Introduction

Marketing analytics and research is a complex but powerful subject that helps managers make sense of the marketplace and plays a crucial role in sensible decision-making. The objective of this course is to provide the students with an understanding of the topics at hand, as well as the tools and techniques needed to plan and carry out a marketing research project. The course has the dual purpose of first providing users of marketing research with knowledge on nature of information that marketing research can generate and second motivating marketing students to pursue careers in marketing research.

Major sections of the course deal with problem definition, research design, data collection, data analysis, and utilizing as well as communicating the generated knowledge. At each stage attempts are made to illustrate practical and managerial applications. In addition, where appropriate, students will be given hands on experience with various marketing research techniques.

Class Policies

Following are some policies I follow related to issues that frequently come up during college classes. Please read and understand them carefully.

1. Punctuality Policy: Punctuality is a cornerstone of professionalism and my job is to prepare you for a professional career, so I take this VERY seriously (ask your friends) and so should you.
   • You must be in class and seated and ready to go at the moment the class starts. When you stroll in late, you distract me and your fellow students who arrived on time.
   • Reasons such as “bus/train was late”, “alarm did not go off”, “elevator was slow”, “traffic was bad” will not be tolerated. If you are marked absent or miss a graded assignment due to this, no make-up for you.
   • Tardiness will only be accepted if you have a genuine reason (see point 3) that you notify me of.


2. Attendance Policy: Your (almost) full attendance in the class is expected and desirable. Both physical and mental. Your attendance will play a part in your final grade through Class Participation.
   • I will be taking attendance vocally at the start of every class. If you miss attendance because you are late for anything other than a genuine reason (see point 3), you missed it.
   • Two Free Passes You will get at the most TWO absences no questions asked, as long as there isn’t an exam or an assignment or you aren’t scheduled to make a presentation. Maybe you want to prepare for some other class’s exam, maybe you scheduled an interview, maybe you just felt like spending the time for a nap or “Netflix and chill” 😊. You get those two absences no questions asked, as long as there isn’t anything graded scheduled for you on that day. Just send me a one line email, before or after class, saying “I invoke my free pass” and it will be fine.
   • Anything beyond the two absences, and/or missing a graded component, will have to be covered under the genuine reason listed below.


3. Genuine Reasons Policy: You might have to miss a number of classes or be late or miss assignments/exams/presentations for genuine reasons. I will allow for them and even give make-ups if they are indeed genuine reasons.

   These are what I consider genuine reasons:

   • You are really ill or incapacitated. In which case, you will have to provide a doctor’s note. “Feeling a bit under the weather” will have to be covered by the two free passes.
   • You are representing the school in a sports competition or some extra-curricular event, in which case I will require at least one week advance notice. Those of you in varsity, give me your game schedules asap.
   • There is some family thing. Either a special event that has been planned, in which case I need at least one week advance notice. Or an unforeseen family emergency, like illness or death of a loved one, in which case, please let me know at your earliest.
   • A religious reason or event, in which case I need at least one week advance notice.
   • Any other personal emergency that you think should qualify (I have worked here long enough to have seen many such cases), in which case, talk to me or email me as soon as you can. And I will make the call.

   These are what I DO NOT consider genuine reasons:

   • Senior Design Meetings. I start with this because this is the most frequent reason given to miss a class. This course is as much a full 3-credit and important course as any other. So Senior Design will NOT be considered a genuine reason to miss any components of this class.
   • You scheduled an interview or want to attend a recruiter event or have some responsibilities related to your extra-curricular positions at the time of the class. Beyond the two free passes mentioned above, it will NOT be considered a genuine reason.
   • There is some really tough exam or assignment for some other class that you need to work on? Sorry, not a genuine reason when in college.



4. Make-Up Policy: If you miss a graded component because of the genuine reasons above/and or talking to me beforehand and getting permission, I will give you a chance to make it up. But note the following caveats
   • You may get a different assignment than the one your classmates got.
   • It is solely your responsibility to ask me about the make-up and schedule it ASAP.


5. Submission deadline policy: Over the course of the semester, you will have several deliverables to submit. These must be submitted on or before time. For every hour’s delay in a graded submission, you will be docked 10% of that submission’s grade. For ungraded submissions, every hour’s delay will cost you 10% from your class participation grade.


6. Special Needs Policy:

   If there are any extenuating circumstances or special needs that you think could impact your punctuality, attendance, course-work, presentations, etc, please let me know beforehand. If you have a learning disability or mental health issues, please speak to me and/or the school’s offices set up for this. Any such information will be kept confidential.

   Furthermore, if you have any other extenuating personal circumstances, please let me know asap. I will not be able to make allowances for these needs at the end of the semester.



7. Personal Electronics Devices Policy: : As a rule, you are NOT allowed to have your phones, laptops, tablets etc in your hand or on your desk during class. Laptops are allowed only if we are having lab sessions that require you to use them. Otherwise, use good old pen and paper to take notes.
   • If I see you breaking this rule, I will come to you, call you out in front of the class, ask you to put it away, and count it as a 10% reduction in your final grade total. Take this very seriously!
   • If you think there is some compelling reason why you might need an electronic device accessible (like some family situation or an interview), you need to get permission BEFORE class.


8. Group Discord Policy:

   As part of this course, you will be doing a lot of work in groups that you will be randomly assigned to in the coming weeks. The random group assignments are meant as a way to prepare you for professional life by working in teams with people you might not choose but will have to work with.

   Naturally, such situations can lead to some discord. Some member being unresponsive or not pulling their weight and so on. If you need me to step in, please email or talk to me ASAP. If you notice one or more group members not contributing, please email or talk to me ASAP. And I will try to mediate and sort out the situation. Please do not wait until it is too late for this conversation.

   At the end of the course, there is a “peer evaluation” component in which group members’ ratings can affect your final grade. So keep that in mind and actively work with your groups.



9. No “Hail Mary” Policy: The components of your final grade are shared below. At the end of the semester, you will be graded based on the total of those components. This will be a FINAL grade. The only allowance made will be for calculation errors. But I will NOT be entertaining requests like “I did badly in such and such component, may I please do an assignment for extra credit to improve my grade?” OR “I know I missed that assignment. I messed up. Please let me make up.” in the final weeks of the semester. The key to doing well in this class is to take it seriously throughout the semester. As much as I love football, I will not be allowing Hail Marys.


10. Honor System Policy: This course, like all other courses, will adhere to the Stevens Honor System.

Grading Policies

Final grading will be determined according to your performance on the following components:

Class Participation - 10%

Two Class Exams - 30%

Two Lab Assignments - 20%

Group Project

Focus Group & Questionnaire Design - 10%

Data Analysis and Report - 10%

Presentation - 10%

Peer Group Evaluation - 10%

Class Participation and Attendance 10% of your grade is set aside for this component. Regular attendance is expected, because you will be tested on the material covered in class. Student participation is actively encouraged. Asking intelligent questions, answering questions posed by me and participating in class discussions will help you gain a better understanding of various marketing research concepts and will contribute substantially to your grade.

Class Exams Two exams will be held during class time as indicated in the schedule below. These exams will not be cumulative, and will have multiple choice questions. There will be NO FINAL EXAM for this class during the final exam week.

Lab Sessions and Assignments There will be lab tutorials and lab assignments during which you will work in pairs on data analysis assignments. I will provide more details about this in a couple of weeks.

Group Project To give you firsthand experience of conducting market research, the course will consist of a very demanding group project, whose topics are up to you to decide as a group. In groups of 4-5, you will work on conducting a focus group, designing a questionnaire, collecting data, analyzing the data and presenting your results in class as well as writing up a report about them. Here are the deliverables and deadlines related to the project.

• The randomized group compositions will be announced on September 10th. No substitutions will be allowed.
• The group members should have discussions among themselves, and with me to decide on a topic for the group project. You should let me know your project topic by email no later than September 24th.
• You will then conduct a focus group for your project, videotape it and upload it on YouTube. The deadline for this is October 8th.
• Based on what we discuss in class, your first task as a group is to prepare a questionnaire for the project, which counts for 10% of your grade. The questionnaire should be emailed to me no later than October 17th.
• I will grade the questionnaires and return them to you with suggested changes. You will collect data using these questionnaires from 100 respondents (total for the group), 50 on paper and 50 online. You will enter this data into a spreadsheet, and submit the excel file to me for verification no later than November 12th.
• You will then work on analyzing the data in groups, and based on your findings, make a group presentation during the last couple of classes and submit the written project report no later than 23:59:59 on December 11th.

Project Presentation During the final class sessions, each group will present their findings to the whole class. The presentations should last approximately 15-20 minutes. I will talk more in class about what the presentations should ideally be like.

Project Report The findings should also be written up into a project report, which should be about 10 double-spaced pages, excluding tables and figures. The deadline for the project report is 23:59:59 December 11th. I will talk more in class about what the reports should ideally be like.

Peer Group Evaluations Out of your overall grade, 10% will be determined on the basis of peer review, i.e. how your group-mates rate you in terms of your contribution to the project. This is done to ensure everyone shares the workload and there are no free-riders.