3 One possible research design would be to interview (either in person, by telephone, or through the mail) grocery store shoppers. What are other possible designs? Jose Martinez was the president of Midwest Marketing Research Associates (MMRA). He was in the process of preparing a marketing research proposal for National Markets, the largest supermarket chain in the midwestern United States. National's market share had been declining steadily for the past year and a half, and the marketing department was determined to turn things around. The senior members in the department had for- mulated a plan, but they needed marketing research data in order to verify the plan's validity to other National departments. MMRA was one of three major marketing re- search firms vying for this research project. The completed research proposal was due in 2 weeks. Martinez had had a meeting with National's marketing department earlier in the month to roughly define the purpose of the project. Michelle Stead, vice president in charge of marketing at National, hadn't outlined the specific information needs; rather, she had gone over the problems that were facing National. She had indicated to Martinez that it would be up to him to formulate research objectives based on his perception of the information needs.