MARKETING RESEARCH - 2025/6

Module Overview

The main aim of this module is to get students ready for conducting professional and academic (dissertation) research. Whereas all stages of a research process are covered in this module, the clear focus is on conducting qualitative and quantitative studies to support marketing decisions in response to business opportunities or problems. More specifically, this module offers the relevant framework for making the informed marketing decisions. The module is organized around the stages of a marketing research project (e.g. problem definition, design, data collection, data analysis, and documentation). The course will be of particular value for students planning careers in marketing research and marketing consulting.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

XIE Amy (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Marketing Principles and statistics

Module content

According to the main aim, students are taught how to: 

• Define marketing research problems,


• Write a marketing research proposal,


• Organise and review relevant literature,


• Select the appropriate research method and data collection instrument,


• Develop a sampling plan,


• Analyse, interpret and report qualitative and quantitative data and 


• Write appealing and easy-to-read research reports (including charts).

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

An individual marketing research report.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate all learning outcomes.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Group coursework (addresses learning outcomes: 1, 2, 4 and 5)


• Individual coursework (addresses learning outcomes: 3 and 5)

Formative assessment

It will be conducted in weekly seminars where the members of each group are asked to report their progress and share issues with the seminar tutor. The submission of a group contribution sheet, together with the report, is compulsory whereby all members of a group are required to specify their contribution percentage.

Feedback

Feedback will be provided via the following channels

• In-class group discussions during seminars


• Weekly lecture


• Weekly Seminar


• Discussion forum to facilitate discussion of various topics


• One-to-one mentoring


• Generic and ongoing feedback on reports


• Emails


• Student feedback and consultation hours

Module aims

• Provide the necessary knowledge to write and critically evaluate marketing research proposals/studies
• Explore how to design and conduct qualitative and quantitative market research studies
• Develop skills which are needed for pursuing a career in the marketing research industry

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The core delivery method involves a combination of lecture and seminar each week.

• Lectures will be held to discuss various methods for analysing data.


• Seminars will be held to apply these methods covered in lectures and will be partially allocated to support students' preparation for coursework. 


• Q&A forums will be set up to facilitate the discussion of various topics (e.g. Group Report, Methods; Case studies).

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM543

Other information

Employability: this module empowers students to address real marketing decision problems and opportunities through case studies and hands-on exercises using a problem-solving approach adopted by practitioners. These skills are in high demand in the market research industry.

Digital Capabilities: Students are expected to learn several software tools (e.g., SPSS) and applications to address marketing problems and opportunities through research and data-driven marketing decisions.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: this module improves students' self-efficacy through development of critical thinking and research skills, with expertise in selected subject of academic and professional interest, capable to identify business problems and apply marketing research methods to obtain new insights aimed to address real-life marketing problems and opportunities. These skills are highly relevant when engaging with marketing research professional assignments as well as when working on academic dissertations to earn academic degrees (e.g., M.Sc., Ph.D.)

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.