Descriptive Research Designs

• Used to describe the characteristics of certain groups

• Used to determine the proportion of people who behave in a certain way

• Used to make specific predictions

Types of Descriptive Studies

• Cross-sectional study is an investigation involving a sample of elements selected from the population of interest measured at a single point in time

• Sample survey is a cross-sectional study in which the sample is selected to be representative of the target population and emphasizes the generation of summary statistics, such as averages and percentages

• Advantages:

  • Provides a snapshot of the variables of interest at a single time
  • Sample of elements are typically selected to represent some known universe or population

• Disadvantages:

  • Expensive, time and money
  • Requires technical skills

• Longitudinal study is an investigation involving a fixed sample of elements that is measured repeatedly through time

• Two types of panels are associated with longitudinal studies:

  • Continuous panel is a fixed sample of respondents who are measured repeatedly over time concerning the same variables

  • Discontinuous panel is a fixed sample of respondents who are measured repeatedly over time but on variables that change from measurement to measurement

• Panel data are believed to be more accurate than cross-sectional data, especially when measuring

• Disadvantages:

  • Panels are nonrepresentative and/or non-random

  • Agreement to participate involves a commitment

Types of Primary Data

• Behavior refers to what individuals or organizations have done or are doing

• Demographic data includes characteristics such as age, education, occupation, marital status, gender, and income

• Psychological/Lifestyle characteristics includes normal patterns of behavior exhibited by an individual, attitude, knowledge, intentions, and motivation.

• Attitudes refers to an individual's overall evaluation of a specific object or idea

• Knowledge refers to what respondents do and do not know or believe about some product, brand, company, advertisement, etc

• Intentions refers to anticipated or planned future behavior

• Motive is a need, a want, a drive, an urge, a wish, a desire, an impulse, or any inner state that directs or channels behavior toward goals

• Marketers prioritize behavior because such data is often more accurate and objective

Obtaining Primary Data

• Communication is a method of data collection involving questioning respondents to secure the desired information using a data collection instrument called a questionnaire

• Observation is a method of data collection in which the situation of interest is watched, and the relevant facts, actions, or behaviors are recorded

• Versatility refers to the ability of a technique to collect information on the different types of primary data

Observation Research

• Direct Observation: Watching the actual activity, such as researchers watching surgeons operate.

• Indirect observation happens when the outcomes of the behavior are observed rather than the behavior itself, like a garbologist who digs through trash cans to analyze data

• Structured observation method: Observation in which the phenomena to be observed can be defined precisely along with the categories used to record the phenomena

• Unstructured Observation Method: Observation in which the researcher has a great deal of flexibility in terms of what to note and record

• Disguised observation: The subjects are not aware that they are being observed

• Debriefing: The process of providing appropriate information to respondents after data have been collected using disguise

• Natural setting: Subjects are observed in the environment where the behavior usually takes place

• Contrived setting: Subjects are observed in an environment specially designed to record their behavior

• Human observation: Individuals are trained to observe a phenomenon systematically and record the specific events in the observational form

• Mechanical observation: An electrical or mechanical device observes and records a phenomenon

Observational Measure Examples

• Response Latency: The time a respondent deliberates before answering a question

• Galvanometer: A device used to measure the emotion induced by exposure to a particular stimulus by recording changes in the electrical resistance of the skin

• Voice-pitch analysis: Analysis that examines changes in the relative frequency of the human voice that accompanies emotional arousal

• Eye camera: A device researchers use to study a subject's eye movements while reading advertising copy

• Facial coding: A technique for measuring emotions that uses cameras to record small, involuntary movements in the muscles around a person's mouth and eyes

Collecting Data by Communication

• Fixed-alternative or closed-ended questions: Responses are limited to stated alternatives

• Open-ended question: Respondents are free to reply in their own words rather than being limited to choosing from among a set of alternatives

• Disguised communication: A disguised questionnaire attempts to hide the study's purpose or sponsor

Methods of Administering Questionnaires

• Online surveys: A method of administration that relies on the Web for completing the survey

• In-bound surveys: A method of data collection in which respondents access a survey by telephone or online to respond to survey items

• Telephone interview: A telephone conversation between a representative of the research organization, the interviewer, and a respondent or interviewee

• Personal interview: A direct, often face-to-face conversation between a representative of the research organization, the interviewer, and a respondent or interviewee

• Consumer intercept: A method of data collection in which interviewers in a heavily trafficked location stop or interrupt a sample of those passing by to ask them if they would be willing to participate in a research study

• Paper-based survey: A survey is usually mailed to designated respondents with an accompanying cover letter; they complete the questionnaire and return it to the research organization

Questionnaire Control Methods

• Sampling control: Ability of a method to identify and obtain responses from a sample of respondents from the target population

• Information control: Number and types of questions that can be used and the degree to which researchers and/or respondents might introduce errors in the answers or their interpretations

• Administrative control: Resource issues, such as the time and monetary costs of the different approaches

Measurement Scales

• Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to represent properties of an object's attributes

• Nominal scale: Measurement in which numbers are assigned to objects or classes of objects solely for identification

• Ordinal scale: Measurement in which numbers are assigned to data on the basis of some order (e.g., more than, greater than) of the objects

• Interval scale: Measurement in which the assigned numbers legitimately allow the comparison of the size of the differences among and between members

• Ratio scale: Measurement that has a natural, or absolute, zero and therefore allows the comparison of absolute magnitudes of the numbers

Measuring Attitudes and Other Unobservable Concepts

• Self-report: A method of assessing attitudes in which individuals are asked directly for their beliefs about or feelings toward an object or class of objects

• Itemized-ratings scales: Scales on which individuals must indicate their ratings of an attribute or object by selecting the response category that best describes their position on the attribute or object

• Summated-ratings scale: Also known as the Likert scale, a self-report technique for attitude measurement in which respondents indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with each of several statements

• Semantic-differential scale: A self-report technique for attitude measurement in which the subjects are asked to check which cell between bipolar adjectives or phrases best describes their feelings toward the object.

• Graphic-ratings scales: Scales in which individuals indicate their ratings of an attribute along a continuous line or other graphic figure that runs from one extreme of the attribute to the other

• Comparative rating scale requires subjects to make their ratings based on a series of relative judgments or comparisons rather than as independent assessments

• Global measure: Designed to provide an overall assessment of an object or phenomenon, typically using one or two items

• Composite measures: Designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of an object or phenomenon with items to assess all relevant aspects or dimensions

Assessment in Survey Scaling

• Systematic error: A measurement error is also known as a constant error since it affects the measurement constantly

• Random error: Error in measurement due to temporary aspects of the person or measurement situation and affects the measurement irregularly

• Response Set Bias: A problem arises when respondents answer questionnaire items similarly without thinking about the items

• Validity: The extent to which differences in scores on a measuring instrument reflect actual differences among individuals, groups, or situations in the characteristic that it seeks to measure or actual differences in the same individual, group, or situation from one occasion to another, rather than systematic or random errors

• Reliability: Ability of a measure to obtain similar scores for the same object, trait, or construct across time, across different evaluators, or the items forming the measure

Data Collection Form- Pre-Design Considerations

• The client's managerial needs (i.e., decision problem and research problem(s)) and method of administration should be revisited and firmly established

• With descriptive & causal research, researchers should know enough about the decision problem and research problem(s) to know information needed to be collected

• After obtaining information needed to be collected, it's time to consider the method of administration

Important Considerations in Question Design

• A filter question gauges the respondent's knowledge or qualification for participation.

• Telescoping error describes the error resulting from respondents remembering an event as having occurred more recently than it did

Question and Answering Techniques

• Randomized-response model is an interviewing technique in which potentially embarrassing and relatively innocuous questions are paired, and the question the respondent answers is randomly determined but is unknown to the interviewer

• Response order bias is an error that occurs when the response to a question is influenced by the order in which the alternatives are presented

• Split-ballot technique is a technique for combatting response bias in which researchers use multiple versions of a survey, with different wordings of an item or different orders of response options

• Open-ended questions allow respondents to reply freely rather than selecting from predetermined answers

• Closed-ended questions use predetermined answers using fixed-alternative response scales

• When wording questions, the use of simple words, unambiguous wording, avoids leading questions and unstated alternatives

• Questions should be framed so respondents will consider all relevant information where no consequences are assumed

• Double-barreled questions call for two responses and creates confusion for the respondent

Steps in Data/Question Collecting

• Prepare a dummy table to show how the results of an analysis will be presented

• Use a funnel approach with question sequencing that gets its name from its shape, starting with broad questions and progressively narrowing down the scope

• Use target information (basic information that addresses the subject of the study) followed by classification information (information used to classify respondents, typically for demographic breakdowns)

• Place difficult or sensitive questions late in the questionnaire

• Pretesting a data collection form is equally important, data collection should never begin until the survey has been pretested