Unit Outline

BMA331

Marketing Research

Semester 1, 2024

Rajesh Rajaguru

Tasmanian School of Business & Economics (TSBE)

College of Business and Economics

CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B

Contact Details

Unit Coordinator

Rajesh Rajaguru

Email: Rajesh.Rajaguru@utas.edu.au

Contents

What is the Unit About?................................................................................................................................ 3

Unit Description............................................................................................................................................ 3

Intended Learning Outcomes................................................................................................................... 3

How will I be Assessed?................................................................................................................................ 4

Assessment schedule................................................................................................................................ 4

Assessment details..................................................................................................................................... 4

How your final result is determined........................................................................................................ 7

Submission of assignments..................................................................................................................... 7

Requests for extensions............................................................................................................................ 7

Late penalties................................................................................................................................................ 7

Review of results and appeals................................................................................................................. 7

Required Resources....................................................................................................................................... 8

Required reading materials....................................................................................................................... 8

Recommended reading materials............................................................................................................ 8

Other required resources........................................................................................................................... 8

Unit schedule.................................................................................................................................................... 9

AACSB Accreditation................................................................................................................................... 11

Sustainability.................................................................................................................................................. 11

What is the Unit About?

Unit Description

Marketing research is one of the most important aspects of marketing. It is the process by which firms acquire market information that facilitates their decision-making. Given the rapid evolution of the business world, it is critical that firms know who their customers are, what they do, why they do it, when their purchases take place and where. Marketing research enables firms to determine if they have met consumer needs and demands, or if any changes are necessary in the delivery and features of new and existing products. Through this marketing research process, firms can better communicate with, and collect information from, existing and potential customers. As it is the customers who ultimately decide whether a product will be acceptable or not, this allows firms to rapidly adapt to otherwise unpredictable customer needs. This unit introduces students to the fundamental principles that underpin the process of designing and implementing effective marketing research. This process consists of: problem identification; research approach development; research design formulation; data gathering, preparation and analysis, and presentation of marketing research. By analysing real world business cases, and undertaking thorough research tasks, students will gain a keener insight into the workings of marketing research. The knowledge gained through undertaking this unit will help students to become skilled marketers who can evaluate, design, and conduct market research.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:

1.	Explain the fundamental marketing research concepts that facilitate problem definition and critically analyse approaches to solve the problem.
2.	Analyse and evaluate basic marketing research theory.
3.	Explain and analyse the process by which information is gathered, analysed, and interpreted to address research problems in an ethical manner.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule

ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Assessment Task 1: Workshop Assessment	Week 2, 3, 5, 9 and 12	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment Task 2: Research Plan	Week 8	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment Task 3: Data Analysis	Week 13	40 %	LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Assessment Task 1: Workshop Assessment

Task Description:

Individual or group tasks, depending on the type of in-class activities.
A range of assessment tasks will be completed as part of the workshop program. Tasks include multiple-choice tests, short essay questions, online discussions, short case analyses, application activities etc. For on-campus students, tasks will be completed during the allocated workshop times. For off-campus students, tasks will be completed through MyLO.

Details about these assessment tasks will be provided during the first workshop. Your final mark for this assessment item will be an average of your scores for all the workshop activities.

Note: The marks allocated for group work do not exceed 10%.

Task Length:

12 Weeks

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

1	Explain the concepts of research design, primary and secondary data, and qualitative and quantitative research.	LO1
2	Analyse and evaluate the different survey methods and observation methods used in market research.	LO2
3	Critically analyse research design formulation, including experimentation and causal research, measurement and scaling, and sample design.	LO3
4	Explain and analyse the process of data collection, data analysis, and reporting.	LO3
5	Conduct data analysis techniques, such as frequency distributions, hypothesis testing, cross tabulation, correlation, and regression.	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Assessment Task 2: Research Plan

Task Description:

Research plan - The research plan is an individual written piece of assessment that allows you to demonstrate your conceptual and theoretical understanding of the important aspects related to marketing research. You will be provided with a ‘Client Brief’’ which will be available on MyLO in Week 1. You need to identify the client’s marketing problem and develop a plan to conduct market research to resolve the problem. The proposal must depict the stages in the marketing research process and the logic for using them, and clearly describe what information will be needed, and how and from where it will be obtained. It is essential to include reliable sources of information for your report: where data is collected from the internet, then correct citations are required. Any unsupported statement will not provide credibility to your discussion.

Your research plan should include (but not be limited to:

INTRODUCTION: In this section you can include a brief context to the marketing problem; background information about the company, definition of the marketing research problem; specific research objectives and questions of the proposed research study; justification for the proposed marketing research study.

SECONDARY DATA and LITERATURE: This section requires secondary research (internet and publicly available data only) and literature search on the problem.

RESEARCH DESIGN Explain and justify the method that you will adopt to collect and analyse the data that is required to answer the research objectives This section should address issues related to: Research Approaches: (e.g., qualitative or quantitative research approach) Sample (e.g., who are your target respondents, who are you surveying, why are you surveying them) Sampling Procedure (e.g., how are you obtaining information from respondents, why is this approach appropriate) Measures (e.g., what questions are you asking and in what format, what information are you obtaining).

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION: A brief discussion about ethical considerations (e.g., ethical issues that should be considered when conducting this research.

Task Length:

2000 words +/- 10% in length (excluding references)

Due Date:

Week 8

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

1	Define and classify marketing research.	LO1
2	Explain the nature and scope of marketing research.	LO1
3	Analyse the importance and complexities involved in defining the marketing research problem.	LO1
4	Critically analyse the process and components of an approach to a marketing research problem.	LO1
5	Explain the definition and classification of research designs as well as the nature, advantages, disadvantages, and evaluations of secondary data.	LO2
6	Explain the distinctive nature of qualitative research and the different procedures by which it is undertaken.	LO2
7	Evaluate the different classifications and administrations of survey and observation methods.	LO3
8	Examine the different classifications of measurement scales and scaling techniques.	LO3
9	Explain the importance, objectives, principles, guidelines, and issues involved in questionnaire design.	LO3
10	Explain the sampling design process and different sampling techniques.	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Assessment Task 3: Data Analysis

Task Description:

Data analysis report - The data analysis report is an individual written assessment that allows you to demonstrate your technical understanding of the important aspects of marketing research. For this assessment, you will be provided with the following:
- Case
- Questionnaire
- Dataset

To complete this assessment, you are required to write a short report on a set of data and answer specific questions using data analysis software (SPSS).

Task Length:

2000 words +/- 10% in length (excluding references)

Due Date:

Week 13

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

1	Discuss the underlying procedures that guide the ethical collection and preparation of data for analysis.	LO3
2	Examine the different types of statistical tools and how they are applied to analyse different types of collected data.	LO3
3	Interpret and explain statistical output from a marketing perspective.	LO3

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

You will need the following text

Malhotra, N. K. 2015, Essentials of marketing research: a hands-on orientation, Global Edition, Pearson Education, Harlow, UK.

Note: a digital version of the textbook would be more cost effective and can be acquired from the publisher’s website or online.

Other required resources

To complete some learning activities, including Assessment Item 2, you will need access to the statistics software package, SPSS. SPSS is used in many marketing research firms to interrogate datasets. It is therefore of great relevance and usefulness to this unit.

Unit schedule

Week	Date beginning	Topic/ Module/ Focus Area	Activities	Resources/ Readings/ Further Information
1	26 February	Introduction to Marketing Research	Reading: Chapter 1
2	4 March	Defining the Marketing Research Problem and Developing an Approach and Secondary Data. Introduction to ethics and Sustainability	Reading: Chapter 2 and 3	Assessment 1.1: Activity related to research problem
3	11 March	Qualitative Research	Reading: Chapter 4	Assessment 1.2: Activity related to qualitative research
4	18 March	Research Design, Survey, Measurement and Scaling	Reading: Chapter 5 and 7
5	25 March	Sampling Design and Procedures	Reading: Chapter 9	Assessment 1.3: Activity related to survey and sampling
6	1 April	Questionnaire preparation and designing	Reading: Chapter 8
7	8 April	Data Collection and Preparation	Reading: Chapter 10
8	15 April	Mid-term Review & Learn to use SPSS	SPSS Practice	Assessment 2
9	22 April	Data Analysis: Frequency Distribution, Descriptive Statistics, CrossTabulation,	Reading: Chapter 11	Assessment 1.4: Activity related to data preparation and using SPSS for simple analysis.
10	29 April	Data Analysis: Hypothesis Testing Related to Differences; T-test, Chi-sqaure test	Reading: Chapter 12
11	6 May	Data Analysis: Hypothesis Testing Related to Differences: ANOVA	Reading: Chapter 12
12	13 May	Data Analysis: Correlation, Regression, and Report Presentation	Reading: Chapter 12 and 13	Assessment 1.5: Identifying appropriate research approach to solve market problem.
13	20 May	Review of course content.	Revision	Assessment 3
Study Period: 3 June to 7 June
Exam Period: 8 June to 25 June

AACSB Accreditation

The Tasmanian School of Business and Economics (TSBE) gained initial Business Accreditation from the AACSB International (AACSB) in July 2021 – the lead program for accrediting business schools globally. AACSB seeks to connect educators, students, and business to achieve a common goal – to create the next generation of business leaders.

AACSB is the most reputable standard in business education and TSBE is now one of an elite group of the world’s business schools. By being an AACSB accredited School, TSBE has joined a global alliance committed to improve the quality of business education around the world, and to share the latest innovations in business education.

Gaining Business Accreditation with AACSB means that we have satisfied a multi-year process involving TSBE demonstrating our performance against the 15 accreditation standards.

TSBE has joined a select community of accredited business schools, with only five percent of all business schools globally accredited with AACSB. This will further enhance the reputation of TSBE, as well as the global recognition of your qualifications. To find out more about AACSB click here.

Sustainability

The College of Business and Economics is now a PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) signatory. We are committed to the six PRME values of Purpose, Values, Method, Research, Partnership and Dialogue and you will see in various units how we embed sustainability values in our teaching and research and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Across all sustainable development goals, our university is ranked at 25 overall globally, and for Sustainable Development Goal 13 – Climate Action – UTAS is the number one university. For more information about PRME, click here.