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Marketing Research

Description

Research professionals are involved with the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. The market researcher may interact with key decision-makers in formulating problem statements and identifying the information required by decision-makers for solving a problem. Traditionally, the researcher is involved with designing the research project, creating the questionnaire and the sampling plan, tabulating and analyzing the data, preparing the written report and presenting the findings to both management personnel and clients.

Career Opportunities

Marketing research offers a variety of career paths depending upon one's interests, and level of training. Although most jobs are to be found with either outside research suppliers (research firms that conduct projects for client firms) or in larger corporations (inside research departments that conduct projects to provide decision-making guidance for the corporation), a limited number of research positions are available within advertising agencies or various branches of the government. There was a time when a decision to go into marketing research represented a lifetime career commitment--but today this inflexibility is not so prevalent. Now it is more common to see people transfer into and out of the marketing research department as part of a career in marketing. Indeed, marketing research can be an exciting and rewarding career with many challenges.

Educational Background

Beyond the required marketing research course work, preparation should include studies in statistics, psychology (especially psychological measurement courses), and technical report writing. Entry-level positions in marketing research are usually as a Junior Analyst and require a Bachelor's degree in marketing with little or no experience. At higher levels, however, many companies require a Master's Degree in Marketing Research (MMR) or graduate studies in Social Psychology or Psychometrics.

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