Deck 4: Exploratory Research

Question 1

Which of the following best represents the objective of the moderator in conducting a focus group?

A) Strictly following the moderator's guidebook.
B) Allowing for a free-flow of ideas that are unrestricted and therefore more conducive to creativity.
C) Striking a balance between stimulating natural discussions while ensuring the group does not wander too far from the topic.
D) To include as many people as possible in a particular group; this enables the results to be more representative.
E) The moderator must be completely unfamiliar with the purpose of the research.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT what exploratory research is used for?

A) Better formulating the manager's decision problem.
B) Getting a definitive answer.
C) Increasing the researcher's familiarity with the problem.
D) Clarifying concepts.
E) None of these statements are false; they are all true.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following statements about depth interviews in NOT true?

A) They are used to conduct exploratory research.
B) They don't require a random sample.
C) They are usually informal.
D) They often yield a final, conclusive answer to the problem.
E) All of the above are true.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Finding answers and drawing conclusions is better left to more______________research.

A) Informal
B) Formal
C) Exploratory
D) Consumer
E) Scientific

Question 5

Candidates for depth interviews could include:

A) Current customers
B) Members of the target market
C) Executives and managers of the company
D) Wholesalers and retailers
E) All of the above are candidates for depth interviews

Question 6

A weakness of focus groups has to do with how the results are:

A) Interpreted.
B) Gathered.
C) Used.
D) All of the above
E) Both B and C are true.

Question 7

Exploratory research that attempts to draw from the knowledge and experience of those who have relevant information to the issue driving the research is an example of:

A) Focus groups
B) Data mining
C) Nominal groups
D) Case analyses
E) Depth interviews

Question 8

Benefits of focus groups include:

A) Ideas that can drop "out of the blue."
B) Snowballing ideas.
C) More spontaneous responses than in one-on-one interviews.
D) Easy interpretation of responses.
E) A, B and C

Question 9

Exploratory studies typically :

A) Consume most of the research budget.
B) Are large scale and highly structured.
C) Are small scale and flexible
D) Both A and C
E) None of the above are correct.

Question 10

The key feature that distinguishes focus groups from depth interviews is:

A) Group interaction.
B) The presence of a researcher.
C) The expertise of the participant(s)
D) The time required to do one.
E) All of the above are correct.

Question 11

Capitol Brewing Inc.'s management is very concerned with declining sales of their major product, a dark ale, and has asked for help understanding the reasons. The most appropriate way to begin is with:

A) Causal research
B) Descriptive research
C) Exploratory research
D) Exploratory and causal research
E) Descriptive and causal research

Question 12

A hypothesis:

A) Is a broad, vague problem statement.
B) Cannot be discovered during research.
C) Is only found in causal research.
D) Is an educated guess about how two or more variables are related.
E) Does not have clear implications for testing the relationship between variables.

Question 13

Which of the following is one of the quickest and least costly ways to conduct exploratory research?

A) Focus group.
B) Data mining.
C) Benchmarking
D) Literature search
E) Case analysis

Question 14

The time to stop having focus groups is______________when:

A) The research budget has been exhausted.
B) They show diminishing returns.
C) You get definitive answers to your research problem.
D) You've completed five focus groups.
E) Any of the above are correct answers.

Question 15

Although focus groups vary in size, most consist of______________members.

A) 1-2
B) 3-4
C) 8-12
D) 15-18
E) 20 or more

Question 16

A______________brings together a small number of individuals to talk about a topic of interest to the researcher.

A) Depth interview
B) Focus group
C) Data mining
D) Case analysis
E) None of the above

Question 17

The primary difference between nominal groups and focus groups is that nominal groups require:

A) More participants.
B) Less time.
C) Little or no moderation.
D) Complete anonymity.
E) Written responses from participants.

Question 18

A technique for searching for statistical patterns in datasets is:

A) Ethnography
B) Benchmarking
C) Data mining
D) Projective methods
E) Case Analyses

Question 19

Exploratory research for Capitol Brewing seems to indicate that sales for dark lager are down for all breweries. This is an example of which kind of problem?

A) A firm problem
B) A consumer problem
C) A perception problem
D) An industry problem
E) An ethical problem

Question 20

The general purpose of exploratory research is to gain______________so that problems and opportunities can be more clearly defined.

A) Insights and ideas
B) Facts and figures
C) Buy-in and support
D) Definitive data
E) Tactical advantage

Question 21

Exploratory studies are very inflexible with regard to methods.

Question 22

A small group of people brought together to discuss a topic of interest to researchers is known as a(n):

A) Task force.
B) Guidance committee.
C) Experience group.
D) Focus Group.
E) Development Group.

Question 23

Focus group respondents are usually selected so that the group is relatively homogeneous.

Question 24

Exploratory studies do not______________involve:

A) The analysis of selected cases.
B) Probability sampling plans.
C) Experience surveys.
D) Good luck.
E) A search of published statistics.

Question 25

Researchers can't afford to devote the bulk of the research budget to exploratory research.

Question 26

The market research team at Initech was asked to discover how to address deficiencies in the TPS reporting process. The team is studying the processes used by Globex, which has a world-class TPS reporting process. The research technique being used in this case is:

A) Benchmarking.
B) Ethnography.
C) Case analysis.
D) Data mining.
E) Depth interview.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT one of the common projective method techniques?

A) Word association.
B) IQ testing.
C) Sentence completion.
D) Storytelling.
E) Role playing.

Question 28

In general, exploratory research is appropriate for any problem about which much is known.

Question 29

With any form of exploratory research, the usefulness of a technique for generating insights depends on the _____________ of the analysis.

A) depth and breadth
B) subjectivity and maturity
C) quality and objectivity
D) cost and duration
E) cause and effect

Question 30

When conducting depth interviews, the questions should be general.

Question 31

The study of selected examples of the phenomenon about which insights are needed is:

A) Benchmarking.
B) Ethnography.
C) Case analysis.
D) Data mining.
E) Depth interview.

Question 32

You are the product manager for Buckstars Coffee, a nationally distributed brand. Buckstars has been declining in absolute level of sales for the last four consecutive months. You ask the marketing research department to do a study to determine why sales have declined. The most appropriate research strategy is:

A) An experimental study.
B) A field experiment followed by an exploratory study.
C) An experimental study followed by a descriptive study.
D) An exploratory study.
E) A descriptive study involving a field survey of actual and potential customers.

Question 33

One of the major difficulties experienced with projective methods arises:

A) In the interpretation of the replies.
B) When trying to secure the respondent's cooperation.
C) In the lack of experience of the respondents with these techniques.
D) In the distorted frame of reference of the interviewers.
E) There are no problems with projective methods.

Question 34

Like focus groups, nominal groups are a terrific technique for generating new ideas.

Question 35

The president of the Cola Beverage Company is very concerned with declining sales of the company's flagship beverage and has asked for your assistance in finding the reason for the decline. The most appropriate way to begin this research project is with:

A) A survey of consumers.
B) An experiment in which price is systematically varied.
C) Descriptive research.
D) Exploratory research.
E) Causal research.

Question 36

In general, the first step in conducting exploratory research is to:

A) Assemble a focus group.
B) Perform an experience survey.
C) Conduct a literature search.
D) Perform an analysis of selected cases.
E) Narrow a group of hypotheses to one specific hypothesis for investigation.

Question 37

Research investigators often follow their intuition in an exploratory study.

Question 38

Focus groups are less susceptible to executive and researcher biases than most other exploratory techniques.

Question 39

______________ methods encourage respondents to reveal their own feelings, thoughts and behaviors by shifting the focus away from the individual through the use of indirect tasks.

A) Proactive
B) Protective
C) Pronounced
D) Prolonged
E) Projective

Question 40

Using different ads in different geographic areas and investigating which ad generated the highest sales is an example of______________research design.

A) Causal
B) Exploratory
C) Longitudinal
D) Descriptive
E) Panel

Question 41

Almost all marketing research projects should start with a(n)______________.

Question 42

Group interaction is the key aspect that distinguishes______________interviews from depth interviews.

Question 43

The goal of______________is to discover ideas and insights.

Question 44

Compare and contrast focus and nominal groups

Question 45

A(n)______________is a statement that specifies how two or more measurable variables are related.

Question 46

A projective technique involves the use of a vague______________that an individual is asked to describe, expand upon or build a structure around.

Question 47

The success of the case analysis approach depends upon the researcher's ability to______________the diverse mass of information that is collected across cases.

Question 48

In case analysis, cases that reflect extremes of behavior are bad candidates for study.