Abstract
The use of statistical analysis in 922 articles from the 1980 through 1985 issues of the Journal of The Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS), the Journal of Marketing (JM), the Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), and the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) was analyzed. A reader with no statistical background can understand 31, 56, 9, and 21 percent of the articles respectively in these four journals. Knowledge of regression and analysis of variance is important in comprehending many of the articles. Thirty-eight percent of the JAMS articles and 25, 57 and 56 percent, respectively, of the other three journals make use of these statistical techniques. Knowledge of any other single statistical method, except for factor analysis used in the JMR, provides only a marginal increase in the understanding of the literature. JAMS, JMR and JCR report extensive use of experimental designs, while the JM focuses on archival and survey types of designs. The tabulations in this paper should prove useful to marketing practitioners planning self-development and to faculty who teach undergraduates, graduates, and professional development courses. Several suggestions for increasing the accessibility of journal articles are proposed.
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