1. Week 4
REVIEW

2. Observation
and
Experimentation

3. OBSERVATION
The systematic process of witnessing and recording behaviour – of people, objects and events

4. Seven Types of Observable Phenomena:
Physical actions
Verbal behaviour
Expressive behaviour
Spatial relations
Time patterns
Physical objects
Pictorial records

5. Direct Observation Error
Errors can occur due to:
Observer bias
Incomplete reporting
Interpretation errors

6. Physical Trace Evidence:
A visible mark of some past event
e.g. University of Arizona garbage Project (see Zikmund)

7. Content Analysis:
Systematic observation and quantitative description of content of communications

8. Mechanical Observation Includes:
Television Monitoring (Nielsen PeopleMeter)
Website Monitoring (Jupiter Media Metrix)
Scanner Research (Universal Product Code)
Physical measurement
(eye-tracking/voice pitch analysis)

9. Experimentation

10. Experiments
Investigate and evaluate causal relationships between variables
Differs from other methods in the degree of control

11. Experiments in Marketing include:
Test Marketing
Blind testing
Extended User Testing
Pilot Trials

12. Experiment Design Issues include: Manipulation of Independent Variable
Selection and Measurement of Dependent Variable
Selection of Test Units
Control of Extraneous Variables

13. SURVEY RESEARCH
(re: Zikmund, Chapter 7)

14. Survey Research
A method of collecting primary data by communicating with a representative sample of people

15. Based on simple idea:
“”… the best way to find out what consumers think is to ask them.”
Zikmund

16. Properly conducted Surveys can be:
Quick
Inexpensive
Efficient
Accurate
Flexible

17. Problems with Surveys come from:
Nonresponse error
Response bias
Administrative error

18. Types of Sampling:
Personal Interviews
Intercepts
Telephone interviews
Self administered questions
Mail questionnaires

19. Attitude Scaling
(Zikmund,
Chapter 10)

20. Attitude: 
An enduring disposition to consistently respond in a given matter

21. Three Components of an Attitude: 
Affective
Cognitive
Behavioural

22. Affective : 
The feelings or emotions toward an object
Cognitive : 
Knowledge and beliefs
Behavioural: 
Predisposition to action

23. Measuring Attitudes  
Ranking
Rating
Sorting
Choice

24. The Attitude Measuring Process: 
Ranking - Rank order preference
Rating - Estimates magnitude of a
characteristic
Sorting - Arrange or classify concepts
Choice - Selection of preferred
alternative

25. Simple Attitude Scaling: 
In its most basic form, attitude scaling requires that an individual agree with a statement or respond to a single question.
This type of self-rating scale merely classifies respondents into one of two categories;

26. Method of Summated Ratings: The Likert Scale:
An extremely popular means for measuring attitudes.
Respondents indicate their own attitudes by checking how strongly they agree or disagree with statements.
Response alternatives: “strongly agree”, “agree”, “uncertain”, “disagree”, and “strongly disagree”.

28. Semantic Differential: 
A series of seven-point bipolar rating scales.
Bipolar adjectives, such as “good” and “bad”, anchor both ends (or poles) of the scale