Quantitative marketing research is the application of quantitative research techniques to the field of marketing. It has roots in both the positivist

Positivism

Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....

 view of the world, and the modern marketing viewpoint that marketing is an interactive process in which both the buyer and seller reach a satisfying agreement on the "four Ps

Marketing mix

The term "marketing mix" was coined in 1953 by Neil Borden in his American Marketing Association presidential address. However, this was actually a reformulation of an earlier idea by his associate, James Culliton, who in 1948 described the role of the marketing manager as a "mixer of ingredients",...

" of marketing: Product, Price, Place (location) and Promotion.

As a social research

Social research

Social research refers to research conducted by social scientists. Social research methods may be divided into two broad categories:* Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable evidence, and often rely on statistical analysis of many cases to create valid and reliable...

 method, it typically involves the construction of questionnaire

Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case...

s and scales

Scale (social sciences)

In the social sciences, scaling is the process of measuring or ordering entities with respect to quantitative attributes or traits. For example, a scaling technique might involve estimating individuals' levels of extraversion, or the perceived quality of products...

. People who respond (respondents) are asked to complete the survey

Statistical survey

Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....

. Marketers

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 use the information so obtained to understand the needs of individuals in the marketplace, and to create strategies

Strategic planning

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues...

 and marketing plan

Marketing plan

A marketing plan may be part of an overall business plan.Solid marketing strategy is the foundation of a well-written marketing plan. While a marketing plan contains a list of actions, a marketing plan without a sound strategic foundation is of little use....

s.

Typical general procedure

Simply, there are five major and important steps involved in the research process:

1. Defining the Problem.
2. Research Design.
3. Data Collection.
4. Analysis.
5. Report Writing & presentation.

A brief discussion on these steps is:

1. Problem audit and problem definition - What is the problem? What are the various aspects of the problem? What information is needed?
2. Conceptualization and operationalization - How exactly do we define the concepts involved? How do we translate these concepts into observable and measurable behaviours?
3. Hypothesis
   Hypothesis
   A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...
   
    specification - What claim(s) do we want to test?
4. Research design specification - What type of methodology to use? - examples: questionnaire, survey
5. Question specification
   Questionnaire construction
   A questionnaire is a series of questions asked to individuals to obtain statistically useful information about a given topic. When properly constructed and responsibly administered, questionnaires become a vital instrument by which statements can be made about specific groups or people or entire...
   
    - What questions to ask? In what order?
6. Scale specification
   Scale (social sciences)
   In the social sciences, scaling is the process of measuring or ordering entities with respect to quantitative attributes or traits. For example, a scaling technique might involve estimating individuals' levels of extraversion, or the perceived quality of products...
   
    - How will preferences be rated?
7. Sampling design
   Sampling (statistics)
   In statistics and survey methodology, sampling is concerned with the selection of a subset of individuals from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population....
   
    specification - What is the total population? What sample size is necessary for this population? What sampling method to use?- examples: Probability Sampling:- (cluster sampling
   Cluster sampling
   Cluster Sampling is a sampling technique used when "natural" groupings are evident in a statistical population. It is often used in marketing research. In this technique, the total population is divided into these groups and a sample of the groups is selected. Then the required information is...
   
   , stratified sampling
   Stratified sampling
   In statistics, stratified sampling is a method of sampling from a population.In statistical surveys, when subpopulations within an overall population vary, it is advantageous to sample each subpopulation independently. Stratification is the process of dividing members of the population into...
   
   , simple random sampling, multistage sampling
   Multistage sampling
   Multistage sampling is a complex form of cluster sampling.Advantages * cost and speed that the survey can be done in* convenience of finding the survey sample* normally more accurate than cluster sampling for the same size sampleDisadvantages...
   
   , systematic sampling
   Systematic sampling
   Systematic sampling is a statistical method involving the selection of elements from an ordered sampling frame. The most common form of systematic sampling is an equal-probability method, in which every kth element in the frame is selected, where k, the sampling interval , is calculated as:k =...
   
   ) & Nonprobability sampling
   Nonprobability sampling
   Sampling is the use of a subset of the population to represent the whole population. Probability sampling, or random sampling, is a sampling technique in which the probability of getting any particular sample may be calculated. Nonprobability sampling does not meet this criterion and should be...
   
   :- (Convenience Sampling,Judgement Sampling, Purposive Sampling, Quota Sampling, Snowball Sampling, etc. )
8. Data collection - Use mail, telephone, internet, mall intercepts
9. Codification and re-specification - Make adjustments to the raw data so it is compatible with statistical techniques and with the objectives of the research - examples: assigning numbers, consistency checks, substitutions, deletions, weighting, dummy variables, scale transformations, scale standardization
10. Statistical analysis - Perform various descriptive and inferential techniques (see below) on the raw data. Make inferences from the sample to the whole population. Test the results for statistical significance.
11. Interpret and integrate findings - What do the results mean? What conclusions can be drawn? How do these findings relate to similar research?
12. Write the research report - Report usually has headings such as: 1) executive summary; 2) objectives; 3) methodology; 4) main findings; 5) detailed charts and diagrams. Present the report to the client in a 10 minute presentation. Be prepared for questions.

The design step may involve a pilot study to in order to discover any hidden issues. The codification and analysis steps are typically performed by computer, using statistical software. The data collection steps, can in some instances be automated, but often require significant manpower to undertake. Interpretation is a skill mastered only by experience.

Statistical analysis

The data acquired for quantitative marketing research can be analysed by almost any of the range of techniques of statistical analysis, which can be broadly divided into descriptive statistics

Descriptive statistics

Descriptive statistics quantitatively describe the main features of a collection of data. Descriptive statistics are distinguished from inferential statistics , in that descriptive statistics aim to summarize a data set, rather than use the data to learn about the population that the data are...

 and statistical inference

Statistical inference

In statistics, statistical inference is the process of drawing conclusions from data that are subject to random variation, for example, observational errors or sampling variation...

. An important set of techniques is that related to statistical survey

Statistical survey

Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....

s. In any instance, an appropriate type of statistical analysis should take account of the various types of error that may arise, as outlined below.

Reliability and Validity

Research should be tested for reliability, generalizability, and validity.

Generalizability is the ability to make inferences from a sample to the population.

Reliability is the extent to which a measure will produce consistent results.

• Test-retest reliability checks how similar the results are if the research is repeated under similar circumstances. Stability over repeated measures is assessed with the Pearson coefficient.
• Alternative forms reliability checks how similar the results are if the research is repeated using different forms.
• Internal consistency reliability checks how well the individual measures included in the research are converted into a composite measure. Internal consistency may be assessed by correlating performance on two halves of a test (split-half reliability). The value of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
  Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
  In statistics, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is a measure of the correlation between two variables X and Y, giving a value between +1 and −1 inclusive...
  
   is adjusted with the Spearman–Brown prediction formula to correspond to the correlation between two full-length tests. A commonly used measure is Cronbach's α
  Cronbach's alpha
  Cronbach's \alpha is a coefficient of reliability. It is commonly used as a measure of the internal consistency or reliability of a psychometric test score for a sample of examinees. It was first named alpha by Lee Cronbach in 1951, as he had intended to continue with further coefficients...
  
  , which is equivalent to the mean of all possible split-half coefficients. Reliability may be improved by increasing the sample size.

Validity asks whether the research measured what it intended to.

• Content validation (also called face validity) checks how well the content of the research are related to the variables to be studied; it seeks to answer whether the research questions are representative of the variables being researched. It is a demonstration that the items of a test are drawn from the domain being measured.
• Criterion validation checks how meaningful the research criteria are relative to other possible criteria. When the criterion is collected later the goal is to establish predictive validity.
• Construct validation checks what underlying construct is being measured. There are three variants of construct validity: convergent validity (how well the research relates to other measures of the same construct), discriminant validity (how poorly the research relates to measures of opposing constructs), and nomological validity (how well the research relates to other variables as required by theory).
• Internal validation, used primarily in experimental research designs, checks the relation between the dependent and independent variables (i.e. Did the experimental manipulation of the independent variable actually cause the observed results?)
• External validation checks whether the experimental results can be generalized.

Validity implies reliability: A valid measure must be reliable. Reliability does not necessarily imply validity, however: A reliable measure does not imply that it is valid.

Types of errors

Random sampling errors:

• sample too small
• sample not representative
• inappropriate sampling method used
• random errors
  Errors and residuals in statistics
  In statistics and optimization, statistical errors and residuals are two closely related and easily confused measures of the deviation of a sample from its "theoretical value"...
  
  

Research design errors:

• bias introduced
• measurement error
• data analysis error
• sampling frame error
• population definition error
• scaling error
• question construction error

Interviewer errors:

• recording errors
• cheating errors
• questioning errors
• respondent selection error

Respondent errors:

• non-response error
• inability error
• falsification error

Hypothesis errors:

• type I error (also called alpha error)
  • the study results lead to the rejection of the null hypothesis even though it is actually true
• type II error (also called beta error)
  • the study results lead to the acceptance (non-rejection) of the null hypothesis even though it is actually false

See also

• Choice Modelling
  Choice Modelling
  Choice modelling attempts to model the decision process of an individual or segment in a particular context. Choice modelling may also be used to estimate non-market environmental benefits and costs....
  
  
• Quantitative research
  Quantitative research
  In the social sciences, quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of social phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. The objective of quantitative research is to develop and employ mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to...
  
  
• Qualitative research
  Qualitative research
  Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such...
  
  
• Enterprise Feedback Management
  Enterprise Feedback Management
  Enterprise feedback management is a system of processes and software that enables organizations to centrally manage deployment of surveys while dispersing authoring and analysis throughout an organization...
  
  
• Marketing research
  Marketing research
  Marketing research is "the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information — information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve...
  
  
• mTAB
  MTAB
  "mTAB" refers to a market research software developed by Productive Access, Inc. or PAI. Used by major corporations who have the need to analyze large amounts of data, mTAB is used by researchers, analysts, and database managers. Tim Macer of Research Magazine dubbed it "the best kept secret in...
  
  
• Qualtrics
  Qualtrics
  Qualtrics is a private research software company, based in Provo, UT. The company was founded in 1997 by Scott M. Smith, Ph.D.Their software enables users to create their own Web-based surveys and conduct statistical analysis...
  
  
• Online panel
  Online panel
  An Online panel is a group of selected research participants who have agreed to provide information at specified intervals over an extended period of time.A panel can be distinguished from a database in the following ways:...
  
  
• Rating scale
  Rating scale
  A rating scale is a set of categories designed to elicit information about a quantitative or a qualitative attribute. In the social sciences, common examples are the Likert scale and 1-10 rating scales in which a person selects the number which is considered to reflect the perceived quality of a...
  
  
• Master of Marketing Research
  Master of Marketing Research
  Master of Marketing Research is a graduate degree program that may be from one to three years in length. About 75 percent of the fulltime programs can be studied in about one year while part-time Masters in Marketing are studied besides the job and usually need a minimum of two years to be...
  
  
• Maximum Difference Preference Scaling
• Urtak
  Urtak
  Urtak is a free collaborative public opinion website founded in 2008. An urtak survey can be created by any individual for his or her community. The users of an urtak survey can add questions of their own to the survey, as well as answer questions that have been asked by other users...
  
  

List of related topics

• List of marketing topics
• List of management topics
• List of economics topics
• List of finance topics
• List of accounting topics