Assignment:
Report Writing
What is the function of the "limitations" section of a marketing research report? What limitations exist in the marketing research project you designed for your Final Paper
Discussion 1:
There are always going to be benefits to marketing research, and often those are easy to see once the finished product is complete. However the benefits can only be realized if there is adequate thought given to the part of the marketing research plan that focuses on the limitations. The reason, or function for the limitation section of a marketing research plan is two fold. First the limitation section lays out the possible constraints to the product or service research in such a way as to outline what potentially could hold the research back. According to our text, "The limitations section is an honest accounting of major aspects of the research that constrain or temper the findings and conclusions. No research is faultless, but all research projects strive to be as accurate as possible. So, the limitations section should note major issues, indicate why each one exists, and either mention how they affect the findings or how the research was carried out to minimize the effects of the limitation (Burns & Bush, 2012). " So when you look at a marketing plans limitation, you are in effect seeing where roadblocks might occur which will hold you back. The secondary reason for the limitation section is to see where the research might get more difficult and thus cost more money. It is one of the hidden truths with research that it can and will get expensive if there is not a clear understanding of the areas that are going to be tougher. If that is not done, it is often easy for a company to simply throw more manpower or resources at a problem and thus end up spending even more money.
In my research problem, I feel like the issue will be in garnering the correct information in an unbiased way and thus tainting the findings. There are so many places that Kyle from Extreme Exposure can make a mistake in this fashion. For example if he does not get a truly random sample of his clients to survey, he could unwittingly find himself getting biased data from people that like his business and thus do not want to see him change it. If the interviews, surveys or focus groups are not done correctly there could also be faulty data if the questioning process is not done right.
In the end there are many factors that will cost a company time and money. But knowing where those are before you start will go a long way in alleviating that problem.
Discussion 2:
The limitations section is an honest accounting of major aspects of the research that constrain or temper the findings and conclusions. No research is faultless, but all research projects strive to be as accurate as possible. (Bush 353) The function of limitation is to be transparent with the reader about where the data one discusses comes from in order to allow the reader to perform their own due diligence regarding the information.
Within one of the research articles, I used to prepare for the final paper data shows 61% of adults age 18-29 use an online streaming service vs cable or satellite subscription. This data may seem like a huge amount a people, however, the survey this data was collected from only had a respondent number of 100 people in which the age ranged from 18-65+. In the scope of things, these may only have been of about 20 people, which can't really be the basis for an entire age group of people.
The author did release the survey information which I how I was able to know how many people actually took the survey.
Bush, Alvin C Burns and Ronald F. Basic Marketing Research with Excel, 3/e for Ashford University, the 3rd Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. VitalBook file.
Rainie, L. (2017, 9 13). About 6 in 10 young adults in the U.S. primarily use online streaming to watch TV.