marketing research the process of planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision

marketing research problem determining what info is needed and how it can be gathered effectively

marketing research objective the specific info needed to solve a marketing research problem

management decision problem a broad-based problem that uses marketing research in order for managers to take proper actions

secondary data data previously collected for any purpose other than the one at hand

big data the exponential growth in the volume, variety, etc. of information and the development of new tools to analyze the data

research design specifies which research questions need to be answered, how/when data will be gathered, and how the data will be analyzed

primary data info that is collected for the first time that is used for solving the problem under investigation

mall intercept interview a survey research method in which people are interviewed in busy areas of shopping malls

computer-assisted personal interviewing an interviewing method in which an interviewer uses a computer for questions/answers

computer-assisted self-interviewing an interview method in which people in a mall are led to computers to answer questions on a computer

central-location telephone (CLT) facility a specially designed phone room used to conduct telephone interviewing

executive interview a type of survey that usually involes interviewing business people at their offices concerning industrial products or services

focus group seven to ten people who participate in a group discussion led by a moderator

open-ended question an interview question that encourages an answer phrased in the respondent's own words

closed-ended question an interview question that makes respondent pick the answer from list

scaled-response question a closed-ended question designed to measure the intensity of a respondent's answer

observation research a research method that relies on people watching people, people watching an activity, machines watching people, and machines watching an activity

mystery shoppers researchers posing as customers who gather observational data about a store

behavioral targeting (BT) observation marketing that uses behavior patterns and online activity as a base

social media monitoring the use of automated tools to monitor online conversations

ethnographic research the study of human behavior in its natural context

universe the population from which a sample will be drawn

probability sample a sample in which every element in the population has a known statistical likelihood of being selected

random sample every element of sample is picked randomly (equal odds)

measurement error difference between the info desired by researcher and info provided from measurement process

convenience sample pick the first people who are readily available

sampling error error occuring when sample does not represent target population

frame error occurs when a sample drawn from a population differs from the target population

random error occurs when the sample is an imperfect representation of the overall population

field service firm a firm specializing in interviewing respondents on a subcontracted basis

cross-tabulation lets the analyst compare answers from numerous questions