Marketing research 177
Quantitative primary data
Primary data are those which are collected to
fulfil the demands of the current research
project, and have to be gathered should second-
ary sources of data fail to provide the informa-
tion necessary to meet the research objectives.
If individuals hold the data necessary to
answer the questions posed by the research
objectives, then they may be questioned,
observed or invited to become a member of a
continuous research panel.
Survey research
Survey research consists of personal interviews,
telephone interviews and mail questionnaires.
Each have advantages and disadvantages and
the optimum choice, or combination of them, is
mostly dependent upon matching individual
survey methods with the situation-specific
demands of the research objectives. Kinnear
and Taylor (1996) say that the following are the
main factors to be considered when making this
choice: available budget, the nature of the
problem, the constraints of time, sample control
(the ability of the chosen method to reach the
stipulated sample), the quantity of data to be
collected and the quality of the data to be
collected. No author states only one method
may be used for a particular research project; in
many situations, several, or all, methods may
have to be employed.
Survey methods are good for gathering data
on: past and present behaviour; attitudes and
opinions; respondent variables; knowledge.
Personal interviews
Personal interviews are classified against their
degree of structure and directness: structure is
the degree of formality/rigidity of the inter-
view schedule; directness refers to the degree to
which the respondent is aware of the purpose
of the research.
Unstructured–indirect methods are rarely
used in marketing research; unstructured–
direct and structured–indirect will be covered
in the section on qualitative primary research.
Structured–direct is the method most often
used in research surveys.
Structured–direct survey methods permit
the researcher: to reduce respondent anxiety
(increasing rapport and, possibly, the response
rates); to guide respondents through complex
questionnaires; and, within boundaries, to ask
for ambiguous answers to be clarified.
Question wording and order are fixed,
with answers being recorded in a standard
manner, thus reducing possible interviewer
bias – potentially troublesome when multiple
interviewers are being used. Standardized for-
mats allow for the use of less skilled inter-
viewers, thus reducing costs. Also, pictures,
products, signs etc. may be displayed to refresh
respondents’ memories or to demonstrate some
action.
However, personal interviews may be:
time consuming, thus the cost per completed
interview is high compared with mail ques-
tionnaires and telephone interviews; the data
gathered may lack depth and richness because
of the fixed questionnaire format. Questions are
usually closed because of the problems asso-
ciated with recording the answers to open-
ended questions.Telephone interviews
An administered questionnaire delivered via
the telephone. The advantages are: low cost per
completed questionnaire; centrally located tele-
phone banks reduce travel times and costs, and
permits firm administrative control of inter-
viewers, thus reducing the potential for inter-
viewer bias and error; quicker results may be
produced, compared with mail questionnaires
and face-to-face interviews; allows for samples
to be drawn, easily, from a wide geographical
area.
However, there is a problem in establishing
rapport with respondents during a call’s short