Overview of Market Research

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Marketers mainly embark on marketing research in order to understand how and why things happen. Research is defined as a careful study or undertaking that is done to find or generate new knowledge about a phenomenon (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Research is conducted using a methodology which is simply the paradigm, methods, tools, strategies and analysis used to gather data and analyze about the phenomenon as depicted in figure 1 (Oates, 2009).

Figure 1 Research methodology adapted from Oates (2009)

Methodologies are based on a set of paradigms, which are a set of beliefs that the research subscribes to. A paradigm influences how the researcher conducts the research because it is determines how the researcher perceives the phenomenon and how it should be studied. There are many types of paradigms but this paper will only discuss two which are most relevant to quantitative and qualitative research, namely positivism and intepretivism.

Positivism paradigm is mathematical and statistical in nature because it sees everything as definite and accurate (Walliman, 2001). Positivism paradigm is most commonly used with the quantitative research analysis method which seeks to prove a hypothesis and access cause and effect. Intepretivism paradigm is used when the researcher wants to understand the phenomenon and it is most commonly used with the qualitative research analysis method which does not seek to prove a hypothesis (Oates, 2009). The choice of whether to use quantitative or qualitative is always based on the research objectives of the study in conjunction with the paradigm that the researcher subscribes to.

Quantitative and qualitative research data analysis methods are merely methods which are utilized to analyze the data th...

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...jective. This lead him into conducting a primary data research by conducting interviews, shadowing doctors and observations.

Works Cited

Aaker, D. Kumar, V. and Day, G (1995) Marketing Research. 5th Edition. New York: Wiley.

Cooper, D. and Schindler P. (2006) Marketing Research. New York: McGraw Hill Irwin.

Gerber-Nel, C. Nel, D and Kotze, T (2005) Marketing Research. Republic of South Africa: Mike Cant.

Hair author will find out tomorrow references

Merriam-Webster Dictionary [online]. Available from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/research [Accessed 20/03/2014]

Oates, B. (2009) Researching information systems and computing. London: Sage.

Walliman, N. (2001) Your research project: a step-by-step guide to the first time researcher. London: Sage.

Zinkmund, W. and Babin, B (2007) Essentials of Marketing Research. 3rd Edition. United States: Thomson.