Chapter 1
The practice of market and social research
Suggested solutions to questions and exercises
1. What is research?
Research is the process by which we produce knowledge. It is founded on scientific
methods, which are in turn supported by philosophical principles about the nature of
knowledge and how we construct that knowledge.
The Market Research Society (MRS), the United Kingdom (UK) based professional body
for research practitioners, defines research as: ‘The application of scientific research
methods to obtain objective information on peoples’ attitudes and behaviour based
usually on representative samples of the relevant populations.’
Market and social research is about gathering and analysing data to explore, to describe,
to measure, to understand and to explain. The practice of research involves not only
collecting and analysing data but defining the problem to be researched, designing
research that will provide the necessary evidence to address that problem, drawing a
sample from the relevant population, and interpreting and applying the findings to the
original problem.
Q. Describe what is meant by ‘market’ or ‘marketing’ research.
In some texts a distinction is made between market research and marketing research.
The term marketing research is sometimes regarded as the broader of the two and is used
to refer to the activities involved in the gathering, recording and analysis of facts relating
to the marketing process. Market research, on the other hand, is often used to refer to the
process of researching specific markets. In practice, however, the terms are used
interchangeably.
Q. What is social research?
Social research involves the same activities as market research – defining the problem,
designing the research, gathering, recording and analysing data; it differs only in subject
matter. Social researchers conduct research into social issues, aspects of social life,
social policy, social attitudes and so on.
2. Describe the main uses of market research.
To support the marketing function; more specifically to:
 understand the wider environment and how it affects the organisation;
 identify opportunities and threats;
 identify markets, competitors and customers;
 help with priority setting and direct the use of resources;
 build knowledge for longer term benefit;
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understand customers and market dynamics;
monitor customer and stakeholder satisfaction;
understand how to build and enhance customer relationships;
monitor and evaluate competitors/competitive activity;
identify or monitor market changes and trends;
develop marketing strategies;
test different marketing strategies;
monitor and control marketing programmes;
understand how to influence customer attitudes and behaviour;
understand how best to communicate with customers and stakeholders;
develop advertising and communication strategies;
develop and test advertising executions; and
develop or select a product or service, a brand name, a pack design, a price point, a
distribution channel.
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Market research might be commissioned, for example, to:
measure customer satisfaction with the service provided by a bank;
understand buying behaviour in the car market;
describe the use of anti-perspirants and deodorants among men; or
determine if there is a relationship between lifestyle characteristics and purchasing
patterns of organic food.
3. Describe some of the uses of social research.
Social research is commissioned to obtain information, to understand what is going on in
the wider environment, to understand people’s attitudes, opinions and behaviour – in
order to provide data for effective planning and decision-making in relation to policy
development and implementation. In social research, the wider external environment is
society, the attitudes of interest are ‘social’ attitudes, attitudes to ‘social issues’, and the
behaviour of interest is how we live and behave in the ‘social’ world. Social research
might be commissioned, for example, to describe the living standards of older people in
the community, to understand decisions taken during a crisis pregnancy, to explore drug
use in prisons, or to establish the healthcare needs of homeless people.
The need for high quality information is no less important in this arena than it is in the
commercial arena. Plans and decisions have to be made about how our society operates,
about how we deal with ‘social issues’, about how we allocate scarce resources, about
what services should be provided and how they should be designed and to whom they
should be targeted.
4. What is the value of research?
Organisations, not just those in the private sector but those in the public and not-for-profit
sectors, rely on research to inform and improve their planning and decision-making. In
all organisations resources are scarce. For an organisation to survive and prosper it must
use its limited resources wisely. To do this effectively it must understand the needs and
opinions of both its customers and other stakeholders (employees and shareholders, for
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example, in the case of private sector organisations, and citizens – taxpayers and voters –
in the case of public sector organisations). This is where the value of market and social
research lies: in its ability to provide high quality information for planning and decisionmaking. Decisions based on robust and credible research evidence should lead to better
quality decision-making, better use of resources, better products and services, better
policies and better relationships with customers and other stakeholders, increased
customer and stakeholder satisfaction and ultimately greater longevity for the
organisation than if research were not conducted.
5. What limits the value of research?
There are many factors that limit the value of research including:
 Poor definition of the problem
 Lack of understanding of the brief
 Poor or inappropriate research design
 The limitations of the methods used
 Poor execution of the research
 The interpretation of the results
 The status of knowledge
 The use or misuse of research evidence by the decision-makers
 The time that elapses between collecting the data and applying the findings.
6. Describe the role of professional bodies such as The Market Research Society.
The aim of professional bodies such as the MRS is to promote high standards in research
practice, to offer members training and professional development services, and to
represent the research industry to the wider world.
7. What does the role of client or in-house researcher typically involve?
The clientside research role will depend on the type of organisation, the nature of its
business and the way it views research. The in-house researcher or the customer insight
executive may be responsible for research and insight into a particular market or product
or service area. The job is likely to involve liaising with or working alongside decisionmakers, for example, in marketing or sales or production or policy formulation. It may
involve an internal consultancy role, advising on the use of research and ensuring that
research insights are integrated into the business planning process – in effect ensuring
that research and other data are converted to information and knowledge and applied
effectively to move the business forward. The role may involve providing guidance and
advice to internal data analysts; it may involve managing and developing databases and
decision support systems. The role is also likely to involve providing and/or
commissioning market research, managing the research process, and managing the
relationship with the research supplier.
8. Describe the roles of the data processing provider and the fieldwork provider.
The data processing provider typically consists of a team of data processing executives or
programmers (scriptwriters who write the questionnaires for computer-aided
interviewing; spec writers who write the program for running tables and analysis) and
data entry and coding staff, all managed by a data processing manager, who in turn may
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report to a DP director. In addition, there may be executives with specialist statistical
expertise and those with specialist IT knowledge.
The coding section of a DP department is responsible for the development of code lists or
coding frames from the open-ended questions on a questionnaire. The coder liaises with
the research executive and the DP executive or manager about a study’s coding needs in
order to plan how the coding is to be organised and completed accurately and on time for
the data processing schedule. Data entry staff and DP executives are responsible for
entering and verifying data (although if data capture has involved computer-aided
methods, the data entry stage is not needed). In addition, DP executives write, test and
implement the programs necessary for data capture, data entry, verification and those for
producing data tabulations and statistical calculations. On the basis of a DP specification
provided by the client service executive, the DP executive writes a program that will
produce the tables and the necessary analysis. In addition, in some larger agencies, DP
executives may be involved in software development, including database design.
The role of the DP manager is to manage the workload of the DP department and liaise
with clients and researchers about their needs. He or she may be involved in preparing
costings for data processing tasks. The DP manager may be responsible for quality
control and is likely to be involved in recruiting, training and supervising staff. He or she
may have responsibility for managing a DP budget. The DP director is responsible for
the success of the DP operation, for overall quality control, for business development, for
keeping up to date with developments in technology and for implementing systems that
will deliver to the needs of the clients and researchers.
Roles within the fieldwork service
The field executive’s role involves preparing fieldwork costings, liaising with research
executives on questionnaire design and on sample design and selection of sampling
points, and setting up and managing fieldwork. Fieldwork management involves
allocating work, setting quotas for the number of interviews to be completed per
interviewer day, preparing briefing notes for interviewers, running briefing and training
sessions, and checking on the progress of fieldwork. It may also include attending
fieldwork or supervising fieldwork, administering interviewer pay, training and recruiting
interviewers, and generally managing the fieldforce.
Depending on the size of the organisation, the size of the fieldforce and the volume of
fieldwork conducted, the field executive’s role may be more differentiated, to the extent
that some of these tasks are conducted by specialists. For example, there may be a
dedicated interviewer trainer, a dedicated fieldwork allocator and an administrator who
deals mostly with interviewer pay claims and fieldwork expenses. If international, multicountry research is involved an international fieldwork co-ordinator may be part of the
field or client service team, or part of a separate international co-ordination unit. The role
of a co-ordinator is to ensure that the fieldwork in each country is conducted to the same
standards. This will involve liaising with in-market fieldwork suppliers, ensuring that
those conducting the fieldwork are fully briefed about the project requirements and
perhaps even training local in-market fieldworkers. It will involve checking that
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questionnaires and discussion guides are adapted to suit the market and that they, together
with all related material, are translated accurately. Back-translation, that is, re-translating
into the original language, is often carried out to ensure that any meaning is not lost or
distorted as a result of translation. The co-ordinator will also check that questionnaires
and discussion guides in different languages are measuring the same thing. The role will
also involve briefing research executives to ensure that they are aware of the
environmental factors – cultural, social, economic, technological, legal and political –
that will affect how the research is conducted or the data obtained. The co-ordinator may
also be involved in overseeing the handling of the data at the end of fieldwork, and the
processing of the data, including re-translation of responses to open-ended questions and
translations of transcripts of focus groups and depth interviews.
9. What are the day-to-day duties of a research executive in an agency?
The main duties of a research executive are to:
 Liaise with the client
 Help define the problem or issue to be researched
 Design the research
 Cost the research
 Write the proposal
 Discuss the proposal with the client and with colleagues
 Design the discussion guide or questionnaire
 Set up the research and manage it
 Conduct a pilot study
 Refine the research plan/questionnaire or discussion guide in the light of the findings
from the pilot study
 Brief the fieldwork team or the recruiters
 Brief the data processing team including coders
 Prepare stimulus material (qualitative researchers)
 Liaise with field staff on progress of the work
 Attend (or conduct, in the case of qualitative research) fieldwork
 Prepare an analysis plan
 Write the analysis specification for data processing
 Check the data tabulations for accuracy
 Analyse and interpret the data
 Prepare a report of the findings and/or a presentation
 Give the presentation, drawing out the implications for the client
 Take part in follow-up discussions with the client
 Organise archiving and storage of project documents
10. What impact has technology had on the following aspects of research practice:
(a) data capture;
(b) data management; and
(c) project administration, communication and interaction?
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Data capture
Advances in technology based around optical mark readers or scanning devices and
personal computers have had a major impact on data capture. Advances in voice
recognition, wireless communication and the convergence of the PC, the television and
the telephone in the form of interactive television are beginning to do so.
The use of scanning technology (optical mark readers) has meant that data from specially
designed questionnaires can be read directly into a computer, without the need for manual
data entry. The use of computer-aided data capture technology – essentially programs
that combine questionnaire, data entry and verification functions – has taken this a step
further and made the data collection and data handling task more flexible, faster and more
efficient, more accurate and easier to manage than paper-based methods. There is less
manual work involved with no need to print or dispatch questionnaires, and no separate
data entry or verification procedures. Until recently, the capital investment in PCs and
laptops on which to run such programs could be substantial. The cost of entry, however,
has dropped as devices have become smaller and devices of all sizes have become less
expensive. Indeed, the use of handheld devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs)
and computer tablets, is increasing.
Technological advances and the increased penetration of Internet usage have led to
growth in web and email data collection methods, including electronic observation and
tracking. These methods, however, account for a relatively small proportion of all data
collected. An increase in their use is likely to come from business-to-business and
employee research, where access to the Internet or an Intranet is relatively easy, where
the method is a convenient and suitable one for approaching respondents, and where
information on populations (from which to derive suitable samples) is more readily
obtained.
Data management
Advances in data capture technology and in data storage capabilities have meant that is
relatively easy to collect and store large amounts of data. But more data does not always
translate into more information or greater insight. Although a dataset or database is a
valuable commodity, because of its mass and/or its complexity, it is sometimes difficult
to access, understand or use to good effect. Advances in technology, however, mean that
data management – from processing and analysis and search and retrieval to output and
presentation – is easier, more efficient and more user-friendly.
Project administration, communication and interaction
As computing power has increased and become cheaper to acquire, the impact on
research has been the ability to process, and process more efficiently, greater volumes of
data and to conduct more complex analyses. As more computing power is contained in
ever smaller and more portable devices, there has been a move away from traditional
paper-based data collection methods to computer-aided methods. As a result, fieldwork
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is easier to manage and co-ordinate, turnaround times have been reduced, and there have
been improvements in the speed and accuracy of data processing.
User-friendly software and hardware have made it easier to produce high quality
documents, and to alter these documents easily – briefs, proposals, questionnaires,
stimulus material, data tables, reports and presentations – leading to greater efficiency. In
addition, technology that allows us to include spoken commentary from the researcher
and/or audio and video clips, for example from group discussions of test ads, can enhance
the value and impact of reports and presentations.
The standardisation of software and hardware, coupled with advances in transmission and
communication capabilities (connectivity and interactivity), has led to an increase in
access to and use of the Internet, Intranets and peer-to-peer computing to disseminate
data and documents, and to interact in real time via online conferencing and video links
with anyone with a PC anywhere in the world. Rather than travel to presentations or
group discussions (or interviews in the case of respondents) executives can join in from
anywhere.
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