MARKETING RESEARCH
Course:
BA 444
Professor Kimberly Folkers
Room:
WBC 117 Email: kimberly.folkers@wartburg.edu
Fall 2009
Office: WBC 108
TH 1:00 p.m. Phone: 352-8424
Office Hours: MW 2:30-3:30 p.m.; TH 3:00-4:00 p.m. Other times by appointment.
Text:
Essentials of Marketing Research by
Zikmund and Babin, 4th edition, Southwestern/Cengage Publishing,
2010. Also available as an Ebook through
Coursesmart.com.
Text Companion Site:
Survey Monkey Access: Classmates have free access to this software
to get familiar with its capabilities.
To create client project surveys we will have access to Survey Monkey
through the college’s “professional” account.
Free account log-in for our class:
KimFolkers
mrclass09
Journals: Journal of Marketing Research; Marketing
News, Harvard Business Review, Strategy Business, Advertising Age, Brandweek,
Wall Street Journal, New York Times.
My Wartburg and Wartburg Email: We will
be using the my.wartburg site for our course for the posting of many course
materials. Be sure you know how to
access this site and check it regularly.
Also, I will communicate with you through your Wartburg email account,
so be sure to check it on a regular basis.
COURSE
OUTCOMES:
· Students will understand the importance of using good data to make marketing decisions.
·
Students
will learn the methods of conducting marketing research in business, including
research design, questionnaire development, data collection procedures, data
analysis, presentation of results, and client management, and to apply these
methods to a marketing research client project.
·
Students
will gain an understanding of the differences between and uses of quantitative
and qualitative approaches in marketing research.
·
Students will learn and utilize Survey Monkey
for creating online surveys and SPSS statistical software for inputting and
analyzing data.
·
Students
will develop an appreciation for the unique ethical considerations in the
marketing research field.
COURSE
ELEMENTS:
Group Research Project 500
points
3 Exams 300 "
Participation 100
"
Chapter Exercises 100 (may vary)
TOTAL 1,000
points
PROJECT:
The group research projects will involve conducting off-campus marketing
research for organizations. Evaluation
will be made on the groups' ability to set research objectives, decide on an
appropriate research design, determine how to collect data and administrate the
project, collect the data, edit and code the data and prepare a final paper on
the findings and conclusions of your research.
Evaluations will include input from your group members, the
organizations you worked with in the project and my observations of the
research process you conducted. Students
will work in groups of four. Client
assignments will be determined by random drawing, unless otherwise decided by
the class.
Guidelines for the project are attached
to this syllabus and will be thoroughly discussed in class. Any change in project due dates will be
discussed in advance. Project
assignments will include a research proposal, research design, questionnaire
design and implementation, data analysis, and final report and client
presentation.
SPSS and Survey Monkey: We will be using SPSS and Survey Monkey this
term. SPSS is available on the PC’s in
WBC 117, the Science Center and the Library.
Survey Monkey is available from any computer connected to the Internet.
Clients:
Drenkow and Associates, Bella Nails and Boutique, Crawdaddy Outdoors,
Career Connections, and Barnabas Uplift.
Note: Each client has unique needs for information and their own business circumstances. This means that each project design will be suited to the client’s situation and may be somewhat different from other clients’. This is one of the key advantages of having multiple clients – we will be exposed to five very different marketing research scenarios and will be able to learn from one another’s experiences throughout the term. Some of you may be utilizing mail surveys while others are distributing your questionnaire through online survey software. There are pros and cons to each. However, regardless of your project’s design, each of you will learn to use Survey Monkey and be required to input data to SPSS.
Project
Professionalism:
Due to the importance of group project
work involved in the class, I reserve the right to "fire" any
employee/student who because of lack of attendance or participation is not
carrying his/her own weight within the group.
If fired, you will be given a failing grade for the project.
Also, it is very important to keep in
mind that in our projects we will be working with professionals in the Waverly
and surrounding communities. The willingness
on the part of these professionals to have us conduct research for them is an
invaluable part of fully understanding the world of marketing research. We have a responsibility to project an image
of capability and professionalism that will reflect well not only on our class,
but on Wartburg and its business department. In addition, you should keep all
aspects of your client’s project confidential, unless the client indicates
otherwise.
As you get to know your client this
semester it is important that you keep your relationship focused on the
project. For example, it is not
appropriate to ask your client for employment or an internship as part of your
connection through this course.
Finally, in choosing clients for these
projects I try to make sure that the clients are appropriate for working with
students. However, if at any time, you
are uncomfortable with the actions of your client, please notify me
immediately. If you have questions or
concerns regarding working with your client, be sure to let me know.
EXAMS:
There will be three exams, worth 100 points each, scheduled as noted on
the syllabus. They will be a combination
of multiple choice and short essay.
There will be no make-up exams given unless you can provide a written
doctor's excuse. Any change in exam
dates will be announced to the class well in advance. We will discuss the format and subject matter
of each test beforehand and I will post a review sheet to help with your test
preparation.
No hats may be worn during exams, all
personal electronic devices must be off and placed on your desk face down, and you
may not leave the classroom during an exam unless it is an emergency. Please come prepared with extra pencils,
Kleenex, etc., in order to be comfortable during the exam.
EXERCISES:
There are exercises and case discussions that I will be assigning
throughout the term. One exercise will involve creating and distributing an
internet survey using Survey Monkey. You
are expected to come to class with these exercises completed. Periodically I will collect these exercises
for grading. There is no makeup if they
are not completed at the time of collection or if you were not in class.
READINGS:
Readings will posted to MW as full text documents or links whenever
possible. Assignments of readings will
be made in class or by email communication with students. Readings will complement and expand our
coverage of marketing research topics.
Whenever a reading assignment is made, be sure you have read the article
and are ready to engage in an active discussion of it in class.
Sustainability Focus:
The Business Administration and Economics
Department’s Corporation Education Day event focuses this year on
“sustainability.” We will be looking at
sustainability and green marketing issues as they pertain to the marketing
research field throughout the term. Much
of this coverage will be in the form of readings.
PARTICIPATION
AND ATTENDANCE: You will be asked to participate in class
discussions of text material, as well as questions at the end of chapters and
assigned exercises. Because of the
amount of material we will be covering in the book and then applying to the
real life projects, it is extremely important that you come to class prepared
to participate and with the chapter read.
In addition, we will have regular oral reports from project groups on
the status of their project – progress, issues, challenges, etc. Every member of the group will be required to
make at least one oral project update to the rest of the class.
It is impossible to participate if you
are not in class, so attendance is considered mandatory. Also, I will try to give class time for group
work whenever possible, so it is important that you are present. After two unexcused absences, each additional
absence will reduce your final course grade by one third of a letter grade, ie.
from a "B" to a "B-."
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY:
Wartburg Honor Code
As a matter of personal commitment, students, faculty, and staff of
Wartburg College are expected to demonstrate four simple principles:
1) All work submitted must be
your own.
2) When using the work or ideas
of others, including fellow students, give full credit through accurate
citations.
3) Maintain academic honesty both
on examinations and class assignments.
4) If you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular
assignment, ask for clarification.
Consequences for cheating, plagiarism,
breach of confidentiality, etc., range from failing the assignment involved to
failing the class, depending on the situation.
In addition, as mentioned above, our
projects will require professional integrity and a commitment to handling
client information with care and confidentiality. If you have any questions regarding
appropriate conduct, please consult me.
COMMITMENT
TO STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students requesting
instructional accommodations due to disabilities must arrange for such
accommodations by contacting Pathways Associate for Testing and Advising Carla
Coates. She can be reached at the Pathways
Center, 314 Vogel Library, Wartburg College, Waverly, IA 50677, 352-8230,
Carla.coates@wartburg.edu. Presenting
documentation of a student’s disability early (before the beginning of classes)
is helpful and often necessary to secure needed materials in a timely way. Accommodations should be requested PRIOR to
affected assignment due dates. For more
detailed information, please see http://www.wartburg.edu/pathways/testing/AccomodationProcessStudents.pdf
Tentative
Class Schedule
NOTE:
This syllabus may be subject to change with adequate notice, and due to
the nature of working with off-campus clients is likely to be adjusted,
especially later in the term as we work on the final stages of the
projects. In particular, this means that
some of the work days may change.
Week
1
Thurs., 9-10 Ch. 1 Role of Marketing Research
Introduction
to Survey Monkey
Project Discussion
Client
Assignments
MW
Readings
Week
2
Tues., 9-15 Ch. 3 The Marketing Research Process
Sampling
Issues – pages 301-305; 319-321 and 346-347 (Using Judgment)
Ethical
Issues – pages 74-86
Survey
Monkey exercise
Thurs., 9-17 Ch. 7 Survey Research
SPSS
Intro
First Client Meeting completed and fact
finder done
Week
3
Tues., 9-22 Ch. 10 Measurement and Attitude Scaling
Ch.
11 Questionnaire Design
Comments
on Coding and Tabulating
Rough Draft of Research Proposal and
Timeline (incl. copy of
Fact Finder)
due (Returned Wed. a.m.)
Thurs., 9-24 Project Work Day
-Written Description of Data Collection
Method/Sample
Design due –
email to kimberly.folkers by 4:00 p.m. Thurs.
-Final draft of Research Proposal and
Timeline, plus rough draft
(signed by client) due –
leave in box outside my office door by Fri.
at 4:00 p.m.
Week
4
Tues., 9-29 Ch. 10 Measurement and Attitude Scaling (continued)
Ch.
11 Questionnaire Design (continued)
Thurs., 10-1 Project Work Day – report to classroom - continue
work on questionnaire and accompanying materials
Rough draft of Questionnaire and
accompanying materials
due at end
of class
Week
5
Tues., 10-6 Corporation Education Convo and Panels
11:30-3:00. Required
attendance
at 11:30 and class will attend 1:00 session.
Thurs., 10-8 Exam 1 Ch. 1, 3,7,
10, 11 and sampling material covered to-date
Final
Questionnaire and accompanying materials due with client
sign-off
Week
6
Tues., 10-13 Ch. 2 Information Systems and Knowledge Management
Ch.
4 Human Side of Marketing Research pages 64-73
Thurs., 10-15 Ch. 5 Qualitative Research
Week
7
Tues., 10-20 Ch. 6 Secondary Data Research in a Digital Age
Mid-Term
Evaluations/Work Time
Thurs., 10-22 Project Work Day – set up SPSS and code book
Week
8
Tues., 10-27 Ch. 8 Observation
Ch.
9 Conducting Experiments
Last day to distribute surveys
Thurs., 10-29 Fall Break – no class
Week
9
Tues., 11-3 Exam 2 Ch. 2,
4-6, 8, 9
Project Work after exam
Thurs., 11-5 Ch. 12 Sampling Designs and Sampling Procedures
Revisited, pages 306-
319
Codebook and SPSS template due
Week
10
Tues., 11-10 Ch. 13 Determination of Sample Size pages 324-346
Thurs., 11-12 Project Work Day – inputting results (meet in
classroom)
Week
11
Tues., 11-17 Project Work Day – (meet in classroom)
Thurs., 11-19 Ch. 14 Basic Data Analysis
SPSS
– running frequencies and cross-tabulations
Week
12
Tues., 11-24 Ch. 15 Testing for Differences Between Groups and for
Relationships Among Variables
Thurs., 11-26 No Class - Thanksgiving
Week
13
Tues., 12-1 Ch. 16 Communicating the Results
Thurs., 12-3 Project Work Day (meet in classroom)
Rough Drafts of Research Report and SPSS
output due at end of class
Week
14
Tues., 12-8 Exam 3 Ch. 12-16
Research Reports (“rough drafts”) returned
to groups with
my feedback
Thurs., 12-10 Work Day (meet in classroom)
My copy of Final Report (include rough
draft) and Client’s Portfolio
due to KF by 4:00 p.m. Client’s portfolio ready for pick-up Friday.
Check with
KF for charge account totals for Exit Interviews.
One final digital copy of report
for my files, including rough drafts, plus the complete portfolio for your
client. At this point, my permanent
copy of the report does NOT need to include the SPSS output. This final report version should
reflect any changes, revisions that I recommended to your “rough draft.”
NOTE:
Someone from your group will need to
pick up the client portfolio from my office Friday by 4:00 p.m. in case there
are any final changes that need to be made before giving it to the client
Wednesday when they arrive for the presentation. I would recommend that you
deliver or email a copy of the final report and an annotated
questionnaire to your client for them to peruse over the weekend and before the
presentation Tuesday. Most clients will
be eager to see this information, and seeing it in advance will allow them to
focus more on the presentation Tuesday and to formulate questions. See note below regarding Exit Interview
procedures.
Final
Session:
Tues., Dec. 15 2:30 -5:00 p.m. Students required to attend all
presentations. Clients attend only their
own presentation. Please note that
we will meet an extra 30 minutes to accommodate all of the presentations and
final evaluations.
Course
Evaluations – done after
all presentations have been made.
Project
Peer Evaluations – done
by email – KF will email to you – must be returned before final grades can be
submitted.
Signed
Exit Interview form due -
Keep in mind that this form and the client’s payment of the bill must also be
back to KF before final grades will be submitted – in other words, no later
than Fri., Dec. 18, 4:00 p.m.
As
part of the exit interview, be sure to return any client materials to them and
provide the following:
An invoice of any charges that have been
incurred during the process
An envelope addressed to the Controller’s
office if there have been on-campus charges
A contact sheet with each team member’s
name and email address (if they don’t have this info from your first meeting) –
the client may wish to contact you with questions even after the end of the
term.