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).
Continue reading “MBA Marketing Research — List of Topics”
Basic Statistics — Study Materials and Practice Quiz
Some of the students in my marketing research class are a little rusty on inferential statistics. For most students, it’s something they’ve mastered in the past, but without practice it’s easy to forget the answers to questions like these:
- What is the difference between a standard error and a standard deviation?
- How should you interpret a histogram?
- How can you tell whether a variable is binomial or multinomial?
To remind students about these concepts, I give my marketing research students a quiz on basic statistics. To help students prepare for the quiz, Continue reading “Basic Statistics — Study Materials and Practice Quiz”
Original Case for Marketing Research
To promote discussion in my marketing research class, I have written 10 full-length cases that describe managerial situations in which marketing research may be useful. As an example, one of the cases (on the topic of recommendation engines used in e-commerce) is posted below:
MBA 650 – Case – Hawthorne Woodworking Supplies
– Eric DeRosia
Example of a Moderator Guide
In my marketing research class, I assign students to create a focus group moderator guide for a case. Prior to that assignment, I give students this file as a good example of a moderator guide. In my experience, the best moderator guides give the moderator “room to run” with participant responses, allowing the focus group to be semi-structured rather than rigidly structured.
– Eric DeRosia