Course Handout of Marketing Research

Class of 2013- Section- B

Tuesday & Thrusday-9:20am to 10:35am (CR-7)

Instructor: Dr. Subhash Jha

Room No: C-116 (Marketing & Strategy Department, IBS-Hyderabad)
Phone No: 9951266128
Email: subhashjha.iimt@gmail.com (the best way to contact me)

Objective of the Course

Explores the role of marketing research in marketing management and demonstrate what marketing
research can do for marketing decision-making. The course will develop the skills necessary to do
independent marketing research (Problem Identification, Research Design, Data collection, Data
analysis, and communicating research results). To do hands-on tasks to perfect their understanding of
methods for collecting, analyzing, and summarizing data pertinent to solving marketing problems.

Pedagogy
The entire course will be handled through discussions of cases studies. All the concepts, theories, and
knowledge of the discipline will be driven in through these discussions. In addition to this we will
adopt Project-based learning.

Session Plan
The course curriculum is divided in six main modules as follows. Required number of sessions for
each module is indicated

Module 1: Introduction to marketing research and problem definition (Sessions: 2)

Role of marketing research
Process of marketing research
Problem formulation

Module 2: Research Design (Sessions: 5)

Types of research designs
Exploratory, descriptive and causal research

Module 3: Data Collection Methods and Instruments (Sessions: 3)

Secondary and primary data
Collecting primary Data
 Designing the questionnaire
Measurements and scales
Comparative and non-comparative scaling techniques

Module 4: Sampling & Data collection (Sessions: 1)

Sampling basics, Probability and Non Probability Sampling
Sample Size determination
Non sampling errors
Response Rate its calculation and improvement
Preparing data for analysis - Editing, Coding, handling missing values

Module 5: Experimental design (Sessions 3)

Types of experiment
Randomized block design, Latin square design and factorial design

Module 6: Data analysis, Interpretations and Conclusions and Reporting (18)

Descriptive statistics
Frequency distribution, cross tab and hypothesis testing (1)
Measurement of association (1)
Multivariate analysis Techniques
Factor analysis (3)
Regression analysis (3)
Discriminant analysis and logistics regression (2)
Cluster analysis (2)
Perceptual mapping (2)
Conjoint analysis (2)

Report writing (2)

Basic Course-book (Cases are included in the Book)

Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 6/e by Naresh K Malhotra, Satyabhushan Dash.
Indian Edition: Pearson.
Additional Reference Material
Marketing Research: A South Asian Perspective, By: Gilbert A, Churchill Jr., Dawn Iacobucci
and D Israel. Indian Edition: Cengage Learning.
Additional reading material suggested in session plan.
More reading material would be distributed by faculty as and when required

Software Requirements:

SPSS 13 or above

Evaluation Plan
Serial Evaluation Name Type Marks Due by
No. Component
1 A1 CP 1 Ongoing 15 Session 12
3 A2 CP 2 Ongoing 20 Session 24
4 A3 CP 3 Ongoing 15 Session 32
5 A4 NCP Non-class 20 Session 14
6 A5 End Term Examination 30 End Sem

The total grades for the course is 100, which will be distributed as follows:
CP 1, 2, 3 (Class Participation) 50% This will take place through student participations of case
discussions. The discussions would be conducted in a civilized manner and would measure the
ability of the students to demonstrate understanding of a method and ability to interpret research
findings.
NCP (Non Class Participation) - 20% Teachers discretion, could be test based or project based.
End Term Examination 30%: The questions will judge the overall understanding of the student
about the concepts discussed in the course.

Assignments will be evaluated on the basis of quality and depth of study, clarity of explanations,
logic of the analysis, justification for the research framework, quality of illustrations, exhibits,
visuals, etc. It is expected that students complete all readings and come prepared to the class.
 SESSION PLAN

Sessions Topic Details Case Title / Source/ Description

Chapter
No Activity
TrueEarth Healthy Difference Between Market/
Foods: Market Marketing Research
Research for a New through Marketing
Product Encyclopedia
1-2 Introduction to MR 1 Introduction* (Also Give an Overview of
(HBS Brief Case no. Research Process and
4065) Design)

National Football Exploratory, Descriptive

League: The King of and Causal Research
Overview of Research
3 3 Professional Sports Designs,
Designs
(Case 3.1 of Drafting Research Proposal
Malhotra)

Exploratory Research Class Activity Limited to Focus Groups

4,5,6 4,5
Design and Content Analysis

Marvel Enterprise Descriptive research design

Descriptive Research
7 6
Design
Data, Measurement and
8 8, 9
Scaling
9 Questionnaire Design
Overview of SPSS: Data
Coding, Cleaning,
10
Descriptive Statistics and
Graphs
Sampling Design and
11
Procedure
(Abridged)
HBS Case no. N9-
511-097
Harvard Graduate Primary, Secondary,
Student Housing Historical; Nominal,
Society* (HBS Case Ordinal, Interval and Ratio;
no. 9-505-059) Choosing a Scaling
Technique- Likert,
Semantic, Rank Paired
Comparison; Q-sort
Class Activity Give Sample Questionnaires
10
and Discuss
Preparation (Coding,
Screening & Cleaning),
14 Class Activity Detailed Explanation of
SPSS data View Menu Bar
and Variable View
Store 24(A): Process, Type of Sampling
Managing Employee Techniques, Sample Size
11
Retention* (HBS Determination,
Case no. 9-602-096) Measurement Error)
 Frequency Distribution, Class Activity (Data Univariate and Bivariate
12 Cross Tab and Hypothesis 15 Sets to be given in statistical tests
Testing advance)
Class Activity (Data Chi-Square, Correlation,
Measurement of
13 15, 17 sets to be given in Regression (Overview)
Association
advance)
Class Activity Types of Experiments;
Randomized Block Design,
14,15,16 Experimental Design 7 Latin Square Design and
Factorial Design
Marketing Dilemma Principal Component
for Elan Jeans Brand Analysis, Principal Axis
17,18,19 Factor Analysis 19 (CDC Case written Factoring using Varimax
by Dr. Subhodip and Oblique Rotations
Roy)
Store 24(A): Assumptions of MLR,
Managing Employee Multicollinearity,
20,21,22 Regression Analysis 17
Retention* (HBS Heteroskedasticity,
Case no. 9-602-096) Autocorrelation
Case 3.3 Kimberly Multiple Discriminant
Clark: Competing Analysis & Multiple
Discriminant Analysis &
23,24 18 Through Innovation Logistic Regression
Logistic Regression
(Naresh Malhotra pg
no. 798-804)
Corpus Electronics Overview
(CDC Case written
25,26 Cluster Analysis 20
by Dr. Subhodip
roy)
Nimbz Fresh (CDC Assumptions and
27,28 Multi-Dimensional Scaling 21 Case written by Dr. Limitations, PROXSCAL
Subhodip Roy)
MSA: The Software Ranking or Preference Data
Company Planning Only
29,30,31 Conjoint Analysis 21
the AMAPS Product
Line*
Report Preparation and Class Activity Give Sample Reports and
32 23
Presentation Discuss
33 PROVISION FOR NCP (in between) / WRAP UP
Guidelines for Students

1. Students are required to come to the class after reading the relevant text from the prescribed
text book and analyzing the assigned case. It is imperative that the student brings the text
book and assigned reading material to the class.

2. Attendance at all class sessions is expected, and you cannot make up class participation
with written work. Except in unforeseen emergency, I expect to be informed beforehand if
you need to miss a class. Please note that missing more than two class sessions for unexcused
reasons (i.e., reasons other than family emergency, illness, or religious observance) will entail
a grade penalty over and above the direct impact on class participation.

3. Please come to the class on time. Anyone who comes to the class five minutes after the start
of the session will not be permitted to attend the class, unless special permission has been
taken by the student in advance.

4. Mobiles are to be on the vibrate mode in the class. During tests, mobiles will not be permitted
inside the class.

5. Plagiarism will be dealt with utmost strictness. Any copying or use of unfair means in the test
and/or project will lead to deduction of marks and other serious consequences.

6. The date on which the test will be conducted has been provided in advance so that students
are well prepared for the same. Request for a retest, in case a student scores less marks or
is absent on the day of the test, will not be entertained.