Marketing research, by any name, essentially involves the collection, analysis, and presentation of data to answer some predetermined questions developed jointly by a researcher and a client. Individuals who are planning to engage in a marketing research career have a flexibility of choice that is not always obvious. The range of industries, types of companies, and types of data one can choose from for a marketing research career is surprisingly broad. Almost all industries—nonprofit organizations, multimillion-dollar manufacturing companies ranging from consumer goods to high-end industrial equipment, and even small Internet start-up companies—require marketing research specialists. Joining either an in-house marketing research department within a larger organization such as Kraft or Procter & Gamble, or an independent marketing research firm, which can range in size, is another option. The type of data that a marketing researcher works with is also flexible. One...