By Jim Blair

Looking back on my graduate school experience I am amazed at how many statistics courses and new methodologies I have learned in such a short time span. Our discipline is constantly evolving as a science with paradigm shifts, new theories, high tech measurement instruments, innovative sampling techniques, and advanced statistical analyses helping us as researchers move the discipline forward to better understand marketing and consumer behavior.

It is imperative to have a good understanding of research methods and statistical analyses, but statistics can sometimes come off as overwhelming, complicated, or scare people who consider themselves “not a numbers person.” Well, do not worry. Statistics do not have to be scary. During my time as a doctoral student I have learned to embrace them. Statistics can be fun and exciting when you are able to uncover new information and further our discipline’s understanding. Below are some helpful tips and resources for those of you starting out on your academic journey.

1. Simplify Your Understanding

One of my professors, Dr. Lisa Harlow, stressed the importance of being able to explain a statistical method in simple terms. I found this helpful in better understanding the fundamentals of the analyses and building on my understanding. For example, in simple terms a regression is a statistical analysis used to make some type of prediction and an ANOVA is trying to see if there are significant differences between groups.

There are many helpful texts and resources available. I found Dr. Harlow’s “The Essence of Multivariate Thinking: Basic Themes and Methods” to be helpful in my understanding of several different multivariate analyses and learning how to use structural equation modeling. “Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS” by Andy Fields is another resource doctoral students have recommended. Reach out to your advisor or personal mentor; they may have recommendations for texts which help explain statistical methods in layman terms.

2. Teach/Explain to Others

Having group discussions about class content can be helpful in better understanding materials. During my first semester, I met with a group of my peers to discuss content covered in our univariate statistics class. If you ask around, many of your peers will be interested in meeting to discuss course content. I found it to be a comfortable place to ask questions and share ideas.

Additionally, if you get an opportunity to lead a marketing research review session or teach a course, do it. By preparing the material, creating activities, and explaining the content to others, you will help further your understanding of the research concepts and statistical analyses. I am very thankful Dr. Kay Lemon and Dr. Barb Bickart gave me the opportunity to teach marketing research and learn how to explain complex content in simple terms.

3. Ask Questions

If something is unclear or you are struggling in class, ask a question. Some courses may have a teaching assistant who is also a graduate student. I found it to be less intimidating asking the TA questions. Use them as a resource to clarify any questions you have. Sometimes the TA has previously gone through the course, so they will have a good idea of what you are going through. My statistics TA, Leslie Brick, did a great job helping out by answering questions, assisting with the statistics software, and explaining how to write up an academic results section. Likely the TA for your statistics course will be eager to help in any of these areas and want to see you succeed in mastering the material covered over the course of the semester to help with your future research projects.

Fellow PhD students are another great resource to utilize. Third and fourth year students in your program are available for questions. They can give you real examples of when you would want to use statistical tests based on their past research experiences and projects. Make sure to return the favor when you get to that point in your graduate school career.

4. Online Videos

Searching online you can find some helpful videos explaining how to do different statistical analyses in various software programs. I am one who embraces learning by doing, so I follow along with the video actually doing the analyses. Here are two websites I have previously used (http://www.statisticslectures.com/ and http://thedoctoraljourney.com/) with some free resources and videos to help you use statistical software programs, interpret results, and write up an academic study results section.

5. MOOC

MOOCs stand for Massive Open Online Classes and are a great resource for someone to simply log-in and start taking a course in an area of interest. There are several MOOC sites. I have previously used Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/) and found it to be a successful option with dozens of statistics courses to choose from. They often have good resources posted on the course site to reference and there is no penalty for not completing the course, so you can get just what you want out of it.

6. Software

There are lots of statistical programs out there (R, SAS, SPSS, Mplus, Amos, LISREL, Stata, JMP, and many more). In our discipline a common software program we use is SPSS. If you are not familiar with it, this would be a good program to purchase and gain some fundamental knowledge with prior to the start of your PhD program. Learning some of the basic functions (inputting data, descriptive statistics, and t-tests) are good to know prior to starting your graduate program.

If you are looking for a free software program, R is available online. If you decide to use R, I would recommend using R Studio. It is also free and has a more user friendly interface. You can access R at https://www.r-project.org/.

7. Marketing Journals

Look at the articles in some of our discipline’s top journals (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Marketing Science). Skip to the methodology section of the articles and see what statistical analyses these researchers are using. Since many of us strive to publish in these top-tier journals it is good to understand popular research methods and practices currently being used.

8. Expand Your Horizons

Do not be afraid to learn new statistical methods you may be unfamiliar with. During our PhD process, this is our opportunity to add more statistical “tools” to our researcher “tool-belt.” If you have the freedom to take elective courses in your program consider adding some methodological classes to your schedule. At this stage you do not want to restrict yourself to limited types of research. For example, by claiming you are an “experimental researcher” you may be limiting yourself to only experimental designs. You may be less likely to learn more complex statistical analyses or could miss out on techniques to use for secondary data. Keep an open-mind and learn as many research methods as possible. You may need them later in your research career.

In addition to taking courses within your department, other departments at your university may have helpful courses for your research development. I often found helpful courses in the statistics and psychology departments at my institution. Sometimes your school, doctoral consortiums, or conferences you attend offer helpful workshops or sessions on different research methods. Those can be great opportunities to learn and also network with other professionals in the room.

9. Make Statistics Relevant to You

As PhD students we can use statistics to help us better examine the phenomena we are studying. Whenever you are learning about new statistics, apply them to research you are interested in or currently conducting. As a result, these tools will become more useful to you and help in the learning process.

10. Share Your Resources

Share your resources with others. As you advance through your doctoral programs give back by helping out some of the newer PhD students by answering questions, giving examples, and providing materials which you found helpful in your learning process. By sharing information and content with our marketing community as a whole, we can help advance our discipline by making our learning process more efficient and expanding the number of research methods available.

Conclusion

Going into the first statistics class of my PhD program I was intimidated and nervous. We covered some statistical analyses in my undergraduate studies and MBA program, but I knew this would be different. Looking through the course syllabus for the first time, I saw I would be learning to use a new software program and several new statistical techniques. I am very thankful for my study group, course teaching assistant, and the fellow PhD students in my program during the first semester. Talking through some of the statistical methods and concepts with these individuals helped further my understanding and apply the course material to my research interests. The online resources I had mentioned were also helpful supplements in furthering my understanding of the statistics concepts covered. By the end of the semester, I was more confident and looking forward to my upcoming statistics courses.

Hopefully these tips give you some good resources moving forward and make you more comfortable using statistics in your research. Remember, statistics do not have to be scary; embrace them and use them to your advantage. If you were one of those people who said, “I am not a numbers person,” give these tips a try and I hope by the end of your PhD journey you are able to say “statistics are fun.”

Author Bio

Jim Blair is a third year marketing PhD student at the University of Rhode Island. His research interests are in consumer behavior and pricing with previous research in the sport industry. Feel free to email him with any questions at blairj4@my.uri.edu or follow him on Twitter @MrMarketingPhD.

The American Marketing Association’s Doctoral Student Special Interest Group (DocSIG) is pleased to announce several exciting and free events just for doctoral students at Summer AMA in Chicago!  Below is a list of events we have scheduled for Friday, August 14th.  Tickets for each event are limited, so please be sure to RSVP early before seats run out!  Each event is free to attend thanks to the financial support of the American Marketing Association and our generous partners!  You will need to register for each event separately by following the links to our Eventbrite pages. Please register only for events you plan to attend. You should cancel your registration if you know you will not be able to attend, so other students have an opportunity.

Summer AMA DocSIG Breakfast and Dr. Mathew Joseph Scholarship Award Presentation:
Come and network with fellow doctoral students at breakfast on Friday, August 14th from 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. in Room Missouri. This year, we will present the Dr. Mathew Joseph Scholarship Award during the breakfast.  Registration is free and easy, but is required and must be done through Eventbrite so capacity can be managed.

  Register Now on Eventbrite

DocSIG and PhD Project Lunch and Who Went Where Survey Results:

We have partnered again this year with the PhD Project to provide you with a free lunch and a seat for the first presentation of the DocSIG’s Who Went Where Survey Results on Friday, August 14 from 12:00-1:30 P.M. Also, Dr. Jagdish Sheth will deliver the Academic Keynote Address at this luncheon.  Again, seats are limited for this free event, so please register on our Eventbrite page by following the link below.

 Register Now on Eventbrite

DocSIG/Higher Ed SIG Dinner Social:

This free dinner sponsored by DocSIG and Higher Ed SIG will be hosted at Volare Italian Restaurant, 201 E. Grand Ave from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. on Friday, August 14th.  We will meet in the lobby of the Sheraton at 6:30 P.M. to walk to the restaurant together (approximately 10 minute walk).  Each attendee will be able to spend up to $25.00 on dinner to be paid for by DocSIG and Higher Ed SIG.  Seats are limited, so please follow the Eventbrite link below to register for this event!

Register Now on Eventbrite

Other Opportunities:

DocSIG Special Session:

DocSIG has organized a special session “Hiring in Marketing Academia: A Look Behind Closed Doors,” where we’ll have research and panelists addressing hiring from the perspective of the institutions, plus the newest Who Went Where survey presentation. The session will take place Saturday, August 15 at 8:00 A.M. in Room Erie.

Stukent Pre-Conference Internet Marketing Bootcamp 50% Discount

The bootcamp features a half day of training on how to teach internet marketing and will be taught by leading faculty experts on Friday, August 14 from 7:30-12 at the Sheraton hotel. If you are interested in attending, the discount price for DocSIG members is $50 with the promotional code “DOCSIG50.” More information and registration.

Doctoral candidates and graduates in the marketing discipline who were on the job market during the AMA 2014 Summer Marketing Educators Conference in San Francisco are asked to fill out the annual AMA DocSIG Who Went Where? Survey

It is time to take the Annual Who Went Where survey!  This survey is for all recently hired doctoral candidates and graduates. For over ten years, this survey has provided marketing doctoral programs and students with a snapshot of the job market. The results from this survey will be presented at the American Marketing Association 2015 Summer Marketing Educators Conference in Chicago.

Responses are confidential and results are reported only in aggregate. Sharing your name and placement with us is left to your discretion and is not required to complete the survey. Please click on the following link to participate:

https://qtrial2014.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5BzHR34RLfEMyTr

Thank you in advance for your participation.  Questions about the Who Went Where? survey can be directed to Paul Mills, Vice-Chair of Research, DocSIG at pmills7@kent.edu

Previous years’ results can be found at www.docsig.org.

When I applied to be a part of the DocSIG Executive Board two years ago, I had no idea how positively it would impact my life. Over the past couple of years, DocSIG has planned and implemented a variety of well-attended conference programs, including pre-conference symposia, networking breakfasts, special sessions, and dinner socials. We have also significantly increased our online presence, completely revamping our website, and growing our Facebook and Twitter engagement by leaps and bounds. I’ve had tremendous experiences as Chair Elect and as Chair, much due to the wonderful people I’ve had the privilege to meet and work with along the way.

To my fellow board members over the past couple of years – Scott Cowley, Hillary Mellema, Christopher Ling, Robert Allen King, Keith Smith, Ryan Langan, Rebecca Dingus, Paul Mills, Liwu Hsu, Lei Song, Stephen Hampton, and Aaron Gleiberman – thank you for all of your hard work; it was a true pleasure to work with each of you. Special thanks to Kimberly Whitler for her mentorship along the way, to Jennifer Martinez Hutchins for initially encouraging me to apply for what ended up being an incredibly rewarding experience, and to the AMA staff, especially Matt Weingarden, Bill Stanton, and Lynn Reyes-Brown, who have been so helpful and such a pleasure to work with. Thank you to the many faculty members who supported our programs as mentors; your participation and insights offered great value to our attendees. Finally, thank you to the marketing doctoral student community for supporting our conference programming, networking opportunities, and online resources; DocSIG would not be possible without your continued support.

As DocSIG transitions to new leadership, with Scott Cowley as the new Chair and Brian Taillon as the new Chair Elect on September 1, 2014, I look forward to its continued success and growth. DocSIG is a unique organization that offers great opportunities to the marketing academic community, and I’m very proud to have been a part of it.

Sincerely,
Alexa Fox

The Doctoral Student SIG (DocSIG) is a special interest group of the American Marketing Association designed specifically for marketing doctoral students. DocSIG offers opportunities for students to develop professional skills and seeks to provide a supportive and friendly environment for students of marketing to interact. Alexa Fox is a Marketing Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Memphis. Her research interests include digital marketing, neuromarketing, online reviews, and online privacy.

Call for Submissions for the
John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation Award
Submissions Due: October 15, 2014
Recognizing Excellent Marketing Dissertations for Over 50 Years

Eligibility

Students completing the requirements for their doctoral degrees in marketing and consumer behavior-related topics between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014, are invited to enter the annual John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Award Competition. Graduates from doctoral programs in any part of the world are invited to participate.

The Award and its History

In 1960, the AMA invited top doctoral candidates to present their papers at the annual Marketing Educators’ Conference. In 1967, this recognition process was formalized with the establishment of the Doctoral Dissertation Awards.

The John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation Endowment was established in 1992 with the initial gift from Dr. Jagdish Sheth of Emory University in honor of his advisor. The purpose of the endowment is to both assure the continuity of the program and to further promote the importance of the dissertation process.

John Howard was the George E. Warren Professor Emeritus of Business at Columbia University. He was a recognized innovator in the application of basic research in marketing, and consumer and buyer behavior. His numerous marketing texts and articles contributed to the development of the profession for nearly 40 years, before his death in 1999. Howard also taught at the Universities of Illinois, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Western Ontario and Stanford. His leadership in directing doctoral candidates through the dissertation process influenced both the quality of the research and the preparation of current marketing faculty across the country.

Sheth, also internationally recognized for his contributions to marketing and the academic community, developed his dissertation under the guidance of Howard while at the University of Pittsburgh. According to Sheth, “John Howard was a major influence on me both personally and professionally. His devotion to the discipline of marketing and his hard work were an inspiration to all of us who have had the honor and the privilege of working with him. He was a true scholar because he was always eager to learn, challenge, and innovate new concepts and perspectives.”

For a list of previous winners of the John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation Award, please visit http://www.themarketingfoundation.org/howard_recipients.html.

Selection Criteria

A team of reviewers will be appointed by the award co-chairs, Professors Klaus Wertenbroch (INSEAD, Europe Campus) and Susan Fournier (Boston University School of Management) to review the submissions. A double-blind review procedure will be followed to review the papers based on the following criteria:

• Importance of the research question/issue to marketing
• Conceptual rigor
• Methodological rigor and technical competence in the execution of the research
• Value of the findings in contributing to knowledge in marketing
• Value of the findings to marketing practitioners and other stakeholders
• Originality of the research

Authors will be notified in mid-January regarding the status of their submission.  Winner(s) will be recognized at the 2015 AMA Winter Marketing Educators’ Conference on February 14, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas.

Submission Details (Due date: October 15, 2014)

The submission should describe the research questions/issues, propositions and/or formal hypotheses (if appropriate to the method), relevant literature, data, research and analytic methods, findings, limitations of the study, conclusions, the contributions of the study for theory and practice, and suggestions for future research. The literature background, design, methods, analysis, and findings should be presented in enough detail and clarity to provide a theoretical grounding for the study and to allow the proper assessment of its methodology and findings.

When printed, the submission must be no more than 30 double-spaced pages in 12-point type; this limit is inclusive of all pages (e.g., text, references, figures, tables, and appendices). The manuscript guidelines for the Journal of Marketing should be used as a style guide. Submissions beyond the page limit or inconsistent with the style guidelines will not be sent out for review.

Authors should submit their manuscripts electronically as email attachments (one file only) in MS Word to Professors Klaus Wertenbroch and Susan Fournier by way of Julie Schnidman, Foundation Manager at jschnidman@ama.org. The letter to the award co-chairs (see below) must be included in the email message itself.

Please note that the single file submission must be complete (text, references, figures, tables) and shared as one file only. We cannot accept submissions sent as multiple file attachments or with incomplete information. Please do not mail hard copies.

Because the review process will be double-blind, candidates making submissions should not include author names and schools on the paper itself.

The accompanying email letter to the co-chairs should include all of the following information: author’s name, telephone numbers, fax number, e-mail address, telephone number, the school awarding the degree, the date the dissertation defense was successfully completed, the name of the faculty member(s) chairing the dissertation committee, and the candidate’s current and future positions.

If you have any questions about the competition, please contact:

Klaus Wertenbroch

Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, Europe Campus
klaus.wertenbroch@insead.edu

Susan Fournier

Professor of Marketing, Questrom Professor in Management, and Faculty Director of the MBA Program at Boston University
fournism@bu.edu

It’s that time of year again. To see the 2014 Who Went Where report, please find the PDF at our Who Went Where page or download the document directly here.

In addition, check out the full press release as well as the presentation made at the Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference in San Francisco.