Marketing Research is a systematic investigation undertaken to discover the preferences of customers and potential customers. Put simply, marketing research is nothing more than the process of learning to understand your customers better.

The information a client requires to support short- or long-range planning may be located and acquired from syndicated research services (Find/SVP, IMS International, Nielsen, etc.) or through primary research activity. A research project will usually include the following:

1. Define the problem -- what will be done after collecting the information.
   
   
2. Identify information sources -- check secondary research for answers before beginning primary research.
   
   
3. Select the primary research technique -- observation, experiment, survey.
   
   
4. Design the sample -- probability sampling or non-probability sampling.
   
   
5. Process and analyze the data -- tabulate, cross-classify the information, and deliver a report.