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Bristol Business School
Academic Year: 09/10
Assessment Period: August
Assessment Type: Referral Coursework
Module Leader:
Module Number:
Module Name:
Word Limit:
Heather Dodd
UMKC7U-20-2
Marketing Research
3000
Coursework Submission Date and Time:
Assignments are to be submitted by 2pm Monday 16 August 2010 at the
assignment boxes near Cribs coffee shop (2B corridor). Please be aware
that there is NO 24hr or 10 day window this year.
If you wish to post your assignment, we recommend that you post it via
Recorded Delivery and obtain proof of the date and time of posting. Your
work must be in the post by the deadline.
Deadline:
Monday 16 August 2010
14:00
Assignment Instruction:
Level 2 Marketing Research – UMKC7U-20-2
Qualitative data collection and analysis
COURSEWORK TYPE: Individual
COURSEWORK LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This coursework is designed to test the following learning objectives (as listed
in the module specification):
Knowledge and understanding of:

the key stages of the market research process in its various contexts
and applications

ethical issues relevant to the market research process

designing research instruments (interview guide) appropriate for data
collection in a specific research context

analysing and interpreting a dataset and presenting findings in a format
useful to the decision-maker

evaluating their own work in relation to appropriate marketing research
concepts, frameworks and theories

applying concepts, frameworks and theories to practical scenarios
COURSEWORK BRIEF
Coursework tasks
You have been asked to undertake a research project for your client on
attitudes towards the bottled water market. The project entails both qualitative
and quantitative research, in the form of depth interviews and a survey
questionnaire. The main focus of the coursework, however, is on the
qualitative phase of research.
A brief background on this market can be found below, along with the broad
research aim for the project. The coursework consists of three key tasks.
The relative weighting of each task is indicated in brackets.
Task 1 (20%). Identify a detailed set of research objectives for the whole
project.
Task 2 (60%). Organise and conduct 2 or 3 depth interviews, analyse,
interpret and reflect upon the findings.
You should aim for each interview to run for approximately 30 to 60 minutes.
You will need to make (and justify) decisions on the following:

How participants will be recruited from the target population (see Target
Population section below)

The venue for the interviews

How the interviews will be recorded1

Identification of questions/topics for your topic guide.
Task 3 (20%). Discuss how your interview findings could be used to help you
to design a questionnaire on this topic.
You do not need to design the questionnaire for this part of the
question.
1
It is recommended that you record your interviews (audio only or audio-visual) and then use
the recording to write up full transcripts. It is appreciated, however, that you may not have
access to recording equipment if away from the university, and that you are also working
alone rather than in a group (sessional coursework) which could make transcription a timeconsuming process. As an alternative, you can submit notes taken during the interview, but
these must be substantial and legible.
Background to the Bottled Water Market
According to an article in ‘Marketing’, (2/12/09) there has been a growing
backlash against bottled water. This is due in part to the growing
environmental awareness of the impact of bottling and transporting water
when many homes in Europe already have drinkable tap water.
The value of this sector has been declining since 2007 and is currently worth
around £1.86bn globally according to Mintel. Plain bottled water accounts for
almost 90% of this market and sales of flavoured water is expected to grow in
the next five years but this is still a decline of 7% overall when inflation is
taken into consideration. Leading brands of bottled water include Volvic, Evian
and Highland Spring. 30% of bottled water is drunk once a day or more, with a
further 30% of consumers drinking bottled water 1-3 times a week.
An area of concern for companies that promote bottled water is the perception
about poor value for money. A third of people believe that bottled water does
not seem to be much different from tap water and so is not worth buying whilst
another third of people see it as a healthier alternative to sugary drinks
(Toluna, 2009).
Sources: Marketing (2/12/09, p.32/33), Mintel (2009) and Toluna (2009).
Research aim
Your client, Franone has several leading brands of bottled water in its UK
portfolio. It has however experienced a fall in sales of almost £30m or 23%
between 2007 and 2009. It wants to conduct an in-depth programme of
marketing research to find out what may be needed to prevent further decline
of bottled water sales. More specifically, they are keen to understand how to
maintain their lead position in the market and want to identify attitudes,
preferences and needs of adults who currently consume branded bottled
water.
Target population
The 16-34 year old age group is most likely to buy bottled water whilst the
over-55s are the least interested. Your client is therefore keen for you to
consult with adult men and women under the age of 55 years old. You are
advised to recruit participants who currently purchase and drink bottled water
once per week or more.
You are advised to adopt a convenience sampling approach and recruit
friends and family who belong to the target population, rather than
approach the general public.
Submission guidelines
This assessment requires you to hand in a research report, based around
tasks 1, 2 and 3.
The following structure presents a basic indication of research report content.
You may wish to add other sections, or include your own subsections/content. For guidelines on report writing, please refer to the advice
on the BBS study skills website. Make sure you remember to number your
report pages (this makes feedback easier).
Your report should be approximately 3000 words long, excluding appendices.
You may exceed the word count by no more than 10%.
Section 1.0: Research objectives
Clearly state the research objectives (preferably in a bullet point format) you
have identified for the whole project (i.e. include objectives which will be
addressed by the survey questionnaire, as well as by the depth interviews).
Your research objectives should be detailed and cover all the various areas of
information you need to address the research aim in depth. You should also
indicate which objectives will be addressed by each phase of the research.
Section 2.0: Organising the depth interviews
Discuss the design of the topic guide/questioning route. Report and justify the
details of your interviews (for example, date, venue, length, participant profile,
and participant recruitment, anything else you consider to be relevant).
Section 3.0: Data analysis, interpretation and quality
In this section, you need to:
i)
Describe the data analysis process you followed
ii)
Present the key themes which emerged from the interviews, using
participant quotes (where relevant) to back up the points you make. It
is important to analyse the data, and not simply present a commentary
on the transcript.
iii)
Briefly reflect on the quality of your data in terms of its reliability and
validity. To do this, you may wish to comment on:


The responses made by the interview participants
The performance of the interviewer



The effectiveness of the questions you asked
The way in which you analysed and interpreted the data
Any other issues which you consider to be relevant
If you identify any issues which were problematic, then you need to reflect on
why they may have occurred, and how you could have prevented them.
Please note that ii) should be allocated the most space in this section.
Section 4.0: Questionnaire design – the influence of my depth interview
findings
Discuss the ways in which your qualitative research findings could impact on
the design of the questionnaire in the quantitative phase of data collection.
Section 5.0: Conclusions and recommendations
Summarise your qualitative findings, highlight any recommendations for the
client and comment on the quality of the data and the data collection process.
References
If you have cited any references in your report, please use the Harvard
referencing system.
Appendix One - Depth interview topic guide/questioning route
Include a copy of the research instrument (and details of any other stimuli)
used in the interviews.
Appendix Two: Interview notes or transcripts
Ideally you will submit full interview transcripts, but alternatively you could
submit notes taken during the interviews – these need to be legible and
preferably typed up.
MARKING CRITERIA AND FEEDBACK
Your coursework will be marked on each of the criteria in Table 1. These
criteria will be listed on your feedback sheet, and assessed using a scale
(A - E). You will also receive written feedback on the coursework.
Table 1. Coursework marking criteria.
General criteria
Report format, presentation and referencing
Spelling, grammar, writing style and evidence of
proofreading
Demonstration of knowledge and understanding of the
market research process
Level of integration between sections of the report
Ability to reflect on and evaluate own work
Task specific criteria
Task 1: Research objectives
Comprehensiveness
Appropriateness
Quality and originality of thinking
Task 2: Depth interviews
Quality of topic guide/questioning route
Organisation of interviews (extent to which decisions
are explained and justified)
Discussion of analysis process followed
Use of data display techniques (e.g. thematic
networks)
Discussion of findings (identification and discussion of
themes, use of participant quotes)
Overall quality of analysis and interpretation
Quality of report conclusions and recommendations
Task 3: Influences on
questionnaire design
Ability to use qualitative findings to shape next phase
of quantitative research
The following generic assessment criteria will also be used in the assessment
of the report.
A first class (70%+) coursework will demonstrate evidence of all of the
following:
 A comprehensive approach which thoroughly addresses the brief
 All aspects of the brief tackled to a consistently high standard
 Good clarity of argument and expression
 An ability to integrate and successfully apply theoretical issues throughout
the coursework
 An ability to use initiative in addressing the coursework brief
 Meets a professional standard in both content and presentation
 An advanced ability to analyse, evaluate and reflect
An upper second class (60-69%) coursework will demonstrate evidence of
all of the following:
 A comprehensive approach which thoroughly addresses the brief
 Most aspects of the brief tackled to a high standard, although some
aspects may be weaker than others
 Good clarity of argument and expression
 Some evidence of an ability to successfully integrate and apply theoretical
issues
 An ability to use initiative in addressing the coursework brief
 Some aspects of the brief meet a professional standard in both content and
presentation
 An ability to analyse, evaluate and reflect
A lower second class (50-59%) coursework will demonstrate the following
qualities:
 A comprehensive approach overall, although some aspects of the brief may
be covered in less depth than others;
 Most aspects of the brief tackled to a competent or good standard;
although performance may be inconsistent;
 Reasonable clarity of argument and expression;
 Some evidence of an ability to successfully integrate and apply theoretical
issues;
 Work is well-structured, organised and clearly presented;
 An ability to analyse, but evaluation and reflection may be weak.
A third (40-49%) coursework will demonstrate the following qualities:
 Brief is not covered in depth, likely to be several omissions
 A competent standard achieved in most aspects, although may be some
errors and inaccuracies;
 Reasonably coherent expression, although presentation may be
disorganised and contain grammatical/spelling errors
 Little evidence of an ability to successfully integrate and apply theoretical
issues
 Analysis, evaluation and reflection are weak, or non-existent
A fail (< 40%) coursework will reveal the following qualities:
 The brief is addressed with very little depth, and/or some aspects are
missed out entirely
 Lacks knowledge and application
 Contains important inaccuracies
 Sparse coverage of material
 Does not support assertions with appropriate evidence
 Illogical and incoherent arguments
 Disorganised and untidy presentation
ASSESSMENT ISSUES
Assessment offences
Plagiarism, collusion and non-compliance with assessment regulations are
serious offences under University regulations and where suspected will be
investigated under official procedures and penalties incurred if appropriate.
For more details please visit:
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/bbs/students/sac/013assesa.pdf (student advice centre
information sheet)
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/bbs/students/sac/ugdoingit.pdf (guidelines on academic
writing)
Keeping copies of your work
Please make sure you keep electronic copies of your work at least until your
coursework is marked and returned you.