There are different types of research, categorized by where the research
originated and how the research is conducted:
Where the research originated – primary versus secondary research.
Primary research originates with your company. Generally, the results are
proprietary and belong to you. You may find, however, that some research firms
will conduct limited but relatively inexpensive primary research with the
requirement that they can make the results available to other companies. An
alternative to conducting primary research is to find secondary research, or
research that originated elsewhere. You can obtain secondary research either by
purchasing the information or finding it through free resources.
How the research is conducted – qualitative versus quantitative research.
Qualitative research tends to be exploratory and directional in nature. It is
designed to bring out issues associated with the subject matter as well as clue
you in to the best general direction to proceed. Quantitative research, on the
other hand, is designed to be analytical and rigid. This type of research
produces results that are more statistically accurate than qualitative research
results. Often, companies first conduct qualitative research when developing a
concept or looking for ideas then later complete quantitative research to
fine-tune and optimize.
Definition of Marketing Research
The American
Marketing Association defines marketing research as "the function that links
the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through
information--information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and
problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing
performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing
research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the
method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection
process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their
implications."
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