The principal ways to collect new or primary data for a marketing study are by watching people and by asking them questions. Give two examples of each method.

Observing people includes watching how people actually behave. For example, Nielsen uses a "people meter" to monitor what people watch on TV. Mystery shoppers who observe the behavior of retail clerks are another example. Watching people is another approach to collecting observational data that can lead to innovation. Asking people questions can be done using questionnaires, which ask people about their attitudes, awareness, intentions, and behaviors. It can also be done using depth interviews. Focus groups are another way of asking people, which involve informal sessions of 6 to 10 past, present, or prospective customers in which a moderator asks their opinions. [NOTE: Students may provide other examples, such as personal methods (ethnographic research), neuromarketing, trend hunting, questionnaires (personal, mail, telephone, and online/Internet), mall intercept interviews, social media, panels, experiments, information technology, and data mining.]