Marketing Research, 11th Edition

CHAPTER 15Data Processing and Basic Data Analysis

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Get an overview of the data analysis procedure.
2. Understand validation and editing.
3. Learn how to code questions in surveys.
4. Understand the process of data capture so that information can be read by a computer.
5. Understand the importance of cleaning questionnaires so that they are free of errors.
6. Be familiar with tabulation and statistical analysis.
7. Gain insight into the graphic representations of data.
8. Comprehend descriptive statistics.

The landscape of data processing has changed dramatically over the years in response to changes in technology and associated changes in the way we collect data. In particular, the data capture element—getting respondent answers into electronic form—is primarily provided by respondents in the case of online, mail, and other self-administered surveys; interviewers in the case of telephone surveys; and central location tests with paper surveys. Mail and self-administered surveys are major examples where the researcher needs to capture respondent answers to closed-end questions after the fact. Even here, automation and technology have had a big impact with all this information being captured electronically through advanced scanning equipment and software.

There still is manual work to be done in regard to dealing with responses to open-end questions, but here again, technology is ...