Marketing Research Exam 2 Study Guide

coverage bias

misrepresentation of a population by survey results that disproportionately represent one group over another

interviewer error

mistakes made by interviewers failing to record survey responses correctly

proprietary data

secondary data owned and controlled by the organization

self-administered questionnaires

surveys in which the respondent takes the responsibility for reading and answering the questions without having them stated orally by an interviewer

site analysis techniques

techniques that use secondary data to select the best location for retail or wholesale operations

Central location interviewing

telephone interviews conducted from a central location, allowing firms to hire a staff of professional interviewers and to supervise and control the quality of interviewing more effectively

mixed-mode survey

term used to refer to a survey approach that uses more than one survey medium to reach potential respondents

Cross-checks

the comparison of data from one source with data from another source to determine the similarity of independent projects

Market tracking

the observation and analysis of trends in industry volume and brand share over time

interviewer cheating

the practice of filling in fake answers or falsifying questionnaires while working as an interviewer

data transformation

the process of changing the original form of the data to a format suitable to achieve the research objective

laboratory experiment

the researcher has more complete control over the research setting and extraneous variables

experimental treatment

the term referring to the way an experimental variable is manipulated

data mining

the use of powerful computer analytical routines to dig automatically through huge volumes of data searching for useful patterns of relationships

Confound

there is no alternative explanation beyond the experimental variables for any observed differences in the dependent variable

random digit dialing

use of telephone exchanges and random numbers to develop a sample of respondents in a landline phone survey

self-selection bias

A bias that occurs because people who feel strongly about a subject are more likely to respond to survey questions than people who feel indifferent about it.

index of retail saturation

A calculation that describes the relationship between retail demand and supply as a ratio of sales potential per unit area of retail sales space.

Data processing error

A category of administrative error that occurs because of incorrect data entry, incorrect computer programming, or other procedural errors during data analysis.

Extremity Bias

A category of response bias that results because some individuals tend to use extremes when responding to questions.

neutral networks

A form of artificial intelligence in which a computer is programmed to mimic the way human brains process information

market basket analysis

A form of data mining that analyzes anonymous point-of-sale transaction databases to identify coinciding purchases or relationships between products purchased and other retail shopping information.

sample survey

A more formal term for a survey emphasizing that respondents' opinions presumably represent a sample of the larger target population's opinion.

testing effects

A nuisance effect occurring when the initial measurement or test alerts or primes subjects in a way that affects their response to the experimental treatments.

instrumentation effect

A nuisance that occurs when a change in the wording of questions, a change in interviewers, or a change in other procedures causes a change in the dependent variable.

Robocalls

A phone call conducted by an autodialer and using a recorded voice message system.

enterprise search

A search driven by an internet type search engine that focuses on data within an organization's internal network.

mail survey

A self-administered questionnaire sent to respondents through the mail.

Internet survey

A self-administered survey administered using a web-based questionnaire

single-source data

Diverse types of data offered by a single company; usually integrated on the basis of a common variable such as geographic area or store.

between-subjects design

Each subject receives only one treatment combination

open source innovation

Effort that involves allowing other firms real-time access to otherwise proprietary data within the enterprise in an effort to expand the solution space developing innovations

Reading The Wall Street Journal to study possible changes in consumer consumption patterns of specific products is an example of ______.

Environmental scanning

demand characteristics

Experimental design element or procedure that unintentionally provides subjects with hints about the research hypothesis

Repeated measures

Experiments in which an individual subject is exposed to more than one level of an experimental treatment.

External data

Facts observed, recorded, and stored by an entity outside of the researcher's organization.

In an experiment, the ______ variable is manipulated and its effect is measured on the ______ variable.

Independent, dependent

Test-market sabotage

Intentional attempts to disrupt the results of a test-market being conducted by another firm.

An effect due to a specific combination of independent variables is called a(n) _____ effect.

Interaction

personal interview

Interactive face-to-face communication in which an interviewer asks a respondent to answer questions

Crowdsourcing

Inviting many, many people to participate in a project via the Internet and/or social networks so that even a small percentage of completers can generate a large sample

within-subjects design

Involves repeated measures because with each treatment the same subject is measured.

Attention Filters

Items that have known and obvious answers included just to see if participants are playing along.

Cover letter

Letter that accompanies a questionnaire to induce the reader to complete and return the questionnaire.

constancy of conditions

Means that subjects in all experimental groups are exposed to identical conditions except for the differing experimental treatments.

Systematic or nonsampling error

Occurs if the sampling units in an experimental cell are somehow different than the units in another cell, and this difference affects the dependent variable.

history effect

Occurs when some change other than the experimental treatment occurs during the course of an experiment that affects the dependent variable.

morality effect (sample attrition)

Occurs when some subjects withdraw from the experiment before it is completed.

Respondents

People who answer an interviewer's questions verbally or provide answers to written questions through any media delivery (paper or electronic).

door-to-door interviews

Personal interviews conducted at respondents' doorsteps in an effort to increase the participation rate in the survey.

no contacts

Potential respondents in the sense that they are members of the sampling frame but who do not receive the request to participate in the research.

cohort effect

Refers to a change in the dependent variable that occurs because members of one experimental group experienced different historical situations than members of other experimental groups.

field experiments

Research projects involving experimental manipulations that are implemented in a natural environment.

Main effect

The experimental difference in dependent variable means between the different levels of any single experimental variable.

Click-through response rate

The portion of potential respondents exposed to a hyperlink to a survey who actually click through to view the questionnaire

Randomization

The random assignment of subject and treatments to groups; it is one device or equally distributing the effects of extraneous variables of all conditions

Subjects

The sampling units for an experiment, usually human respondents who provide measures based on the experimental manipulation.

nonresponse error

The statistical differences between a survey that includes only those who responded and a perfect survey that would also include those who failed to respond.

test units

The subjects or entities whose responses to the experimental treatment are measured or observed.

acquiescence bias

The tendency to agree rather than disagree with items on questionnaires.

sample selection error

an administrative error caused by improper sample design or sampling procedure execution

Callbacks

attempts to try and contact those sample members missed in the initial attempt

Blocking variables

categorical variables included in the statistical analysis of experimental data as a way of statistically controlling or accounting for variance due to that variable

Secondary Data

data previously collected for any purpose other than the one at hand

interaction effect

differences in dependent variable means due to a specific combination of independent variables

placebo effect

effect experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent

sampling error

error arising because of inadequacies of the actual respondents to represent the population of interest

systematic error

error resulting from some imperfect aspect of the research design that causes respondent error or from a mistake in the execution of the research

internal validity

exists to the extent that an experimental variable is truly responsible for any variance in the dependent variable

item nonresponse

failure of a respondent to provide an answer to a survey question

Customer Discovery

involves mining data to look for patterns identifying who is likely to be a valuable customer

drop-off method

A survey method that requires the interviewer to travel to the respondent's location to drop off questionnaires that will be picked up later.

manipulation check

A validity test of an experimental manipulation to make sure that the manipulation does produce differences in the independent variable.

CATI

Acronym for computer-assisted telephone interviews where a computer routine automatically selects numbers from a sampling frame and schedules calls and callbacks.

Administrative error

An error caused by the improper administration or execution of the research task.

Counterbalancing

Attempts to eliminate the confounding effects of order of presentation by requiring that one fourth of the subjects be exposed to treatment A first, one fourth to treatment B first, one fourth to treatment C first, and finally one fourth to treatment D first.

social desirability bias

Bias in responses caused by respondents' desire, either conscious or unconscious, to gain prestige or appear in a different social role.

The _____ is the portion of potential respondents exposed to a hyperlink to a survey who actually click through to view the questionnaire.

Click-through response rate

Noninteractive Survey Approaches

Communication approach by which respondents give answers to static questions that does not allow a two-way or dynamic dialog.

Interactive Survey Approaches

Communication that allows spontaneous two-way interaction between the interviewer and the respondent.

Internal Data

Data that originate in the organization and represent events recorded by or generated by the organization

Tachiscope

Device that controls amount of time a subject is exposed to a visual image

Predicting next month's dollar sales based on past sales for the previous twelve months is an example of a(n) ______.

Sales forecast

Nonrespondents

Sample members who are not contacted or who refuse to cooperate in the research.

Error arising because of inadequacies of the actual respondents to represent the population of interest is called _____ error.

Sampling

Pretesting

Screening procedure that involves a trial run with a group of respondents to iron out fundamental problems in the survey design.

e-mail surveys

Survey requests distributed through electronic mail.

external validity

The accuracy with which experimental results can be generalized beyond the experimental subjects

database marketing

The use of customer databases to promote one-to-one relationships with customers and create precisely targeted promotions.

response bias

a bias that occurs when respondents either consciously or unconsciously answer questions with a certain slant that misrepresents the truth

respondent error

a category of sample bias resulting from some respondent action such as lying or inaction such as not responding

Covariate

a continuous variable included in the statistical analysis as a way of statistically controlling for variance due to that variable

Placebo

a false experiment treatment disguising the fact that no real treatment is administered

maturation effect

a function of time and the naturally occurring events that coincide with growth and experience

model building

a mathematical representation of the relationship between two or more variables; shows how one thing responds to changes in another

sample bias

a persistent tendency for the results of a sample to deviate in one direction from the true value of the population parameter

demand effect

occurs when demand characteristics actually affect the dependent variable

experimental condition

one of the possible levels of an experimental variable manipulation

Refusals

people who are unwilling to participate in a research project

mall intercept interview

personal interviews conducted in a shopping center or similar public area