Methodology in Market Research

Market Research as a management function takes a lot of time in general, from the step of defining the problem statement to collecting data and interpreting it. Methodology is a crucial step, it involves the methods through which data is collected and interpreted. It could be Primary or Secondary Research, there is a method to obtain, analyse and interpret the data collected. There are also three broad categories of research in general they are exploratory, descriptive and analytical. Market research falls in the purview of both descriptive and analytical research. Methodology and Research Methodology is usually a chapter in a research work, where the objectives of the study are laid down. Usually the objectives are presented in a form of a question; with the due process of the research these questions are answered. For example the company wants to find out how the target audiences opinion of a product x these are the typical questions a researcher would probe in his/ her study-  How many times a month do they buy the product?  Where do they buy the product?  Who buys the product?  Why do they buy the product?  Why do they not buy the product? Data Collection Typically in market research these are the areas that the researcher studies. Methodology is general involves data collection techniques such as survey’s and interviews. Let us understand these two methods in-depth. Surveys- Surveys are a very popular method of data collection, they consume less time and they can be sent across to a larger sample. Questionnaires are a form, where the researcher can collect information about the consumer. The popular areas that a market research questionnaire finds out are- Knowledge- These questions find out how much the consumer knows about the product, these are usually yes or no kind of questions. Belief- These questions find out the perception of the product, the opinion of the consumer. Attitude- These questions aim to find out whether the consumer has a favourable or unfavourable attitude to the product. Interviews- Interviews are the second most popular method right after surveys. This method of data collection takes more time than surveys. When the sample size is small, an interview method of data collection can be selected. The two main kind of interviews are- In-depth Interview- Is a one on one data collection technique, the researcher interacts with the customer or interviewee for a long length of time. Here the researcher has devised a set of questions that he asks the customer, the questions are open ended so that respondent can give a descriptive response. Tabulation and interpretation of this kind of data takes more time. Usually this method is used for devising questions for a questionnaire. The responses the researcher obtains here can be used to create the questionnaire for a survey. rnFocused Group Interview- This method is popular amongst descriptive methods of data collection. A panel of individuals are selected, who form a focus group, usually this method is chosen when the market that researcher is studying is niche. The number of people who buy these products or services might be less, so the researcher adopts this method. Here each of the respondents is allowed to give their opinions; at times this could be even a debate. Also, focused group interview is selected when the group or audience has a special skill set, which makes them an opinion leader in their fields. In general methodology in research is a very important area. A market researcher must be able to analyse the market and the consumers. Understanding methods of data collection is a must. Depending on the time frame allotted to the work of research the method needs to be carefully selected. Research questions and questionnaires need to be defined clearly.