To Obtain Information Regarding Student Perceptions About the Marketing Curriculam

1. Introduction

There are various factors that students should consider when selecting marketing as a major at a higher education institution. The objective of this assignment is to obtain information regarding student perceptions about the marketing curricula. There are certain questions left unanswered that may be of importance to both students and researchers, namely; what students think should be part of the marketing curricula, who is responsible for marketing curricula, how students come to feel this way about marketing curricula, and why students have such opinions about marketing curricula. Upon addressing these questions, students may acquire knowledge that will help them understand any business related career since marketing enables students to understand the importance of consumer relations, communication, and psychology (Envisage International, 2015).

In order to obtain data regarding the above case, a research design method is needed. An accurate way of obtaining data is through quantitative research, qualitative research, or a combination of both, depending on the situation. Further exploration of research methods and designs implies that quantitative research tends to focus mainly on structured interviews and questionnaire research, whereas qualitative research lends its focus to semi-structured interviews, both within a cross-sectional design (Bryman, 2006). Mixed methods research combines both quantitative and qualitative research and may favour either design or utilise both equally throughout the research process (Bryman, 2007).

The aim of this assignment is to obtain information regarding the marketing curriculum, how it is developed, and students’ feelings towards it. In achieving this, it is important to differentiate between the research paradigms, select the most appropriate research design, justify the reasons for the selected research design choice and evaluate the research design's ability to address criticism against it.

2. The Difference between Quantitative and Qualitative Paradigms of Research

The focus of this study is aimed at students who want to obtain qualifications in the marketing field. Qualitative research involves open-ended questions and examining detailed information that highlights distinctions and variety (Anderson, 2006). It is important to understand student perceptions in order to identify what students in the marketing curriculum think. Open-ended questions help obtain detailed information about students, which guide the researcher in achieving accurate results.

Quantitative research uses hypotheses testing, which can be described as a statement that is tested in order to explain a situation; in this case, the students' perceptions with regards to the marketing curricula (Wyse, 2011). Researchers usually want to know the population being sampled and its size (Wyse, 2011). Students that are a part of the marketing curriculum only account for a small portion of students pursuing a degree in the commercial field. Therefore, it is not necessary to conduct hypotheses testing since the focus is mainly on marketing students and not the entire population of students studying.