Week	Lecture & Workshop Topics	Textbook Chapters	Tutorial Program	Assessment
1	The Role of Market Research and the Research Process	1 & 2	Krispy Kreme Video Case Study (p37) – via MyUni
2	Public Holiday: On-line Lecture: Writing a Research Proposal		P60 Q5, 8 & 9 Evaluation of a Research Proposal
3	Qualitative research	3	‘Client Briefing’ online (Q&A session)
4	Survey Research	5	Proposal Presentation	Research Proposal (15%)
5	Measurement and Survey Design	8 & 9	Using Qualtrics Survey Critique
6	Experiments and Observations	6 & 7	Questionnaire Design meeting with ‘Client’	Client Meeting– Questionnaire Design (5%)
Mid Semester Break
Mid Semester Break
7	Sampling and Data Collection	10 & 11	P393 Video Case 11.1 Nielsen Media	Mid Semester On-line Quiz (Optional - 10%)
8	Data Analysis: Tests of Differences	12 & 13	See MyUni for Data Sets and analysis required each week (bring laptop, or equivalent, to class)
9	Data Analysis: Tests of Association	14
10	Data Analysis: Multivariate Analysis	15
11	Interpretation and Report Writing	16	P 593-4: Q1, Q5 & Q6	Research Report (30%)
12	On-line Lecture: Recap of the Research Process		Final Presentation of Findings	Presentation (10%)
Exam Period				Exam 30% or 40%

Knowledge and Understanding

This course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the market research process and the role of market research in strategic decision-making. There will be a focus on understanding the theoretical components of research design, as well as developing practical skills in data collection, analysis and interpretation.

Through practical application within a market research project, students will present a research proposal, design a sampling and research method, develop a survey instrument, manage data collection, conduct statistical analysis techniques, interpret results, and present research findings. Emphasis will be placed on developing written and oral communication skills for presentation to corporate clients. Ethical business frameworks will also be reiterated and required to be adopted.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course students should be able to:

1. Discuss the scope and managerial importance of market research and its role in the development of marketing strategy

2. Provide a detailed overview of the stages in the market research process 

3. Develop research questions and objectives that can be addressed in a research design

4. Develop a market research design; including
     · Identifying appropriate research approaches (from qualitative, survey, observation, and experimental research techniques)
     · Preparing measurement instruments (including surveys and focus group outlines)
     · Designing a sampling approach and sampling frame

5. Manage the data collection process

6. Use contemporary statistical packages to calculate and report descriptive statistics from quantitative data

7. Interpret data analysis in the context of the identified business problem

8. Communicate research results in written report and oral presentation formats

Marketing Research (3rd Asia-Pacific Edition) by Zikmund, D’Alessandro, Winzar, Lowe, B., and Babin. Published by Cengage Learning Australia, Melbourne, 2014. ISBN: 9780170236027

An e-book version may also be purchased ISBN: 0170236021

Please note the update to the 3rd edition of this textbook.

REFERENCE

The following text is not required but may be useful in completing some of the course activities.

Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (Introducing Statistical Methods) (3rd ed.). London, England: Sage Publications.
ISBN 9781847879073 (Paperback)
ISBN 9780857020963 (e-book)

QUALTRICS

The data collection software that we use can be found at www.adelaide.qualtrics.com . You can use your student ID to build a Qualtrics account.

Both the MyUni course site and the textbook website are valuable resources for this course. MyUni will be the primary form of contact. You will find all of the lectures recorded and uploaded to MyUni, as well as a series of self check questions which are extremely valuable for crystallising the concepts covered in lectures and tutorials.

This course entails weekly 2-hour face-to-face lectures (recorded) and one tutorial. The audio of lectures will be uploaded weekly on MyUni.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course of private study outside of your regular classes.

Online Quizzes are an optional component of the course. There will be an online quiz available for you to complete each week. They consist of 25 multiple choice questions, can be done as many times as you like, and do not count for your assessment. The questions themselves test the theoretical components of the course. These self-check tests give you a great foundation for the optional Mid-Semester Online Quiz (10%).

This course requires you to learn the principles of market research, but you are also required to practically apply those principles. So there are two lectures per week, where we talk about what is in the text, but your major continuous assessment involves conducting a piece of market research. We will allocate the groups in week 1. We don’t want you swapping around. In groups of about five, you will be required to conduct a piece of market research for a client.


TURNITIN FOR ASSIGNMENTS

The Research Proposal (due Week 5) and Research Report (due Week 11) will need to be submitted via Turnitin using the MyUni site. Due dates will be on the Thursday evening by 11.59pm. Only one person per group is to submit via Turnitin on behalf of the group members.

Assessment	Weighting	Related Learning Outcome
Assessment 1 Research Proposal and Presentation (Individual Assessment)	15%	2, 3, & 4
Assessment 2 Client Meeting – Questionnaire Design (Individual Assessment)	5%	2, 4, & 5
Assessment 3 (Optional) Mid Semester Online Quiz (Individual Assessment)	10% optional	1 & 2
Assessment 4a Research Report - Written (Group Assessment)	30%	2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Assessment 4b Research Report - Presentation (Individual Assessment)	10%	2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Final Exam 3 hours; closed book (Individual Assessment)	40% (or 30% if optional assessment taken)	1, 2, 4, 7, & 8
Total	100%

1. To gain a pass for this course, a mark of at least 45% must be obtained on the examination as well as a total of at least 50% overall. Students not achieving the minimum exam mark will be awarded no more than 49%. 
     o Supplementary exams will be offered to students who achieve 45-49% in the exam in accordance with University policy.
     o Students achieving less than 45% for the exam – regardless of overall course mark – will receive a fail. This is when the student has shown nowhere near enough understanding of the course in the exam.
2. All assignments are to be lodged prior to the due date and time. A late assignment where no extension has been granted will be penalised by a reduction of 5% of the mark given for each day, or part of a day, that it is late.
3. Extensions to the due date of individual assessment may be granted under special circumstances. An extension request or application for supplementary exam based on illness or compassionate grounds must include the "Supporting Statement / Certification Form" that is page 4 of the Supplementary Assessment application available at: www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/pdfs/supp_applic.pdf Students applying for an extension based on medical reasons must visit their medical practitioner, with that approved University form, and have the medical practitioner complete it. A normal doctor's certificate will not be accepted.
4. Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. Marks may be deducted for poor hand-writing and grammatical expression.
5. Students in this course are not permitted to take a DICTIONARY (English or English-Foreign) into the examination. In this course, the use of calculators in the examination is not permitted. Also, students are not permitted to bring mobile phones into the examination.
6. Assessment rubrics will be posted on MyUni.

Presentation of Assignments 

• Please retain a copy of all assignments submitted. 
• All group assignments must be attached to a ‘Group Assignment Cover Sheet’, which must be signed and dated by all group members before submission – even for electronic submissions. All team members are expected to contribute approximately equally to a group assignment. 
• Hardcopy submission should be made to the ground floor level 10 assignment box, with a digital copy to Turnitin by Midnight of the same day.

Lecturers can refuse to accept assignments, which do not have a signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism. This is a legal document that must be included with every submission.

Assignment Guidelines including Referencing Details

A copy of the Postgraduate Programs: Communication Skills Guide will have been given to you at the beginning of your program. This guide will assist you structure your assignments. A copy of the guide can also be downloaded from http://www.business.adelaide.edu.au/current/mba/download/2009MBACommSkillsGuide.pdf

This publication also provides guidelines on a range of other important communication skills including writing essays and management reports, making oral presentations etc. In preparing any written piece of assessment for your postgraduate studies it is important to draw on the relevant ‘literature’ to support critical analysis. Also essential is to reference the literature used. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. (Further information on plagiarism is provided later in this course outline.)

The Harvard system is widely used in the Business School. Guidelines for the use of this style of referencing can be found in the Communication Skills Guide. Further assistance with referencing is available from the Faculty’s Learning Support Advisors. The contact details are provided on page 6 of the Communication Skills Guide.

Late Assignment Submission

Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons. All requests for extensions must be emailed to the lecturer in charge of the course before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. A late assignment (without prior arrangement) will be penalised at a rate of 5% per day (or part thereof). Submitting your assignment late (with or without an extension) also means you miss the primary marking cycle; it probably will get returned to you a lot later than your classmates get theirs.

Return of Assignments

Lecturers aim to mark and return assignments to students within two (2) weeks of the due date with written feedback. Students are responsible for collecting their marked assignments from either their tutorials or lectures. If assignments aren’t collected after two (2) weeks, the assignments will be available at the Student Hub for two (2) weeks. The remaining assignments will only be posted out to the students, if the correct mailing addresses are on the assignments. Page
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Copies must also be submitted to Turnitin

Each assignment must also be submitted to www.turnitin.com by midnight that the assignment is due. Only one member of each group needs to do this, but you must put a copy into Turnitin. This is an academic integrity software that simply checks that you are the authentic owner of the report you submitted. Not doing this creates all the same risks for you as if you hadn’t put the hardcopy in at all; penalties and/or longer waits for your marked papers.