Abstract:

From the definition of market research, we see that the explicit formulation of the hypotheses , and their formalisation in a "model", constitute a very important guide to the observation or picking out of the data; and they provide a useful frame of reference for the next logical phase of inference from the raw data. We have, then, recognised three uses of models (investigative, descriptive, operative), indicated the essential features of a good model, and underlined the convenience of their expression in mathematical symbols. Finally, we have affirmed the need to measure the factors contained in the model and the coefficients attached to them, and have indicated, in statistics , the body of methods which we need to know for this purpose.