personal finance While the equipment itself was infallible, an error in reading the coordinates from the set and in plotting the wrong ones on the chart could, and not infrequently did, end in disaster. This does not mean that only eminent scientists are fit to handle Radar equipment, but it does mean that a sound working knowledge of its principles is essential. A method for collecting market information must first be 114 The Business of Management selected. Because salesmen are accustomed to persuading rather than looking objectively at facts, their usefulness as collectors of information is limited. 'Desk' research, which is the collection and analysis of published material available within or outside a company, and field work in the form of observation or personal interviewing of an adequate sample are the main methods by which information is obtained. The assembled data is later tabulated and analysed. The technique known as 'retail audit' is now practised by a number of market research firms who are specialists in this field. It involves observing regularly the stock position in a carefully selected sample of retail outlets in a specific field; for example, grocers, chemists, and confectioners. Users of this service are informed of the rate at which their competitors' products are moving off the shelves in advance of the normal indications of consumer acceptance or otherwise through the rate of incoming orders. Selling effort, adverting expenditure, and production schedules often require £justment in the light of this valuable information. Observing is usually neither so quick nor so cheap as questioning, but questions must not be loaded, and interviewers themselves must be unbiased. Most interviewing is conducted with the aid of questionnaires. The wording and layout of these is important. They should solicit all the information required, as briefly as possible. The sequence of questions is relevant, and each question must carry the same meaning to different people in order that the various results will be comparable. Let an example be quoted : the management of a department store in a city in the Midlands was recently disappointed by the declining profitability of its restaurant, which was particularly quiet although trade in the rest of the store was as busy as usual. Customers were always offered a choice of a two or threecourse luncheon, and it was felt that business might increase if part of the restaurant were converted Management of What ? 115 to a cafeteria in which snacks could be obtained. A market research organization was engaged to conduct a survey among shoppers in the store. A questionnaire was designed and a pilot survey was undertaken, but it was found at this stage that many shoppers were giving luncheon requirements similar to those that already existed in the restaurant. Household