FIELD WORK
MARKETING RESEARCH PROCEDURE
Marketing
research is undertaken in order to improve the understanding about a marketing
situation or problem and consequently improve the quality of decision-making
related to it. The usefulness of the marketing research output will depend upon
the way the research has been designed and implemented at each stage of the
process. There are five steps in every marketing research process:
C) FIELD WORK
C) FIELD WORK:
This
is the stage where the research design has to be converted from the planning
stage to that of implementation. To achieve the stated research objectives data
has to be collected. This data collection is known as field work. The two
stages in field work are planning and supervision.
Planning: It has to be planned
how many people will be assigned to the field, what will be their geographical
areas of coverage; how many days will be required for the entire operation and
what is the pattern to be used for choosing sample units (every fourth
household in a lane, all flats with an even number in an apartment `block'
etc.). All this planning has to be done in accordance with the details spelt
out in the sampling plan.
Supervision: Supervision is an
extremely important input to ensure that the data collected is genuine and
accurate. Most field work is carried out by a team of field surveyors, and each
team is assigned to a supervisor. The team members would plan their daily area
of field work in consultation with the supervisor. The supervisor may accompany
different team members on different days. In the evening the team would meet
the supervisor, hand over the data which they have collected and sort out any
problems they may have faced.
Apart
from actually accompanying team members on data collection missions, the supervisor
would also make random checks to ensure that the data collected is genuine. The
check can be conducted either over the telephone (wherever possible) or by
again visiting the sampling unit. The supervisor may either ask the respondent
whether he or she was visited by the field interviewer and cross check the
accuracy of the data. Random checking is carried out to ensure that the field
workers do actually collect data from the genuine source of information and not
just fill in the data using their own imagination and ingenuity.
The
collected data has also to be checked for its objectivity and accuracy. The
data has to be carefully checked to ensure that there is no distortion because
of the field worker's bias or the respondent's bias. Respondent bias arises
because people generally like to project an image (about themselves and their
life-style) which is more flattering than the reality. This bias would operate
more in questions relating to income; possession of certain items (VCR,
air-conditioner), and habits relating to life-style (travelling abroad
frequently, visiting clubs, restaurants). Interviewer bias arises because of
the interviewer's own pre-conceived notions and ideas. A female interviewer may
prefer male respondents because she may feel that it is easy for to gather
information from men rather than women.
In conducting field work, it may happen
that the relevant source of information is not at home or does not wish to be
interviewed. The supervisor must give guidelines for tackling such situations.
The particular sampling units may be substituted by the next one or the field
worker visits the same unit again hoping to be more successful.
