Exam Paper No:

Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research Practice

EXAM PAPER
29th June 2011
10.00am –12.30pm
Instructions for Candidates
• Time allowed 2 hours 30 minutes
• Candidates must answer questions A, B, & C in Section 1
• Candidates must answer TWO questions from the six in Section 2
• All answers must be written in your Examination Answer booklet

Important Note: The requirement is for candidates to complete questions A, B & C in Section 1 and
two questions from six in Section 2, failure to do this by either selecting more or less questions than
the requirement may result in the paper being marked as non-compliant. Recommended times are
detailed in each section to assist candidates in completing all the questions in the time available.

This Exam Paper must not be removed from the exam room. At the
end of the exam please hand this paper back to the Invigilator.

The research problems contained in this material are fictional, any similarity to any real-life
organization, company or business is entirely unintended.
 © The Market Research Society 2011

MRS is the world’s largest association for people and organisations that provide or use market,
social and opinion research, business intelligence and customer insight.

MRS is the awarding body for market and social research qualifications in the UK. It offers a range
of government-approved qualifications suitable for different interests and levels of experience.

MRS Advanced Certificate Exam Paper 29th June 2011

© The Market Research Society 2011

MRS
15 Northburgh Street
London EC1V 0JR

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7566 1805

Fax: +44 (0)20 7490 0608
Email: profdevelopment@mrs.org.uk
Website: www.mrs.org.uk

Company Limited by guarantee. Registered in England No 518686. Registered office as above.

MRS Advanced Certificate in Market & Social Research Practice Examination – June 2011
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 © The Market Research Society 2011

Section 1: Compulsory question (Recommended time: 50 minutes)

This section tests problem identification and problem solving using a number of skills.
This section accounts for one-third of the total marks.

Read the following case study and answer ALL 3 questions below.

Central University, based in the south of England, has gained an excellent reputation for its postgraduate
courses. As a result, in recent years the University has attracted a large number of international
postgraduate students. The fees paid by these students make an important contribution to the
University’s annual budgeted income. To support the recruitment of international students, the
University has established a small department to promote its courses overseas and to liaise with
education institutions in key countries.

However, this year there has been a noticeable reduction in the number of applications from
international students. The University authorities are unsure if this is because of the global economic
downturn, or if there are other factors causing this reduction. They have decided to conduct research to
investigate how studying at Central University is now perceived by potential students and by key groups
of opinion formers, such as education bodies and major employers. It has commissioned quantitative
research to be carried out in the 3 countries which have, until now, represented the largest international
markets for the University (China, Russia and Brazil).

Your research agency, which has offices in each of the target countries, has won the contract for the
project. The agency proposes to carry out a phase of desk research in order to inform the development
of a questionnaire. It will then conduct a telephone survey using CATI (computer-assisted telephone
interviewing), with each office taking responsibility for carrying out the fieldwork in its own country. The
results will then be fed back to the agency’s central office in London for analysis. The University has given
a deadline of 3 months for the completion and reporting of the research.

Question A
What types of secondary data could be useful to inform the development of the questionnaire? Identify at
least three types of useful data, describe where each might be found, and explain why each is important.
(Weighting: one-third of total)

Question B
Describe the benefits of conducting the fieldwork separately in each of the countries concerned as is
proposed, versus the benefits of conducting all the telephone interviews centrally from the UK.
(Weighting: one-third of total)

Question C
Describe the main issues involved in sampling and recruiting from each of the populations of interest for this
project, the potential students and the opinion formers. Illustrate your answer with examples.
(Weighting: one-third of total)

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 © The Market Research Society 2011

Section 2: Optional Questions (Recommended time: 100 minutes)

This section accounts for two-thirds of the total marks.

Answer any TWO questions from the SIX in this section. Give a full answer to each of the
questions you choose.

Question1
A major UK travel company operates a number of call centres in the UK to support its holiday booking
activities. The company would like its call operators to gather quantitative information from callers who
have just purchased a holiday, to establish their satisfaction with the service they have received. This is to
be done at the end of the call. The travel company has engaged your research agency to advise them.

a) Outline the strengths and limitations of the approach the company wishes to take. Give reasons for the
points you make.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

b) The company has instructed operators to ask each customer a set of structured questions about their
level of satisfaction with the telephone booking service they have just used. You have been asked to
provide advice for the design of these questions. Outline the information which should be included in
this advice, giving reasons for the suggestions you make.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

Question 2
Five years ago, a Government organisation responsible for health promotion conducted a major research
study to investigate attitudes to healthy eating among young people aged 18-24 years. The study
involved both quantitative and qualitative primary studies among students at five universities across the
UK. The quantitative research took the form of a self-completion pen and paper questionnaire. The
qualitative research comprised a series of traditional, face-to-face group discussions. The organisation
now wishes to carry out further research to investigate if and how young people’s attitudes have
changed.

a) The Government organisation is aware that developments in communication technologies mean that
there are other ways of collecting data than those they used in the original study. Identify two
methods of data collection which might replace the self-completion pen and paper survey and one
method which might replace the face-to-face group discussions. Outline briefly the advantages and
limitations of using each of the methods you have identified.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

b) The organisation is interested in examining the current attitudes of the original sample of 18-24 year
olds. A re-contact question was included in the original survey and the organisation has asked the
research agency who conducted it to re-interview all those who agreed to be re-contacted. Identify
the issues that might be encountered in conducting this re-contact survey. Would you recommend
that the client goes ahead with it or not? Give a rationale for your recommendation.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

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 © The Market Research Society 2011

Question 3
You have been asked to run an introductory seminar on data editing for new recruits to the quantitative
team in your organisation. The training manager is keen to ensure that the recruits understand the
importance of effective data editing for data which has been gathered by either paper-and-pen and or
computer-based methods.

a) What is ‘data editing’ and how can it be carried out effectively? Describe the data editing process,
illustrating your answer with examples.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

b) You need to ensure that the new recruits can deal effectively with ‘missing data’. Explain what is
meant by the term ‘missing data’, how it occurs and how it can be dealt with. Illustrate your answer
with examples.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

Question 4
Your organisation has been asked to carry out a programme of qualitative research for a company that
produces battery-powered scooters for transport around city centres. The company wants to know if and
how the public’s perceptions of its brand have been affected by environmental concerns and increases in
fuel prices.

a) Identify 3 methods of primary data collection by which the information the company requires
could be gathered. Outline the strengths and limitations of each approach you suggest.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

b) Choose one of the approaches that you have identified. Describe the steps you would take – from
the research design stage onwards - to ensure that it produces the type of information that the
company needs.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

PTO
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 © The Market Research Society 2011

Question 5
Owing to cuts in funding, a local council is considering closing a number of public amenities such as
libraries, leisure facilities and children’s play areas. However, they are keen to understand what the likely
impact of closure will be on communities using these facilities. Your research agency has proposed a
project which uses quota sampling, based on age, gender, employment status and residence, and face-
to-face interviews conducted in the street. Although the authority is impressed by the proposal, they are
concerned that the costs are too high. They have asked your agency to consider making the following
changes to the proposed research in order to reduce costs.

a) Reduce the sample size (Weighting: one-third of total mark)

b) Reduce the number of quota controls in the sample (Weighting: one-third of total mark)
c) Shorten the questionnaire (Weighting: one-third of total mark)

What is the possible impact of each of the above changes on the usefulness of this quantitative survey?
Identify the issues which the client needs to understand before any cost-cutting measures are taken.
Illustrate your answer with examples.

Question 6
You are an Insight Manager for a leading confectionery manufacturer. A new member of the marketing
team has prepared a research brief. You feel that the research objectives within the brief are unclear, and
you have been asked to provide some feedback for the team member before he amends the brief and
sends it to the research agency.

a) Describe the potential problems which can arise at different stages in the research process when
research objectives are not clearly defined. Illustrate your answer with examples.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

b) What steps would you expect the research agency to take to ensure that the research objectives
set out in the brief fully address your research needs? Give reasons for the steps you expect, and
illustrate your answer with examples.
(Weighting: one-half of total)

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 © The Market Research Society 2011

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 MRS
15 Northburgh Street
London EC1V 0JR

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7566 1805

Fax: +44 (0)20 7490 0608
Email: profdevelopment@mrs.org.uk
Website: www.mrs.org.uk

Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No 518686. Registered office as above.