Designing the Data-Collection Project

Ideas regarding potential opportunities are often solicited from consumers, so the data-collection projects that are used typically involve some members of the consuming public. Because researchers would like to heart any and all ideas that consumers might have, the data-collection projects will not follow a structured format. More than likely, the research will be much unstructured. The Breyers ice cream research project described briefly at the beginning of this chapter is an excellent example of such unstructured research. Research projects concerned with trying to identify potential opportunities- such as new ways to promote or use a product, or ideas regarding possible new products-are commonly called exploratory research. Such research projects tend to be unstructured and usually do not involve a specified list of detailed question. Exploratory research projects can be carried out in different ways. All of this is concerned with the different methods of exploratory research