Course description
Course number and name:
23-31.908.182 Quantitative Research Methods for Market Strategies
- Instructor: Dr. Sajad Rezaei
- Winter term 2018-19
- Event type: Lecture + Exercise
- Displayed in the timetable as: Research.Methods
- Hours per week: 3
- Credits: 6,0
- The language of instruction: English
Comments/contents| Kommentare/ Inhalte
The course focuses on quantitative methods of economics and social sciences based on research questions in the field of marketing and strategy. At the beginning of the course, the basics of complex market research will be introduced. Accordingly, skills for developing hypotheses and scales will be part of this course as well.
Based on specific issues of strategic marketing, models for market segmentation will be discussed in the course. The strategic product positioning will be illustrated by using prominent concepts. Causal models and related methods will be addressed in order to model a set of complex effect relationships. Each lecture is accompanied by an exercise (Übung). This exercise will be conducted in small groups where marketing research software will be used by students in a computer laboratory. Furthermore, students will explore and work with the dataset during exercises and prepare a written report on the dataset in small groups of 3-4 people each.
Learning objectives | Lernziel
The course enables students to handle and solve complex research questions in marketing and social science. Based on examples of (business) strategy students get to know complex multivariate analysis methods and how to apply them on their own. By obtaining knowledge and the ability to use statistical software packages, students also qualify to perform operational empirical analysis in a research project, consultancy, and professional practice. By the end of the course, it is expected that students will be able to:
- Demonstrate the ability to transform marketing problems into research hypotheses and proposal.
- Display the ability to develop proper measurement to collect data on the variables that are relevant to address the research hypotheses.
- Demonstrate the ability to select and utilize proper statistic tools to assess the dataset and the research hypotheses.
The skills mentioned above are key for a prospective student becoming an empirical researcher in the fields of social science, especially in market research.
Didactic concept | Vorgehen
Lecture (2 SWS) and exercise (1 SWS)
In general, it is beneficial to have a basic knowledge in the field of quantitative market research. These can e.g. be obtained by taking the BA course “Operational Research”.
We recommend students to prepare every single lecture. Therefore, prior to the lecture both the corresponding slides and the mandatory literature should be studied. Therefore, we are able to discuss content by mentioning aspects which cannot be found on the slides. Besides preparation, we highly recommend doing a follow-up on every class to enhance mind processing the content. The best way to do so is doing a recap together with other students on a weekly bases. Beside recap, students should try to transfer the course content to real-life problems to improve their application know-how. Discussing memorized contents facilitates the connection between scientific models and thoughts and leads to a quicker and more efficient way of answering exam questions.
Exam | Zusätzliche Hinweise zu Prüfungen
Final Exam (70%), and presence and active participation in SPSS-exercises as well as participation in a market research project (30%). To pass the course, passing the final exam is a precondition. Both part has to be passed at least with a 4.0 in order to pass this course. Exceptions like a Hausarbeit are not possible.
Please note: The grade for market research project can only be applied if the exam has been passed successfully. The grade for market research project cannot be transferred to another semester.
Exam relevance
We expect the students to know the learning contents of the lecture, the exercise, and the mandatory literature references. It is not sufficient to memorize the slides of the lecture only. Students rather should attend class regularly and prepare and follow-up its contents. Exam questions could possibly be derived from questions of the students.
After the evaluation of your exams, the exams won't be handed over to the students. Instead, we offer the students to have a look at them at our Chair. The date for inspection will be published on our homepage (see "Aktuelles") as soon as there is a concise date.
Literature
Main course book:
- Mario Mazzocchi (2008). “Statistics for Marketing and Consumer Research” (6th edition), Pearson, SAGE Publications Ltd: 9781412911221
Supplemented by:
- Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2017). Research Methods for Business Students” (7th edition). Pearson Education Limited. ISBN-10: 1292016620 • ISBN-13: 9781292016627
- William G. Zikmund (2013). “Business research methods”(7th edition), Thomson/South-Western, ISBN: 0030350840: Chapter 6