Market Research (BUS M&L 758)
(version: March 14th 2012)
The Ohio State University
Fisher College of Business
Spring, 2012
Professor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office hours:
Course website:
Dr. Peter Ebbes
560A Fisher Hall
614-292-1155
ebbes.1@osu.edu
W 2pm-5pm (or by appointment)
CARMEN at https://carmen.osu.edu/
Class Schedule (location)
T R 11:30AM - 1:18PM
(209 Schoebaum Hall)
Course Materials
1. McDaniel and Gates, 2010, “Marketing Research”, eight edition, Wiley
2. Other course material put up on CARMEN (https://carmen.osu.edu/)
Course Objectives
Companies need to make decisions. Knowledge is the basis for the decision-making process
(GfK group). The last decade has seen an explosion in the quantity and quality of information
available to managers. This course is about “data”: how to gather it and how to make sense of it.
We will focus on understanding data relevant to marketers, the type’s available, experimental
design, methods of collection and analysis. Course participants will learn to define a marketing
research goal, create an effective measurement instrument (survey, focus group, experiments),
and rigorously analyze the resulting information. We will focus on how the marketing research
process is carried out conceptually, from translating managerial concepts to concrete information
about a firm’s customers and competitors. The main sections of this course include the
following: problem definition, research design, measurement and data collection, data analysis
and reporting.
Course Format
The course will cover various aspects of marketing research. It will involve lectures, class
discussions, computer classes, and tests. You will be involved in both individual and team
projects and presentations. You are strongly encouraged to read the text during the semester.
This will assist your learning, help you to contribute to class discussions, and to score well on the
tests.
In addition, we will conduct a ‘real-life’ project for Consider Biking (www.considerbiking.org).
Consider Biking is an organization that helps making central Ohio increasingly safe and friendly
to bicycle transportation, with the goal to get more people on a bicycle. An important project
they are working on is establishing a bike share program in Columbus. A bike share program
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provides bicycles that can be shared among individuals who do not own them. Currently, several
US and non-US cities have such programs. The success of a potential bike share program in
Columbus will depend (amongst other things) on usage interest on and around the OSU campus
area. Hence, the directors of Consider Biking want to learn more about students’ transportation
wants and needs on and around campus, how students would utilize a bike share program, and
what benefits they see in it. The insights from this study will also be shared with local
government and OSU administrators, and student leaders to help them determine if such a
program should be considered campus‐wide. You will learn more about this project in due
course.
A ‘real-life’ consulting project gives you hands-on marketing research experience, develops your
analytical skills, and makes you ‘think on your feet’, while working with the client. Teamwork is
the ‘Name of the Game’ in business. It will be a great talking-point on (job) interviews too.
Course Requirement and Grading
Final grades will be determined according to the following scale:
Two individual exams
50
Team assignments
-- progress report
20
-- final deliverables
20
Class participation/SPSS
10
Total
100
Exams
Two exams will be held; one during class time and one in the week of final exams, as indicated
in the schedule below. These exams are multiple choice exams and will not be cumulative.
Exams will cover the book and materials discussed in class. I will make sure that you get
example questions to practice the exams.
Team Project ‘Consider Biking’
The team project is a ‘living consulting case’ and is intended to give you the opportunity to meet
and work with a real client in real time. Students are to form teams of size 5 each. As a team, you
will work together to develop a questionnaire, collect survey responses, and analyze the data.
The final deliverables include, amongst other things, a presentation slide deck, an executive
summary and detailed results from your data analysis.
In the last week of class, you will be given the opportunity to present your findings to the client.
Each team will make a 15-20 minutes presentation to the client and me. I expect presentations to
be done professionally such that the client can understand and use the results.
At the end of the quarter, team members will rate one another in terms of their relative
contribution in team projects. As such, shirking team responsibilities is by far the surest route to
oblivion.
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Class Participation, Quizzes, and SPSS
10% of your grade is set aside for this component. Regular attendance is expected and you will
be tested on the material covered in class. Student participation is actively encouraged. There
will be quizzes on Carmen every now and then covering several lectures. In addition, I will ask
you to hand in SPSS assignments that will help you earn credits for this component of your
grade.
Tentative Course Schedule
#
Day Date
Topics
1
Tue 27-Mar. Welcome, course overview, introduction
2
Thu 29-Mar. Overview marketing research process
3
Tue 3-Apr.
Exploratory research and qualitative analysis
4
5
Thu
Tue
5-Apr.
10-Apr.
Guest speaker Consider Biking
Survey methods
6
7
8
Thu
Tue
Thu
12-Apr.
17-Apr.
19-Apr.
Measurement and attitude scaling
Questionnaire design
Review of basic statistical knowledge, part I
9
Tue
24-Apr.
10
Thu
26-Apr.
11
Tue
1-May
12
13
Thu
Tue
3-May
8-May
14
Thu
10-May
Review of basic statistical knowledge, part II
Hand in: progress report
SPSS Computer lab I (location TBA)
Hand in: computer lab assignment
SPSS Computer lab II (location TBA)
Hand in: computer lab assignment
EXAM I (midterm)
Bivariate statistics: cross tabs / frequency
tables
Bivariate statistics: correlations and
differences between groups
15
Tue
15-May
16
Thu
17-May
17 Tue 22-May
18 Thu 24-May
19 Tue 29-May
20 Thu 31-May
4-Jun. to 7-Jun.
USA TODAY project report guidelines
SPSS Computer lab III (location TBA)
Hand in: computer lab assignment
Observation and experimental research
techniques
Walk in computer lab (location TBA)
Walk in computer lab (location TBA)
Team presentations
Team presentations
EXAM II (finals)
Reading
Ch1
Ch3
Ch4 (ex. pp110-116)
Ch5
Ch6
Ch7 (pp214-217)
Ch10/11 (ex. pp352-361)
Ch12 (ex. pp398-405)
Ch15
Ch14 (pp449-452)
Ch14 (pp452-457)
Ch16 (pp518-531)
SPSS introduction
SPSS descriptives and
simple tests
Sessions 1—7
Ch15 (pp497-499)
Ch16 (pp532-538)
Ch16 (pp545-546)
Ch17 (pp564-566, 580583)
Ch19
SPSS group differences
Ch8 (pp234-239)
Ch9 (ex. pp284-295)
Bike share project
Bike share project
Ch19
Ch19
Sessions 8—16
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List of Super-Important (Due) Dates
Session 4: Guest speaker Consider Biking
Session 9: Hand in progress report: MDP and MRP, results explanatory research, and
questionnaire bike share (team effort)
Session 10: Hand in computer lab assignment (pairs)
Session 11: Hand in computer lab assignment (pairs)
Session 12: Exam I (individual)
Session 15: Hand in computer lab assignment (pairs)
Sessions 19-20: Finish Bike share report and present results and recommendations
Finals week: Exam II (individual)
BE A PROFESSIONAL IN CLASS
A part of your grade will be determined by your contribution to class. Along with actively
participating in class discussions, it will not hurt you to be “a professional” in class. This means
you should behave in the same manner as you would in a business meeting. For instance, come
to class on time. Once you have arrived, do not leave the classroom only if absolutely necessary.
If you must be late for class or must leave early, let me know in advance. Furthermore, you
should not engage in side conversations during class, and turn off cell phones or other
communication devices. Inappropriate behavior, such as being rude or disruptive, may result in a
lower grade for the class participation component.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Academic integrity is essential to maintaining an environment that fosters excellence in teaching,
research, and other educational and scholarly activities. Thus, The Ohio State University and the
Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) expect that all students have read and understand
the University’s Code of Student Conduct and that all students will complete all academic and
scholarly assignments with fairness and honesty. Students must recognize that failure to follow
the rules and guidelines established in the University’s Code of Student Conduct and this
syllabus may constitute “Academic Misconduct.”
The Ohio State University’s Code of Student Conduct (Section 3335-23-04) defines academic
misconduct as: “Any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the University,
or subvert the educational process.” Examples of academic misconduct include (but are not
limited to) plagiarism, collusion (unauthorized collaboration), copying the work of another
student, and possession of unauthorized materials during an examination. Ignorance of the
University’s Code of Student Conduct is never considered an “excuse” for academic misconduct,
so I recommend that you review the Code of Student Conduct, specifically, the sections dealing
with academic misconduct.
If I suspect that a student has committed academic misconduct in this course, I am obligated by
University Rules to report my suspicions to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. If COAM
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determines that you have violated the University’s Code of Student Conduct (i.e., committed
academic misconduct), the sanctions for the misconduct could include a failing grade in this
course and suspension or dismissal from the University.
In this course, it is also expected that each student will behave in a manner that is
consistent with the Fisher Honor Statement, which reads as follows:
“As a member of the Fisher College of Business Community, I am personally committed to the
highest standards of behavior. Honesty and integrity are the foundations from which I will
measure my actions. I will hold myself accountable to adhere to these standards. As a future
leader in the community and business environment, I pledge to live by these principles and
celebrate those who share these ideals.”
If you have any questions about the above policy or what constitutes academic misconduct in
this course, please contact me.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student who feels she/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability
should contact me privately to discuss specific needs. Please contact the Office for Disability
Services at 614-292-3307 in room 150 Pomerene Hall to coordinate reasonable accommodations
for students with documented disabilities. It is your responsibility to discuss this with me well in
advance of an assignment due date or an exam.
INSTRUCTIONS TO GET SPSS ON A HOME COMPUTER OR LAPTOP AT NO COST
To obtain the SPSS license codes, you need to fill out the following form:
http://oit.osu.edu/site_license/Licenses/spsslicensestud.pdf.
Once completed, you can manually walk it over or scan/fax the signed document to the IT
Services Desk (Fax: 614-292-3299 or Email: 8help@osu.edu). The IT service desk is located in
025 Central Classrooms.
Once the codes are received, you can download the software on the OCIO Site Licensed
Software Downloads website (under Windows software), at http://osusls.osu.edu/.
Additional information regarding this process and system requirements may be found here:
http://oit.osu.edu/site_license/slwin.html#spss
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