2010 MRIA Student Marketing Research Competition

Rules & Conditions

1. General

1.1 Students must be enrolled in undergraduate full-time or part-time studies at an accredited British Columbia post secondary institution.

1.2 Projects must be based primarily on market research and include either a quantitative or qualitative research component (and may include both).

1.3 Submissions are expected to come from a marketing or marketing research class. They should be based on marketing, advertising, social, or political research.

1.4 Reports must be based on actual research and not use hypothetical data; however, the project’s client identity may be protected.

1.5 Reports must include a Statement of Intended Target Audience as well as a one page Executive Summary:

Statement of Intended Target Audience: In this one page (maximum) document, students should explain the target audience of their report. For example, this can be an academic audience (college instructor), or a business audience (end client, advertising agency, client’s consultant, etc.). The report will be judged in part on how well its language and contents relate to this stated target audience.

Executive Summary: In this one page (maximum) document, students should outline the following information: Full name, Email, and Phone number, Date of entry, Instructor’s name, Email and Phone Number University/College, Title, Report’s background and objectives, Methodological approach, and Key findings. An example is available to be downloaded here.

1.6 There is no minimum or maximum length for entries; the student or student team will establish an appropriate length and justify if necessary.

1.7 Reports may be either individual or from group projects.

Note: Group projects must share prize money among group members.

2. Submission

2.1 The submission deadline is May 15, 2010.

2.2 All entries must be submitted to the MRIA through the course instructor. There is no limit to the number of entries an instructor may submit per course taught in the 2009/10 academic semester.

2.3 Instructors should send reports via e-mail in a format selected by the contributing individual or team to: bcstudentcontest@mria-arim.ca. Standard formats are appreciated (e.g. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF files).

2.4 All submissions other than those receiving rewards will be kept on file after judging but will not be used for anything other than future comparison for the student awards.

2.5 Requests for confidentiality (report subject and student entries) will be rigorously respected.

2.6 Regretfully, submissions cannot be returned to students.

3. Prizes

3.1 Three prizes will be awarded:

1. First place: $1,000 cash to be split equally among the number of members in the group (if more than one).
2. Second place: $500 cash to be split equally among the number of members in the group (if more than one).
3. Third place: $200 cash to be split equally among the number of members in the group (if more than one).

3.2: Other recognition

1. The winner or each member of the winning team will receive a complimentary admission to any one of the Association’s (BC Chapter) events held from June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011.

3.3 A recognition plaque and a free MRIA membership will be presented to the three Instructor(s) of the first, second, and third prize winning individual or team.

3.4 Substitutions

All non-cash prizes have no cash-value. No prize or recognition may be substituted or exchanged.

4. Judging

4.1 Reports will be judged on the following Criteria:

Appropriate Methodology (20 points)
Understanding which research methodologies are appropriate for the circumstances; relevance, focus and reasoning in choice of methodology.

Research Limitations (5 points)
Demonstrating understanding of the limitations of the research: in general and in the context of the specific project.

Analysis (45 points)
Interpretation of quantitative data (if applicable); drawing conclusions from qualitative sessions (if applicable); balancing and interpreting the results from qualitative and quantitative sessions (whichever is applicable).

Conclusions & Recommendations (20 points)
Drawing conclusions based on analysis of data and which are consistent with the overall contents of the report; presentation of recommendations (if applicable) that are clear, actionable, and relevant.

Overall Report Writing (10 points)
Compiling reports that are clear, concise, cohesive and appropriate for the target audience (includes proper use of grammar and syntax; inclusion of relevant tables and graphs; good layout and organization of text).

4.2 A committee of representatives from the Board of Directors of the BC Chapter of the MRIA will judge all submissions.

4.3 Feedback will only be provided for entrants receiving the award.

5. Announcing Winners

5.1 The MRIA will endeavor to announce the results of the contest to all participating instructors by June 15, 2010.

5.2 Maintaining confidentiality, details of the winning entry may be announced at the Association’s Annual General Meeting (June 2010) and in subsequent issues of the Association’s publications

6. Presentation

6.1 The winning individual or group will have the opportunity to present their report to the MRIA Board at a mutually convenient time.

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