Editing Quantitative marketing research (section)

==Typical general procedure==
Simply put, there are five major and important steps involved in the research process:

#Defining the problem.
#[[Experimental design|Research design]].
#[[Data collection]].
#[[Data analysis]].
#[[Report writing]] & presentation.

A brief discussion on these steps is:

# Problem audit and problem definition - What is the problem? What are the various aspects of the problem? What information is needed?
# Conceptualization and operationalization - How exactly do we define the concepts involved? How do we translate these concepts into observable and measurable behaviours?
# [[Hypothesis]] specification - What claim(s) do we want to test?
# Research design specification - What type of methodology to use? - examples: questionnaire, survey
# [[questionnaire construction|Question specification]] - What questions to ask? In what order?
# [[scale (social sciences)|Scale specification]] - How will preferences be rated?
# [[sampling (statistics)|Sampling design]] specification - What is the total population? What sample size is necessary for this population? What sampling method to use?- examples: '''Probability Sampling:-''' ([[cluster sampling]], [[stratified sampling]], [[simple random sampling]], [[multistage sampling]], [[systematic sampling]]) & '''[[Nonprobability sampling]]:-''' (Convenience Sampling, Judgement Sampling, Purposive Sampling, Quota Sampling, Snowball Sampling, etc. )
# Data collection - Use mail, telephone, internet, mall intercepts
# 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
# 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.
# Interpret and integrate findings - What do the results mean? What conclusions can be drawn? How do these findings relate to similar research?
# 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 in order to discover any hidden issues. The codification and analysis steps are typically performed by computer, using [[List of statistical packages|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.