Market Research Methodology
	As the marketing manager of company XYZ, I would choose several research methods for holding a marketing campaign. The methods include sampling, focus groups, observation, questionnaires and the analysis of documents such as historical documents, archives, databases and products of the media.  Even though I chose several methods the main approaches would be the analysis of documents and observation. 
	It is unlikely to collect data from everyone who is connected with the main purpose of the company marketing campaign; time and other resources will prevent from doing this. Therefore, we would have to collect evidence from a portion (or a “sample”) of the population in which we are interested. It is expected that our sample will generate adequate and relevant information, with sufficient quality data to offer new insights on the topic of the marketing campaign (McDaniel and Gates, 1995, p. 88). To some extent, computer-mediated communications and telephones help overcome some of the difficulties of sampling across a wide or distant geographical spread because interviews can be conducted online or by phone on a global or regional basis. Similarly, busy people are often willing to be interviewed online but not face-to-face. In this way, the Internet is a useful tool in extending the scope of the sampling unit.
	Focus groups stand on their own as a research approach, but may also be used in combination with other methods. Focus group research will help gain substantial insights on a variety of issues and strategies, from the macro (such as the influence of national cultures on strategies or strategic decision making) to the very detailed (such as consumer responses to advertisements). The focus group approach does not rely merely on the ideas of the researcher and a single participant; instead, questions and answers are produced by members of the group themselves (Morgan, 1997, p. 80). The focus group method has many advantages. For instance, focus groups provide evidence from many voices on the same topic; they are interactive, provide a supportive forum for expressing suppressed views and allow to collect a large amount of data fairly quickly (Morgan, 1997, p. 108).
	Focus group research is ideal for providing access to participants who are traditionally suspicious of research and for surfacing meanings and emotions that might not be articulated elsewhere. The group setting contributes to the building of trustful relationships between participants and researcher and also provides a supportive forum for the expression of opinions that might not be disclosed even in private (Morgan, 1997, p. 77). Focus groups can be used together with quantitative methods. For example, they are capable of generating findings that are then applied to the construction of a questionnaire. They also have the potential to obtain in-depth data at the end of a survey. 
	Observation is the fundamental base of all research methods. No matter which method we use, in any situation we will always have to make observations to gather more evidence. Conducted online or conventionally, it involves the systematic and ethical recording of what we see. Whether we are applying sampling approach or running focus groups, we unconsciously take note of our research surroundings and the way people behave within them, using this knowledge to make sense of the data we collect. For instance, we arrive at the reception desk of an advertising agency in Saudi Arabia where we have come to conduct focus groups about creativity. As we look around the reception area, we take note of the decor, the colors and style of furnishing, and of the posters, campaign photographs and creative awards hanging on the walls. It would be naive to think that the reception area was designed with no purpose in mind. Companies use this space to signal something about themselves and invite visitors to perceive them in a particular way. The manner in which the receptionist greets us and handles our enquiry is likely to make some form of impression on us too. 
	Observation of human action can provide us with data about consumer behavior and social processes as they are enacted within the realms of the social reality of participants (McDaniel and Gates, 1995, p. 18). Observation enables us to identify the conscious as well as the taken-for-granted actions that informants rarely articulate despite participating in them (McDaniel and Gates, 1995, p. 38). For example, if we decide to ask informants about their family’s evening meal they would probably tell us about the food they ate and who was at the table. If we were to sit in on the meal, however, we would be likely to observe the way they discussed the menu, displayed branded products, partially watched television programs and commercials that were playing in the background, and talked to each other about mundane and topical issues.
	If we wish to gain information about individuals or companies where access is restricted or denied, then analyzing documents is a useful method because of its unobtrusive and non-reactive nature (Macdonald and Tipton, 1993, p. 188). Documents which have been produced by other people can be a rich source of supplementary or primary evidence in research, indicating the way an organization or industry views its past and present actions, achievements and people. In many cases, documentary data is more comprehensive than the evidence we might acquire from interviews or questionnaires conducted over a short time period. This is because documents span time allowing us to track historical processes or to reconstruct past events and ongoing processes that are not available for direct observation. Examples of documents which might form secondary data for research include reports produced by government departments and regulatory agencies. The analysis of documents provides us with access to the evidence and thinking of other researchers. If we choose to base our research on data which have already been collected, and possibly also analyzed by someone else, then we are undertaking secondary analysis (Macdonald and Tipton, 1993, p. 190). Therefore, various research methodologies can be applied for creating marketing campaign for the company XYZ. Each research method has its own benefits and can be used in Saudi Arabia as long as it does not interfere with the rules of Islam and cultural traditions. 

References
McDaniel, C. and Gates, R. (1995) Marketing Research Essentials. St Paul, MN: West    Publishing.
Macdonald, K. and Tipton, C. (1993) “Using Documents” in N. Gilbert (ed.) Researching Social Life. London: Sage, pp. 187-200.
Morgan, D.L. (1997) Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.