Develop 2-3 research questions that flow directly from the marketing research problem.
2. Determine the type of data needed to solve the problem you identified in step 1 and the research tools to collect the necessary data. You will need to collect three types of data:
a. Exploratory (Most likely qualitative)
b. Secondary (Search secondary data sources for relevant background information)
c. Primary (Most likely a questionnaire)
3. Create questions for a survey or interview. Around 10 is a good number. If it is a survey please format it as if you were going to hand it out.
5. Design proper tools and procedures to collect data.
8. Write report answering all the questions above.
Report Format
• Title page
• Brief Introduction
•The introduction should provide a summary of the objective(s) of the research, relevant information related what you plan to do during the research process. The introduction should be the set-up/groundwork for the rest of the paper.
• Problem definition / Research Objectives / Research Questions
• This section should provide an overview of the company/organization being researched and the problem/opportunity being faced. It is important that your background provide enough information so that the audience will understand why the study was created.
• Background to the problem
• Name of company/organization that is the focus of your research
• Type of industry, business, products/services provided by the company
• Statement of the problem/opportunity being investigated
• What, if anything, is already known about the problem/opportunity?
• In this section, you should clearly and concisely state the research objectives (often in the form of questions) and the actions that management will take as a result of the research. The reader should know exactly what questions you are attempting to answer as a result of the research and the type of information that you would collect if you conducted the interviews or survey.
• Formal statement of the research problem and research questions
• Approach to the problem.
• Data collection from secondary sources
• What information regarding this problem already exists? More importantly, perhaps, what information can you get without incurring the costs of primary research? This will help you identify the gaps that primary data will need to fill.
• Gather relevant secondary data that bear on the research questions.
• Questions to think about in this section: How was the market research problem derived from (or relate to) the decision problem? How were the research questions derived from the market research problem? How can you integrate secondary data or other information from secondary sources to better contextual the situation or decision-making environment? Why is this problem important?
• Research Design / Method
• Describe overall purpose of the research design (mixed method). First, you should clearly state what types of research you used (qualitative vs. quantitative, what type of qualitative and quantitative method) and why you chose this research design. How does the specific information needed to answer the research question(s), compared to other methods? (It could potentially be helpful here to state the advantages/disadvantages and limitations to each type of research methodology used.
• Details about the questionnaire/focus group discussion guide development process, pilot testing of questionnaire, sampling process, etc.
• Include a copy of your questionnaire in the appendix (Interview questions or formatted survey).
• Guiding questions: How would you conduct the research? What would be the size of your sample? Who is the demographic you are seeking?
• Conclusions and recommendations
• Restate your objective(s) and your approach.
• Limitations and caveats / Suggestions for future research
• Explain limitations with regard to anything in the study, i.e. research problem/question formulation, hypothesis development, research method, sample selection, questionnaire development, etc.
• References
• Reference list of secondary data sources
• Use either MLA or APA format
