Bsbmkg506b Student Book v2

student
workbook
BUSINESS
COLLEGE
diploma
marketing
Plan market research
BSBMKG506B
COURSE CODE
Student Workbook
BSBMKG506B Plan market research

1st Edition 2010
Part of a suite of support materials for the
BSB07 Business Services Training Package
Acknowledgment
Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council (IBSA) would like to
acknowledge Box Hill Institute for their assistance with the development of this
resource.
Writer: Tracy Willis
Industry reviewer: Arthur DAprano
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Published by: Innovation and Business

First published: July 2010
Industry Skills Council Ltd
Print version: 1.0
Level 11
Release date: July 2010
176 Wellington Pde
East Melbourne VIC 3002
Phone: +61 3 9815 7000
Fax: +61 3 9815 7001
e-mail: reception@ibsa.org.au
www.ibsa.org.au
ISBN: 978-1-921749-35-3
Stock code: MKG506BD
Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................1
Features of the training program .....................................................................1
Structure of the training program ....................................................................1
Recommended reading ....................................................................................1
Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs .......................................................3
What skills will you need? ................................................................................3
The role of market research in enterprise operations ....................................4
The contribution of market research to enterprise activity ............................7
Determining market research needs ...............................................................8
Targeting your research ....................................................................................9
Developing a statement of market research needs .................................... 12
Drafting research objectives ......................................................................... 14
Section summary ........................................................................................... 15
Further Reading ............................................................................................. 15
Section checklist ............................................................................................ 15
Section 2 Define Market Research Objectives ............................................... 16
What skills will you need? ............................................................................. 16
Consulting with relevant personnel on draft objectives .............................. 17
Undertaking preliminary project scoping...................................................... 17
Reviewing and finalising objectives .............................................................. 20
Section summary ........................................................................................... 22
Further Reading ............................................................................................. 22
Section 3 Define Data Gathering Approaches ................................................ 23
Designing effective research ......................................................................... 25
Identifying types of data required to inform objectives ............................... 26
Determining combinations of data types to best inform objectives ........... 31
Identifying and evaluating suitable data gathering methods ..................... 31
Sources of data .............................................................................................. 35
Quantifying required data .............................................................................. 37
Identifying and evaluating suitable data processing methods ................... 39
Making decisions about data gathering approaches .................................. 40
Section summary ........................................................................................... 41
Further Reading ............................................................................................. 41

Section 4 Develop Market Research Plan ...................................................... 42
Estimating time and resources ..................................................................... 43
Determining the feasibility of market research projects ............................. 48
Preparing a market research plan ................................................................ 49
Obtaining approval for plan ........................................................................... 52
Section summary ........................................................................................... 53
Further Reading ............................................................................................. 53
Glossary ................................................................................................................ 54
Student Workbook
Introduction
Introduction
Features of the training program
The key features of this program are:
Student Workbook (SW) Self-paced learning activities to help you to

understand key concepts and terms. The Student Workbook is broken
down into several sections.
Facilitator-led Sessions (FLS) Challenging and interesting learning

activities that can be completed in the group session or by distance
learning that will help you consolidate and apply what you have learned in
the Student Workbook.
Assessment Tasks Summative assessments where you can apply your

new skills and knowledge to solve authentic workplace tasks and
problems.
Structure of the training program

This training program introduces you to the skills, knowledge and attributes
required to plan market research. Specifically, you will develop the skills and
knowledge in the following topic areas.
1. Identify market research needs
2. Define market research objectives
3. Define data gathering approaches
4. Develop market research plan.
Note: the Student Workbook sections and session numbers are listed next to the
topics above.
Your facilitator may choose to combine or split sessions. For example, in some
cases, this Training Program may be delivered in two or three sessions, or in
others, as many as eight sessions.
Recommended reading
Some recommended reading for this unit includes:
Boyce, J (2002), Market Research in Practice, McGraw-Hill, Australia,

Roseville, NSW.
Tong, E and Taylor, D (2004), Understanding Market Research, Pearson

Education Australia, Frenchs Forest NSW.
Zikmund, W.G. (2003), Essentials of Marketing Research, 2nd Edn.,

Thompson South Western, Mason, Ohio, USA.

2010 Innovation & Business Industry Skills Council Ltd
Page 1 of 54
Introduction
Student Workbook
Directory M, 2010, Articles, viewed March 2010,

<http://articles.directorym.com/Market_Research-a545.html#65117>
Know This, 2010, Articles, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.knowthis.com/>
All About Market Rersearch, 2010, Marketing Research Tutorials,

e-Learning Tips and Guides, viewed March 2010,
<http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/links4.htm>
Page 2 of 54

Student Workbook
Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs
Section 1 Identify Market Research

Needs
This section is about identifying market research needs.
Scenario: Keiths Floor Mat Project
Source: Tong & Taylor, Understanding Market Research, p.22
Keith is the marketing director of a division within a large, diversified
manufacturing company. His division sells, among other products, floor mats
and matting to the hospitality, health care and commercial markets. He has a
solid base of customers in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes,
commercial offices and shopping centres. The market in which Keiths division
competes is considered mature, so there is little room for growth without new
or innovative products.
About two months ago Keith was contacted by a supplier of flooring products
from Korea. He was offered a range of unique floor mats that he had not seen
before. These mats have features that will have definite competitive
advantages. Keith is keen on exploring the potential of these mats before he
makes a final decision. He calls on the in-house marketing researcher for
assistance, but feels that a full-scale research project is not warranted at this
stage.
What skills will you need?

In order to work effectively as a market researcher, you must be able to:
communicate the role of market research in enterprise operations
identify the contribution of market research to enterprise activity
determine research needs
develop a statement of market research needs
draft research objectives.

Page 3 of 54
Student Workbook
The role of market research in enterprise operations

Information is the most important asset an organisation can have in our current
highly competitive environment. After all, poor decision-making results in wastage
of resources and high costs. For an organisation to make better decisions, it
needs information that is current, accurate, reliable, relevant and valid. Research
provides this information.
Research is the systematic collection and interpretation of data to increase your
understanding.
Market research can be seen as the systematic collection and interpretation of
information and data that an enterprise needs to solve a problem and make
operational and strategic decisions such as:
what customers the enterprise has, or what customers it wants to target
what markets it operates in or what markets it wants to target
the products or services it offers
any new products or services to be developed
who are the competitors to the enterprise
how to promote and distribute its products or services
what techniques or methods work best, or will work best in relation to the
sales of the products or services
what external influences will affect the enterprise and its products or
services.
Marketing research versus market research

Market and marketing research are terms often seen in publications with little
explanation of the distinction, mostly due to the methodology used to undertake
each type of research being the same for both. Some publications will note that
there is no difference; others, however, will recognise that there is a slight
technical difference between these terms.
Marketing research is about obtaining information regarding characteristics,
situations, events, attributes, attitudes and opinions that may assist an enterprise
to make marketing-related decisions. This information is specific to the
customers, or proposed customers, of the enterprise.
Market research is generally considered to have a wider approach, looking at the
same factors as marketing research but for people in general, not simply those
customers of an enterprise. Market research also commonly obtains information
about other factors such as economic, political and social factors.
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Student Workbook
Learning activity: Market research organisations

Using the internet or other sources, identify five organisations in
Australia that provide market research. For each organisation list
two examples of market research that they have conducted in the
last two years.
Document your findings below.

Page 5 of 54
Student Workbook
Communicating the role of market research

When planning market research, you will need to ensure that you can
communicate the role of the research to various groups of people both internal
and external to the organisation.
Internally you will need to communicate with managers, supervisors and
enterprise owners in order to have the research approved. This will include
advising them of:
the purpose and objectives of the planned research
the processes, costs, timelines and resource requirements.
Externally you may need to communicate with the supplier, customer and clients
to obtain their cooperation or participation in the research. They also may have an
interest in the outcomes of the research.
Learning activity: Overview of marketing research
Go to the Know This website <http://www.knowthis.com> and
review the following tutorials under Tutorials/Marketing Research:
Marketing Research
Answer the following questions.

1. What are two types of research that are appropriate for making
decisions about promotion?
2. What are the risks in market research?
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Student Workbook
The contribution of market research to enterprise activity

While the general purpose of market research is to provide an enterprise with the
information and data needed to solve a problem, market research also
contributes to an enterprise through information on:
best practices
competitors, clients, stakeholders
forecasting
o marketing
o policy making
o product or service development and delivery
strategic planning.
Best practices
Best practices can be defined as the activities, techniques, processes or
procedures that produce the best performance or optimal results. For marketing,
best practices may relate to:
product mixes
fulfilment services
sales processes
loyalty programs.
promotional activities
Market research can assist you in identifying best practices either through direct
research into some of these areas, or through an analysis of results from a
market research exercise.
Learning activity: Best practices
Using the internet or other sources, identify at least two current
best practices in marketing. Describe each best practice and
explain how it might be used in your workplace, or in a workplace
with which you are familiar.

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Student Workbook
Competitors, clients and stakeholders

Understanding the competitors, clients and stakeholders of an enterprise is
essential for success. Market research can be helpful to you in identifying these
groups, but it may also assist you in better understanding the needs of each of
these groups.
Determining market research needs

Forecasting
Forecasting is a key activity of business planning. All successful enterprises
undertake planning on a regular basis, and part of the plan usually relates to
market activities of the enterprise. Market research can provide an enterprise
with information that will assist in forecasting decision such as:
identifying trends in marketing
identifying product or service changes that will require related marketing

activities
identifying market or customer changes that may require the development

of new markets
enabling issues to be identified that are currently not supported by policy,

or where policy is currently outdated.
Strategic planning
Strategic planning refers to the high level planning that most successful
enterprises undertake. It shares some aspects of forecasting but is more focused
on identifying the objectives, goals and strategic plans of an organisation for the
medium, 35 years, and long term 510 year, periods.
Learning activity: Strategic planning
Using the internet or other sources, identify the content of a
strategic plan. Explain how market research could contribute to
each item.
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Student Workbook
Targeting your research

The initial step in planning any market research is to determine your research
needs, i.e. to determine what you really need to find out. Determining your
research needs will also make it easier for you to determine the type of research
that need to be done and therefore plan other details such as budgets and time
lines.
In order to determine the research need of the organisation, you will first need to
identify and define a market research problem.
There are five key steps involved in this process. In this section we will look in
details at steps 14. Step 5 is covered in more detail in the next section, Develop
a statement of market research needs.
1. Define the
management
problem
The reason why the research is being requested; e.g. sales fell by
20% this quarter, or we want to expand our market share. This
step will assist all parties in agreeing on the initial purpose of the
research and why it is being undertaken.
2. Understand
the research
problem
A description of the management problem from a research

perspective and an action plan of what will be done. This step
may involve some exploratory research on the part of the
researcher and is aimed at understanding if research is required,
or will be required to address the problem and to assist in
developing an approach to the research; e.g. an investigation has
found that competitors conducted an aggressive campaign during
the last quarter.
3. Find the
cause of the
management
problem
Discover the cause or underlying reason for the management

problem. Additional exploratory research may be required here in
order to narrow the research focus down to key issues, although a
broad research project may be appropriate. The main purpose of
this step is to clarify the breadth of the research, as this will affect
the budget, time and resources required; e.g. sales fell due to
products not addressing consumer needs.
4. Determine the
research
objectives
The data required from the research project and what will be done
to obtain it. This should enable you to determine the research
project name, the data that will be required and the tasks that will
be needed to obtain the data. This is a statement of the overall
project objective; e.g. to determine the consumer needs of our
product.
5. Use a
research
hypothesis
The assumptions used to establish the exact data requirements.

Typically, this is a further statement of the research objectives,
with the addition of numerical expressions and stated as a
statement to be provided or disproved by the research; e.g. sales
will improve if consumer needs are met in relation to the product.

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Student Workbook
Sources of defining a management problem

In order to define the management problem (step 1) you have two main avenues
of information:
analysing enterprise documents
consulting with staff.
Enterprise documents such as correspondence, financial reports, sales and sales

performance data and internal reports can assist in identifying potential problems
or issues that may require market research. Complaint letters, returns or service
records may identify a systemic problem with a product or service. Sales data can
show if particular products or services are not doing well or if there has been a
change in sales performance. Similarly, financial reports can also highlight
patterns or changes in product or service performance or matters related to the
sales or products or services.
Staff are also an excellent source of information on issues that may not make the
attention of management or appear in documentation. Changes in customer
behaviours or attitudes to products or services that is affecting sales, enterprise
reputation or supply issues may not be recorded, but could be experienced by
staff.
Research methodologies
There are three main types of market research:
exploratory
descriptive
causal.
Exploratory (or diagnostic research) is research aimed at gaining a better

understanding of a problem or the factors surrounding the problem. It can also
assist in identifying the underlying causes of a problem.
Exploratory research could involve:
finding out about competitors
determining demographic changes in populations
observing factors affecting the issue such as supply, access or service
talking to customers about general matters.
Descriptive research obtains information and data in the form of facts and figures
related to a specific topic or problem. Descriptive research is pre-planned and
provides definitive data that can be used to draw conclusions.
Descriptive data often provides answer to questions of who, what, where,
when, how and why. Descriptive research may include observations and
surveys.
Causal (or predictive) research is aimed at identifying cause and effect
relationships between actions and reactions. Commonly causal research involves
a combination of exploratory and descriptive research.
Page 10 of 54

Student Workbook
Learning activity: Determine research needs

Obtain the sales performance data for your workplace or a
workplace with which you are familiar.
Review the data provided apply required steps to determine the
research needs for a product or service offered by the enterprise.

Page 11 of 54
Student Workbook
Developing a statement of market research needs

The hypothesis you develop for your research should be in the form of a
statement that is to be proven or disproved. While there are no definitive rules for
constructing this statement, you should consider what the overall aim of your
research is and consider this is developing your statement.
The following table provides some suggestions on the type of information that
could be included or the possible structure of your statement for various research
situations.
Research
Situation
Possible statement inclusions/structure
Competition
Comparing consumer attitudes to an enterprises services and

those of competitors.
Identifying frequency of use of competitors products and

services.
Identifying key competitors and their strengths
measuring awareness.
developing detailed consumer profiles
identifying changes in attitudes and behaviour patterns
identifying existing, potential or lapsed consumers.
identifying attitudes towards location
identifying cooperative opportunities for distribution of

information or services
identifying demand for products or services at other locations.
identifying attitudes towards prices
identifying costs
testing alternative pricing strategies.
evaluating competitors products
evaluating consumer attitudes towards presentation and

packaging
identifying potential new products or services or ones which

may be at the end of their life cycle
measuring attitudes towards existing products or services.
measuring advertising and promotion effectiveness
testing alternative messages
testing and comparing different media options.
Consumers
Place
Pricing
Products and
Services
Promotion
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Student Workbook
Learning activity: Statements of research needs

Locate a market research proposal from your workplace, a
workplace with which workplace you are familiar or by using the
internet.
1. What was the research situation?
2. What was the statement of research needs?
Learning activity: Keiths floor mat project

Refer back to the case study presented at the start of this section.
Assume you are the in-house researcher with the resources of a
larger company available to you and answer the following.
1. What types of market research would you employ?
2. What kind of information would you be looking for, both internally and
externally, and from whom?

Page 13 of 54
Student Workbook
3. Draft a statement of market research needs for this project.
Drafting research objectives

Draft research objectives are first created during the identification of the research
needs of a market research project. Before proceeding with your research project,
you will need to further define your research objectives in order to:
undertake preliminary scoping of your project
finalise your objectives and obtain approval for the research project.
Ascertain the decision makers objectives

Having drafting the objectives of your research project, you need to determine the
objectives of the decision makers, as they will need to approve your project. It will
not matter if the decision makers are internal or external clients, or management;
if there is a misalignment between the objectives you drafted, and what they are
seeking, you are unlikely to gain approval for your project.
When reviewing your draft objectives against the initial brief provided to you, you
should consider the process undertaken to determine the objectives. In particular
you should focus on ensuring that you:
have isolated and identified the problem, not the symptoms. It is often
easier to focus on the symptoms or an issue, rather than understanding
what is causing it. This could be due to you not being fully conversant with
how the client environment operates, or because the initial brief provided
to you focused on resolving the symptoms. A market research project will
be unsuccessful if it does not uncover the causes and focus the research
on understanding these causes.
fully understand all aspects of the problem and that any assumptions you
made to determine the objective have been documented. Part of your
initial exploratory research may have required you to make assumptions.
Documenting these assumptions can ensure that you are able to explain
these decisions and will make it easier to make adjustments to your
objectives as part of the approval process.
have identified all key variables or factors that may change either your
assumptions or the outcomes.
Page 14 of 54

Student Workbook
Learning activity: Research objectives

Locate two market research proposals a workplace you are
familiar with or using the internet.
What are the research objectives?
Section summary
You should now understand how to identify market research needs.
Further Reading
Directory M, 2010, Articles, viewed March 2010,

<http://articles.directorym.com/Market_Research-a545.html#65117>
Know This, 2010, Marketing Research, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/marketingresearch/>
Business Owners Tool Kit, 2010, Market Research, viewed March 2010,
<http://www.toolkit.com/small_business_guide/sbg.aspx?nid=P03
_3000>
Boyce, J (2002), Market Research in Practice, McGraw-Hill, Australia,

Roseville, NSW, Chapter 1.

Education Australia, Frenchs Forest NSW, Chapters 13.
Section checklist
Before you proceed to the next section, make sure that you are able to:
communicate the role of market research in enterprise operations
identify the contribution of market research to enterprise activity
determine research needs
develop a statement of market research needs
draft research objectives.

Page 15 of 54
Section 2 Define Market Research Objectives
Student Workbook
Section 2 Define Market Research

Objectives
This section is about defining market research objectives and preparing a project
scope.
Scenario: RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company
William G. Zikmund, Essentials of Marketing Research, p.42
You are assigned to take over the marketing research effort when RJ Reynolds
Tobacco Company is developing an almost smokeless cigarette. You are told
that the smokeless cigarette does not burn tobacco and greatly reduces the
production of harmful substances linked to health concerns. RJ Reynolds
executives believe it will be the worlds cleanest cigarette.
The new cigarette is like a normal cigarette; then a carbon heat source at its tip
generates warm air that passes through tobacco extract, flavourings, and
glycerine to form smoke that tastes like cigarette smoke. The cigarette includes
carbon monoxide and nicotine at similar levels to low-tar brands on the market
now. However, because the tobacco does not burn, most of the combustion
products linked to cancer and other health risks are eliminated or greatly
reduced. The new cigarette produces almost no side-stream smoke, and after
the first few puffs there is no ash and no odour. Further, the exhaled smoke
dissipates quickly. The cigarette does not burn down. It remains lit for as long as
a king-size cigarette does and extinguishes itself.
Will a smokeless cigarette appeal to smokers? Will non-smokers be tolerant of a
smokeless cigarette? In what situations will a smokeless cigarette be preferred
to a regular cigarette? The research process can help answer questions such as
these, but what form should the research take? Should a laboratory taste test
be conducted? Should a survey of non-smokers be part of the research
strategy?

In order to work effectively as a market researcher you must be able to:
undertake preliminary project scoping
consult with relevant personnel on draft objectives to ensure relevant
and useful information is gathered
review and finalise draft objectives in light of scoping parameters.
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Student Workbook
Consulting with relevant personnel on draft objectives

Draft objectives should be approved before you continue with the next stage of
planning your project. While the decision makers for your project will need to
approve your overall project and the objectives, sometimes it may be helpful to
consult with others when drafting your objectives.
Colleagues may have been involved in similar research projects in the past, or
may have more experience at planning market research, and therefore are good
sources of information. They can assist you in refining your draft objectives,
ensuring matters such as:
the wording of the objectives is clear
the objectives are not in conflict with organisational policy and procedure,
ethical or external legislative or compliance matters
providing ideas and suggestions to you assist you in scoping your project.
If you are planning research for a client, speaking with the staff working for the
client, or to the actual client enables you to:
clarify your assumptions
ensure the objectives makes sense
ensure that the objectives will fit within the overall expectations of the
client.
Undertaking preliminary project scoping

A market research project needs to be managed in a similar manner to any other
project, and as such, an important step is to scope the project.
A project scope is a document that outlines the plans for the project and is used
to record approval. In project management terms, the project scope is added to
after initial approval and becomes the project plan. For a marketing project, the
project scope may also be referred to as the draft research proposal and is used
mainly to:
outline the overall objectives of the market research
provide an initial plan on how the research will be conducted
outline time requirements.
Project scope content and structure

The exact content and structure of the scope will vary slightly according to the
nature of the planned project.

Page 17 of 54
Student Workbook
Section
Content
Title Page &

Introduction
The introductory sections of the scope should be a

statement of essential preliminary information about the
proposed research project including:
Main Body
Sign-off and
acceptance
project name
project owner
sponsors
stakeholders.
This section should provide an overview of the proposed

project. As this document will be the means by which you
obtain approval for the project to proceed, you will need to
ensure that the information you provide in this section is
detailed, but clear and concise. Your content should
include:
an estimate of the resources required
research details
time constraints
details of any external assistance that may be

required.
All projects require approval at various stages. The

approval should be formal and in writing and is usually
recorded on the scope document.
Resource requirements
A market research project will require human, financial and physical resources. A
project scope should clearly identify the requirements and availability under each
of the categories.
Human resources refer to the actual people that will
be required, and are available to undertake the tasks
associated with the project. Care needs to be taken
here to ensure that you do not underestimate the
requirements in this area by not adequately allowing
for:
the appropriate length of a work day
planned and unplanned absences
overall availability, i.e. what other commitments each individual may have
in the workplace and how these will affect how much they can work on the
new project.
a source of back-up staff (such as an agency) for peak work task periods.
Financial resources are about ensuring that you have adequate budget allocated
to cover all costs associated with the project.
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Student Workbook
You will also need to have a means for tracking expenditure accurately so you that
the project does not exceed its budget. While it is difficult in
the early planning stages to be precise, you should try to
ensure that your budget adequately plans for:
staff costs
equipment
location/premises costs
paid research
external expenditure related to the collection or analysis of the research

data.
Physical resources refer to the equipment and tools

that will be needed to undertake the research
project. Ensure you have identified all physical
resources including:
electronic equipment and software, including

computers
research tools and instruments
product samples
location or premises to run the research project or to conduct the research.
Research Details
Research details are the detail behind what you are going to do and how you are
going to do it. Your research details need to include possible:
research locations.
o Where will your research and researchers be based?
o Will researchers need to be located with the research subjects?
research methodologies.
o Is your planned research, exploratory, descriptive or causal?
o What data collection methods will you use?
source of data.
o Are you planning to collect primary research?
o What is the profile of your primary data sources?
o What are your sources of secondary research?
o What sample size and method do you think will be required?
Time constraints
The initial discussions with the client about a market research project should
include gaining information about their expectation of the type of outcomes they
are seeking and the time they are willing to commit to the project. This time
should refer to how quickly they are expecting results.
The time constraints at the project scoping stage refer to the conflict that
sometimes occurs between the estimated time that the research will take, and
the available time that the client is willing to allow.
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Part of the role of the market researcher is to present a convincing argument to

the client to convince them to approve the research project. Where a convincing
argument can be made, for example, linking a better quality outcome to more
detailed research, then what the client will allow for the project is more likely to
increase.
External assistance
External assistance may be required for your project and costs may be associated
with their use. The use of external assistance may also mean that additional
allowances may be needed in your timeline to cater for factors outside of your
control, but which may impact on their ability to deliver within your required times.
The types of external assistance may include:
the use of a specialist market research organisation to assist in collecting

and analysing primary data
the purchase of secondary data
use of external labour, such as contract or temporary staff.
Learning activity: Project templates

Using the internet, your workplace or other sources, to locate the
following:
three different project scope templates
two different timelines mechanisms or project charts.
Review these documents.

Draft templates you could use for scoping and planning and tracking activities
for a market research project.
Reviewing and finalising objectives

Before seeking approval of your project scope, you should undertake a review of
your objectives and finalise the details.
This may involve further consultation with colleagues or the client and is essential
in enabling you to document the correct objectives in your scope.
Once the scope document is approved, any changes to the objectives will require
you to amend your scope and have it approved again. Changes in the scope may
also mean that the methods and approach originally proposed need to change
and may not result in scope approval when re-presented to the decision makers.
Any detailed project plan you created following approval of the scope, will also
becomes useless, if fundamental changes are made to the objectives and scope
or the proposed market research.
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Learning activity: Define market research objectives

Go to the Know This website <http://www.knowthis.com> and
review the following tutorials under Tutorials/Marketing Research:
Planning for marketing research
Describe the seven steps for planning marketing research.

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Section summary
You should now understand how to define market research objectives and
prepare a project scope.
Further Reading
Know This, 2010, Marketing Tutorials, News, How-to and More, viewed
March 2010, <http://www.knowthis.com>
About.com, 2010, How To Manage A Project, viewed March 2010,

<http://management.about.com/od/projectmanagement/ht/ProjMgtStep
s.htm>
Mind Tools, 2010, Project Management Tools, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_PPM.htm>

Education Australia, Frenchs Forest NSW, Chapters 45.
Zikmund, W.G. (2003), Essentials of Marketing Research, 2nd Edn.,

Thompson South Western, Mason, Ohio, USA, Chapter 3.
Section checklist
consult with relevant personnel on draft objectives
undertake preliminary project scoping
review and finalise objectives.
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Section 3 Define Data Gathering Approaches
Section 3 Define Data Gathering

Approaches
This section is about defining data gathering approaches.
Case Study: How to overcome five key online retailing challenges
by Heidi Cohen, ClickZ, Jan 31, 2008. <http://www.clickz.com/3628271>
While many e-tailers have enjoyed rapid growth since the 1990s, the recent
holiday results show this trend is starting to slow. Combined with the cloudy U.S.
economic forecasts and the increasing cost of paid keywords, it's easy to
conclude that we're looking at a maturing online market. This is evolving into a
market where share often must be achieved at the competitor's expense and
consumers are more reticent to part with their cash.
Today, online merchants must cater to increasingly online-savvy, time-crunched
consumers. The five top challenges e-tailers face are:
Competitors are just a click away. When consumers search, they have
multiple options available, and many use a search program to navigate
the Web rather than type in or bookmark specific sites.
Visitors can disappear in 15 seconds or less. Online consumers are goaloriented shoppers. If they don't immediately find what they are looking
for when they reach your site or landing page, they are gone in under 15
seconds.
Shopping is a multistep process. Online consumers love to browse. Many

spend a fair bit of time visiting several sites just to gather information.
They may also compare the offerings of several competitors before
hitting the buy now button.
Time between initial visit and purchase has increased. Increasingly

financially challenged consumers may wait longer before buying.
Customers wait for merchants' best offer. Having been seduced during
the holiday season with free shipping and handling and other pricedriven offers, consumers have been trained to wait for a special deal.
Whats a marketer to do?

Multivariate analysis is one option that can help marketers significantly improve
the effectiveness of their site pages, landing pages, e-mail messages, and
shopping process. According to Mark Wachen, CEO of Optimost (recently
acquired by Interwoven), over 90% of clients experienced double-digit
percentage improvement in conversion when they initially add multivariate
analysis to their marketing tools. This often translates into a seven-figure
increase in revenues.

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For example, Delta's multivariate optimization yielded over $20 million in

incremental revenue, and Lillian Vernon's increased online sales by over $1
million. Wachen notes that changing areas that affect all transactions, such as
the credit card input process, often have the biggest impact.
The benefits of multivariate analysis
Multivariate analysis can improve results quickly. While direct marketers have
long been well versed in A/B testing and generally incorporate it into every
offline mailing they do, multivariate analysis is very difficult to implement offline.
However, internet marketing works well with this powerful tool. Multivariate
analysis:
requires a smaller test population. While a baseline number of test

subjects is needed, this population can be used to test hundreds of
options rather than just two.
yields results relatively quickly. By using traffic more efficiently, more

permutations can be parallel-tested, rather than serially testing one pair
at a time using A/B testing.
reduces creative costs dramatically. Multivariate analysis involves testing

sometimes thousands of versions of images or copy. Offline, the expense
for creating these inputs can be tremendous. In the online world,
technology allows you to create these versions at a fraction of the cost.
eliminates interactions between variables that can reduce or obfuscate

results. A/B testing can only show that one option is better than another.
If multiple factors have been changed, it is difficult to discern what
caused that improvement.
Five factors that marketers should consider before using multivariate analysis:
Multivariate analysis is an iterative process. Online marketing content

tends to wear out faster than offline collateral. Further, online content
tends to evolve over time.
Not all multivariate methodologies are created equal. You want to select
a method that allows you to customize the design to meet your needs.
Use a methodology with a modern, optimal design as opposed to a preplanned one.
What is the statistical significance? Have someone who understands the

statistical implications of these types of tests assess the findings. With
multivariate analysis, there's an increased chance of false positives
(instances where the conclusion is incorrect). This is another reason for
having an iterative process.
You need sufficient technology resources. Since multivariate analysis

tests many options, you must be able to implement the identified
optimizing changes quickly to get maximum benefit.
You can bring in outside expertise. You do not need to build or buy the
technology, nor hire specialised staff to get these benefits.
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While multivariate analysis may sound complicated and expensive as a

marketing tool, the potential results are large and measurable. This approach
has the power to make the kind of significant improvements you need in your
business in the face of increasingly competitive markets. Why guess at the
optimal changes necessary for your marketing and presentation, when the right
combination is easily knowable? Multivariate analysis is really the only way for
your online marketing to live up to its potential and make sure you're
introducing only those changes that will help, not hurt.

design research
identify types of data required to inform objectives
determine combinations of data types to best inform objectives
identify and evaluate suitable data gathering methods
identify data sources
quantify required data
identify and evaluate suitable data processing methods
make decisions in relation to data types, combinations, gathering
methods, sources, quantities and processing methods.
Designing effective research

The design of your research will be linked to the type of research you are
conducting. As discussed in Section 1, the type of research you are undertaking
will be determined by the intended use of your research.
The type of research being conducted will determine your:
types and sources of data
data collection methods.
The diagram following provides a summary guide to the design of your research by
linking:
the research type
data type and source
data collection method
the main use for the data.

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Source: adapted from Tong and Taylor, 2004, p.66
Identifying types of data required to inform objectives

Data can be obtained from a number of different sources. Main data types
include:
primary research data
secondary research data
formal or informal research
government statistics
trade and business associations
quantitative research data.
Primary research data

Primary research means seeking data that does not already exist. It is getting
original data that is not available anywhere else and can only be obtained by
communicating with people or making observations about people and situations.
The results of primary research can then become the secondary research data for
someone else.
Primary data is usually the most expensive form of data gathering. It is also
usually the most valuable, as the data is gathered for a specific organisation.
If Wishlist.com wants to know what their customers think of their fulfilment
processes, their researchers may chose to send a sample of their customers a
survey, perhaps via mail, e-mail or even conduct the survey over the telephone.
This research will be expensive and time consuming. The information gained will
be specific and highly actionable.
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If they, however, used secondary data and used another dotcoms research the
picture would only tell them potential generic weaknesses and show very little that
is specific about their own strengths or weaknesses.
Secondary research data
Secondary research means seeking data that already exists, such as facts and
figures. It is getting data that has been obtained by others, either for their own
use or for business advantage.
Secondary data is always easier and cheaper to obtain than primary data, but it
should always be critically evaluated prior to use. The secondary data selected for
use may prove to be irrelevant, inadequate or even plain wrong.
The internet is known for having un-referenced and invalidated data so the use of
data from this source needs to be used carefully. Primary data needs to be sought
only if there is no appropriate secondary data available or the data required is
highly specific in nature. Secondary data may be:
internal budgets, sales figures, profit and loss statements, customer

billings, inventory records, prior research reports, accounting data
external government sources or non government sources such as

research companies.
You should always examine all available secondary data before proceeding to
primary data. Why? Because it may provide the information that you need. But
remember secondary data has limitations.
Learning activity: Secondary research data
Obtain an internal example of secondary research data for your
workplace or an organisation you are familiar with.
List the name of the document and describe the contents.
Formal and informal research

Market research can be formal or informal, broad or specific depending on the
research objectives.
Conducting a customer satisfaction survey may involve many factors or variables;
it may cover a broad range of topics such as customer service, quality of products,
pricing, ease of contact of the company personnel, delivery time or technical
support. A more informal marketing research could be simply asking the sales
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representatives of the company some questions about their competitors or

activities in the market place, or even analysing the companys sales statistics
from internal records. The type of market research that a business adopts is to
address a particular problem and will depend on the research objectives or the
overall purpose or outcome. It will also depend on the type of data required, the
means of getting the data and the resources available.
Government statistics
In Australia, the main government source of business, economic and demographic
data is the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Many other government and nongovernment organisations, i.e. The Australian Stock Exchange, Real Estate
Institute of Australia and market research organisations are all rich sources of
data. Research data is often obtainable in text form, on CD or even online from a
local library, or a Higher Education library.
While this data is readily available, you must be careful, as its usefulness may be
limited. You should always ask: How current is the data? How relevant is it to the
project at hand? Why was it collected in the first place?
Learning activity: Government statistics
Go to the ABS website <http://www.abs.gov.au/> and review the
types of data available and the various formats.
Describe the demographic data available from the ABS.
What other data is available from this website?
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Trade and business associations

Trade and business associations are generally membership supported
organisations whose mission is to offer assistance and represent the interests of
those operating in a specific industry. One of the many tasks performed by trade
and business associations is to provide research information and industry metrics
through such methods as conducting member surveys. Accessing this information
may be as simple as visiting a trade associations website, although some
associations limit access to the best research to members only, in which case
joining the association (if they permit) may include paying dues.
Learning activity: Trade and business associations
1. List the trade or business associations that are relevant to the
industry in which you operate, or to an industry familiar to you.
2. What sort of market research data do these associations make available to:
a. Their members?
b. The general public?

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Quantitative research
The quantitative approach to research usually involves the use of statistical
analysis. It uses numerical evidence to draw conclusions and test hypotheses. To
ensure that the data is valid, large numbers of respondents are needed. Larger
groups tend to help with determining if there is a reliable behavioural or
attitudinal pattern.
For example, only the Information Technology department employees may have a
high Internet usage. When a larger pool of respondents is questioned, the data
may reveal the IT group is relatively small in comparison to the rest of the
companys population that does not have access to the internet. The data can
come from:
questionnaires
surveys
observation
experiments.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research uses small samples of information to gain insights and
understandings of the possible underlying reasons and motivations of the
interviewee. It is not a structured method of data collection. It uses non-statistical
methods to analyse the data. Findings cannot be generalised to the population.
Quantitative research is a structured method and uses large sample sizes. It
quantifies the data and generalises the results to the population via statistical
analysis. Qualitative research can be done before the quantitative research
methods are designed. It could be argued that the two methods actually
complement each other (e.g. you might interview three employees to access their
opinion of the common needs of the company. Their thoughts provide the
background required to design the survey).
A qualitative approach to research is not concerned with statistical analysis. It is
interested in quality results. It involves gathering a great deal of information
about a small number of people or organisations, rather than a limited amount of
information about a large number of people or organisations.
The information is not frequently presented in numerical form. Qualitative
researchers believe that a full and rounded data picture emerges from
interviewing a limited number of employees. Even though this group may not be
representative of the whole group, the research will provide a deeper and richer
understanding of these individuals experiences. Qualitative research methods
include:
one-on-one interviews
focus groups
panels
test markets.
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Determining combinations of data types to best inform objectives

When deciding on the data you will need, it is common that more than one type
will be required.
The combination of the data you obtain will be informed by the market research
objectives.
For example, assume you were trying to determine the number of people that
used a particular service and also why they chose that service, instead of the
similar service provided by a competitor.
Internal secondary data (sales figures) would enable you to determine the number
of people using a particular service, but you would need to undertake primary,
qualitative research, possible via an interview or focus groups in order to
determine why they chose that particular service.
Learning activity: Data combinations
Locate a market research report and review the content.
What is the combination of data types that was used to produce
this report?
Identifying and evaluating suitable data gathering methods

There are many different data gathering methods.
Case study investigation
Case studies are a form of qualitative descriptive research. They are an in-depth
investigation or study of a single individual, group, incident, or community. For
market researchers, a case study looks intensely at an individual or small
participant pool, drawing conclusions only about that participant or group and only
in that specific context. Researchers do not focus on cause-effect relationships;
instead, emphasis is placed on exploration and description.

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Focus groups
Focus groups are the most common form of qualitative research. They are small
groups of people (usually between 4 and 15, but typically 8) brought together with
a moderator to focus on a specific product or topic. Focus groups aim at a
discussion instead of on individual responses to formal questions, and produce
qualitative data (preferences and beliefs) that may or may not be representative
of the general population.
Applications for focus groups include:
generating ideas
testing concepts
defining problems and structuring questions for future research
gaining insight in consumer needs, preferences, behaviours, and attitudes
interpreting quantitative findings.
Learning activity: Focus groups

1. Research and list three advantages of focus groups.
2. Research and list three disadvantages of focus groups.
Literature searches
Literature searches are a form of secondary research that involves searching
through recognized publications for the relevant information to assist in solving
the market research problem, or finding data to assist with solving the problem.
Typically, literature searches include a check of:
statistics
magazines
trade journal articles
newspapers
other articles
books.
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Surveys and questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires are quantitative research methods for the collection
of primary research data. Both surveys and questionnaires are typically in a
standardised format that makes them easily analysed using statistical methods.
Applications for surveys and questionnaires include:
likes and dislikes
expectations
opinions
preferences.
attitudes
Learning activity: Surveys and questionnaires

1. What is an unstructured question?
2. Identify and describe the steps involved in creating an effective survey or

questionnaire
3. Locate a marketing survey on the internet. Assuming this is the only research
data being obtained, what do you think the objective of this market research is?

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In-depth interviews
In-depth interviews are a qualitative research method that involves an interviewer
asking questions in a one-on-one situation, typically face-to-face. Unlike
questionnaires or surveys, the format is less structured with the skill of the
interviewer relied upon to obtain sufficient information about the topic or issue
areas that are being researched.
Applications for in-depth interviews include:
dealing with confidential or sensitive situations
using visual or audio cues or product samples
probing for detailed responses
when issues are complex and require lengthy discussion
dealing with issues that require detailed information, but may not get
accurate responses in groups or on paper, such as those that are highly
emotive or involve ethical or value judgements.
Personal observation of performance

An observation records the behaviours in a systematic manner and is a
quantitative data research method. An important aspect of observation is that
there is no contact between the observer and those being observed.
Observations can be:
personal the observer is the person who sees and records the
behaviours as they occur.
mechanical observation is recorded using some form of mechanical

device, e.g. a video camera or scanning devices.
structured a prepared format is used to record the observation data.
unstructured all relevant observations are recorded without the use of a

set format to record the data.
disguised the subject of the observation is not aware they are being
observed, e.g. hidden cameras used to record animals in their natural
habitat.
undisguised the subject is aware they are being observed, e.g. practical
exams or a staff member being watched by their supervisor.
direct - observations are undertaken in at the time they occur and in their
usual setting.
indirect reviewing past behaviour or indictors of past behaviours from

other sources.
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Sources of data
Due to the expense involved in obtaining primary data, most enterprises will rely
on secondary data wherever possible. Secondary data for market research can be
classified as internal or external data.
Internal data sources
Internal data sources of secondary data include any data gathered or generated
by the enterprise for purposes other than marketing. Examples of internal
secondary data sources include:
sales reports especially those where individual product, service or

department records are provided. These may be weekly, monthly, quarterly
or annual reports and in large enterprises, may even be broken down by
location (i.e. store by store) or geographic area (i.e. state or region).
customer database
financial records such as plans, budget, expenditure or profitability reports
competitor information gathered by staff
past marketing data and/or reports.
Internal information can provide information such as:
sales, by product or service
the types of products or service that sell best at various times of the year
the colours and sizes of products that customers prefer
what types of products or services are sold together
which products or services do not sell well or have long turnover periods
products or services that are the least expensive to provide or produce.
Learning activity: Internal data sources

Obtain and review at least two different internal documents, of the types
mentioned above, for your workplace or an enterprise with which
you are familiar.
What do these reports tell you about the products or services
offered by this enterprise?

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External data sources

External research includes all other data that is available, including:
information from publications, such as those available through a literature

search
data and information collected by industry experts, trade associations, or

professional associations
information and data from government sources such as the Australian

Bureau or Statistics
information and data collected by organisations that specialise in

gathering and compiling data. In Australia this would include organisations
such as Roy Morgan Research, ACNielsen, IBISWorld, Dun and Bradstreet
and Choice.
When looking at external information sources you need to determine which

enterprises will provide the appropriate information and how much it will cost. Not
all information is available for free. Most government sources, public libraries and
universities have information that is either free or inexpensive. Many research
organisations charge a fee for providing their data or information.
Learning activity: External sources
Interview a colleague who has planned or participated in market
research in the past that has included external data in order to
answer the following questions.
1. What external sources have been most useful and why?
2. What is the approximate cost of external market research data?
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3. What, if any, organisations (i.e. market research companies, industry

associations etc.), do the enterprise have an association with that provide
market research data?
Quantifying required data

When identifying the quantity of data required the first question you need to
answer before collecting data is, Do I have to contact everybody in the population
of interest, or do I contact a small section? Think of your local bookstore.
If you were hired to find out how customers evaluated the store compared to
competitors, would you try to contact everyone that lives and works in the local
area? The answer would be no, as it would cost too much in both time and money
to collect the data from everyone. In most research situations, you would collect
the data from a sample of the population of interest.
Sampling
Sampling is a process where a small portion of the population is used to collect
data from which judgements are made about the entire population.
Census
A census is where data is collected from every element in the population. This
would occur if the population of interest is very small and you have the resources
to do the research, e.g. business-to-business research. An example of a large
research project involving data collection from the whole population of interest is
the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census. This is conducted every five years; it
takes approximately 18 months to 2 years to analyse and produce the data, and
costs millions of dollars.

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Designing samples
Learning activity: Sampling

Go to the Stat Trek website:
<http://stattrek.com/lesson1/statistics-intro.aspx > and review
the following tutorials under Statistics and Probability/Survey
Sampling.
Sampling methods
SRS
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Sample planning.
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Identifying and evaluating suitable data processing methods

Data that you gather will need to be processed. When planning a market research
project, you should determine the method you will use for processing the data.
The main considerations in deciding how to process the data gathered will
include:
the type of analysis that will be required
the amount of data to be collected
the available budget
the time available.
The more data that you collect and the more complex the required analysis, the
more likely you are to need access to an expert such as a statistician or access to
an organisation that provides data processing and analysis services for market
research projects.
Less complex analysis can be undertaken using specialist statistical software,
however this can be expensive and will require special training to be used. This
may not be viable if the enterprise is not regularly conducting market research.
Small market research projects that do not require complex statistical modelling
can be analysed using tools such as Microsoft Excel, or similar.
Very basic calculation with small data sets can be undertaken using a statistical
calculator.
Learning activity: Data processing methods
Investigate how market research data is analysed at your
workplace or an enterprise you are familiar with. You should
determine:
If the data is processed internally or externally.
What tools/programs are used to analyse the data.
If the method of data processing varies according to the size of the

project.

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Making decisions about data gathering approaches

In order to make a final determination as to the data gathering approaches to use
in your market research project, you need to consider the choices you have made
so far in relation to:
the data types and combinations you have selected
the data gathering methods that you selected
the sources and quantities of data you have identified
the data processing methods you have selected.
Your choices need to be viewed in the context of the overall objectives of the
project and considering the project scope. In particular you need to consider the
questions in the checklist below and ensure that you can answer positively for all.
If you are unable to provide a positive response, you need to either revisit your
data choice or adjust your project scope, which will then require another approval.
Yes
Question
No
In relation to data gathering approaches, are your choices:

1. Achievable with available resources?
2. Achievable with available budget?
3. Achievable within allocated time frame?
4. Consistent with organisational policies and procedures?
5. Those that will best satisfy the research objectives?
Learning activity: Data collection

Go to the Know This website: <http://www.knowthis.com>
Review the following tutorials under Tutorials/Marketing
Research.
Data collection: primary research methods
Data collection low-cost secondary research
Data collection: high-cost secondary research.
Answer the following questions:

1. List two advantages and two disadvantages of primary research.
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2. List two advantages and disadvantages of secondary research.
3. What is a white paper?
Section summary
You should now understand how to define data gathering approaches.
Further Reading
Know This, 2010, Marketing Tutorials, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.knowthis.com>
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.abs.gov.au>
Business Owners Tool Kit, 2010, Market Research, viewed March 2010,
<http://www.toolkit.com/small_business_guide/sbg.aspx?nid=P03_
3000>
StatPac, 2010, Survey & Questionnaire Design, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.statpac.com/surveys/>
Section checklist
design research
identify types of data
determine combinations of data types
identify and evaluate data gathering methods
identify data sources
quantify required data
identify and evaluate data processing methods
make decisions about data gathering approaches.
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Section 4 Develop Market Research Plan
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Section 4 Develop Market Research

Plan
This section is about developing a market research plan.
Scenario: Use a marketing research plan to focus on your market
by Kris Bovay
Ezine Articles, 2010, Intellectual Property,<http://ezinearticles.com/?Use-aMarketing-Research-Plan-to-Focus-on-Your-Market&id=261045>
A marketing research plan needs to include different types of market research,
and include the impact or results of that research in your business and/or your
business plan. You can build a stronger value proposition by using a targeted
marketing research process and approach.
What are some different types of market research? In terms of the process of
analysing your market, there is primary research (collected for the 'first' time,
original investigation) and secondary research (use of data and analysis from
other sources, online and offline). Primary is usually more time consuming and
expensive but is more likely to be more clearly targeted on a specific issue or
problem; secondary may be more general, less targeted but more economical.
Why is having a marketing research plan important to your business? Without a
plan you will not understand as much as you should about your market. For
example, you will not know how your market (that is, customers) feels about
your service, your products and your brand until they demonstrate it by not
buying your products. The opposite of that buying too much of your products
can also have an impact on your business. You may be forced into the position
of not being able to satisfy a demand that you did not see coming. In either
scenario, the result will be unsatisfied customers.
The marketing research process and approach can include using methods such
as surveys, interviews (face-to-face or telephone), and focus groups. It can be
used to investigate competitive activities and impacts; the health of the industry
you operate in; brand awareness and credibility; the impact and effectiveness of
your advertising 'spend'; what motivates your customers to buy (from you or your
competition); how satisfied your customers are (or are not) and what it is that
makes them satisfied, or not; what products or services you should add to your
line; how to more narrowly target your market; whether you should grow your
geographically reach; and much more.
Conducting marketing analysis includes defining the management issue or
question to be answered (the why); developing the proposal (how will the issue
be studied); identifying what will be studied, the time frame (when it will be
studied and for how long), and who will be doing the analysis. Once the problem
is clearly defined, the key issues in researching revolve around accurate and
unbiased data collection, analysis and interpretation of the data and reporting
of results.
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Of critical importance, once the marketing research plan is completed, and the
analysis has been conducted, is to act on the recommendations of the study.
The investment of your time and resources must benefit the business: if you
trust the results of the analysis and research, then make decisions and take
action on the outcomes. If you do not trust or believe the results of the research,
then invest in re-doing it, or have a third party consultant or researcher take a
different approach. But do not go into a research project with a pre-defined idea
of what the result should be; you will build bias into the study and be
disappointed in the outcomes.
Use the 9 Steps to Your Marketing Research Plan to build your own plan and to
focus your marketing research process on the most effective approaches and
methods for your business.

estimate time and resource requirements
determine feasibility of market research projects
prepare a market research plan
obtain approval for plan.
Estimating time and resources

Time requirements and time lines
The time required for a research project is one of the hardest things to determine.
Experience is the best teacher in this regard.
To estimate time for a project you need to:

1. identify all activities that must be completed. Ensure that you have a thorough
understanding of the project so that all required activities are identified.
2. identify the individual tasks that must occur for each of the activities. For each
activity you then need to identify all tasks. This will require a detailed
understanding of how the research is to be undertaken and therefore you will
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need to ensure that you have finalised, and had approved, your data gathering
approaches.
3. determine the time required for each task. A common mistake made when
estimating time requirements for projects tasks is that the person planning
the project uses themselves as a guide to how long a task will take, forgetting
that this may not be the same for everyone. Also, if there is a task that they
are unfamiliar with, they may guess, rather than seek the advice of experts.
4. identify the interdependencies between tasks and any lag time. Some tasks or
activities may need previous tasks or work to be completed before they can
commence. For example, if you were planning to conduct a survey as part of
your survey, then the survey would need to be created first; this is an example
of interdependency.
Further to this, you also need to allow for lag time, the gaps between tasks
when things are in transit. Lag time will be influenced by outside factors such
as seeking approvals, or delays from external suppliers, so while the work
effort may only be eight hours for your project, only two hours initial work may
be possible, with the remaining six hours to be done once information has
been received from an external source; thus this task could take two weeks to
complete, due to the lag time in the middle.
5. create a timeline showing tasks, interdependencies and lag time to determine
the overall project time. A chart that lists the activities, tasks and maps their
completion on a time line is a common project management tool. Templates
are available in many project management tools, although for simpler projects,
you could use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel to achieve
this.
Projects often run into trouble due to unrealistic timelines. The following are some
tips for accurately estimating time lines in projects.
Estimate the productive hours per day, as no one works at 100% capacity
for 100% of the day. As an estimate, most people scheduled for a standard
7.6 hour day, would have 66.5 productive hours once you account for
influences such as socialising, bathroom breaks, interruptions, getting
refreshments etc.
Allow for a loss of productivity when people are working on multiple

projects. If people are switching between multiple projects you need to
recognise that it takes time to stop one piece of work and start up another.
You may need to allow for a 10% reduction in productive hours on each
project where a person is multi-tasking.
Determine how many resources will be applied to each activity. In general,

the more resources you can apply to activities, the quicker they can be
completed. Obviously two resources may be able to complete an activity
faster than one person (but it may not be twice as fast).
Factor in available workdays. Take into account planned leave, public

holidays, weekends, meetings and training. You may also wish to build in
some additional time into your project for unplanned absences.
Take into account any resources that are not full time. If you have a
resource 50% of the time, it will take that resource at least twice as long to
do any individual activity.
Page 44 of 54

Student Workbook
Learning activity: Scope creep

Go to the Jivaldi website and read the article Understanding the
Scope and Deliverables within a Marketing Project:
<http://www.jivaldi.com/articles/understanding_the_scope_and_
deliverables_within_a_marketing_project.html>
Answer the following questions:
1. What is scope creep?
2. What are two factors that lead to scope creep? Describe them.

Page 45 of 54
Student Workbook
Resource estimates
Determining resource requirements needs to occur after you have done the initial
time estimates, as it is difficult to provide an accurate estimate of which
resources until you know what activities and tasks are required.
Resources can be split into three distinct categories:
physical
financial
human.
When estimating the resource needs for a market research project you will need
to ensure you plan for contingencies. Without adequate contingency
arrangements, any resource problems or issues that during the project could
result in:
the project not being completed on time
cost overruns
the objective not being achieved
the project not being complete at all.
While there is no magic formula for estimating resources, there is a logical order
to approaching this:
determine physical resources
determine human resources
determine financial resources.
Physical resources can be determined by looking at the activities and tasks and
identifying what is required for each.
To estimate human resources there are many approaches, a simple approach is
to:
look at the tasks and activities for the project
separate out the tasks that will required specialist skills from the general
tasks
for each group of tasks, total the estimated number of hours
divide this by the number of weeks you have scheduled the project
divide this by 38 (the official number of working hours in a week) to

determine an estimate of how many human resources you will need.
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Student Workbook
The financial resource requirements for a project cannot be determined until

accurate estimates of time and other resources have been completed. When
calculating costs you will need to include:
Labour Costs
Multiply the hourly cost of each resource by the effort hours.

Include both internal staff costs and costs for the use of contract
staff when calculating labour costs.
Non-labour
Costs
All costs not related to the salary expenses for internal staff and
contractor payments. This includes:
hardware and software
equipment
material and supplies
travel expenses
training & team building
facilities
costs for outsourced activities or tasks (not contract labour).
While there are several methods for estimating the financial resources, the most
important aspect of estimating financial resources is that the estimate is accurate
and not understated.
Method
Description
Analogy
Look at similar market research projects that have been

conducted in the past, or speak to colleagues that have
conducted similar projects and use their experiences to
guide you when estimating financial resources.
Parametric
Parametric methods use mathematical algorithms to

establish costs estimates and are usually linked with the
concept of Cost Estimating Relationships. These
calculations require the use of specialist costs calculation
software.
Bottom up
The bottom up approach is where all costs are determined

individually and then added up to determine the overall
cost.
The following are some tips for accurately estimating and controlling resources for
projects.
Check your figures, twice!
Keep a record of actual hours and check this against the planned hours.
This will help you to identify costs overruns early and either make
adjustments to the plan, or request additional budget. This data can also
be useful for future projects if you plan to, or currently use, the analogy
method for determining costs.

Page 47 of 54
Student Workbook
Make use of the planning documents and templates that are available. If
your workplace does not have standard plans, many are available for free
via the internet.
If the proposed budget or schedule seems unworkable, consider adjusting

an aspect of the project scope, such as costs, schedule, quality, or
features or consider seeking approval for additional resources.
There are many different ways to achieve a desired outcome. Consider

changing the way the work is organised, can it be simpler or more efficient.
Include time in your plan for reporting on the research and communicating
the outcomes. This should be factored in at the outset.
Develop contingency plans by prioritising the deliverables right from the

start into must-have and nice-to-have categories.
Determining the feasibility of market research projects

Feasibility means evaluating your project plan to determine the difficulty in
carrying out it out. Project methodologies state that there are five common factors
to consider in determining feasibility.
Factor
Details
Technology and
systems
This evaluates the overall structure (inputs, processes,

outputs, fields, programs, and procedures) of the planned
project in order to estimate whether the plan will perform
adequately or not.
Economic
The most frequent study undertaken, an economic

feasibility evaluates the effectiveness of the research. It is
more commonly known as a cost/benefit analysis. It
considers if the costs of undertaking the work will outweigh
the benefits or savings that are expected to be achieved as
a result of the project outcomes.
Legal
Determines whether the proposed system conflicts with

legal requirements such as privacy requirements, trade
practices laws, ethical standards etc.
Operational
Is a measure of how well a proposed project solves the

problems or issues.
Schedule
A project will fail if it takes too long to be completed before it

is useful. A feasibility study of the schedule looks at the
length of time a project will take and assesses if the data
gathered will still be useful at the conclusion of the work.
In market research projects, it is also worth considering:
the quality and credibility of the research and data gathering methodology
whether similarly valid results can be obtained by other means.
Page 48 of 54

Student Workbook
Learning activity: Feasibility studies

Locate a feasibility study from your workplace, the internet or
other sources.
What issues or matters raised in these reports would be relevant
to a marketing research project?
Preparing a market research plan

A market research plan extends what you prepared for the scope document and
provides more detail that the initial scope.
A plan will usually include:
cover page
introduction
purpose & research objectives
research methods
sources of data
timelines, budget, milestones and deliverables
credential
appendix:
o detailed execution plan
o scope approval.

Page 49 of 54
Student Workbook
Cover page and introduction

Provide the name of the project, the researcher and research organisation (if
applicable) on the cover sheet.
The introduction should include a statement of the problem and some
background about the organisation the research is being conducted for, and the
issue.
Purpose and research objectives
The purpose of the research, a statement giving justification for the research and
the research objectives should be clearly labelled and identified in this section.
Research methods
A summary of the data gathering approaches should be provided as part of the
research plan. This may include an identification of the research methodologies,
and any assumptions that have been made when determining the research
methodologies.
Source of data
Provide an outline of the data sources for this project. This section should provide
answers to questions such as:
Are you planning to collect primary research?
What s the profile of your primary data sources?
What are your sources of secondary research?
What sample size and method do you think will be required?
How will you select your sample?
Timelines, budget, milestones and deliverables

Provide details of the key milestones or goals of the project and the timelines
associated with each milestone. Your project plan should also include an overall
project duration, the cost estimate and the expected date that the results will be
available.
Credentials
Some larger projects include details in the project plan of the credentials of the
key staff. This may be in the form of a brief biography of their skills, experience
and qualifications.
Appendix
An appendix provides an opportunity to include additional information without
making the main plan too large. Appendices for a research project plan may
include:
detailed execution plan, such as task breakdown, timeline etc
scope approval.
Page 50 of 54

Student Workbook
Learning activity: Market research project plan

Using the Internet, your workplace or other sources, locate
examples of completed market research plans.
Review these plans and comment on:
the structure of the plans
the level of detail included
how useful you feel the content was in explaining the project.

Page 51 of 54
Student Workbook
Obtaining approval for plan

As a final step in documenting your plan, you will need to seek approval both for
the final plan, and to commence the research.
When seeking approval for a project plan, you may need to negotiate with the
decision makers in order to clarify and confirm details before approval. You may
also need to make adjustments to your plan before approval can be obtained.
When negotiating the approval of a market research plan, apply standard
negotiation techniques, aiming for a win-win situation. You may wish to consider
the following additional points as part of your process.
Make an appointment to speak to the decision maker and ensure that the
plan has been sent to them in advance of that time. This should encourage
the decision maker to read the plan prior to the meeting and make the
approval process more efficient.
Listen to, and document, issues identified by the decision maker as those
preventing approval.
Consider these issues separately from the initial meeting and address
them in writing.
Make adjustments to the plan if required and then present your plan
again.
Be prepared to be flexible.
Learning activity: Plan approval

1. What are the approval processes for a market research project in
your workplace?
2. Describe a situation where you have had to negotiate changes to a market

research plan. What were the outcomes? If you have not been in this situation,
interview a colleague or friend who has and record their experiences.
Page 52 of 54

Student Workbook
Section summary
You should now understand how to develop a market research plan.
Further Reading
Market Research World (MRW), 2010, viewed March 2010,

<http://www.marketresearchworld.net>
Wikipedia, 2010, Project Management, viewed March

2010,<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management>
Flying Solo, 2010, Nine tips for improving negotiation skills, viewed March
2010, <http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p248847391_Nine-tips-forimproving-negotiation-skills.html>
Mind Tools, 2010, Win-Win Negotiation, viewed March 2010,

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/NegotiationSkills.htm>
Section checklist
estimate time and resource requirements
determine feasibility of market research projects
prepare a market research plan
obtain approval for plan.

Page 53 of 54
Glossary
Student Workbook
Glossary
Source: Zikmund, WGA 2003, Essentials of marketing research, 2nd edn, SouthWestern College Publishing, USA.
Term
Definition
Causal research
Research conducted to identify cause-and-effect

relationships among variables.
Data
Facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena.
Descriptive
research
Research designed to describe characteristics of a

population or phenomenon.
Exploratory
research
Initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature

of a problem.
Hypothesis
An unproven proposition or supposition that tentatively

explains certain facts or phenomena; a probable answer to
a research question.
Information
Any body of facts in a format suitable for decision making

or in a context that defines the relationship between two
pieces of data.
Population
Any complete group of entities that share some common

set of characteristics.
Research design
A master plan that specifies the methods and procedures

for collecting and analysing needed information.
Research
objective
The researchers version of the marketing problem. It

explains the purpose of the research in measurable terms
and defines standards for what the research should
accomplish.
Sample
A subset or some part of a larger population.
Variables
Anything that may assume different numerical or

categorical values.
Page 54 of 54


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Plan market research

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Part of a suite of support materials for the

BSB07 Business Services Training Package

Published by: Innovation and Business

Section checklist ............................................................................................ 41

Student Workbook (SW) Self-paced learning activities to help you to

Facilitator-led Sessions (FLS) Challenging and interesting learning

Assessment Tasks Summative assessments where you can apply your

Structure of the training program

Boyce, J (2002), Market Research in Practice, McGraw-Hill, Australia,

Tong, E and Taylor, D (2004), Understanding Market Research, Pearson

Zikmund, W.G. (2003), Essentials of Marketing Research, 2nd Edn.,

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Directory M, 2010, Articles, viewed March 2010,

Know This, 2010, Articles, viewed March 2010,

All About Market Rersearch, 2010, Marketing Research Tutorials,

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

Section 1 Identify Market Research

What skills will you need?

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

The role of market research in enterprise operations

what customers the enterprise has, or what customers it wants to target

what markets it operates in or what markets it wants to target

the products or services it offers

any new products or services to be developed

who are the competitors to the enterprise

how to promote and distribute its products or services

Marketing research versus market research

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

Learning activity: Market research organisations

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

Communicating the role of market research

the purpose and objectives of the planned research

the processes, costs, timelines and resource requirements.

Answer the following questions.

2. What are the risks in market research?

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

The contribution of market research to enterprise activity

competitors, clients, stakeholders

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

Competitors, clients and stakeholders

Determining market research needs

identifying trends in marketing

identifying product or service changes that will require related marketing

identifying market or customer changes that may require the development

enabling issues to be identified that are currently not supported by policy,

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

Targeting your research

A description of the management problem from a research

Discover the cause or underlying reason for the management

The assumptions used to establish the exact data requirements.

BSBMKG506B Plan market research

Section 1 Identify Market Research Needs

Sources of defining a management problem

analysing enterprise documents