Postgraduate Course: Marketing Research & Data Insights (CMSE11632)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | We make sense of the social and scientific world through research and as social scientists we use research methodologies as tools that helps us make these discoveries about the how, why, and what of social life around us. The course aims to give students a broad understanding of research methodology for academic and industry-led research in the field of Marketing and by the end of the course students will become competent in designing, planning, conducting, evaluating and presenting a research project. The course introduces the language of research including key philosophies underpinning research, ethical principles and challenges of research, and the core elements that make up the research process. As part of the course, students will become competent in using qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method approaches to collect and analyse data. As well as providing methodological foundations and tools of Marketing Research, the course also equips students with the necessary knowledge, critical thinking, problem-formulation and problem-solving skills for undertaking their MSc dissertation as part of their degree programme. |
| Course description |
During this course students will learn how to design structured, reliable, and impactful research that generates insight for both academia and industry. As part of the course, students will explore various philosophical debates and understand how they underpin research. They will also learn about different research methods, designs and approaches and how to justify their methodological choices when applying them to real-world empirical contexts. The course will engage students in the (marketing) research process, which involves the systematic gathering, recording and analysis of both primary and secondary data.
Overview of Research Methods for both academic and industry insight. During the course we will cover:
-Understanding the research process (for academic and industry purposes)
- Research philosophy (paradigms, ontologies and epistemologies)
- Research Design & Methods (quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods approach)
- Qualitative Data collection (Interviews & Focus Groups, Ethnography & Netnography, Creative Research Methods) & Data Analysis
- Research ethics and researcher reflexivity
- Data literacy for Industry (practice & theory)
- Understanding Statistics (key concepts, descriptive and inferential statistics)
- Experimental data analysis
- Moderation, mediation and regression analysis
- Training in Quantitative data software (SPSS)
Student learning experience : -
During lectures we will cover a wide range of content on the research process and the use of qualitative and quantitative methods in academic and industry research. Students will be informed from a practitioner perspective as course lecturers work closely with industry partners.
To complement these didactic lectures, the course fosters active learning and higher order thinking through carefully designed seminars and computer labs, where students are encouraged to apply their learning to practical scenarios using real data. During these sessions, students will learn-by-doing as they apply their data analysis and interpretation skills to qualitative data (in seminars) and quantitative data (in computer labs).
All teaching on the course will be highly interactive with students having the opportunity to pose questions, engage in their learning and work in small groups as well as individually.
As part of the course, students will also learn how to search for academic and industry sources (e-journals and wider reading) and learn how to relate this literature to the research process with confidence and professionalism.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 16,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Online Activities 1.5,
Other Study Hours 5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
167 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
1 hour Q&A session,1 hour Guest Lecture,3 hours half day workshop,3 hours Group Poster Presentation
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework 100%«br /»
- Group Presentation 30% (group presentation incl. 20% peer moderation) (Assesses Learn Outcomes 1, 2, 3 & 5)«br /»
- Individual Report 70% (Assesses Learn Outcomes 1, 4 & 5) |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback: - In discussion in synchronous sessions.
Summative Feedback: - Provided on the coursework. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Define the purpose and process of research (from inception to report) and critically assess how research methodology informs academic and industry-based decision making,
- Identify and critically discuss philosophical debates underpinning research and evaluate appropriate methods and designs for developing a research methodology, assessing the limitations (or benefits) of particular approaches
- Demonstrate data literacy skills of collecting, analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data and synthesise and present data in a clear, compelling and professional manner,
- Conduct structured and purposeful desk/secondary research that provides a contextual overview of the phenomenon under study using academic and industry sources,
- Professionally communicate (visually and verbally) a research project on a topical Marketing issue
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Reading List
Core Text: -
- Bell, E., Bryman, A., and Harley, B (2019) Business Research Methods. 5th Oxford University Press
- Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2016) Research Methods for Business Students. 7th. Pearson.
- Saldaña, J. (2021) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, 4th edn. SAGE.
- Field, A. P. (2018) Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. 5th edn. Sage.
Key Journals: -
- Shannon-Baker, P. (2016) Making Paradigms Meaningful in Mixed Methods Research, Journal of Mixed Methods Research.
- Goulding, C. (2005) Grounded theory, ethnography and phenomenology: A comparative analysis of three qualitative strategies for marketing research. European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 39 No. 3/4, pp. 294-308.
- Goodman, J. K. and Paolacci, G. (2017) Crowdsourcing consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 196-210.
- Wessling, K. S., Huber, J., and Netzer, O. (2017) MTurk character misrepresentation: Assessment and solutions. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 211-230.
- Morales, A. C., Amir, O., and Lee, L. (2017) Keeping it real in experimental research ¿ Understanding when, where, and how to enhance realism and measure consumer behaviour. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 44 No. 2, pp. 465-476.
- Pieters, R. (2017) Meaningful mediation analysis: Plausible causal inference and informative communication. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 692-716.
- Meyvis, T. and van Osselaer, S. M. J. (2018) Increasing the power of study by increasing the effect size. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 44 No. 5, pp. 1157-1173. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines;
comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary
and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent
organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.
- Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop
approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore
and solve them responsibly.
Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Convey meaning and message through a wide range of communication tools, including digital technology
and social media; to understand how to use these tools to communicate in ways that sustain positive and
responsible relationships.
- Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern
their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of
organisational contexts.
Autonomy, Accountability and Working with Others
After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Act with integrity, honesty and trust in all business stakeholder relationships, and apply ethical reasoning
to effective decision making, problem solving and change management
- Understand oneself and others, through critical reflection, diversity awareness and empathic development,
in order to maximise individual and collective resilience, and personal and professional potential.
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| Keywords | Marketing Research,Qualitative Research Methods,Quantitative Research Methods,Data Analysis |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Victoria Rodner
Tel: (0131 6)50 8074
Email: victoria.rodner@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lauren Dunn
Tel: (01316) 513758
Email: ldunn2@ed.ac.uk |
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