MKT-337 compares and contrasts secondary and primary research with emphasis on the latter. Students explore different types of primary research as well as basic research methods, with a focus primarily on the survey.
Secondary versus primary research
The course establishes the genuine distinction between secondary research (existing data and studies) and primary research (data collected specifically for the current marketing question), examining when each is appropriate and why primary research often requires deeper methodological attention.
Survey design and methodology
MKT-337's emphasis on survey-based primary research covers designing valid, unbiased surveys and applying the basic research methods needed to gather genuinely useful marketing data directly from consumers or target markets.
Key topics in MKT337
- Secondary versus primary research
- Survey design methodology
- Types of primary research beyond surveys
- Basic marketing research methods
- Avoiding bias in research design
- Applying research findings to marketing decisions
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Worked example: when secondary research isn't enough
- Secondary research: Existing industry reports show general trends but not this specific company's unique customer base
- Primary research need: A survey of actual customers is needed to answer the company's specific question
- Lesson: MKT-337 emphasizes primary research because secondary sources, however useful for general context, often can't answer a genuinely specific marketing question
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Frequently asked questions
Secondary research draws on existing data and studies that were collected for some other purpose, which may provide useful general context but often can't answer a company's specific, unique marketing question about its own particular customer base or product. MKT-337 emphasizes primary research, especially surveys, because genuinely answering a specific marketing question frequently requires collecting new data designed precisely for that question, which secondary sources — however convenient and lower-cost — simply cannot provide.
A poorly designed survey can introduce genuine bias — leading questions, unrepresentative sampling, or ambiguous wording — that produces misleading results even when the survey technically 'asks customers what they think,' and marketing decisions based on flawed survey data can be worse than having no data at all if the results are trusted uncritically. MKT-337 covers survey methodology carefully because the value of primary research depends entirely on the survey being designed well enough to produce genuinely valid, unbiased results that actually reflect target market opinion.