Hello again. Your starting point for market research usually goes back to a business, problem, question, or objective. What does your client, or company need to find out about the market? What did they hire you, or direct you to discover through your market research? Ultimately, that's your business objective. Whether you are setting out to do qualitative, or quantitative research, it's good practice to clarify and identify specific objectives for your research. So how do you identify these specific objectives? In this lesson, we discover how to do just that. And after this lesson, you will be able to identify specific objectives for the research that will inform your marketing decisions. So let's get started. Now I asked, how do you identify these objectives? Well, you can ask your stakeholders, the marketing director, and discuss it with all your colleagues. You should discuss the project in its entirety with the stakeholders, and make sure everybody is on the same page. If you are hired through an RFP, Request for Proposal or in response to a marketing proposal, or plan, that document usually spells out your specific objectives. You can also check any previously created internal documents regarding the objectives. For example, on one project I conducted, the objectives were discussed between the stakeholder, the CEO, and the marketing director in a memorandum that was furnished to me once I was brought into the project. I found that when I started the project, the marketing director didn't mention some of those objectives that had been previously identified. I made sure to clarify whether they wanted to include the objectives that were in interoffice memo, or not. It turns out that they did. So it was a useful exercise to check. After you've identified what you think are the specific objectives, or what were the objectives when the project began, it is wise to verify the information. The market is constantly changing, as is staffing, the team involved, and other parts of the process. So here's how to verify the objectives before you design and implement your quantitative survey. Make sure the objectives are in writing. Get verification from the entire team you're working with at the company. Send a follow up memo with the changed objectives attached. Label your memos by number of the draft. When it's final, mark it as final. It is important to be on the same page with each person involved in the research, and to get everyone to sign off on the process to make sure there were no misunderstandings, and that the research results are spot-on accurate. Here's how to verify the objectives for which you will design your quantitative survey. Outline the objectives in your initial written proposal. Get an acceptance letter to the proposal with any changes to the objectives from the client. Get verification of the timeline for the work and payment. Let's apply this to our specializations business case scenario. Suppose you've been tasked with designing a quantitative survey about a smartphone. You may then identify one of your specific objectives to be, discover what are the barriers to purchasing a new smartphone for 20 to 30 year olds with a bachelor's degree or higher. You may have previously identified from a focus group discussion that ensued during the focus group, that there were barriers to purchasing a new smartphone due to the battery life, compatibility with a computer, and reception of the phone. You could verify these barriers with your client by constructing specific example questions that address each issue. For example, you may ask them to rank from 1 to 3, one being the most important and three being the least. The most important quality that a high end smartphone should have between battery life, compatibility with the computer, and excellent reception. Once you have identified and verified specific objectives for your research, that will inform marketing decisions with your client, you're ready to move forward with confidence. Okay, that wraps up our lesson. You should now be able to identify specific objectives for the research that will inform marketing decisions. That's where you start preparing to design and implement your survey.