EOC Week 1: What I Am Expecting From This Class

I am expecting to learn from this class how to properly conduct market research, and to impliment these findings by being able to compose an action plan surrounding it. Market reserch is impotant to anyone looking to sell a product. You need to find this information from gathering it. Research can seem invasive. You have to gather information from sources as well as the public. You can't ever find out what someone's opinion is if you don't ask them Zora Neale Hurston once said, "Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”

Marketing reaserch is defined as,"The process or set of processes that links the consumers, customers, and end users to the marketer through information — information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications." Making one poor decision based on gut feeling, intuition or judgement can cause a catastrophic loss of revenue. That's why it is nessesacry to conduct marketing reaserch.
There are two characteristics that define good marketing research: systemic and objective. "First, marketing research is systematic. Thus systematic planning is required at all the stages of the marketing research process. The procedures followed at each stage are methodologically sound, well documented, and, as much as possible, planned in advance. Marketing research uses the scientific method in that data are collected and analyzed to test prior notions or hypotheses. Experts in marketing research have shown that studies featuring multiple and often competing hypotheses yield more meaningful results than those featuring only one dominant hypothesis.
Marketing research is objective. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. It should be conducted impartially. While research is always influenced by the researcher's research philosophy, it should be free from the personal or political biases of the researcher or the management. Research which is motivated by personal or political gain involves a breach of professional standards. Such research is deliberately biased so as to result in predetermined findings. The objective nature of marketing research underscores the importance of ethical considerations. Also, researchers should always be objective with regard to the selection of information to be featured in reference texts because such literature should offer a comprehensive view on marketing. Research has shown, however, that many marketing textbooks do not feature important principles in marketing research."