(Revised: 5 June 2009)

MKTG 610: Marketing and the Scientific Method
Course Syllabus
Fall 2009
Instructor: Dr. Michael Hyman, Stan Fulton Chair of Marketing
Department of Marketing and General Business
Office: 307A Guthrie Hall
Phone: 646-5238 (office), 522-8463 (home)
Fax: 646-1498 (office)
e-mail: mhyman@nmsu.edu
http://business.nmsu.edu/~mhyman

Link to Reading List
Link to Question Set

Purpose

The purpose of this course is to familiarize you with:

• the publication-related aspects of an academic career in marketing;
• the purposes, value, and limitations of marketing research;
• the design, administration, and limitations of survey research;
• the basics of qualitative research, observational research, and experimentation in marketing;
• the basics of sampling in survey research;
• ethical concerns in marketing research; and
• the logic and presentation of scholarly research, especially in reviews of the extant literature.

Course Materials

Required

• MKTG 310: Marketing Research lectures, Spring/Fall 2009.
• Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Columb, and Joseph M. Williams (1995), The Craft of Research. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press (ISBN 0-226-06584-7) (Branson Library call # Q180.55.M4 B66 2003).
• Bradburn, Norman, Seymour Sudman, and Brian Wansink (2004), Asking Questions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (ISBN  0-7879-7088-3) (Zuhl Library call # HN29 .S6915 1996).
• Charmaz, Kathy (2008), Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. Los Angeles: Sage (ISBN 978-0-7619-7353-9).
• Dillman, Don A., Jolene Smyth, and Leah Melani Christian (2008). Internet, Mail and Mixed-Mode Surveys:
  The Tailored Design Method, 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Co. (ISBN: 978-0-471-69868-5) [or 2nd ed., but 3rd preferred] [Dillman, Don (2000), Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (ISBN 0-471-32354-3) (Zuhl Library call # HM538 .D55 2000)].
• Henry, Gary T. (1990), Practical Sampling. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications (ISBN 0-8039-2959-5) (Zuhl Library call # HA31.2.H46 1990).
• Peterson, Robert A. (2000), Constructing Effective Questionnaires. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. (ISBN 0-7619-1640-7).
• Pyrczak, Fred (2008), Evaluating Research in Academic Journals: A Practical Guide to Realistic Evaluation. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing (ISBN 1-884585-78-7).
• Tourangeau, Roger, Lance Rips, and Kenneth Rasinski (2000), The Psychology of Survey Response. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-57629-6) (Zuhl Library call # HN29.T68 2000).
• Yin, Robert K. (2009), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage (ISBN 978-1-4129-6099-1) (Zuhl Library call #H62.Y56 2009).
• Additional readings (described below).
• A standard marketing research textbook of your choice, but published after 1990. For a less advanced text, consider an undergraduate marketing research textbook authored by (1) Zikmund, (2) Aaker, Kumar, and Day, or (3) Cooper and Schindler. For a more advanced text, consider the marketing research textbook authored by Malhotra. Such textbooks are available in Branson Library.

Supplemental/Recommended

• Cooper, Harris (1998), Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews, 3^rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (ISBN 0-7619-1348-3) (Zuhl Library call # H62.C5859 1998).
• Damer, T. Edward (2001), Attacking Faulty Reasoning, 4^th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company (ISBN 0-5345-5133-5) [an excellent introduction to logical fallacies].
• Gaiser, Ted. J. and Anthony E. Schreiner (2009), A Guide to Conducting Online Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage (ISBN 978-1-4129-2290-6).
• Greenbaum, Thomas (1997), The Handbook of Focus Group Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. (ISBN 0-7619-1253-3) (Branson Library call # HF5415.2 .G695 1993).
• Krueger, Richard A. and Mary Anne Casey (2009), Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage (ISBN 978-1-4129-6947-5) (Zuhl Library call # H61.28.K78 2009).
• Mariampolski, Hy (2001), Qualitative Market Research: A Comprehensive Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (ISBN 0-7619-6954-3) (Branson Library call # HF5415.2.M3167 2001).
• Strauss, Anselm and Juliet Corbin (1998), Basics of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. (ISBN 0-8039-5940-0) (Branson Library call # HA29 .S823 1990).
• Teddie, Charles and Abbas Tashakkori (2009), Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Los Angeles, CA: Sage (ISBN 978-0-7619-3012-9) .
• Willis, Gordon B. (2005), Cognitive Interviewing: A Tool for Improving Questionnaire Design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. (ISBN 0-7619-2804-9) (Zuhl Library call # H61.28.W55 2005).
• Wilson, Timothy (2002), Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (ISBN 0-674-00936-3) (Zuhl Library call # BF697.5.S43 W55 2002).

Assignments

Weekly

You should review the materials assigned for each class session and be prepared to discuss them in depth. In addition, you are expected to submit written critiques of these materials. The critiques, which should be submitted via e-mail by noon of the day before these materials will be discussed, should focus on the value of these materials in guiding scholarly research. You are encouraged to be critical and to recommend materials for continued inclusion in or deletion from this course.

You will lead one class session alone and lead two class sessions with two other students. Your ability to lead these classes, along with any ancillary materials you prepare, will apply toward your course grade.

Examinations

As a course requirement, you must work through--at your own pace--the lectures for MKTG 310: Marketing Research and take objective examinations on each of the five course modules. All examinations, which will consist of 60 objective questions, will be administered via WebCT until August 19th and Blackboard subsequently. The examinations will be open from June 1st to the last day of Final Exams. You may take an examination associated with each module up to three times; only the highest grade on any of the three administrations will count toward your course grade. (Note: You are not permitted to reproduce the examination questions in any way; efforts to do so will be considered acts of academic dishonesty.)

Grading Policy

Your course grade will be computed as follows: 

Reading Schedule

Final Notes

Dropping the Course. Although the instructor may drop students administratively, students remain responsible for dropping this course.

Course Coverage. Although the above schedule is flexible, the exam dates are fixed. Although the instructor will make a good faith effort to cover all of the above material, he does not guarantee that all of it will be covered.

Incomplete Grades. Under university policy, incompletes may be given only if a student has a passing grade at mid-semester (the last day to withdraw from a class) and is precluded from successful completion of the second half of the course by a documented illness, documented death, family crisis or other similar circumstances beyond the student's control. An incomplete should not be given to avoid assigning a grade for marginal or failing work. Requirements for removal of the I grade must be clearly stated on the I grade form and a copy of the form should be provided to the student. Details on incompletes appear in the catalog.

Cheating. The instructor defines cheating as (1) submitting another person's work as your own work, or (2) fabricating respondent data or research results. Any student caught cheating on an assignment or test will receive a permanent 0 (zero) for that assignment or examination.

Students with Disabilities. If you have or believe you have a disability and would benefit from any accommodations, you may wish to self-identify by contacting the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Office located in Garcia Annex (phone: 646-6840). If you have already registered, please make sure that your instructor receives a copy of the accommodation memorandum from SSD within the first two weeks of classes. It is your responsibility to inform either your instructor or SSD representative in a timely manner if services/accommodations provided are not meeting your needs.

If you have a condition which may affect your ability to exit safely from the premises in an emergency or which may cause an emergency during class, you are encouraged to discuss any concerns with the instructor and/or Ms.Jane Spinti, SSD Coordinator. Feel free to call Ms. Elva Telles (EEO/ADA and Employee Relations Director) at 646-3333 with any questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All medical information will be treated confidentially.