Contact Methods
Contact methods are used to get the information Contact methods may be listed as:
1. Mail questionnaires: used to collect great amounts of information at a low cost.
2. Telephone interviewing: good method for collecting information rapidly.
3. Personal interviewing (which may be either group or individual interviewing). Form of personal interviewing is "focus group interviewing".
Focus-group interviewing consists of inviting six to ten people to collect for a few hours with a trained interviewer to talk regarding a product, service, or organization. Interviewer "focuses" the group discussion on significant issues.
4. Online (Internet) marketing research may consist of online focus groups or Internet surveys. Various experts predict that online research will soon be primary tool of marketing researchers.
5. Computer interviewing is a new method being utilized in technology age. Consumers read questions from a computer screen and give respond.
Sampling plans are utilized to outline how samples shall be constructed and used.
1. A sample is a segment of population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole.
2. Marketing researchers typically draw conclusions regarding large groups of consumers by studying a small sample of total consumer population.
3. Designing a sample calls for three decisions:
- Who is to be surveyed (what is the sampling unit)?
- How many people should be surveyed (what is the sample size)?
- How should the sample be selected (what is the sampling procedure)?
4. Types of samples include following:
a. Probability samples-each of population member has a known possibility of being included in sample, and researchers can calculate confidence restrict for sampling error.
b. No probability samples--sampling error can't be measured.