Page 157 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Project Management

Notes industry and trade market surveys need intimate knowledge the product and technical
background, particularly for products based on sophisticated technologies.
Obtain Information as per the Questionnaire from the Sample of Respondents: Respondents
may be interviewed personally, telephonically, or by mail for obtaining information. Personal
interviews ensure a high rate of response. They are, however, expensive likely to result in
biased responses because of the presence of the interviewer. Mail surveys by snail mail or e-
mail are economical and evoke fairly candid responses. The response rate, however, is often
low. Telephonic interviews, common in western countries, traditionally were not popular in
India because of high telephone tariffs and low teledensity. Things, however, are changing with
telecom revolution.
Scrutinise the Information Gathered: Information gathered should be thoroughly scrutinised to
eliminate data which is internally inconsistent and which is of dubious validity. For example, a
respondent with a high income and large family may say that he lives in a one room tenement.
Such information, probably inaccurate, should be deleted. Sometimes data inconsistencies may
be revealed only after some analysis.
Analyse and Interpret the Information: Information gathered in the survey needs to be analysed
and interpreted with care and imagination. After tabulating it as per a plan of analysis, suitable
statistical investigation may be conducted, wherever possible and necessary. For purposes of
statistical analysis, a variety of methods are available. These may be divided into two broad
categories: parametric methods and non-parametric methods. Parametric methods assume that
the variable or attribute under study conforms to some known distribution. Non-parametric
methods do not presuppose any particular distribution.

Results of the data based on the sample survey will have to be extrapolated to the target
population. For this purpose, appropriate inflationary factors, based on the ratio of the size of
the target population to the size of the sample studies, will have to be used.
The statistical analysis of data should be directed by a person who has a good background in
statistics as well as economics.

It may be emphasized that the results of the market survey can be vitiated by: (i) non-
representativeness of the sample, (ii) imprecision and inadequacies in the questions, (iii) failure
of the respondents to comprehend the questions, (iv) deliberate distortions in the answers given
by the respondents, (v) inept handling of the interviews by the investigators, (vi) cheating on
the part of the investigators, (vii) slip shod scrutiny of data, and (viii) incorrect and inappropriate
analysis and interpretation of data.

9.6.2 Characterisation of Market

Based on the information gathered from secondary sources and through the market survey, the
market for the product/service may be described in terms of the following:
1. Effective demand in the past and present
2. Breakdown of demand
3. Price

4. Methods of distribution and sales promotion
5. Consumers
6. Supply and competition

7. Government policy

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