California State University- Sacramento
MKTG 121 – Market Research and Information
Spring 2013
Section 01:
M/W:
INSTRUCTOR
OFFICE
PHONE
E-MAIL
OFFICE HOURS
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
ALP 224
Feng "Oliver" Liu, PhD
TAH 2020
(916) 278-7106
liu@saclink.csus.edu
M: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
W: 12:15 – 1:15 PM
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The main purpose of this course is to present students with an overview, and to
train students in the specialized ideas, issues, and techniques, of marketing
research. The course also covers recent developments in marketing research and
various applications of research to marketing decision making.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this course will be achieved through the accomplishment of the
following course objectives:
1. To present students with a conceptual understanding of the tenets of
marketing research.
2. To familiarize students with tools and techniques of marketing research
3. To provide students with the opportunities to conduct and report
marketing research.
4. To equip students with the ability to evaluate marketing research from a
management perspective.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The course will be delivered in the formats of lecture and discussion of the topics
identified in the Class Schedule. Students are expected to have read the text
book chapters and class notes for each session and be prepared to discuss the
various implications. Some selected cases from the text and outside sources may
be used to highlight particular topics from time to time. The professor may
change the schedule and assignments as needed. Students are responsible for
verifying assignments and due dates.
TEXT BOOK/ CLASS MATERIALS
McDaniel, Carl Jr. and Roger Gates, “Marketing Research” (9th Edition); Class
Notes
COMMUNICATION, LECTURE NOTES AND READING MATERIALS
Class communication and lecture notes will be available on SacCT 9.1. Reading
materials will be either posted on SacCT 9.1, or distributed in class.
GRADING
Grades will be assigned according to performance on the following:
Attendance
Quiz/Exercise
Exam I
Exam II
Exam III
Secondary Research Project
Paper Critique Project
5
20
20
15
15
10
15
Total
100
Grading Scale:
A = 92 or higher
B = 87 – 82
C = 77- 72
D= 67 - 62
A- = 91 – 90
B- = 80 - 81
C- = 71- 70
D- = 61- 60
B+ = 89 – 88
C+ = 79- 78
D+ = 69 - 68
F =59 – 0
Students also have the opportunity to earn up to 7 bonus points.
A Student’s letter grade is based on the number of points earned, the final point
distribution of the class, and professionalism, which is assessed subjectively and
at the discretion of the professor.
EXAMS
Three exams will be administered throughout the semester. The exams, which
will cover both materials covered in class and all assigned reading (whether or
not explicitly covered in class, e.g., textbook chapters), will consist of multiple
choice questions and open-ended questions. The exams are NOT cumulative,
meaning that they will only cover the material presented after all previous exams.
Students will be allowed to bring one 3 x 5 inch note card containing
HANDWRITTEN notes (two sides) to each exam. The note card must be a note
card. No handmade paper sheets will be allowed due to varying size. Scantron
answer sheet (Form No. 4521) will be used for all the exams.
No exams will be distributed once one student completes the exam and leaves
the room. Accordingly, students are encouraged to be on time for exams.
Students are expected to be present for all exams. Make-up exams will only be
given if prior arrangements are made with the professor or in the event of a
medical emergency, in which case a doctor’s note will be required later. Make-up
exams will comprise essay type questions, and will be taken during the
professor’s office hours.
QUIZZES AND EXCERCISES
In most classes, the professor will either give a quiz/exercise on the concepts,
methods, models, and theories pertaining to class contents, or run a small inclass project that is relevant to class materials. By the end of the semester, five of
the quizzes/outputs of the in-class projects will be randomly selected and
graded, and the average grades will be documented for each student.
TEAM PROJECTS
Two research projects are planned for the semester. Both are team projects.
Students select their own team in the beginning of the semester, and stay in that
team throughout the semester. A team consists of 6 to 7 persons. Students are
responsible for team conflict management. The student’s professionalism and
confidentiality is critical.
1. The team will conduct a Secondary Research Project. In this project, the
team will select a research topic and use secondary information (such as
publications of governmental and non-governmental institutions, free
access data on the Internet, and articles in professional newspapers and
magazines) to address the research questions in hand.
The team has two options on choosing the project topic. It may conduct a
secondary research project for a Sacramento-based business/ organization
of its own choice (per my approval). Alternatively, the professor will
assign the team a research topic. The end product will be a 10 to 15 minute
in-class oral presentation, supported by high-quality secondary data (10
pts). Further project information will be provided during the semester.
2. The team will also conduct a Paper Critique Project. Further project
information will be provided during the semester.
Peer Evaluation
By the end of the semester, each team member will have a chance to evaluate the
performances of other team members on the projects. More specifically, the
member will rate each of his or her teammates on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being
the best. Later each individual’s averaged PE number will be multiplied by the
group project grade, and the result will be that individual’s final project grade.
Once the student submit his or her PE scores for others, he or she will NOT be
allowed to change them later. Details of submission will be discussed later in the
semester.
BONUS POINTS
A student may earn up to 7 bonus points in the following three ways,
BP Method 1
Typically, each chapter of the textbook contains two Real-Life research cases,
which explore some interesting issues in marketing research. Students have the
opportunity to present some of these cases in class.
Each student can present at most once during the entire semester. And for that
the professor will credit the student’s account with 1 to 2 bonus points. The
entire presentation should not exceed 10 minutes. The student should also allow
2 to 5 minutes for a Q&A session. To claim the points, the student should email
the professor his or her PowerPoint slides prior to the presentation.
Students may choose any case in the chapters the class plan to cover (see the
table of “Class Schedule”). As soon as the student decides to present a case, he or
she should sign on the professor’s Case Sign-up Sheet. The professor will assign
the case on first-come, first-serve basis.
BP Method 2
A student can earn up to 3 bonus points by running an in-class project (per the
professor’s approval). To run such a project, the student needs to locate
appropriate materials pertaining to that day’s course content from various
information sources (an example will be given later in the semester), choose the
format of the project, prepare discussion questions, and lead the class discussion.
Depending on the quality of the project, the student will earn 1 to 3 credits. Two
or more students may run the project collectively, in which case the points will
be evenly distributed among them.
If the student plans to run the project in a particular class, he or she should
contact the professor with the project materials at least one week earlier.
BP Method 3
Find a current news article (published later than the starting date of the semester)
in major newspapers (e.g., the Sacramento Bee) or major magazines (e.g., the
Bloomberg Businessweek) that is a good illustration of what was covered in the
previous class. The article has to be available online. Provide the link to the
article. Then post a message at the course SacCT 9.1 website that
1) gives details of the article;
2) explains how it is related to marketing research, and
3) discusses the managerial significance of the research part in the news
story.
An article can be posted only once. What it means is that once a student posts
any article, no other students after that would be allowed to post an article on a
similar topic. The student can post only one article in a week (The week runs
from Monday 12:00 pm to Monday 12:00 pm). The last day for posting is 12:00
pm on December 3, 2012.
Based on the quality of the message, the student will earn 0 to 1 credits. A
student can earn up to 2 points with this method.
COURSE POLICIES
Inform Your Professor of Any Accommodations Needed
If you have a documented disability and verification from the Office of Services
to Students with Disabilities (SSWD), and wish to discuss academic
accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible. It is the student’s
responsibility to provide documentation of disability to SSWD and meet with a
SSWD counselor to request special accommodation before classes start.
SSWD is located in Lassen Hall 1008 and can be contacted by phone at (916) 2786955 (Voice) (916) 278-7239 (TDD only) or via email at sswd@csus.edu.
Commit to Integrity
As a student in this course (and at this university) you are expected to maintain
high degrees of professionalism, commitment to active learning and
participation in this class and also integrity in your behavior in and out of the
classroom.
At Sac State, “cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for
academic work through the use of any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent
means.”
“Plagiarism is a form of cheating. At Sac State, “plagiarism is the use of
distinctive ideas or works belonging to another person without providing
adequate acknowledgement of that person’s contribution.”
Read more about Sac State's Academic Honesty Policy & Procedures
at http://www.csus.edu/umanual/AcademicHonestyPolicyandProcedures.htm
No Disruptive Behavior
Refer to the University's policy on student disruptive behavior
(http://www.csus.edu/umanual/student/UMD03250.htm). Note that a
disruptive student is defined as a student who engages in classroom behavior
that interferes with the process of teaching and learning.
Below are some specific class policies on disruptive behavior:
1) Cell phones and pagers must be turned off before coming to class. If you
are expecting an urgent call, let me know before class and you may keep
the phone on vibrate;
2) No text messaging is allowed during class;
3) Laptops are not allowed in class unless specifically approved by the
professor.
4) Arrive on time for class;
5) Do not leave the classroom in the middle of a lecture. If you need to leave
early, please let me know prior to the commencement of class and, when
you must leave, do so quietly.
Penalties for dishonesty and/or disruptive classroom behavior may result in
removal from this class and/or a failing grade.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week of
Jan 27
Feb 3
Feb 10
Feb 17
Feb 24
Mar 3
Mar 10
Mar 17
Mar 24
Mar 31
Apr 7
Apr 14
Apr 21
Apr 28
May 5
May 12
May 20

Monday
Wednesday
Syllabus
Research Team Formation
Research Industry (Chap 2)
Databases (Chap 4)
Project I Work Day
Introduction to Marketing
Research(Chap 1)
Secondary Research (Chap 4)
Project I Topics Finalization
Project I Presentation
No Class
No Class
No Class
Measurement (Chap 10, 11 )
Questionnaire Design (Chap 12)
Sampling (Chap 13)
Sampling (Chap 14)
Review on Statistics (Class notes)
Introduction to SPSS (Class notes)
Statistical Testing(Chap 16)
Statistical Testing(Chap 16)
Project II Guidelines
Spring Break/No Class
Cesar Chavez Birthday/No Class
Exam I
Exam I Review
Project II Paper Selection Due
Correlation (Chap 16)
Regression (Chap 16, 17)
Regression (Chap 17)
Discrete Choice Model
(Class Notes)
Exam II Review
Factor Analysis (Chap 18)
Cluster Analysis (Chap 18)
Exam II
Qualitative Research (Chap 5)
Project II Presentation
Internet Marketing Research
(Class Notes)
International Marketing
Research (Class Notes)
Advertising/Media Market
Research (Class Notes)
Emerging topics in MR
Final Exam Review
Paper Critique Due
Final Exam:
12:45 pm-2:45 pm
This is a tentative schedule and may change throughout the semester
Bonus Points Case Sign-up Sheet
Chapter/Date
Cases
NAME (print)