Research Methods & Data

Analysis

Week 1
Introduction to the Module
The Research process

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 Research Methods
& Data Analysis
Module convenor:
Dr. Mario Mazzocchi (
M.Mazzocchi@reading.ac.uk)
Room 310 – Extension 6484
Office hours: Tue 2-4; Thu 11-1
When and where: Tuesday 11-1
Room AG 1L06
Web page:
www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~aes02mm/
Mailing list
Dr. Mario Mazzocchi Research Methods & Data Analysis 2
 Web page

Dr. Mario Mazzocchi Research Methods & Data Analysis 3

 Intended outcome
• Have a first grasp of the market basic
research techniques
• Become familiar with data analysis
software such as SPSS or Excel
• Understand the (market) research
process
• Acquire skills necessary to the group
projects
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 Outline content
• The research design
• The survey plan and survey methods
• The Questionnaire and field work
• Sampling techniques
• Database management and preliminary data mining with SPSS
• Descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing
• Analysis of Variance
• Correlation and regression
• Research report preparation and presentation

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 Course plan
Week Date Time Topic
1 07-Oct 11-Jan The research design Lecture
2 14-Oct 11-Jan Survey plan and survey methods Lecture
3 21-Oct 11-Jan Questionnaire and field work Lecture
4 28-Oct 11-Jan Sampling techniques Lecture
5 04-N ov 11-Jan Database management (PC lab tutorial) Lab
6 11-N ov 11-Jan Descriptive statistics & hypothesis testing Lecture
7 18-N ov 11-Jan A nalysis of V ariance Lecture
8 25-N ov 11-Jan Correlation & regression Lecture
9 02-Dec 11-Jan SPSS tutorial Lab
10 09-Dec 11-Jan Report preparation & presentation Lecture

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 Textbooks
There is no official textbook.
These recent books can be especially helpful:
Fowler Jr., F.J (2002). Survey Research Methods, 3rd Edition.
Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.
Survey basics – Sampling basics – Short and introductory
Churchill, G.A., Iacobucci, D. (2002). Marketing Research:
Methodological Foundations. Harcourt College Publishers
Complete manual – many examples
Malhotra, N.K. (1999) Marketing Research: An Applied
Orientation, 3rd Edition. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice
Hall.
Complete manual – very good for methodological reference

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 Module assessment
• Individual written assignment (70%),
answering to a specific research question,
structured as a research report and covering
the following:
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Executive summary
• Examination (30%) - One one hour
examination paper (multiple choice test)

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 Coursework assignment
• The research question will be given on week 4
and will consist:
– Of a marketing research problem
– Of a data-set to be analysed through one of the
techniques discussed in the course
• The Lab sessions of 4 November and 2
December will be based on such data-set
• The short research report (max 1,200 words +
graphs / tables) should be delivered by the
end of week 10
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 Lab Sessions
• Session 1 – 4 November
– Excel & SPSS
– Basic descriptive statistics
– Graphs & tables
• Session 2 – 2 December
– SPSS
– Hypothesis testing
– Analysis of Variance
– Correlation & Regression
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Exploratory vs. conclusive
research
Exploratory research Conclusive research

• Insights and understanding • Test specific hypothesis

of the research problem and examine relationships
• Loose definition of • Clear definition of
information needed informational need
• Flexible (unstructured) • Formal and structured
research process research process
• Small and • Representative and large
nonrepresentative samples samples
• QUALITATIVE analysis of • QUANTITATIVE data
primary data analysis
• Preliminary to further • Conclusive results for
research decision making

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 Primary vs Secondary
data
Primary data: Data originated by a
researcher for the specific purpose of
addressing the problem at hand
Secondary data: Data collected for
some purpose other than the problem
at hand

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 A comparison of primary
and secondary data

Primary data Secondary data

Collection purpose Problem at hand Other problems
Collection process Very involved Rapid and easy
Collection cost High Relatively low
Collection time Long Short
Source: Malhotra, 1999

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 Qualitative research
methods
• Qualitative research is a form of
exploratory research which
– Provides an understanding of the problem
and its underlying factors
• Is unstructured and flexible
• Based on small samples

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 Against…
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Results cannot be uses as conclusive
• Results cannot be generalised to any
population
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
“Then thousand times nothing is still
nothing”

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 Situations where
Qualitative R. is useful
• Impossible to use quantitative research
(e.g. Developing Countries)
• People unable/unwilling to answer
questions
• Need for “emotional” or “affective”
information

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 The research process
(with primary data)
1. Formulate a research problem
2. Determine the research design
3. Design data-collection method and
forms
4. Design sample and collect data
5. Analyse and interpret the data
6. Prepare the research report

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 An example of research
process
• A lecturer doesn’t know the starting
level of IT and statistical knowledge of
its student and would like some extra
information for better calibrating the
module. Also, he would like to elicit
students’ preferences about the mid-
lecture break

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 1. The research problem
• Objectives
– Determine the general level of IT
knowledge of the class
– Determine the level of statistical knowledge
– Determine the percentage of students that
have used Excel or SPSS at least once
– Determine students’ preferences about the
mid-lecture break

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2. Determine the research
design
• Exploratory research
• Conclusive research
– Informational need
– Sample
– Data collection
– Analysis (averages, percentages)
– Report

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 3. Design data-collection
method and forms
• Primary data collection
• Questionnaire submitted in class before
the break

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 The questionnaire

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 4. Design sample and
collect data
• According to the student office, there should
be 44 students in this class
• There are 35 Students
• The sample is made by all students here today
– Possible selection bias
• Are characteristics of missing student related to
IT/Statistical knowledge, preferences about the break?
• Please fill the questionnaire…

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 5. Analyse and interpret
the Data
• Data tabulation
• Summarised statistics
• Correlations allows to show the link
between knowing statistics and having
used SPSS… or the link between
knowing statistics and wanting no
lecture at all.

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 Results
• On average you spend 2h 21min hours a day
on a personal computer (standard error 2h
47min)
• 100% of you know at least one of the statistical
terms of the questionnaire
• 77% know 3 or more of those terms
• 100% have used excel
• 2.8% have used SPSS
• The favoured option (74% of students) was
“Lectures should start at 11 and end at 12.40,
with a ten minutes break”
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 6. The research report
• Finally, a research report is provided. Results
are summarised and conclusions are drawn.
• E.g. Student showed a good knowledge of IT
tools, but SPSS needs to be explained from
the foundations. Lectures should start at 11
and end at 12.40, with a ten minutes break
• The demand about “having heard of statistical
terms” was not appropriate to infer the
knowledge of statistics (as it emerged from
preliminary qualitative research)

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 Some research problems
related to food marketing
• Packaging of a food product (e.g. plastic
or glass bottle for milk) - Product
• Communication to be given to
consumers (e.g. beef after BSE scare) -
Promotion
• Pricing for organic food - Price
• Development of on-line retailing… -
Place
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 Preparing a Research
Proposal
• The Research Problem
• Purpose of the research project
• Data sources and methodology
• Time, personnel and costs

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 The Research Problem
• It is crucial to give a clear definition
• It is useful to identify its specific
components
• How to define the problem
– Discussion with the decision maker (final
user)
– Interview with experts in the topic
– Secondary analysis
– Qualitative research (e.g. Focus Groups)
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 Objectives : the research
questions
• They are detailed statements of the specific
components of the problem
• Research questions depend on:
– Problem definition
– Theoretical framework
– Analytical model adopted
• For conclusive research, it is very helpful to
reach a further detail and formulate
hypotheses, i.e. unproven statements about
a factor or a phenomenon of interest

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 Data sources
• Explore available secondary data sources
• Primary data collection
– Exploratory research
– Qualitative research
– Survey plan
1. Identification of the reference population
2. Definition of the research questions
3. Choice of sampling criteria
4. Definition of the estimation methodology for making inference
on the surveyed parameters
5. Choice of sample size
6. Choice of the data-collection method (method of
administration)
7. Questionnaire design
8. Costs evaluation

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 Methodology of analysis
• Data preparation & coding
• Cleaning and consistency checks
• Select a data analysis strategy
– Statistical techniques
• Univariate techniques
• Multivariate techniques

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 Univariate techniques
U n iv a r ia te te c h n iq u e s

M e t ric d a ta N o n m e tric d a ta

O n e S a m p le T w o o r m o r e s a m p le s O n e S a m p le T w o o r m o re s a m p le s

t-te s t In d e p e n d e n t R e la te d F re q u e n cy In d e p e n d e n t R e la te d
Z - te s t C h i- s q u a re
K o lm o g o r o v - S m ir n o v
B in o m ia l

T w o - g ro u p s t-te s t P a ir e d t - t e s t C h i- s q u a re S ig n te s t
Z -te s t M a n n - W h itn e y W i lc o x o n t e s t
O n e -W a y A N O V A K o lm o g o r o v - S m i r n o v M cNem ar
K r u s k a l- W a l li s A N O V A C h i- S q u a re

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 Multivariate techniques
• Cross-tabulation
• Correlation
• Analysis of variance
• Multiple regression
• Discriminant analysis
• Conjoint analysis
• Factor analysis
• Cluster analysis
• Multidimensional scaling

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Time, personnel and costs
• Provide time estimates for each phase of
the research
• Specify personnel required and their
rates of pay
• Calculate nonpersonnel cost (such as
printing, mailing)
• Travels

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 The Research Report
– Title page
– Table of contents
– Executive summary
– Introduction
• Completeness
– Results
–
–
Conclusion
Recommendations • Accuracy
– 4. Introduction
– 5. Body
– Methodology
– Results
• Clarity
– Limitations
– 6. Conclusions and recommendations
– 7. Appendix
– Questionnaire
– Sampling methodology and definition
– Other tables not in the report
– Bibliography

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 The SPSS package
• Tutorials will provide a basic
understanding of the software
functioning
• An SPSS example will be given for most
of the topics covered in this course. You
are expected to be able:
– To repeat the exercise
– To understand the SPSS output for each
topic

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