ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
Unit: Marketing Research
Class: MR-DH47ISB-13
ASSIGNMENT 1. DISCOVERING COMMON TYPES OF MARKETING RESEARCH
Description: Each group discovers one common type of marketing research and introduces it to
all students in the class.
These are six, among others, common types of marketing research that are important in doing business:

Customer satisfaction

Market segmentation

Usage and attitudes

Concept and product test

Brand health check

Consumer panel and retail audit
Procedure and requirements:

Each group is required to study one of them to discover. These are some guiding questions that each
group can rely on to investigate the marketing research type:

What is it?

Which are objectives / purposes of the research?

Which business situations is the research type necessary?

Why is it meaningful to businesses?

What are the main characteristics of the research type?

Which companies have successfully utilized the research type in their business?
Note: Group can discover more aspects of the research type since these questions are only for
guiding purpose.

The group is required to prepare and then, submit the ppt file via via the email of vi.tran@isb.edu.vn
before the session.

The group introduces the research type to your classmates by giving a short presentation (within 15
minutes) in the beginning of the scheduled session.

Each group submits the hard copy of Individual Contribution Rate clearly specifying the
percentage to which each group member contributes to this assignment. This is used to evaluate the
assignment individually. The template is available in the e-learning system.
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Assigned marketing research type and presentation schedule for this assignment:
Week
Session
Group in charge
Marketing research
2
2
Group 4
Customer satisfaction
3
3
Group 5
Market segmentation
4
4
Group 6
Usage and attitudes
5
5
Group 1
Concept and product test
6
6
Group 2
Brand health check
7
7
Group 3
Consumer panel and retail audit
ASSIGNMENT 2. MAIN TOPIC PRESENTATION
Description: Each group is required to study one key topic of marketing research and shares to
all students in the class.
Contents of the Marketing Research unit are divided into 6 main topics. They are mainly studied and
then, presented by students in 6 groups.

Topic 1: Marketing research process

Topic 2: Exploratory research design

Topic 3: Conclusive research design

Topic 4: Marketing research brief & marketing research proposal

Topic 5: Measurement & Scaling

Topic 6: Questionnaire design & sampling
Procedure and requirements:

The six topics are assigned to the six groups.

Students in group read the textbook of Marketing research unit, look for necessary information from
other resources and synthesize all the key information logically and appropriately.

The group in charge gives an intensive presentation covering all key aspects of the topic. The target
audiences of the presentation are students in the class and, thus, the presentation should help them
understand the topic thoroughly. For doing this, the group in charge is freely in preparing necessary
stuffs, designing the idea flow, organizing any activities, and selecting appropriate mode to deliver the
presentation. The presentation must last for at least 45 minutes.
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
The group in charge submits the hard copy of Individual Contribution Rate clearly specifying the
percentage to which each group member contributes to this assignment. This is used to evaluate the
assignment individually. The template is available in the e-learning system.
Topic assigned, presentation schedule and guiding questions:

Topic 1: Marketing research process
o Group in charge: Group 1
o Presentation schedule: Week 2 - Session 2
o Guiding questions: Group 1 can study topic 1 based on these following guiding
questions/requirements:
 What are the common steps in marketing research process?
 What do researchers specifically do in each step in the process?
 Discuss on the importance of each step in the process.
 How are the steps linked together?
 What are key notices about the marketing research process we should keep in our mind?
o Groups can find relevant information from:
 Chapter 1 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 2 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 3 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 13 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 14 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 23 of Malhotra (2010)
 Any other relevant extra materials
o Deadline of submission: Submit the ppt file before the session via the email of
vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.

Topic 2: Exploratory research design
o Group in charge: Group 2
o Presentation schedule: Week 3 - Session 3
o Guiding questions: Group 2 can study topic 2 based on these following guiding questions /
requirements:
 How is possibly marketing research classified? Identify some approaches used to classify
marketing research.
 Describe problem solving research, problem identification research, exploratory research,
conclusive research generally.
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 What are the main characteristics of exploratory research?
 Describe specifically some common and useful techniques used in qualitative research:
secondary data, focus group, depth interview, etc.
 What should be noticed in using these techniques in doing a qualitative research?
o Groups can find relevant information from:
 Chapter 3 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 4 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 5 of Malhotra (2010)
 Any other relevant extra materials
o Deadline of submission: Submit the ppt file before the session via the email of
vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.

Topic 3: Conclusive research design
o Group in charge: Group 3
o Presentation schedule: Week 4 - Session 4
o Guiding questions: Group 3 can study topic 3 based on these following guiding questions /
requirements:
 What is conclusive research and what are its’ main characteristics?
 Compare and contrast conclusive research and exploratory research.
 Describe specifically descriptive research and causal research:

Which situation they are appropriate to be used?

Which information do these research types provide?

Which techniques can researcher use in doing a descriptive and a causal research?
 What should be noticed in conducting a survey and an experiment?
o Groups can find relevant information from:
 Chapter 3 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 6 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 7 of Malhotra (2010)
 Any other relevant extra materials
o Deadline of submission: Submit the ppt file before the session via the email of
vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.

Topic 4: Marketing research brief & marketing research proposal
o Group in charge: Group 4
5
o Presentation schedule: Week 5 - Session 5
o Guiding questions: Group 4 can study topic 4 based on these following guiding questions /
requirements:
 What are research brief and research proposal?
 How important are they? Which roles do they play?
 What do researchers need to do for preparing research brief and research proposal?
 Which contents should be included in a marketing research brief and in a marketing research
proposal? (What – where – when – why – which – who – how)?
 Which role does literature review play in research brief and research proposal?
o Groups can find relevant information from:
 Chapter 3 of Malhotra (2010)
 Appendix a of Cooper (2014)
 Supplementary materials provided via e-learning system
 Any other relevant extra materials
o Deadline of submission: Submit the ppt file before the session via the email of
vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.

Topic 5: Measurement & scaling
o Group in charge: Group 5
o Presentation schedule: Week 6 - Session 6
o Guiding questions: Group 5 can study topic 5 based on these following guiding questions /
requirements:
 What are measurement and scaling and how are they important in research?
 Which are scale characteristics?
 Which are primary scales?
 Compare and contrast the primary scales
 Briefly introduce comparative scaling techniques
 Intensively describe noncomparative scaling techniques: continuous rating scale, Likert scale
and semantic differential scale
 What is multi-item scale? How to evaluate multi-item scale?
o Groups can find relevant information from:
 Chapter 8 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 9 of Malhotra (2010)
 Any other relevant extra materials
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o Deadline of submission: Submit the ppt file before the session via the email of
vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.

Topic 6: Questionnaire design & sampling
o Group in charge: Group 6
o Presentation schedule: Week 7 - Session 7
o Guiding questions: Group 6 can study topic 6 based on these following guiding questions /
requirements:
 Discuss on the importance of survey questionnaire in quantitative research?
 Which steps do researcher need to do in designing a survey questionnaire?
 Describe the steps specifically and identify which should be noticed in doing each step.
 What is sampling and how important is it?
 Compare and contrast probability and non-probability sampling techniques
 Describe specifically probability and non-probability sampling techniques (convenience
sampling, judgmental sampling, quota sampling, snowball sampling, simple random sampling,
systematic sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling).
o Groups can find relevant information from:
 Chapter 10 of Malhotra (2010)
 Chapter 11 of Malhotra (2010)
 Any other relevant extra materials
o Deadline of submission: Submit the ppt file before the session via the email of
vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.
ASSIGNMENT 3. ONLINE QUIZ
Description: Students will take an online quiz that includes around 40 -50 multiple-choice
questions taking 60 minutes.
Procedure and requirements:

Students need to review all the discussed topics and the research project to completely capture the
contents of the unit.

Students do the quiz individually via the e-learning system.

The exam will be taken in the exam week. The specific exam schedule will be announced soon.
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ASSIGNMENT 4. MARKETING RESEARCH PROJECT
Description: All groups are required to conduct a marketing research project exploring consumer
characteristics and preferences in a certain industry
Requirements:
o Groups freely select an industry / company / brand to conduct the research project. For example:
Group 1 does a marketing research project in online retailing industry in general or specifically
targets to Tiki, whereas group 2 works on iPhone or consumer preferences in using smart phone.
o With the selected industry / company / brand, each group is required to conduct a marketing
research project that includes 3 small studies:
 Study 1 (desk research): Explore characteristics of the industry / company / brand and prepare a
research proposal for the research project.
 Study 2 (qualitative study): Investigate the industry / company / brand’s consumer characteristics
and preferences (using qualitative techniques).
 Study 3 (quantitative study): Confirm the characteristics and preferences found from the study 2
by doing a simple quantitative survey.
o Once the research project is completed that include study 1, study 2 and study 3, each group is
required to present the full research project in the last session of the course.
o Each group submits the written report of the full research project and hard copy of Individual
Contribution Rate clearly specifying the percentage to which each group member contributes to
this assignment. This is used to evaluate the assignment individually. The template is available
in the e-learning system.
Deadlines:
o All groups should complete the study 1 before Week 10 - Session 10. Submit the ppt file and the
written proposal before the session via the email of vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system.
o All groups are required to complete the whole research project before Week 14 - Session 15.
Submit the complete written report of the project, individual contribution rate and the ppt file of
the full research project via the email of vi.tran@isb.edu.vn and e-learning system before Week
14 - Session 15.
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Research project tentative schedule:
Session
Discussed topic / task
Session 8
Topic identification & study 1 (desk research)
Session 9
Research project: Study 1 discussion (proposal) - Study 2 (qualitative research - initial
tasks)
Session 10
Research project: Study 2 (qualitative research) - prepare discussion guide, identify &
invite participants, tasks allocation
Session 11
Research project: Study 2 (qualitative research) - conducting interviews / FGDs
Session 12
Research project: Study 2 (qualitative research) - conducting interviews / FGDs
Session 13
Research project: Study 2 (qualitative research) - analyzing data - report results prepare survey questionnaire
Session 14
Research project: Study 3 (survey) - collecting survey data & analyzing survey data reporting results - finalizing research project report
Session 15
Research project sharing
For all the coaching sessions (session 8 – session 14), each group will work with the lecturer separately.
The schedule for these coaching sessions is as follows:
Group
1
2
3
4
5
6
Shift 1
08:00 –
08:30
08:30 –
09:00
09:00 –
09:30
09:30 –
10:00
10:00 –
10:30
10:30 –
11:00
Shift 2
12:00 –
12:30
12:30 –
13:00
13:00 –
13:30
13:30 –
14:00
14:00 –
14:30
14:30 –
15:00
Shift 3
15:30 –
16:00
16:00 –
16:30
16:30 –
17:00
17:00 –
17:30
17:30 –
18:00
18:00 –
18:30
The session 15 is for sharing and further discussing the research projects of all the groups. Each group
is required to comment on other groups’ research project.