As many marketing researchers are aware, there are statistical tests built into the programs we use to show survey data. Most of these are set to operate at the 90 or 95 percent confidence level, and automatically test the difference between percentages in specifi columns, as shown in the mock data example in Table 1.
As some marketing researchers are aware
The automatic test built into the survey programs is not the right test to use when there are more than two subgroups. You ne a statistical test that will look at three percentages simultaneously, and that test is the chi-square (not to be confus with its cousin, the chi-square goodness of fit test).
The chi-square test looks at all the percentages and tests to see if what we have is different than what we would expect to have by chance alone. The logic behind it is actually deeper than this article will go, but, at one level it is cool.
Take a look at the mock data in Table 2 as an example. We want to know if the three percentages differ significantly statistically at the 95 percent confidence level. If they do, we will hypothesize that awareness decreases with ucation level.
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As Table 2a shows
The first step is to eliminate all the things that make the table pretty, and (oddly enough), to eliminate the percentages that we are interest in testing. We also add a new row. Since awareness is a zero-one concept (you are either aware or you are not), we add the number not aware, which we get just by subtracting the number aware from the total. Next, we add the rows to get totals, and put the bases in as the column totals.
The chi-square test actually compares all the numbers in the cells to the number that you would expect to be in the cell by chance. You get this number for one cell by multiplying the row total by the column total and dividing by the total.
For the first cell of 250, we would expect (421×501)/1003 = 210 to be in it. For the Some College/Tech School + Aware cell, (421×200)/1003 = 84, etc. The idea is neat. Table 2b shows the actual numbers and the expect values in boldface.
That’s it. There is no ne to go through
The whole formula for chi-square, since it can be found many, many places, and the rest of the logic of the test is the same as for all statistical tests of difference. (Compare the obtain chi-square to the table value of chi-square that one would expect if the percentages did not differ; if it is bigger, the percentages differ. If it is not, they do not.)
The logic compares the actual cell values to the cell vues you would expect if the percentages do not differ, given that the row totals and column totals are what they are. You are comparing all of the percentages at once, but the logic is bas on the number you expect to see in each cell. Better still, you can calculate that number and see for yourself, if you are so inclin.
Is our example chi-square significant at the 95 percent confidence level? It certainly is! Of course, it was construct to have large differences, so that is really no surprise.
Only when we stop worrying what are promo pages and how to use them to … about what is better, and start worrying about what is most appropriate for this particular project, are we truly bringing to our clients all of the strengths that research can offer.
Buying a calculator from one of the first manufacturers of calculators, the Singer Sewing Machine Company – and paying $600 or more for it.
Actually taking a job to interview
One chief of police in a small southern town and being paid $2.50 for the interview.
Not being able to afford a WATS line because each line cost $2,400 per month regardless of the number of hours you us. Each phone had to have a separate WATS line.
14.Considering whether or not to buy office machines from Exxon call Qyp, Qwip and Qyx.
15.Manually calculating statistics school email list such as standard error and standard deviation.
If you sent out 20 personal letters, they all had to be individually typ.
Marveling at the new Xerox Star system of connect typewriters,the forerunner of PCs and Microsoft.
Bragging that your new computer system had 256K memory, less than a watch has today but more than was us in the first Apollo moon flight.
Saying It’s in the mail rather than My system crash
And when the response rate on phone surveys was at least 60 percent on every survey!
We don’t pine for the good old days- they are gone forever. But to those who are passionate about marketing research, the fun and excitement of working first as a detective to determine the facts and then as a lawyer to present them, is still there. Long live marketing research!
Well, maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it means in-depth interviews or ethnography. Or, even if it does mean focus groups, maybe it means some creative approaches to those groups – giving respondents a disposable camera and having them take pictures of what a brand means to them, or having them create collages that illustrate how they feel about a particular product.
Maybe it’s focus groups
With parents and children in the same room, or groups held on-site at a store location so the group can shop together and then retire to a back room to talk about their experience. Maybe it means doing something you as a researcher haven’t done before – building something from scratch instead of dusting off last year’s discussion guide and making a couple of quick revisions.
This can be particularly challenging
When your client calls with an opening line of, We ne to do a phone survey. Trying to convince the client there might be a better way runs the risk of making them feel they weren’t bright enough to come up with the best answer on their own.
Often, what we resort to is the approach of, Sure, we can cost that out for you. But I’d like to discuss an alternative with you that might be even more useful for this particular project. If you think it’s appropriate, we can give you a cost on that approach, as well.
The point is, it’s time we stopp always reaching for the standard answers. It’s also time to put to rest criticism that certain methodologies are innately superior.
One methodology is not better
Than another for every project. Online panels will not solve every quantitative ne (nor will mail surveys, IVR or outbound phone surveys). Online focus groups are not going to replace traditional focus groups (nor should they be ignor as a possible approach).