• Increased Coverage of International Business Issues - The text makes greater use of examples from companies and countries around the globe.

• Survey This! Feature--First introduced in the eight edition, Survey This! allows students to respond to an online questionnaire hosted with Qualtrics software. New to the ninth edition is a populated data set for instructors based on the Survey This! questionnaire. This data can be used in later chapters as illustration of the statistical techniques discussed in the text. Students also get access to Qualtrics to design their own questionnaires.

• Comprehensive Cases--The ninth edition includes online access to comprehensive cases that allow the student to get real hands-on experience doing research. Shorter and more-to-the-point cases are included at the end of each chapter.

• A Simplified Approach and Style--The Research Snapshots, chapter learning objectives, and end-of-chapter materials are presented in a form that allows greater focus on the truly important information. The learning objectives ensure an important coherence and structure to the chapters that culminate with the end-of-chapter materials.

• Tagged End of Chapter Exercises--The end of chapter materials contain a number of questions that pertain to either ethical issues in business research or exercises requiring students to get involved with research via the Internet. These items are each uniquely tagged with a visual symbol, making these particular exercises stand out with a clear, identifying mark.

• Attention to Qualitative Research - In response to this important phenomenon, Chapter 7, Qualitative Research Tools, provides a comprehensive overview of qualitative research techniques.

• Breadth of Business Coverage--The ninth edition further broadens the spectrum of business activities and touches on practically all areas of business including marketing, management, finance, business ethics, and accounting.

• Chapter Vignettes--The chapter vignettes were carefully examined and updated. Several are new to the ninth edition. Each vignette sets the stage for the chapter by introducing topics taken from both well-known and lesser-known companies, topical areas of interest in current business literature, and slice-of-life business situations.

Preface.

PART I: INTRODUCTION.

1. The Role of Business Research.

2. Information Systems and Knowledge Management.

3. Theory Building.

4. The Business Research Process: An Overview.

5. The Human Side of Business: Organizational and Ethical Issues.

PART II: BEGINNING STAGES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS.

6. Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research.

7. Qualitative Research Tools.

8. Secondary Data Research in a Digital Age.

PART III: RESEARCH METHODS FOR COLLECTING PRIMARY DATA.

9. Survey Research: An Overview.

10. Survey Research: Communicating with the Respondents.

11. Observation Methods.

12. Experimental Research.

13. Measurement and Scaling Concepts.

14. Attitude Measurement.

15. Questionnaire Design.

PART V: SAMPLING AND FIELDWORK.

16. Sampling Designs. and Procedures.

17. Determination of Sample Size: A Review of Statistical Theory.

18. Fieldwork.

PART VI: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION.

19. Editing and Coding: Transforming Raw Data into Information.

20. Basic Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics.

21. Univariate Statistical Analysis.

22. Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Differences Between Two Variables.

23. Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Measures of Association.

24. Multivariate Statistical Analysis.

25. Communicating the Research Results: Research Report, Oral Presentation, and Follow-Up.

PART VII: COMPREHENSIVE CASES WITH COMPUTERIZED DATABASES.

Index.

William G. Zikmund, Oklahoma State University

William G. Zikmund, Ph.D., was a professor of marketing at Oklahoma State University until his death in 2002. He received his bachelor of science degree in marketing from the University of Colorado, a master of science degree from Southern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of Colorado. Professor Zikmund worked in marketing research for Conway/Millikin Company and Remington Arms Company before beginning his academic career, and he had extensive consulting experience with business and not-for-profit organizations. Professor Zikmund published dozens of articles and papers in a diverse group of scholarly journals, including the JOURNAL OF MARKETING, ACCOUNTING REVIEW, and the JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY. He was the author of the successful textbooks EXPLORING MARKETING RESEARCH, BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS, MARKETING, and EFFECTIVE MARKETING, as well as a work of fiction: A CORPORATE BESTIARY. Professor Zikmund was a member of several professional organizations, including the American Marketing Association, the Academy of Marketing Science, the Association for Consumer Research, the Society for Marketing Advances, the Marketing Educators¿ Association, and the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators. He served on the editorial review boards of the JOURNAL OF MARKETING EDUCATION, MARKETING EDUCATION REVIEW, JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE, and JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH. Professor Zikmund was an accomplished educator who strived to be creative and innovate in the classroom, and his books have been used in universities in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and North America, reaching more than a half million students worldwide.

Barry J. Babin, Louisiana Tech University

Barry J. Babin has authored over 70 research publications in some of the most prestigious research periodicals, including the JOURNAL OF MARKETING, THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, THE JOURNAL OF RETAILING, PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORTS, PSYCHOLOGY AND MARKETING, and THE JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE, among others. Babin is currently Max P. Watson, Jr., Professor of Business and chair of the department of marketing and analysis at Louisiana Tech University. He has won numerous honors for his research, including the Louis K. Brandt Faculty Research Award from the University of Southern Mississippi (on three occasions), the 1996 Society for Marketing Advances (SMA) Steven J. Shaw Award, the 1997 Omerre Deserres Award for Outstanding Contributions to Retail and Service Environment Research, and the Academy of Marketing Science’s Harold W. Berkman Distinguished Service Award. He is a former president of the Academy of Marketing Sciences and the Society of Marketing Advances, and he currently serves the marketing editor for the JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH. Babin’s research focuses on the effect of the service environment in creating value for employees and customers. His expertise is in building and understanding value that leads to long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with employees and customers. His primary teaching specialities involve consumers and service quality, marketing research, and creative problem solving. A frequent international lecturer, he has presented in Australia, South Korea, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Jon C. Carr, Texas Christian University

Jon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at TCU where he teaches courses in the area of New Ventures and Organizational Behavior. He previously taught at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has pulished articles in journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Management, and the Journal of Business Research.

Mitch is an Associate Professor of Management at Bradley University. Mitch has previous teaching experience at Southern Illinois University, the University of Minnesota, and Louisiana State University. His current teaching interests include Principles of Marketing, Pricing and Product Strategies, Sales Management, Marketing Research, and Advanced Marketing Research. In recognition of his teaching, Dr. Griffin received the Foster College of Business Administration 1994 Midwest Grain Products Inc. Outstanding Teaching Award. His research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal Of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing, and Advances in Consumer Research.