Module 5 – Case
PREPARE AND PRESENT THE RESEARCH FINDINGS
Case Assignment
Situation
This article looks at how consumers used a pharmaceutical Web site to learn about a particular disease or product. The article probes whether visitors used the Web site to decide which drug was right for them and whether they actually planned to request the product from their doctor. Gender and age differences in the use of Web site information were also examined. Increasing use of the Internet and data that show that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs empowers the patient to take a more active role in his/her choice of medications makes this article important for marketers as well as regulators.
Submit your 2-3 page paper by the module deadline.
Case Resource
Maddox, Lynda M (1999). The use of pharmaceutical Web sites for prescription drug information and product requests. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 8(6):488-96. Available March 7, 2013 via EBSCO
Assignment Expectations
In preparing CASE5, that is, in preparing your analysis of Maddox (1999), ensure that you demonstrate your learning of the marketing research concepts and frameworks for analysis outlined as follows:
Evaluate research
Problem? What is the driving force or main purpose behind this article? Is the problem important (yes or no)? Why was this article written? Defend your positions on all of these issues.
Central hypothesis? What is the main proposition that the author is trying to express/explore? Is your (the central) hypothesis best classified as descriptive, explanatory, or predictive/causal? Does the main hypothesis call for a measure of association or a measure of difference between two variables? What is the theoretical basis of your (the central) hypothesis? Does this hypothesis logically flow from and relate to the theorized constructs and relationships presented as the basis for the research or was it picked out of thin air? Defend your positions on all of these issues.
Research design? Is the study and experiment, a quasi-experiment, or a correlation? Defend your position on this issue
Construct Validity? In your (the central) hypothesis, look for a description of how the cause (that is, the independent (or predictor variable(s)) and the effect (that is, the dependent (or criterion variable(s)) are being measured. Face Validity: Do the measures measure what they are supposed to measure? Internal reliability: Are the measures reliable? What level of measurement is applied to these variables (for example, for each, identify if they are nominal, ordinal, scalar). What is the unit of analysis (for example, is it individual, group, corporate, societal)? Does the unit of analysis match between variables? Defend your positions on all of these issues.
External Validity? Was a sample drawn? If so, how was it drawn? Was it a large, randomly drawn sample? Did it consist of multiple cases? Are the conclusions drawn from one specific instance? Or, was sampling not done, at all? Defend your positions on all of these issues.
Internal Validity? How was the data collected? Was the data collection procedure unacceptable, acceptable, or superior – or – poor, average, or outstanding? Defend your position and offer suggestions for how data collection procedure(s) might be improved (if improvement is needed). In particular, how could the questionnaire have been improved? Defend your positions on all of these issues.
Conclusion Validity (Or Statistical Conclusion Validity)? Was there any statistical or qualitative analysis to support your (the central) hypothesis? Identify the descriptive and analytic statistics used in the study. Did the descriptive statistics measure and did the analytic statistics test for differences or relationships? Were the statistical methods used in the study appropriate? Defend your positions on all of these issues.
Note that this assignment does NOT require you to prepare a detailed essay. Instead use section headings for each of the topics you address in your paper followed by a discussion of that topic.
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