Market research report

Report



“Quality of the report is often used as a major indicator of the quality of the research itself”

Role of the report or function of the report

1. The successful report breathes life into the statistical and logical findings and wins the acceptance of those who will translate the findings into action.
2. It is the means whereby the data analysis and findings are placed in an organized and permanent form.
3. It serves as a reference to the future research.
4. Quality of the work is likely to be judged mainly by the report.
5. It is index of researcher’s skill and performance, the time thought and effort spent on it is vital to his or her future.
6. Effectiveness of the report may determine the action.

Types Of reports.

Oral Reporting.

1. Know your audience.
2. Proper planning is vital.
3. Clear about the objective of the session.
4. Organize in logical manner [meaningful & comparable parts]
5. Use suitable language for proper communication.
6. Visuaids (charts, diagrams, tables, pictures, posters, slides & video clips).
7. Handouts of the presentation should be distributed.
8. Summary should cover all the points of the topic.
9. Selection of delivery technique (important, speaking from memory, reading from script & extemporaneous)




Written Reports

Classification.

i. On the basis of time.

- Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually & special.

ii. On the basis of function.

a. Informational or factual report
b. Examination report (Doesn’t contain findings & conclusions).
c. Analytical report (contain only analysis of data, recommendation & conclusions).

iii. On the basis of physical form or make up

a. Short term.
b. Long term.

iv. On the basis of relationship between reader & writer.

a. Administrative.
b. Professional.
c. Independent.

v. Employment status as a basis.

d. Private report (Business Concerns).
e. Public report (Government).

vi. On the basis of formality of occasions.

a. Formal.
b. Informal.





vii. On the basis of representation of findings.

a. Basic report.
b. Reports for publication.
c. Technical reports.
d. Reports for executives.

Characteristics of report: -

1. Adhere to study objectives, selectivity and objectivity.
2. Study should cover all the important issues in detail.
3. Should be written in a manner, which possesses clarity of thought & expression throughout.
4. Report should present actual findings rather than what manager needs.

Contents of the report OR Report format OR Report outline OR Organization of the report.

I. Title page: -
II. Letter of transmittal.
III. Letter of authorization.
IV. Executive summary.
V. Table of contents.
VI. List of Graph, appendices, exhibits, Tables.
VII. Introduction.
VIII. Problem definition.
IX. Research design & methodology.
X. Data analysis.
XI. Findings/results.
XII. Limitations.
XIII. Conclusions & Recommendation.
XIV. Appendix.
XV. Bibiliography.







Title page:

Ø It should include.
a. Title of the report.
b. Information (name, address, & telephone) about the researcher.
c. Name of the client.
d. Date of the report.

Letter of transmittal:

ü It contains researcher overall experience with the project.
ü It contains what further action a researcher should take regarding findings or further research.

Letter of authorization:

ü It authorizes the researcher to proceed with the project and specifies its scope & the terms of the contract.

Executive summary/Synopsis:

ü The only portion of the report that executives read.
ü It should contain problem, approach, research design major results, conclusions & recommendations.
ü Written after entire research in Times New Roman Pont with font size 12 and line spacing single. Entire summary should not exceed maximum 3 Pages.

Introduction:

ü Background material.
ü Overview of the organization.
ü Reasons for doing the work.
ü Scope of the work.






Problem definition:

ü Background of problem.
ü Formation of problem.
ü Statement of problem.
ü Research objectives.
ü Research hypothesis.
ü Theoretical foundations.
ü Analytical models.

Research design & methodology:

ü Nature of the research design adopted.
ü Information needed.
ü Data collection from secondary & primary sources.
ü Scaling techniques.
ü Questionnaire development & pretesting.
ü Sampling.
ü Nature of fieldwork.

Data analysis:

ü Plan of data analysis.
ü Techniques of data analysis.

Findings/results:

ü Longest part of the research.
ü Organized in logical way.
ü Details should be presented in the form of tables & graphs.
ü Textual commentary of the research is essential.
ü Those who consider it relevant may put a portion of the very detailed information into an appendix for further study.







Limitations:

ü Researcher should state such limitations to provide the reader with insight into special conditions pertaining to the work.
Ex: Time constraint, population constraint, potential effects of non-response errors.

Conclusions & Recommendation:

ü Interpretation of results according to problems defined in the research.
ü Recommendations should be feasible, practical actionable & directly usable.
ü It is also known as “Marketing implications” Or action recommendation.

Appendix:

ü Supplementary information, which supports the body of the report.
ü Large and complex statistical tables, technical note, copies of the questionnaire instructions to field staff, Details of sampling plan & verification of research procedure.

Bibiliography:

ü Detailed information on references or sources.
Ex: proceedings of conferences, books, periodicals, articles & websites.