This essay critically examines the use of market research for a proposed project.

1.Introduction This document is a commentary that critically examines the research proposal for investigating the impact of marketing activity in the recruitment of students from the Republic of Ireland to the University of . This commentary looks at the rationale for carrying out the research and how the research methodology was derived. Before embarking on any research project Zikmund (2000) suggests that a cost-benefit analysis be undertaken. Questions that should be asked include: a) Will the pay …

…amp; Peterson, M (2001) Methodological issues in cross-cultural marketing research, International Marketing review (Volume 13, Issue 5) Proctor, T (2000) Essentials of marketing research (2nd ed. - Financial Times Management) Reynolds, N (2000) Benchmarking international marketing research practice in UK agencies - Preliminary evidence, Benchmarking: An International Journal (Volume 7, Issue 5) Smith, D. V. L & Fletcher, J. H (2001) Inside Information - Making sense of marketing data (John Wiley & Sons Ltd) Zikmund, W G (2000) Business research methods (6th ed. Dryden)