MKTG 35103 (1)_Chapter 3—The Marketing Research Process

Chapter 3—The Marketing Research Process TRUE/FALSE 1. Research is the process of developing and deciding among alternative ways of resolving a problem or choosing from among alternative opportunities. ANS: F This is decision making. PTS: 1 REF: p. 47 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 2. A market opportunity is a situation that makes some potential competitive advantage possible. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 47 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 3. The purpose of exploratory research is to provide conclusive evidence for a particular marketing action. ANS: F Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities. It is not intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine a particular course of action. PTS: 1 REF: p. 50 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 4. Descriptive research often helps describe market segments. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 51 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 5. Descriptive studies are conducted with a considerable understanding of the situation being studied. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 53 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 6. Concomitant variation is sufficient evidence to determine causality in experiments. ANS: F Concomitant variation is only one piece of causal evidence--temporal sequence and nonspurious association are also necessary. PTS: 1 REF: p. 54 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 7. Absolute association means any covariation between a cause and an effect is true and not simply due to some other variable. ANS: F This is called nonspurious association. PTS: 1 REF: p. 54 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking8. Terminal causality means the cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the effect. ANS: F This is referred to as absolute causality. PTS: 1 REF: p. 55 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 9. An experiment is a carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed cause and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 55 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 10. Test marketing studies are a form of experimental research. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 55 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 11. Exploratory research is typically conducted in the early stages of decision-making. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 56 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 12. The first stage in the research process is planning a research design. ANS: F This is the second stage in the research process. The first stage is to define the research objectives. PTS: 1 REF: p. 57 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 13. Properly defining a problem can be more difficult than solving it. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 60 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 14. The purpose of exploratory research is to refine and narrow the scope of the research topic. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 60 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 15. A directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and presents empirical results that are relevant to the topic at hand is called a literature review. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 61 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 16. Pilot studies are a formal research method that produce precise results. ANS: F A pilot study is a small-scale research project that collects data from respondents similar to those that will be used in the full study. It can serve as a guide for a larger study or examine specific aspects of the research to see if the selected procedures will actually work as intended.PTS: 1 REF: p. 61 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 17. In its simplest form, a research hypothesis is a “guess” about the outcome of a research study. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 63 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 18. Statistics can be used to prove that a research hypothesis is true. ANS: F Statistics cannot prove a hypothesis is true. Because our results is based on statistics, there is always the possibility that our conclusion is wrong. PTS: 1 REF: p. 63 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 19. One of the major advantages of observation studies is that they record actual behavior rather than relying on reports of behavior from respondents. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 64 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 20. There is always one best research design for a marketing research study. ANS: F The researcher often has several alternatives that can accomplish the stated research objectives. PTS: 1 REF: p. 65 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 21. A sample of respondents is a subset of the population of interest to the researcher. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 65 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 22. Unobtrusive methods of data gathering are those in which the subjects do not have to be disturbed for data to be collected. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: p. 66 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 23. Coding is the application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered. ANS: F This is data analysis. PTS: 1 REF: p. 66 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 24. Management is most interested in detailed reporting of the research design and statistical findings. ANS: F Frequently, management is not interested in detailed reporting of the research design and statistical findings, but wishes only a summary of the findings. PTS: 1 REF: p. 67 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking25. A research project refers to numerous related studies that come together to address issues about a single company. ANS: F This is referred to as a research program. PTS: 1 REF: p. 68 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking