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.
