Abstract:

Pharmaceutical research is market research, just as consumer research is market research, and they are essentially the same type of activity applied to different fields. What this paper is concerned with is the position of pharmaceutical research in the spectrum of market research, and how the technique and skills required for market research in the ethical pharmaceutical field compare with those required for market research in the consumer field. What this paper proposes to examine is the nature of these differences, and the extent to which they are justified by the research objectives and the environment in which the research is being carried out.