customer
letters/ comment cards, mailorder forms, credit
applications, etc.
Etc, etc,.
Example
Shoppers movement
pattern in a store
Verbal behavior
Statements made by
airline travelers who wait
in line
Expressive behavior
Example
Spatial relations
and locations
Temporal patterns
Physical objects
Sampling
Who is to be sampled?
How large a sample?
How will sample units be selected?
2
12
13
14
3
2
12
Census
13
14
11
10
15
4
11
10
15
6
9 8
17
16
16
List of Units
6
9 8
17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Selecting a Sample
What is a questionnaire?
An instrument (form) to
collect answers to questions
collect factual data
gathers information or measures
Types of Questionnaire
Face to face
Telephone
Interviewer
-administrated
By post
E-mail/Internet
Self-administrated
Phrasing Questions
Open-ended questions
Fixed-alternative/Close-ended questions
Most questionnaires include both.
questions
Are you currently registered in a course at the
University of Lethbridge?
Yes____ No____
Open-ended Question
EDITING
CODING
DATA ENTRY
DATA ANALYSIS
ERROR
CHECKING
AND
VERIFICATION
Editing
The process of checking and adjusting the
data
for omissions
for legibility
for consistency
Coding
The process of identifying and assigning a
numerical score or other character symbol
to previously edited data
CODING
I believe that people judge your success by the kind of car
you drive.
Strongly disagree 1
Mildly disagree
2
Neither disagree nor agree
Mildly agree
4
Strongly agree 5
Data Entry
Data Analysis
The transformation of raw data into a form that will make them
easy to understand and interpret.
Data analysis technique will depend on information requirement
from the study.
e.g.: Statistical analysis like frequency distribution,
regression analysis etc.
Report parts
Prefatory parts
Appended parts
Prefatory parts
Title page
Letter of
transmittal
Letter of
authorization
Table of contents
Summary
Objectives
Results
Conclusions
Recommendations
Results
Limitations
Area 1
Methodology
Area 2
Final area
Conclusions and
recommendations
Appended parts
Data collection
forms
Detailed
calculations
General tables
Bibliography