ABSTRACT
Research in industrial marketing has been falling into two parts they are primary or 'original' and secondary research. Desk research is all types of research and may be based upon internal or external information sources. Field research, the type of activity with which marketing research is most frequently associated is a research technique which requires the collection of primary information from the outside world and not from within the firm. In consumer research none of these techniques can be used effectively without first employing sampling methods to determine the correct number of interviews or observations needed to provide an accurate projection to the 'universe'. The esoteric problem in industrial marketing research sampling is essentially the difficulty of identifying the microcosm of the sample. In the final analysis, it is only the likelihood of satisfactory research results being obtained from the use of any particular techniques that enables the decision upon acceptable modifications to techniques to be made.
