research report
Marketing Research: Research Report
(Submission Guide)
· - - Cover page - - -
Dataset:
Research Case:
Researcher Name:
Student No:
1) Executive Summary:
Concise 1-page summary of the research project, key analysis and interpretations, and recommendations of your report.
Aim for about 200 words – i.e. only the important information you want to communicate about your research report.
This is not an introduction into the case.
This should appear before your contents page.
2) Contents Page:
A list that details the section headings and their page numbers. E.g.
If not sure, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkqtHhqnOYo
2) Tables and Figures List:
A list that details the title of the tables and figures and their page numbers, Eg.
If not sure, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2RltLkC7vg
3) DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSES (Results and interpretation):
3a) Question title….
- - - Insert STACKED COLUMN GRAPH - - -
(Graphs should be based upon the analysis you conduct in SPSS, but only detail the key information, and should be communicated as effectively and aesthetically pleasingly as possible)
One brief paragraph contextualizing the results – i.e. what they mean (not what they are). Don’t repeat what is in the graph or table…the point of the graph or table is so that you don’t need to write all this info……it should focus on the WHAT
One or two paragraphs detailing why the observed may have occurred and what they mean for the client. This interpretation of the results is the most important. Such comment may include reasons why comparisons or contrasts are observed, critical review, categorizing…it should focus on the WHY
This can be your own opinion or perspective, but should offer salient marketing insights with respect to the case, the marketing industry, and theories. Academic references are not required, but will assist in theoretical support.
Interpretation is NOT strategies or recommendations; save these for the appropriate section of the report.
This form of answering applies to ALL questions in Sections 3 and 5.
PLEASE NOTE:
· DO NOT present any SPSS Tables or Graphs in the main section of this report. Doing so will result in severe penalties.
· You are to create new graphs and tables from the SPSS output showing only the most salient information. I would recommend using Excel, Word, or other word processing software.
· Relevant direct SPSS output detailing the analysis process of how you got to the findings should be published in the Appendices.
· See the Appendices section below for details on how to publish the process of your analyses.
3b) Question title….
- - - Insert STACKED COLUMN GRAPH - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
3c) Question title….
- - - Insert BAR GRAPH - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
3d) Question title….
- - - Insert BAR GRAPH - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
3e) Question title….
- - - Insert HORIZONTAL BAR GRAPH - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
4) DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSES (Recommendations)
Question title….
Question 4 requires the researcher to develop new strategies.
We are looking for three things:
· Strategic recommendations
· Analysis to support this recommendation
· Industry example(s) to support this recommendation
Whilst existing analysis from the previous section can be referred to, to receive higher marks you must conduct new analysis separate to that of the previous questions. This will require analysing the variables from a new perspective, analysing new variables, and / or synthesizing information from a range of analysis to deepen the interpretation demonstrated.
Some justification of why you chose to analyse the variables the way you did will help demonstrate deeper critical thinking.
Again, the emphasis is on the interpretation of the results, with these questions interested in recommendations (strategies you propose), as opposed to exploring what is observed. The observations should be used to support your recommendations.
Industry examples used may be as simple as screenshots or descriptions of what the industry is doing. Great detail is not required. These must be referenced appropriately.
Recommendations should demonstrate high-level marketing discipline knowledge and critical thinking, with references to the case, existing industry information / examples, and the 4 Ps of marketing.
5) INFERENTIAL ANALYSES (Results and interpretation):
5a) Question title….
- - - Insert BAR GRAPH - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
5b) Question title….
- - - Insert BAR GRAPH - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
5c) Question title….
- - - Insert EFA TABLE - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
5d) Question title….
- - - Insert REGRESSION TABLE(s) - - -
Para 1: Discuss results
Para 2 and 3: Discuss interpretation of results
6) INFERENTIAL ANALYSES (Recommendations)
Question title….
- - - Insert REGRESSION TABLE(s) - - -
Questions 6 is to be answered in a manner equivalent to Question 4.
7) REFERENCES
Please publish references where appropriate.
8) APPENDICES:
This is the only place direct output from SPSS should appear.
You must attach evidence of the process of your analyses.
I would recommend screen-shotting the key tables from SPSS. Jing is a great Screenshotting tool for PCs you can download. Holding Command+Shift+4 will suffice for Macs.
Do not publish all the SPSS output, just the key tables . Presenting unnecessary SPSS output will result in penalties.
You DON’T need to publish what you clicked on the interface, just the output that is relevant to support your analyses.
In some circumstances (particularly the “Recommendations” section) you may need to provide additional output beyond that mentioned below; please be concise though.
The following is a guide of what to publish from SPSS in the Appendices (not the main body) for each question:
· 3a) Output to publish in Appendices:
Frequencies, Descriptives for the 3 psychographic groups
· 3b) Output to publish in Appendices:
Frequencies, Descriptives for 4 age groups
· 3c) Output to publish in Appendices:
Frequencies, Descriptives for gender groups
· 3d) Output to publish in Appendices:
Frequencies, Descriptives for the psychographic groups
· 3e) Output to publish in Appendices:
Frequencies, Descriptives for the psycho group you select
· 4) Output to publish in Appendices:
Crosstab output, plus any additional output to illustrate depth of analysis.
· 5a) Output to publish in Appendices:
Group Statistics, Independent Samples Test
· 5b) Output to publish in Appendices:
Descriptives, Test of homogeneity of Variance, ANOVA, Multiple Comparisons for groups
· 5c) Output to publish in Appendices:
Pattern Matrix
· 5d) Output to publish in Appendices:
Correlations, Model Summary, Coefficients
· 6) Output to publish in Appendices:
Regression output (see above), plus any additional output to illustrate depth of analysis