© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. The Research Question: Formulation of the Problem Chapter 2, Student Edition MR/Brown & Suter 1

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter2 1. Specify the key steps in problem formulation 2. Distinguish between two types of decision problems 3. Distinguish between a decision problem and a research problem 4. Describe the research request agreement 5. Outline the various elements of the research proposal

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter3 1. Specify the key steps in problem formulation 2. Distinguish between two types of decision problems 3. Distinguish between a decision problem and a research problem 4. Describe the research request agreement 5. Outline the various elements of the research proposal

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 1 MR/Brown & Suter4 Step 1: Meet with Client Step 2: Clarify the Problem/Opportunity Step 3: State the Manager’s Decision Problem Step 4: Develop a Full Range of Possible Research Problems Step 5: Select Research Problem(s) to Be Addressed Step 6: Prepare and Submit a Research Request Agreement

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter5 1. Specify the key steps in problem formulation 2. Distinguish between two types of decision problems 3. Distinguish between a decision problem and a research problem 4. Describe the research request agreement 5. Outline the various elements of the research proposal

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 2 MR/Brown & Suter6  Discover-oriented versus Strategy-oriented Decision Problems  Discovery-oriented decision problems are common with unplanned changes in the marketing environment  What is going on? Why is it going on?  Strategy-oriented decision problems are common with planned changes in the marketing environment  How can we make this happen? Will it have the desired impact? Researchers should conduct strategy-oriented research if possible.

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter7 1. Specify the key steps in problem formulation 2. Distinguish between two types of decision problems 3. Distinguish between a decision problem and a research problem 4. Describe the research request agreement 5. Outline the various elements of the research proposal

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 3 MR/Brown & Suter8  Decision Problems describe the manager’s view of the situation  Research Problems restate decision problems in research terms

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter9 1. Specify the key steps in problem formulation 2. Distinguish between two types of decision problems 3. Distinguish between a decision problem and a research problem 4. Describe the research request agreement 5. Outline the various elements of the research proposal

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 4 MR/Brown & Suter10  The research request agreement should be executed between the research and the client and should include 1. Background – the events that led to the manager’s decision problem 2. Decision Problem – the underlying question confronting the manager 3. Research Problem(s) – issue(s) used to address the decision problem 4. Use – supplying logical reasons for each piece of research 5. Population/Subgroups – groups from whom information must be gathered 6. Logistics – estimates of resource requirements

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objectives MR/Brown & Suter11 1. Specify the key steps in problem formulation 2. Distinguish between two types of decision problems 3. Distinguish between a decision problem and a research problem 4. Describe the research request agreement 5. Outline the various elements of the research proposal

© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Learning Objective 5 MR/Brown & Suter12  The research proposal should describe the marketing problem, purpose of the study, and a detailed outline of the planned research methodology including the following 1. Problem Definition and Background 2. Research Design and Data Sources 3. Sampling Plan 4. Data Collection Forms 5. Analysis 6. Time Schedule 7. Personnel Requirements and Cost Estimates 8. Appendices