Factors: Situational Characteristics9-10a Factors and Characteristics Important Issues and Questions Situational Characteristics Budget of available resources What degree of appropriate resources can be committed to the project? What are the total dollars and worker hours available for committing to the research projects’ activities of gathering raw data, developing data structures, and creating/presenting information? What is the cost of collecting the required data? Completion time frame How much time is needed for completing the research project? How quickly do data- gathering, analysis, and information-generation activities have to be completed?

Factors: Situational Characteristics9-10b Factors and Characteristics Important Issues and Questions Situational Characteristics Quality requirement of the data How accurate and representative is the derived information to the research problem? Completeness: How much information and what degree of detail are needed for the defined research problem? Generalizability: At what level of confidence does the researcher want to make inferences about the defined target population form the data results? Precision: What is the acceptable level of error that the data results may have in representing true population parameters?

Factors: Task Characteristics9-11a Factors and Characteristics Important Issues and Questions Task Characteristics Difficulty of the task How much effort is required by the respondent to answer the questions? How hard does the subject have to work to answer the questions? How much preparation is required to create a desired environment for the respondents? Stimuli needed to elicit a response How much physical stimulus does a respondent need? Do specific stimuli have to be used to elicit a response? How complex do the stimuli have to be?

Factors: Task Characteristics9-11b Factors and Characteristics Important Issues and Questions Task Characteristics Amount of information needed How detailed do the respondent’s answers have to be? Will probing activities be needed? How many questions should there be? How long should the respondent expect to take? Research topic sensitivity To what degree are the survey’s questions socially, politically, and/or personally sensitive?

Factors: Respondent Characteristics9-12 Factors and Characteristics Important Issues and Questions Respondent Characteristics DiversityWhat commonalities exist among the prospective respondents? How many and which common characteristics have to exist? Incidence rateWhat percentage of the defined target population has the key characteristics to qualify for being included in the survey? Degree of survey participation Are the selected respondents able to completely interact in the question-and-answer process? What is the person’s ability to participate? What is the person’s degree of willingness to participate? What is the knowledge-level requirement for a person to participate in the survey process?

Sensitive Topics in Marketing Research  Income  Racial Issues  Environmental Issues  Politics  Religion  Personal Hygiene  Sexual Preference  9/11/2000  Capital Punishment  Gun Control 9-13

Respondent Characteristics 1)Diversity 2)Incidence 3)Participation 9-14

SURVEY DATA & ERROR State of the data Error type THEORETIC POPULATION |Definitional Error POPULATION OF REALITY |Frame Error OPERATIONALIZED POPULATION |Sampling Error SAMPLE SELECTED |Not-At-Home Error SAMPLE REACHED |Refusal Error SAMPLE RESPONDING |Measurement Error SAMPLE MEASURED |Statistical Error STATISTICAL CONCLUSIONS |Logic Error OPERATIONAL CONCLUSIONS

Types of Error: Nonresponse9-15 Nonresponse error: Occurs when a sufficient number of the initial prospective respondents are not included in the final sample of a study. Results in a portion of the population not being represented or being underrepresented when the response pool is systematically and significantly different from those respondents who did respond. Main biases: Refusal: when a prospective respondent is simply unwilling to participate in the question-and-answer exchange. Not at home: when reasonable attempts to initially reach the prospective respondent fail to produce an interviewer/respondent encounter. Wrong mailing address: when prospective respondent’s address is outdated or no longer active. Wrong telephone number: when the prospective respondent’s telephone number either is no longer in service or is incorrect on the sample list.

Types of Error: Response Response error: Occurs when a significant number of respondents either unconsciously misrepresent or deliberately falsify their responses. Main biases: Hostility: responses that arise from feelings of anger or resentment engendered by the response task. Social desirability: response is based on what is perceived as being socially acceptable or respectable. Prestige: response intended to enhance the image of the respondent in the eyes of others. Auspices error: response dictated by the image or opinion of the sponsor, rather than the actual question. 9-16a

Types of Error: Response Response error: Occurs when a significant number of respondents either unconsciously misrepresent or deliberately falsify their responses. Main biases: Yea- and nay-saying: response influenced by the global tendency toward positive or negative answers. Mental set error: cognitions or perceptions based on the influence of previous response over later ones. Extremity error: responses influenced by clarity of extreme scale points and ambiguity of midrange options. Acquiescence error: response based on respondent’s perception of what would be desirable to the sponsor. 9-16b

Types of Error: Measurement & Design9-17 Construct development error: Occurs when the researcher does not accurately or completely identify the important subdimensions of the various topics or constructs being included in the survey research. The necessary data is misdefined, or mistakes are made of what the overall composite should be of the critical concepts and constructs being investigated. Main biases: Incomplete constructs: only partial data requirements are met; creates inappropriate guidelines for scale measurement and questionnaire design activities. Low reliability/validity: construct validity is not maintained, which increases the likelihood of collecting either irrelevant or low quality data.