Problem setting

One of the key aspects of marketing research is correct and clear problem setting. Once the problem is defined, it is necessary to determine the research objective.

Defining the research objective is crucial to all further research, as one of English sayings says "Well begun is half done".

Research instrument selection

Quality of conclusions largely depends on the research instrument selection. Selecting the right instrument is one of the basic tasks of Bazis Intelligence Group researcher analysts.

During the process of questionnaire design the research analysts of Bazis Intelligence Group develop a logical flow of the questionnaire, define survey sections, work on correct question order, and formulate questions in such a way that it’s clear, easy to comprehend and directly addresses the information needs. Every question relates back to the information needs defined by research objectives.

Respondent base and sample selection

The process of sample selection includes 3 stages:

1. The definition of respondent base.

It is necessary to determine target groups dependent on objective and tasks of marketing research.
For example, our research objective is to clarify consumer preferences of people with middle level of income in Yekaterinburg city. This way, the subject of our marketing research is males and females in different age categories with middle level of income, who live in Yekaterinburg city, Russia.

2. Sampling method selection: random, stratified, etc.

3. Sample size calculation. It is important to clearly define your population size in order to come up with the correct sample size. The sampling should be a representative illustration of total population.

For example, we based our analysis on a random sample of more than 400 people in research of consumer preferences of people with middle level of income in Moscow.

Pilot In order to test research instrument it is required to conduct pilot interviews. Often times just a few pilot surveys provide a very good insight on respondents’ reactions to certain questions, probing suggestions and survey flow. No matter how experienced the analyst developing the survey tool is, we find is an absolute must to conduct pilot surveys.

Instrument update

Pilot stage provides input for research instrument improvement. Only once the pilot is completed, the research tool can be finalized and the fieldwork starts.

Data collection

One of the most time-consuming stages of marketing research projects is data collection, which first of all requires well-trained interviewers (moderators) with certain set of personal qualities. This stage requires particular attention, as it has direct influence on the quality of collected data. We may point out the controlling the of quality of interviewing work is an important accent of this stage (particularly, when it comes to quantitative methods).

Data entry

Data entry for quantitative research is realized with the help of special statistical software packages. We support SPSS, MiniTab, and SAS formats.

Data entry for qualitative research mainly consists of transcription and verbatim recording.

Data analysis

In quantitative research, analysis tools we typically use, but not limited to, are the following: – descriptive statistics (frequencies, means and others); – exploration of correlations (analysis of variance, cluster and factor analysis and others); – exploration of cause-and-effect relationships (regression analysis).				For qualitative research projects, data is as analyzed in order to explore common trends, tendencies and dependencies, which provides for more in-depth conclusions.

Method of triangulation of information is widely used in our company Bazis Intelligence Group that may guarantee the objectivity of conclusions.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The researcher makes the conclusions about the basic results with the help of charts, graphics, tables and analytical reviews after the stage of data analysis. As usual we have some plan of summary report, but the content of it and basic requirements are always discussed with our customer.

Typical project report includes:

1) Project background: research environment, problem setting, research objective.
2) Timeline
3) Respondent base analysis: sample size and character
4) Research methodology
5) Research tool (survey, moderator outline, etc.)
6) Top-level conclusions and recommendations
7) Detailed analysis corresponding to each information need

The purpose is to represent the results of research in the most comprehensive and relevant way.

Summary report is usually created in MS Word, PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat. Key to making recommendation is direct linkage between the decisions that clients have at hand, problem stated in the beginning of the research project, and conclusions made as an outcome of the research. Our recommendations are always actionable and directly connected to the marketing problem set initially.