Which of the following steps of the market research process typically takes over half of the time in completing the research?
A. Problem definition
B. Situational analysis
C. Data collection
D. Problem-solving
E. Alternative development
Answer: (A) Trying to ascertain what the problem is takes the majority of time in the process. (B) is incorrect. Although situational analysis may be time consuming, it does not take as much time as problem definition, and rarely would it require as much as half of the research time. Data collection (C) is time consuming but does not take as much time as problem definition. Problem solving (D) takes place after data collection, and usually doesn't require the time and effort that the other phases do; thus, it is incorrect. The development of alternative solutions (E) again takes time, but the problem definition takes the most time, and in a lot of cases, takes well over half the research time. Therefore, (E) is incorrect.