Chapter 3 Secondary Data, Literature Reviews, and Hypotheses Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Chapter 3

Secondary Data, Literature Reviews, and Hypotheses

Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

3-2

Learning Objectives

• Understand the nature and role of secondary data

• Describe how to conduct a literature review• Identify sources of internal and external

secondary data• Discuss conceptualization and its role in model

development• Understand hypotheses and independent and

dependent variables

3-3

Nature, Scope, and Role of Secondary Data

• Secondary data: Data not gathered for the immediate study at hand but for some other purpose– Internal secondary data: Data collected by the

individual company for accounting purposes or marketing activity reports

– External secondary data: Data collected by outside agencies such as the federal government, trade associations, or periodicals

3-4

Nature, Scope, and Role of Secondary Data

• Secondary data research has gained substantial importance in marketing research with:– Increased emphasis on business and competitive

intelligence – Ever-increasing availability of information from

online sources• Used to examine marketing problems because

of relative speed and cost-effectiveness of obtaining the data

3-5

What is a Literature Review?

• It is a comprehensive examination of available information that is related to. your research topic– Can help clarify and define the research problem

and research questions– Can suggest research hypotheses to investigate– Can identify scales to measure variables and

research methodologies that have been used successfully to study similar topics

3-6

Criteria Used to Evaluate Secondary Data Sources

• Purpose• Accuracy• Consistency• Credibility• Methodology• Bias

3-7

Exhibit 3.1 - Key Descriptive Variables Sought in Secondary Data Search

3-8

Exhibit 3.2 - Common Sources of Internal Secondary Data

3-9

Exhibit 3.3 - Additional Sources of Secondary Data

3-10

External Sources of Secondary Data

• Primary sources of external secondary data: – Popular sources– Scholarly sources– Government sources– North American Industry Classification System

(NAICS): A system that codes numerical industrial listings designed to promote uniformity in data reporting procedures for the U.S. government

3-11

Exhibit 3.5 - Common Government Documents Used as Secondary Data Sources

3-12

External Sources of Secondary Data

– Commercial sources• Syndicated (or commercial) data• Consumer panels• Media panels• Store audits

3-13

Synthesizing Secondary Research for the Literature Review

• Divergent perspectives and findings need to be included– Differences between findings of studies include

estimates of descriptive data

• Three major causes of discrepancies in online retail estimates– Inclusion (or not) of travel spending– Methodological differences– Some degree of sampling error

3-14

Developing a Conceptual Model

• Literature reviews can help conceptualize a model that summarizes the relationships you hope to predict

• Elements required to conceptualize and test a model:– Variables– Constructs– Relationships

3-15

Variable• An observable item that is used as a measure on a questionnaire

Construct

• An unobservable concept that is measured by a group of related variables

Relationships• Associations between two or more variables

Independent Variable

• The variable or construct that predicts or explains the outcome variable of interest

Dependent Variable• The variable or construct researchers are seeking to explain

3-16

Developing Hypotheses and Drawing Conceptual Models

• Two types of hypotheses:– Descriptive hypotheses– Causal hypotheses

3-17

Descriptive Hypotheses

• Possible answers to a specific applied research problem

• Its development involves:– Reviewing the research problem or opportunity– Writing down the questions that flow from the

research problem or opportunity– Brainstorming possible answers to the research

questions

3-18

Causal Hypotheses

• Theoretical statements about relationships between variables

• Two hypotheses can formally be stated:– Hypothesis 1: Higher spending on advertising

leads to higher sales– Hypothesis 2: Higher prices lead to lower sales

3-19

Causal Hypotheses

• Positive relationship: An association between two variables in which they increase or decrease together

• Negative relationship: An association between two variables in which one increases while the other decreases

3-20

Characteristics of Good Hypotheses

• Follow from research questions• Written clearly and simply• Must be testable

3-21

Conceptualization

• Development of a model that shows variables and hypothesized or proposed relationships between variables

• Involves:– Identifying the variables for your research– Specifying hypotheses and relationships– Preparing a diagram (conceptual model) that

visually represents the relationships you will study

3-22

Process of Conceptualization

• Identify variables for research• Specify hypotheses and relationships• Prepare a diagram that represents the

relationships visually

3-23

Exhibit 3.8 - A Model of New Technology Adoption

3-24

Hypothesis Testing

• Hypothesis: An empirically testable though yet unproven statement developed in order to explain phenomena– Null hypothesis: A statistical hypothesis that is

tested for possible rejection under the assumption that it is true

– Alternative hypothesis: The hypothesis contrary to the null hypothesis, it usually suggests that two variables are related

3-25

Hypothesis Testing

• A null hypothesis refers to a population parameter, not a sample statistic– Parameter: The true value of a variable– Sample statistic: The value of a variable that is

estimated from a sample

3-26

Marketing Research in Action: The Santa Fe Grill Mexican Restaurant• Should the owners of the Santa Fe Grill

Mexican restaurant go back and restate their questions? – If “no,” why not? If “yes,” why? – Suggest how the research questions could be

restated.

3-27

Marketing Research in Action: The Santa Fe Grill Mexican Restaurant• Regarding the owners’ desire to understand

the interrelationships between customer satisfaction, restaurant store image, and customer loyalty, develop a set of hypotheses that might be used to investigate these interrelationships.