JMC 3333 Syllabus

JMC 3333 Syllabus
 The University of Oklahoma           Spring 1997

JMC3333 Advertising Research 

Instructor: Dr. Louisa Ha                     
Class Time: T,H 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.   Classroom: KH 140
Office: COH 237
Office Hours: MW 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 
   T 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
                      and by appointment 
Voice-mail: (405) 325-5229
E-mail: Louisa.S.Ha-1@ou.edu
Homepage: http://www.ou.edu/class/jmc3333/hahome.shtml

Course Objectives

1.  To introduce students to the common research methods currently used by the 
      advertising industry.

2. To develop students’ abilities in preparing research reports based on primary and 
    secondary data.

Textbook
Successful Advertising Research Methods by Jack Haskins and Alice Kendrick, NTC Business Books, 1991. 

Course Prerequisites
Students enrolled in this course must have completed JMC 2033 and JMC3303 if they are declared advertising sequence majors.  Others are admitted by special permission only.

Course Structure
      This course is divided into two units.  The first unit discusses the principles of advertising research methods.  The second unit concentrates on the applications of the methods in different stages of the advertising process. 

Scholastic Honesty

      Except the group project, all exercises must represent individual effort.  An individual who copies from another individual's work will automatically receive a grade of 0 for
this class.
 
                             Grading

            
            Library Research Assignment	10 points
            Web Search Assignment 	10 points
            Short Assignments           15 points
            Exams I & II              	20 points
            Term Project              	20 points
            Final Exam                 	15 points
            Class Participation        	10 points  
                                      	____________
            Total                      	100 points        

90 points or above		 A
80-89 points	          	 B
70-79 points          		 C
60-69 points           		 D
0-59 points            		 F

Make-up Policy

      You will not be granted any make-ups for your assignments or group projects.  Under special circumstances with legitimate written excuses, a student may request the instructor for a special arrangement to make up for the loss of grade or score during his
or her absence.   

Attendance and Classroom Policy
      Class attendance is mandatory and you are obliged to observe classroom disciplines such as no chatting with classmates during the lecture session.  You are encouraged to raise questions in class.  Feel free to ask for further explanation.

Deadlines
      All exercises or projects handed later than the due date are considered as late. No late exercises will be accepted unless a written evidence such as a physician's letter is accompanied with the request for late submission or make-ups.

Students with Disability Statement
	If any member of the class feels that he or she has a disability and needs special accommodations of any nature, the instructor with work with you and the Office of Disabled Student Services to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform in the class.  Please advise the instructor of such disability and the desired accommodations at some point before, during, or immediately after the first scheduled class period. 
 

Library Research Assignment
      This report will give you first-hand experience to conduct secondary research using print materials in the library.

Web Search Assignment
      The World Wide Web has become one of the most important sources of information for a researcher.  This assignment will provide you with an opportunity to use search engines and compare the accuracy of each engines in retrieving information about
companies.  You have to visit my home page under the course of JMC 3333 to find out the search engines and conduct your search.

Exams

      The exams will consist of multiple choice and short answers on the concepts and business applications of advertising research methods which have been discussed in the class, exercises, the textbooks, and any additional assigned readings.  The first two
exams are not cumulative, i.e., each will only cover the period after the previous quiz, but the final exam is a comprehensive exam which will cover all topics in the syllabus.  It will
consist of short essays and multiple choices or true/false questions.  
      
Research Plan

      The research plan is a precedent to the Group Project.  Before you work in groups, you will write a brief outline on the methods and sources on your own that you plan to use in collecting information for the project.

Group Project

      The purpose of the group project is to apply the theories you learned from the class to a real-life large scale research project for an advertising campaign.  The written report of this project should be able to serve as a comprehensive situation analysis section for an advertising campaign proposal.  
  
      The grading of the project is mainly based on your written report. Evaluating criteria are its 1) organization and writing style (20%), 2) the comprehensiveness of the gathered information (30%), 3) the appropriateness of the research design (20%), and
4) the accuracy of and insights in interpreting the information or data collected (30%).

      To ensure that everyone in the group will contribute his or her fair share, a peer evaluation will be conducted after the report is submitted to the instructor. The peer ratings will affect your grade on the project as follows:

    
      Average points allocated
      to you by at least 2 members            		Impact on your grade
      95 - 100 points                        		 Grade increased by 10%
      81 - 94 points                         		 No grade adjustment
      60 - 80 points                          	 	 Grade lowered by 10%
      Below 60 points                         		 Grade lowered by 25%  

      All groups will hand in the written report of the project on the same day.

Class Participation
      Class participation grade is determined by the regularity of  your attendance (60%) and your participation (asking and answering questions) in class discussions.  Suggestions to the instructors on improving the course are also counted as class participation.

Course Schedule

      The following schedule is tentative.  Students are responsible for any changes made in class.  

                 Topic                                    			Readings

                 [UNIT ONE]
Jan 14       Introduction:                            				Ch.1            
             The Advertising Process           
             and the Role of Research

Jan 16        The Research Process          					Ch.2       

Jan  21       Types of Advertising Research 					Ch.2
    	
Jan  23       Secondary Research:                      				Ch.4
                  Resources in Print
                 
Jan  28       Secondary Research:                     		 		Ch.4  
                  Electronic Databases and the Internet                     
                  
Jan  30       Promotional Products Association International Conference
                  No Class

Feb   4       Primary Research:          	                        	Ch.5
                  Research Designs
                  Library research assignment due
      
Feb   6       Qualitative Research                     				Ch.6
 
Feb 11       Quantitative Research:   	                  			Ch.7
                  Surveys and Response Rate

Feb 13	      Quantitative Research:     	                  		Ch.7
                 Sampling	
	
Feb 18       Quantitative Research:  	                 			Ch.8
                  Questionnaire Construction
      Web search assignment due


Feb 20        Quantitative Research:  	                 			Ch.9          
                   Experiments 

Feb 25        Exam #1

Feb 27        Analysis of Quantitative Data:  					Ch.10
              Descriptive Statistical Analysis

Mar  4        Consumer Behavior Research 	              			Ch. 3

                 
                 [UNIT TWO]
Mar  6        Product Positioning Research  	              			Ch. 3

Mar 11,13     Spring Break!  No Class.
      
Mar 18        Market Segmentation Research                  			Ch. 3
 
Mar 20        Message Research Overview	                        		Ch.15
                 
Mar 25        Copy-Testing   	                         	            	Ch.16
                 
Mar 27        Pilot Testing							Ch.17
                 
Apr   1       Posttesting 	            					Ch.18
              Research Plan Due

Apr   3       Exam #2 

Apr   8       Media Audience Research Overview     			  	Ch.12
                   
	
Apr 10        Print Media Circulation Audit               			Handout,
                			                                 	Ch.13
                    
Apr 15        Broadcast Media Audience Measurement  				Ch.14      

Apr 17        Writing the Research Report                    			Ch.11      
                
Apr 22        Account Planning     		                       		Ch.3
      
Apr 24        Budget Research & Problems                              		Ch.20
          
Apr 28        Advertising Research and Society 	          			Ch.21      

Apr 30        Future of Advertising Research                           		Ch.22
            
May 1         Final exam review      
              Group Project due

May 9         Final Exam (8:00-10:00 a.m.)