Page 130 - DMGT209_QUANTITATIVE_TECHNIQUES_II

Unit 7: Sources and Methods of Data Collection

Determine What Information is required Notes

The first question to be asked by the market researcher is “what type of information does he
need from the survey?” This is valid because if he omits some information on relevant and vital
aspects, his research is not likely to be successful. On the other hand, if he collects information
which is not relevant, he is wasting his time and money.

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Caution At this stage, information required, and the scope of research should be clear.
Therefore the steps to be followed at the planning stage are:
1. Decide on the topic for research.

2. Get additional information on the research issue, from secondary data and exploratory
research. The exploratory research will suggest “what are the relevant variables?”
3. Gather what has been the experience with similar study.

4. The type of information required. There are several types of information such as
(a) awareness, (b) facts, (c) opinions, (d) attitudes, (e) future plans, (f) reasons.
Facts are usually sought out in marketing research.

Example: Which television programme did you see last Saturday? This requires a
reasonably good memory and the respondent may not remember. This is known as recall loss.
Therefore questioning the distant past should be avoided. Memory of events depends on
(1) Importance of the events and (2) Whether it is necessary for the respondent to remember. In
the above case, both the factors are not fulfilled. Therefore, the respondent does not remember.
On the contrary, a birthday or wedding anniversary of individuals is remembered without
effort since the event is important. Therefore, the researcher should be careful while asking
questions about the past. First, he must make sure that the respondent has the answer.

Example: Do you go to the club? He may answer ‘yes’, though it is untrue. This may be
because the respondent wants to impress upon the interviewer that he belongs to a well-to-do
family and can afford to spend money on clubs. To obtain facts, the respondents must be
conditioned (by good support) to part with the correct facts.

Did u know? What is the Mode of Collecting the Data?
The questionnaire can be used to collect information either through personal interview,
mail or telephone. The method chosen depends on the information required and also the
type of respondent. If the information is to be collected from illiterate individuals, a
questionnaire would be the wrong choice.

Type of Questions

Open-ended Questions
These are questions where respondents are free to answer in their own words.

Example: “What factor do you consider while buying a suit”? If multiple choices are
given, it could be colour, price, style, brand etc., but some respondents may mention attributes
which may not occur to the researcher.

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