Machine-readable data
Imprinted alpha-numeric data that can be read and converted to magnetic form
by an optical character reader.


Mail panels
A study in which participants are pre-contacted and screened, then periodically
sent questionnaires.


Mall intercept interviewing
Shoppers are intercepted in public areas of malls and interviewed face-to-face.


Mapping
The process by which a computer generates thematic maps that combine
geography with demographic information and a company's sales data or other
proprietary information.


MAPPing
Mathematical Analysis of Perception and Preference. See perceptual MAPPing.


Marginal
A computer-generated frequency count of the number of people giving each
answer to all the questions in a questionnaire. Also called an 80-column dump.
Often used to monitor entry of valid codes and correct use of skip patterns.


Market
Total of all individuals or organizations that represent potential buyers.


Market segmentation
The process of dividing a total market into sub-groups of consumers who
exhibit differing sensitivities to one or more marketing mix variables.


Marketing
The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and
distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy
individual and organizational objectives.


Marketing concept
The business philosophy that a company's effort should be adapted to the
needs and wants of its customers.


Marketing information systems (MIS)
These systems create rather than simplify manipulated data, presenting data in
a form useful to a variety of people within the organization.


Marketing mix
The unique blend of product pricing, promotion, offerings, and distribution
designed to meet the needs of a specific group of customers.


Marketing research
The planning, collection, and analysis of data relevant to marketing decision
making, and the communication of the results of this analysis to management.


Marketing strategy
Guiding the long-run use of the firm's resources based on its existing and
projected capabilities and on projected changes in the external environment.


Markov model
Sets out in matrix form the probability that the user of each brand in a
category will switch next time to each other brand. Mathematically sound and
now measurable through retail scanners.


Maturation
Changes in subjects that take place during the experiment that are not related
to the experiment but may affect their response to the experimental factor. See
also history.


Mean
The sum of the values for all observations of a variable divided by the number
of observations.


Mean square error
The square root of the sum of the standard error squared and the bias squared.
A measure of the total error to be expected for a sample estimate.


Measure of location
A quantity that locates a particular position in the frequency distribution. An
example is the mean, which is a measure of the centre of the frequency
distribution.


Measurement
Process of assigning numbers or labels to things in accordance with specific
rules to represent quantities or qualities of attributes.


Measurement error
Error that results from a variation between the information being sought and
the information actually obtained by the measurement process.


Media marketing areas
The two firms which measure TV audiences, Arbitron and NPD/Nielsen, have
slightly different definitions of media marketing area (television market), based
on sampling, etc. Arbitron's TV markets are called Areas of Dominant
Influence (ADIs), while Nielsen's are Designated Market Areas, or DMAs.


Median
The numerical observation that divides the distribution of observations in half.
Sometimes referred to as the second quartile.


Metadata
Description of a file of survey case data that provides a definition of
that data and associates names and textual labels with the data so as to make
it intelligible to other programs capable of reading the metadata description.


Methodological log
A journal of detailed and time-sequenced notes on the investigative techniques
used during a humanistic inquiry, with special attention to biases or distortions
a given technique may have introduced.


Methodology
The research procedures used; the section of the final report in which the
researcher outlines the approach used in the research, including the method of
recruiting participants,  the types of questions used, and so on. Methodology
can also mean the approach a moderator uses to conduct focus groups.


Metric scale
Identifies categories of the variable in which observations can be ranked from
smallest to largest and the distance between variables is meaningful and the
ratios of the observations are meaningful.  Also known as ratio scale. Examples
include weight, height, age, etc.


Microdata
Census records of individual respondents stripped of their identifying
information. Census microdata are available as public-use microdata samples
(PUMS).


Migration
Movement of residence from one political area to another.


Mini-group
A  focus group that contains between four to six participants. More than six
is normally considered a full group, and fewer than four is a triad or a dyad.


Mixed groups
A focus group that contains both males and females.


Mobility
Geographic movement involving a change of residence.


Mode
The most frequently occurring measurement. The peak of a frequency curve.


Modelling
The formulation of mathematically-expressed variables to simulate a business
decision environment. For example, a model could be formulated using
demographics and a company's financial data to select new markets that have
the same combination of factors that are present in currently successful
markets.


Moderator guide
The outline that the moderator uses to lead the discussion in the focus group
session. It is developed by the moderator on the basis of the briefings and
identifies the topics that will be covered in a focus group session, and the
approximate emphasis that will be given to each.


Monadic
Test in which a respondent evaluates only one product.


Mortality
Loss of test units or subjects during the course of an experiment. The problem
is that those lost may be systematically different from those who stay.


MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area- USA)
A free-standing metropolitan area surrounded by non-metropolitan counties and
not closely associated with other metropolitan areas. Each MSA is grouped by
population size and coded using government FIP codes.


Mugging
Marketing Under the Guise of market research 
Selling Under the Guise of market research (Sugging)


Multicollinearity
A problem that arises when at least one of the independent variables in a linear
combination is in effect always a weighted sum of the values of the other
independent variables.  When this occurs, we are unable to separate its
influence on the dependent variable from that of the others.


Multidimensional scaling (MDS)
Procedures designed to measure several dimensions of a concept or object.
Similar to factor analysis but mathematically purer. Factor analysis uses regular
ordinal arithmetic, e.g., 2+2 = 4, whereas MDS requires numbers just to
increase mono-tonically, e.g., 2+2 > 2. Provides perceptual maps and works
from rankings (A>B). See also perceptual MAPPing.


Multiple choice questions
Questions that ask a respondent to choose from a list of more than two
answers.


Multiple regression analysis
Statistical procedure that studies multiple independent variables simultaneously
to identify a pattern or patterns. See also regression analysis.


Multiple time-series design
An interrupted time-series design with a control group.


Multivariate analysis
Any statistical procedure that simultaneously analyzes several measurements
(variables).


Mutually exclusive
Events are said to be mutually exclusive if they have no intersection.


Mystery shoppers
People employed to pose as consumers and shop at the competitors and their
own stores to compare prices, displays, etc.