Using Computer Assisted Cases for Marketing Research Instruction

Abstract

"Case methods in marketing are most prevalent in introductory courses on marketing management but they can also be used advantageously in marketing research courses. When used for marketing research courses, the role of the case may change. Besides being used to put students in the position of an executive who must develop a corporate plan of action, marketing research cases frequently develop scenarios that provide an opportunity to use marketing research skills. Cases can be used to illustrate and supplement all phases of the marketing research process, from problem formulation and survey research through model building. In this paper, a particular kind of case, one that is computer assisted, is discussed. The paper does not pretend to be a review of computer assisted cases, instead it is merely a structured presentation of methods that the author has employed in teaching marketing research courses. The paper is in two parts. First is a classification of different ways in which cases can be computer assisted. For the sake of order, these ways are described as Levels I, II, and III though this enumeration is not intended to imply a normative hierarchy. Following the presentation of case methods is a short comment on some issues which must be faced if a university decides to institutionalize computer assisted cases in their curriculum. "