Your action plan:

1. Define your problem. What do you need to know?
   
   
   • Agree your research objectives.
   • What role do you need the research to play?
   • Is there a cost effective argument to commission this research?
   • Use the research brief (download from your templates database), if you are briefing an agency to do the work.
2. Choose/brief your Research Agency.
3. Design the research and the methods (see options below) to be used.
   
   
   • Decide whether you need to use (secondary data) desk research and/or qualitative and/or quantitative data to answer your objectives.
   • Decide on the segment(s) to research.
   • Agree the sample size and method.
   • Calculate the budget and allocate a time plan. Are either flexible if the research method requires it?
4. Collect the data.
5. Analyse the data.
6. Report on the findings.

   See the various ways to report the findings/communicate your insights.

Consider using the Marketing Research Mix as a process to develop your research project.

©Janet Krenn/VASG

The methods and sources available to you

1. Secondary data (and why you should start with this)
   
   
   • Desk research
   • Buying analysis/reports from Marketing information companies
     
     
2. Primary data
   
   
   • Surveys, interviews and questionnaires.
   • Focus groups
   • Panels
   • Observational research
   • Experiments
   • The mystery shopper

Statistical techniques