Question: To what extent should you use a

> What is an online focus group? What are the distinct advantages and disadvantages of running online compared with traditional focus groups?

> Describe the purpose and benefits of using stimulus material in a focus group.

> What determines the number of focus groups that should be undertaken in any research project?

> What can the researcher do to make potential participants want to take part in a focus group?

> Why may researchers not wish to fully reveal the purpose of a focus group discussion with participants before it starts?

> Why may marketing decision makers wish to understand the context of consumption?

> What is netnography? What additional consumer insights can netnography deliver?

> What does ethnographic research aim to achieve in the study of consumers?

> What role does theory play in the approaches adopted by positivist and interpretivist researchers?

> In what ways may the positivist and the interpretivist view potential research participants?

> Explain why there may be the need for iterations between stages of the marketing-research process.

> Describe the characteristics of positivist and interpretivist researchers.

> Evaluate the differences between a European and an American approach to qualitative research.

> Why is it not always possible or desirable to use quantitative marketing research techniques?

> What do you see as the key advantages and challenges of conducting qualitative research online?

> Describe the key elements to be balanced in the application of action research.

> What does ‘listening’ mean for the qualitative researcher? How may researchers ‘listen’ to consumers?

> Is it possible for researchers to be objective?

> What stages are involved in the application of a grounded theory approach?

> Describe and illustrate two research techniques that may be utilised in ethnographic research.

> What criticisms do qualitative researchers make of the approaches adopted by quantitative researchers, and vice versa?

> Describe the steps in the marketing-research process.

> How may the data from web analytics support the practice of marketing research?

> How may data from customer relationship management systems support the practice of marketing research?

> What is a geodemographic classification of consumers?

> Why may the characteristics of consumers differ, based upon where they live?

> Describe the benefits to the researcher of being able to capture data that identify characteristics of consumers and their shopping behaviour in a store.

> Describe the benefits to the marketing decision maker of being able to capture data that identify characteristics of consumers and their shopping behaviour in a store.

> What other sources, beyond electronic scanner devices, electronically observe customer behaviour?

> What kinds of data can be gathered through electronic scanner devices?

> What might be the limitations of using Google Analytics as a source of data for marketing research projects?

> What is big data? What are the core dimensions of big data (the four Vs)?

> Explain one way to classify marketing research suppliers and services.

> How does the compilation of different types of data help to build a strong ‘picture’ of consumer characteristics?

> How may ‘operational data’ held in organisations help to build up an understanding of customer behaviour?

> What criteria would you look for when examining the design and specifications of secondary data? Why is it important to examine these criteria?

> By what criteria may secondary data be evaluated?

> How can intranets help in the location and dissemination of secondary data?

> What is the difference between internal and external secondary data?

> How may secondary data be used to validate qualitative research findings?

> Why is it important to locate and analyse secondary data before progressing to primary data?

> At what stages of the marketing research process can secondary data be used?

> What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of secondary data?

> What challenges exist in trying to quantify the size and growth of the marketing research industry on a global basis?

> What is an audit? Describe the uses, advantages and disadvantages of audits.

> Explain what an online panel is, giving examples of different types of panel. What are the advantages and disadvantages of online panels?

> List and describe the main types of syndicated sources of secondary data.

> Evaluate the desirability of using multiple sources of secondary data and intelligence.

> If you had two sources of secondary data for a project, the first being dependable but out of date, the second not dependable but up to date, which would you prefer?

> What are the differences between primary data, secondary data and marketing intelligence?

> Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of access panels.

> What are the major purposes for which descriptive research is conducted?

> Describe how quantitative techniques may be used in exploratory research.

> How may the effective problem-identification research enhance the practice of problem-solving research?

> What are the major purposes for which exploratory research is conducted?

> Differentiate between exploratory and conclusive research.

> How does formulating a research design differ from developing an approach to a problem?

> How does the subject of a study, as seen by potential research participants, affect research design?

> What expectations do marketing decision makers have of research designs?

> Why is it important to minimise total error rather than any particular source of error?

> What potential sources of error can affect a research design?

> Describe a line chart. What kind of information is commonly displayed using such charts?

> Explain what is meant by an eigenvalue.

> Define discriminant scores.

> What is the main distinction between two-group and multiple discriminant analysis?

> What is a classification matrix?

> Explain the meaning of standardised regression coefficients.

> What is the difference between ordinal and disordinal interaction?

> What is the relationship between exploratory, descriptive and causal research?

> What is the most common use of the covariate in ANCOVA?

> How is the total variation decomposed in n-way analysis of variance?

> How does n-way analysis of variance differ from the one-way procedure?

> What is the most powerful test for making a posteriori contrasts? Which test is the most conservative?

> What is an a priori contrast?

> What is meant by a suppressed association? How is it revealed?

> Define a spurious correlation.

> What measures of variability are commonly computed?

> Which non-parametric tests are the counterparts of the two-independent samples t test for parametric data?

> Which non-parametric tests are the counterparts of the paired samples t test for parametric data?

> What is a causal research design? What is its purpose?

> Describe the major sources of error related to survey fieldwork.

> What is the major difference between parametric and non-parametric tests?

> How can the researcher ensure that the generated confidence interval will be no larger than the desired interval when estimating a population proportion?

> What are the circumstances under which a researcher would use a mobile app rather than a mobile web browser?

> Why do researchers need to be careful when carrying out telephone research with mobile devices?

> How is the sample size affected when the degree of confidence with which a population mean is estimated increases from 95% to 99%?

> How is the sample size affected when the absolute precision with which a population mean is estimated is doubled?

> Why do researchers need to be careful when using mobile-based image or video functionality as part of a mystery shopping exercise?

> What are the advantages to the researcher of having an app for their MROC?

> Evaluate the factors that have led to the growth of social media research.

> Describe cohort analysis. Why is it of special interest?

> What do you see as the major challenges for researchers that emerge from the ESOMAR definition of marketing research?

> What are the advantages of a ratio scale over an interval scale? Are these advantages significant?

> What is the procedure for constructing a confidence interval around a mean?

> What is the standard error of the mean?

> What is Wilks’ λ? For what purpose is it used?

> How should the total sample be split for estimation and validation purposes?

> What are the steps involved in conducting discriminant analysis?

> Describe the relationship of discriminant analysis to regression and ANOVA.

> Describe four examples of the application of discriminant analysis.