10.4 Key Terms

Analytics Software: Allows managers who are not computer experts to gather all kinds of different information from a company’s databases—information not produced in reports regularly generated by the company. 10.1

Back Translation: A native speaker translates the survey into the foreign language and then translates it back again to the original language to determine if there were gaps in meaning—that is, if anything was lost in translation. 10.2

Case Study: Looks at how another company solved the problem that’s being researched. 10.2

Causal Research Design: Examines cause-and-effect relationships. 10.2

Clickstream Data: Is data generated about the number of people who visit a Web site and its various pages, how long they dwell there, and what they buy or don’t buy. 10.1

Closed-Ended Questions: Questions that limit a respondent’s answers. 10.2

Dashboards: Screens on the computer that make the data easily understood so that managers can detect marketing trends. 10.1

Data Cleaning: The process of removing data that have accidentally been duplicated (entered twice into the computer) or correcting data that have obviously been recorded wrong. 10.2

Data Mining: Pool knows how to access different databases and write computer programs to extract the right information from the right places at BNSF. 10.1

Data Warehousing: Combining data into one location. 10.1

Depth Interview: Engaging in detailed, one-on-one, question-and-answer sessions with potential buyers—is an exploratory research technique. 10.2

Descriptive Research Design: Involves gathering hard numbers, often via surveys, to describe or measure a phenomenon so as to answer the questions of who, what, where, when, and how.10.2

Double-Barreled Question: Don’t muddy the waters by asking two questions in the same question. 10.2

Ethnography: Researchers interview, observe, and often videotape people while they work, live, shop, and play. 10.2

Executive Summary: The executive summary summarizes all the details in the report in a very quick way. 10.2

Exploratory Research Design: An exploratory research design is useful when you are initially investigating a problem but you haven’t defined it well enough to do an in-depth study of it.  10.2

Field Experiment: An experiment conducted in a natural setting such as a store . 10.2

Findings: The findings section is a longer, fleshed-out version of the executive summary that goes into more detail about the statistics uncovered by the research that bolster the study’s findings. 10.2

Focus Group: Is a group of potential buyers who are brought together to discuss a marketing research topic with one another. 10.2

Industrial espionage: Gathering corporate information illegally or unethically is referred to as industrial espionage. 10.1

Margin of Error: The overall tendency of the study to be off kilter—that is, how far it could have gone wrong in either direction. 10.2

Marketing Information System (MIS): Is a way to manage the vast amount of information firms have on hand—information marketing professionals and managers need to make good decisions. 10.1

Marketing Research Aggregator: Is a marketing research company that doesn’t conduct its own research and sell it. 10.2

Methodology and Limitations: The methodology section of the report explains the technical details of how the research was designed and conducted. 10.2

Nonprobability Sample: Any type of sample that’s not drawn in a systematic way. 10.2

Convenience Sample: Is one type of nonprobability sample. It is a sample a researcher draws because it’s readily available and convenient to do so. 10.2

Open-Ended Questions: Questions that ask respondents to elaborate, can be included. 10.2

Physiological Measurements: Measure people’s involuntary physical responses to marketing stimuli, such as an advertisement. 10.2

Population: The universe to reflect the fact that it includes the entire target market, whether it consists of a million people, a hundred thousand, a few hundred, or a dozen. “All unmarried people over the age of eighteen who purchased Dirt Devil steam cleaners in the United States during 2011” is an example of a population that has been defined. 10.2

Probability Sample: Is one in which each sample would-be participant has a known and equal chance of being selected. 10.2

Projective Techniques: Used to reveal information research respondents might not reveal by being asked directly. 10.2

Primary Data: Is information you collect yourself, using hands-on tools such as interviews or surveys, specifically for the research project you’re conducting. 10.2

Qualitative Research: Is any form of research that includes gathering data that is not quantitative, and often involves exploring questions such as why as much as what or how much. 10.2

Recommendations: The recommendations section should outline the course of action you think should be taken based on the findings of the research and the purpose of the project. 10.2

Research Objective: Is the goal(s) the research is supposed to accomplish. 10.2

Research Design: Is your “plan of attack.” It outlines what data you are going to gather and from whom, how and when you will collect the data, and how you will analyze it once it’s been obtained. Let’s look at the data you’re going to gather first. 10.2

Sample: Is a subset of potential buyers that are representative of your entire target market. 10.2

Sampling Error: Any type of marketing research mistake that results because a sample was utilized. 10.2

Sampling Frame: The list from which the sample is drawn. 10.2

Scanner-Based Research: Is information collected by scanners at checkout stands in stores. 10.2

Secondary Data: Is data that has already been collected by someone else, or data you have already collected for another purpose. 10.2

Sentiment Analysis: Is a method of examining content in blogs, tweets, and other online media (other than news media) such as Facebook posts to determine what people are thinking at any given time. 10.1

Syndicated Research: Is primary data that marketing research firms collect on a regular basis and sell to other companies. J.D. Power & Associates is a provider of syndicated research. 10.2

Table of Contents: The table of contents outlines the major parts of the report, as well as any graphs and charts, and the page numbers on which they can be found. 10.2

Title Page: The title page explains what the report is about, when it was conducted and by whom, and who requested it. 10.2

Test Market: The place the experiment is conducted or the demographic group of people the experiment is administered to. 10.2

Valid: A study is valid if it actually tested what it was designed to test. For example, did the experiment you ran in Second Life test what it was designed to test? Did it reflect what could really happen in the real world? If not, the research isn’t valid. If you were to repeat the study, and get the same results (or nearly the same results), the research is said to be reliable. 10.2