Market Research Market Research 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sampling method gives every member of a population an equal chance of being selected?
- Convenience sampling
- Purposive sampling
- Simple random sampling (Correct answer)
- Snowball sampling
Correct answer: Simple random sampling
Simple random sampling ensures every population member has an equal probability of selection, making it the most unbiased method.
Question 2: What is the primary advantage of focus groups over individual interviews in market research?
- Lower cost per participant
- Group dynamics can generate unexpected insights (Correct answer)
- Easier to quantify results
- Reduced moderator bias
Correct answer: Group dynamics can generate unexpected insights
Focus groups leverage group dynamics and social interaction to surface ideas and opinions that participants might not express alone.
Question 3: A researcher uses existing sales records and customer databases to answer a new research question. This is an example of using:
- Primary data
- Secondary data (Correct answer)
- Observational data
- Experimental data
Correct answer: Secondary data
Secondary data refers to information originally collected for a different purpose that is repurposed for a new research question.
Question 4: What does 'statistical significance' indicate in market research findings?
- The result is practically important to business decisions
- The result is unlikely to have occurred by chance (Correct answer)
- The sample size was large enough
- The data was collected without errors
Correct answer: The result is unlikely to have occurred by chance
Statistical significance (typically p < 0.05) means there is less than a 5% probability the result occurred due to random chance.
Question 5: Which type of research design is best suited for establishing cause-and-effect relationships?
- Descriptive research
- Exploratory research
- Experimental research (Correct answer)
- Correlational research
Correct answer: Experimental research
Experimental research manipulates independent variables and controls for confounds, allowing researchers to establish causal relationships.
Question 6: A company tracks the same group of consumers monthly over two years to observe changing brand preferences. This is called a:
- Cross-sectional study
- Longitudinal panel study (Correct answer)
- Cohort analysis
- Trend study
Correct answer: Longitudinal panel study
A longitudinal panel study follows the same individuals repeatedly over time to observe changes in behavior or attitudes.
Question 7: What is 'respondent fatigue' and how does it affect survey quality?
- Researchers becoming tired leads to data entry errors
- Long surveys cause declining response quality toward the end (Correct answer)
- Respondents refuse to answer demographic questions
- Frequent surveying reduces overall brand perception
Correct answer: Long surveys cause declining response quality toward the end
Respondent fatigue occurs when survey length causes participants to give less thoughtful, random, or incomplete answers in later sections.
Which sampling method gives every member of a population an equal chance of being selected?