Research Has Far to Go to Achieve Professional Status

Marketing research, unlike many other disciplines, is filled with underpaid, undertrained personnel, and it is often the first item cut to lower corporate expenses. In some cases, marketing research can become more of an exercise than a carefully executed tool. This observation does not apply to all clients and practitioners, but marketing research has not met always with the necessary level of professionalism. Some indicators of the need for greater sophistication in marketing research are that politics may outweigh professional ethics and objectivity may give way to subjectivity. Guidelines to address these concerns include: 1. Marketers and researchers must admit not knowing answers before conducting the research. 2. They must select the best design for the budget through careful evaluation. 3. They must base cost estimates on the best possible information. 4. Marketers and researchers must take steps to insure the accuracy of interviewing, coding, and data entry.