Market Research is a growing and important field that is used in many industries around the world. Given all the data that is collected whether by organizations, industries, social media, governments, etc., it’s important that someone can review and sift through all the noise to provide valuable insights. And that’s where you come in as a market researcher. This course will only scratch the surface and provide you a foundational understanding of this field. In this course, you will be able to define market research and identify some tools used in the industry. You will be able to discuss the importance of secondary and internal research in terms of the planning process. You will be able to define what primary research is and identify the various ways to conduct primary research. You will be able to focus on an actual research plan or proposal for your peer review project. You will be able to compose a response to a request for a proposal or research plan and be able to address the various components of the proposal and package it in a professional manner.

In this course, the second in the Market Research Specialization, you will go in-depth with qualitative market research methods, from design to implementation to analysis. Week 1: Define qualitative research and how it differs from quantitative research. Explore the various qualitative research methods and evaluate when and how to use them for your research project. Week 2: Design the qualitative instruments necessary for your interviews or focus groups, and plan your recruitment efforts. Write questions and prompts to ask in an interview or focus group. Design a moderator guide and a screening questionnaire to use when recruiting your participants. Week 3: Recruit participants for your focus group and apply techniques to ensure they show up and participate. Act as a moderator during your focus group and apply strategies to handle various types of situations. Probe responses and engage participants in a group discussion, while collecting qualitative data and keep the discussion moving. Week 4: Organize and analyze the data you have collected. Transcribe the audio from your focus group or interview and interpret your notes. Write a focus group report that can be presented to your stakeholders and see how this information might relate to your quantitative research. Take Qualitative Research as a standalone course or as part of the Market Research Specialization. You should have equivalent experience to completing the first course in this specialization, Research Report: Initiating Research, before taking this course. By completing the second class in the Specialization you will gain the skills needed to succeed in the full program.

In this course, you will obtain some insights about marketing to help determine whether there is an opportunity that actually exists in the marketplace and whether it is valuable and actionable for your organization or client. Week 1: Assess methods available for creating quantitative surveys, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Identify the type of questions that should be asked and avoid unambiguous survey questions. Week 2: Design, test, and implement a survey by identifying the target audience and maximizing response rates. You will have an opportunity to use Qualtrics, a survey software tool, to launch your own survey. Week 3: Analyze statistical models that can be applied to your marketing data, so that you can make data-driven decisions about your marketing mix. Week 4: Predict most likely outcomes from the marketing decisions and match the type of analysis needed for your business problem. Take Quantitative Research as a standalone course or as part of the Market Research Specialization. You should have equivalent experience to completing the second course in this specialization, Qualitative Research, before taking this course. By completing the third class in the Specialization, you will gain the skills needed to succeed in the full program.