The Department of Management under the Paari School of Business organised an engaging interactive session with Faculty and PhD Scholars on Experimental Research Design. The session was addressed by Prof. Raghunath Singh Rao, Professor of Marketing at UT, University of Texas, Austin. The event provided an insightful discussion on Marketing Research where Prof. Raghunath Singh Rao shared personal insights on his research and experiments conducted in India since 2014.
During the session, Prof. Rao discussed a specific experiment in the healthcare sector, highlighting the necessity of preventive healthcare in rural areas. He also presented findings from an experiment focused on the role of incentives for medical representatives and how these incentives influence their performance and sales strategies. His expertise on designing and implementing field experiments in India, offering practical insights and methodologies for conducting impactful research in the Indian context.
The outcome of the programme was two-fold. First, participants learned how to conduct in-field experiments addressing practical problems in India. Prof. Raghunath Singh Rao provided a framework for identifying relevant issues and designing experiments that can yield actionable insights. Second, attendees gained a comprehensive understanding of effectively conducting these experiments. Key points emphasised included the importance of clear objectives, selecting appropriate control and treatment groups, ensuring ethical considerations, and maintaining rigorous data collection and analysis methods. Prof. Rao also highlighted the need for adaptability in the field, considering local contexts and potential challenges. Additionally, the session covered how to conduct research through mathematical models, providing a robust approach to analysing complex data and deriving meaningful conclusions. This knowledge equips researchers with the tools to design and implement impactful field experiments, ultimately contributing to solving real-world problems in India
