This post lists the topics we cover in MBA 650 (Marketing Research). The class is designed to teach students to effectively USE marketing research for managerial decision making. Rather than focusing on the conceptual underpinnings or technical details of only a few types of analyses (as would be done in a class that concerns itself with DOING marketing research), we examine many different types of analyses. Our focus is (1) the kinds of managerial problems each method can solve, (2) the strengths and weaknesses of each method, (3) how to interpret the method’s results, and (4) how to apply the results to the managerial situation at hand. We will examine a variety of widely used marketing research techniques (e.g., factor analyses, emergent qualitative coding, and perceptual mapping) and how they apply to a variety of managerial settings (e.g., market segmentation, competitive analysis, and brand image analysis).
Class Topics:
- How to determine whether uncertainty should be resolved with (1) an estimate, (2) secondary research, (3) primary research, or (4) a combination of those methods
- Improved methods for making estimates
- Qualitative sampling and emergent coding
- Focus groups
- Ethnography
- Relative advantages and disadvantages of qualitative methods vs. quantitative methods
- Quantitative sampling
- Statistical power
- Measurement theory
- Measurement methods
- Self-report measurement (i.e., questionnaire design)
- Seeking variance in independent variables
- Experiments
- Bivariate relationships (comparing cell means, X2, and correlation)
- Advanced regression (different types of dependent variables, polynomial regression, interactions, overfitting, residual diagnostics, validation)
- Recommendation engines
- Factor analysis
- Cluster analysis
- Conjoint analysis
- Game theory
– Eric DeRosia