Find an example of marketing research in a newspaper article or trade journal, such as The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Marketing News, Business Week, or Forbes. You might look, for example, for statistics from a survey reporting on the quantity of certain actions or one that reports findings from a qualitative study on how people feel about an issue or subject. As an example, there is a great deal of current research on the ways in which social media are used. In this study, if you were to take a quantitative approach, you might examine how many businesses use Pinterest or another social media site to market consumer goods. In a qualitative approach, you might examine how CEOs think about the future of Pinterest as a marketing tool.

The CSU-Global Library is a good place to look for your article. Check within the Marketing section.

• Describe the context for the research and identify the research problem.
• Discuss the research method that was used to gather data for the problem.
• Evaluate whether the choice of research method was appropriate and ethical, and share why you think it was or was not the correct method.
• Provide two additional sources to back up your evaluation.
• Cite the source, the URL of the newspaper article or trade journal article, where you located the marketing research.