NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

School of Business
Department of Marketing

BMA5515 Marketing Research

Course Coordinator: Assoc Prof Lau Geok Theng

BIZ1-03-08
Tel: 6874-3179
Email: bizlaugt@nus.edu.sg

Session: Semester II, 2003/04

Course Objectives

To provide participants with basic understanding of the marketing research process and
the scientific approach to information identification, collection and analysis for marketing
decision-making.

To provide participants with the opportunity to design and execute a marketing research
project.

To provide students with opportunities to examine, understand and interpret marketing

research information.

Required Text

Alvin C. Burns and Ronald F. Bush, Marketing Research: Online Research Applications,
Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall, 2003.

Reference Texts

Joesph F. Hair, Robert P. Bush and David J. Ortinau, Marketing Research: A Practical
Approach for the New Millennium, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Naresh Malhotra, John Hall, Mike Shaw and Peter Oppenheim, Marketing Research: An
Applied Orientation, Second Edition, Prentice Hall, 2002.
Course Outline

Session Topics Assignments

1 Introduction to Marketing Research. Read Chapters 1 & 3
Sources of Market Research.
2 Marketing Research Process. Read Chapters 2 & 3
Research Brief and Proposal. Ethics. Case 2.2 (p. 42-43)
Case 3.1 (p. 79)
3 Management Problems and Read Chapters 4 & 5
Research Questions. Case 4.2 (p. 115)
Research Design. Case 5.1 (p. 148)
4 Secondary and Standardized Read Chapters 6 & 7
Information. Exploring Singapore Secondary
Data Sources
5 Qualitative Methods. Experimental Read Chapters 5 & 8
Design. Case 8.2 (p. 235)
6 Survey Research. Read Chapters 9 & 10
Measurement. Case 9.3 (p. 266)
Questions 12 to 16 (p. 295-6).
7 Designing Data Collection Forms. Read Chapter 11
Present Questionnaires for Project.
8 Developing Sampling Plan Read Chapters 12 & 13
Case 12.2 (p. 368-9)
Questions 11, 12, 15 & 16 (p. 394-
6)
9 Field Implementation Control. Data Read Chapters 14 & 15
Preparation. Descriptive Statistics. Question 17 (p. 425)
Case 14.1 (p. 425-6)
Case 15.2 (p. 453-5)
10 Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Read Chapters 16, 17, 18 & 19
Testing. Bivariate Analyses. Case 16.1 (p. 484)
Case 17.2 (p. 513)
11 Multivariate Analyses. Read Chapters 17, 18 & 19
Case 18.2 (p. 546-7)
Case 19.2 (p. 579)
12 Some Areas of Marketing Research
– Demand Analysis;
Product Research.

13 Some Areas of Marketing Research Read Chapter 20

– Advertising Research.
Preparing and Presenting Research
Results.
14 Project Presentations.
Assessment

Individual Participation, Exercises and Case Studies - 35%

Participants are expected to complete all assigned readings, exercises and cases. They
should participate actively in the class discussions on conceptual areas, exercises, issues
and case studies. Each participant will be assigned exercises and a case study. They are to
submit written report for these assignments.

Individual Quizzes - 15%

Participants will be given surprise quizzes during selected class sessions.

Group Exercise - 15%

Each group will be assigned a case study. They are to submit written report for these
assignments.

Group Project - 35%

Each group will be assigned a comprehensive project where they will have to understand
and interpret some management problems and issues and translate these into marketing
research questions. They then have to design a research project to collect data, analyze
and interpret data and provide recommendations for management to address the problems
and issues. Each group is expected to submit a written report [maximum 30 pages, A4
size, 12-point font, single-spacing] and make an oral presentation [maximum 30 minutes
and 30 powerpoint slides].