Discussion:
1. Justify the need for market research.
a. Define the marketing situation.
b. What is the problem that will be researched?
2. Define the research objective: What is your hypothesis?
3. Identify data needs: How will the research be structured?
4. Identify data sources, and choose an appropriate research design (and method).
a. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the basic methods for collecting primary data, and recommend a methodology for the study.
b. Understand and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using secondary sources to gather relevant data about the issue(s).
5. Define the population that will be targeted for primary research.
a. Given a population and desired level of precision, recommend an optimum sample size and method to gather the necessary research data within budget and time constraints.
6. Design the data collection instrument.
a. Develop a marketing research questionnaire, including a copy as an addendum to your paper. You will turn in this phase of the assignment to your instructor in Week 4, and then you will make any changes suggested and include it in the final project.
7. Identify areas of ethical concern, and make recommendations for the appropriate behavior of respondents and users of marketing research.
8. Recommended elements for the reporting should be developed with results from the study to make sure that the findings are actionable.
9. Also, think about next steps: Is there an appropriate next step for the study?