Module BUSS40715: Marketing Science

Department: Business School (Business) [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

BUSS40715: Marketing Science

Tied To

• N5K309: Strategic Marketing

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To develop an understanding of the philosophical foundations of different research methods
• To establish the links between research questions and research design
• To appreciate the application of the main quantitative and qualitative research designs
• To be able to design a research project appropriate to the research question.

Content

• Is marketing science? — the debate between science and art/humanity
• Theory development & conceptualisation
• Philosophical foundations of qualitative research methods
• Questionnaire design
• Experimental design
• Scale development
• Quantitative data analysis (1) — t-tests, chi-squares, correlation, ANOVA, regression
• Quantitative data analysis (2) — moderating & mediating effects, reliability analysis, factor analysis
• Philosophical foundations of qualitative research methods
• Interviews & focus groups
• Observation & ethnography
• Qualitative data analysis (1) — meaning categorisation/condensation, deductive & inductive approaches
• Qualitative data analysis (2) — introduction to NVIVO

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students will:
• Have an advanced understanding of how to identify relevant and rigorous marketing research questions
• Have an advanced understanding of marketing theory development, conceptualisation and hypotheses/proposition development
• Have a critical understanding of the philosophical foundations of marketing research methods
• Be able to critically evaluate different marketing research methods & designs

• By the end of the module students will:
• be able to identify appropriate advanced marketing research questions
• be able to develop an appropriate conceptual framework based on marketing-focused problems and issues
• be able to design and conduct quantitative research into relevant marketing topics — including questionnaire and experimental design
• be able to design and conduct qualitative research into relevant marketing topics — including the key forms of observation
• be able to analyse qualitative and quantitative data relating to marketing.

• Effective written and oral communication skills
• Planning, organising and time management skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• The ability to use initiative
• Advanced skills in the interpretation of data
• Advanced computer literacy skills
• Groupworking skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught in 3-hour blocks to allow a greater level of engagement with students and to enable a flexibility of approach as appropriate. The teaching blocks will comprise a balanced mix of lecture-type teaching, group work, lab sessions, case studies, discussion and seminar style working such as will enable the learning outcomes to be met.
• The module is summatively assessed by a combination of individual written assignment and group poster presentation to maintain a balance of assessment methods and to promote, and test, the development of groupworking skills. The assignments will also test students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject-matter and their ability to apply their knowledge and specialist skills in the context of specific issues in marketing research/marketing science.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Various exercises during the sessions focusing on the understanding of the module’s main concepts: in-class research question formulation exercise; in-class qualitative and quantitative data analysis exercise.