Amazon.com description: Product Description: Marketing research has come to be seen as an increasingly important process in the management of organisations. High levels of competition, technological innovations in the products themselves and in their modes of manufacture, and the demanding and increasingly discriminating nature of consumers have all combined to raise the levels of Â'dangerÂ' in the business environment. Marketing research is the tool that producers use to inform themselves of the consumersÂ' needs and help them to satisfy them in an efficient and profitable manner. Understanding and Designing Marketing Research is an introduction to that varied, and sometimes complicated, array of techniques which is known collectively as marketing research. The second edition has been completely revised and up-dated to include the implications of technology, how the increasing use and influence of computers, via their connection to the Internet and the use of software packages such as Atlas-ti, Scolari and NUDIST, are having on how market researchers work. The Marketing Research Quality Standard Association standards are discussed and many more cases and actual examples of marketing research being used in practice have been included. Statistics and technical jargon have been kept to a minimum making Understanding and Designing Marketing Research invaluable for readers who seek a clear and concise exposition of the topic so that they may interpret, commission and use research in business. Suitable for students on a business qualification at degree or diploma level, or practitioners who commission marketing research from specialist agencies who need an overview of the techniques available.