Research Data Analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative Types - Assignment Example

Introduction Research has penetrated almost all sectors of the activity of human life. Business is no exception. Marketing research has been an important category of research. To keep track of the performance of the companies and taking actions accordingly, various business companies utilize various methods of research. These methods may range from calculating the mean of ages of the consumer group to looking for association of factors with the progress of the business. Here we are going to discuss business research with the help of qualitative and quantitative research types. These organizations main objective is to enhance their business. To achieve the expansion in the business different types of companies focus on various issues. The majority of the issues focused in the process of boosting up the business, the following areas are focused: 1. Qualification and on job training of the managers 2. Training of staff members 3. Re-investment of profits 4. Monitoring of the companies business 5. Customer satisfaction. Evidence is available which supports that appropriately qualified managers and leaders make substantial difference in the business of any company. If they are not much trained then even on job training may be helpful in enhancing the performance (Margerison 1992). At the same time capacity building of the staff members has also got an important role in boosting any business. If this training activity is based on needs assessment then it influences more (E-HR 2006) (Tucker 2004). Moreover, if a learning analysis model is used then the efficiency at the training or workshop increases to a greater extent (Dorsett 2006). Proper management of finances and then investing them in appropriate way at right time has been very successful in pushing the business on upward track. So, essentially a substantial level of data support the possibility of good cost management results in better outcomes (Peccei 2004). To keep an eye on the progress of a business company, an effective monitoring strategy is needed. This strategy may focus on the performance of the employees in the office or field or the quality of the product by approaching the customer and then getting feedback from them. For good working class of employees any activity which relates to the performance appraisal is readily accepted by the staff and they take it as a positive point. So good appraisal is helpful in improving the level of confidence and eventually performance on the side of the employees (Tinkham 1993). The satisfaction of the consumer is key factor for the enhancement of any business. All the companies who make it a frequent practice to get some feedback from their customer and then work accordingly, they improve substantially. The effect of customer feedback is very important (Olorunniwo 2006). Data Analysis Qualitative section Themes and categories Poor staffing When the manager was hired and he joined the company, there was problem of shortage of staffing and other issues related to human resource, administration and logistics. He dealt with all these issues gradually. Training of staff and re-investment For the better functioning and upgradation of the company, the company needed capacity building of the staff in related areas and also investment with the capital which was taken care of accordingly. Competitors In the business community, competition with other companies is an important and continuous issue. There are ways of addressing this issue. The manager's option was working in the field in a cooperative manner with other competitors instead of using destructive ways. Consumer rights The company's priority has been the business with focus on the confidence of the consumers. Monitoring system To keep him and other workers at the company informed about the progress of the company with the response of the consumer, the company has established a system of monitoring with the help of surveys and comments from the consumers. This has been helpful in identifying any flaw and eventually making progress. Staff qualification, stay and union Majority of the staff members were of low qualification that was upgraded by training sessions. This is the category, which keeps leaving the company. But their replacement is not a bigger problem. The company has the culture of involving the lower staff representatives in their meetings to keep their confidence and be informed about their issues. External consultants The manager dislike the option of the external consultant because of that they are external, they may leave the task and may not perform well. Quantitative section The data were analyzed in SPSS by following the advisory steps from George (George 2001). Type of business This pie chart tells us about the distribution of the type of business of the organizations. Hospitality was the category with the highest representation (24.6%) followed by consumer organization with a very minor difference (22%). The two groups of tourism and retail contributed equally as one-fifth portion of the total group representation on individual basis. Marketing was the last in the group with a proportion of 11% in the named categories. The companies with groups which show very minor representation were merged in 'other' category and their percentage was only 3.4. Qualification of managers Table 1: Degrees possessed by the managers Qualification of manager Course/Degree Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 1 none 24 20.34 20.34 20.34 2 Diploma 12 10.17 10.17 30.51 3 BA 34 28.81 28.81 59.32 4 BSc 12 10.17 10.17 69.49 5 MBA 27 22.88 22.88 92.37 6 Other PG 9 7.63 7.63 100 Total 118 100 100 This table shows the distribution and comparison of the qualification possessed by the managers of various organizations. About 80% were those who had got some type of diploma or degree. In this category, managers with BA were the most represented subgroup (28.8%) followed by the MBA degree holders (22.8%). Managers with diploma or BSc were at the same level with a proportion of 10.17. Approximately, one third of the managers held some type of business specific qualification in the form of either MBA or diploma (33%). Correlation between age of company and staff training To assess for presence of correlation between two variables, we can work on various types tests depending upon the types of variables being used. If variable/s are not nominal or ranked then we opt for either Kendall's tau-b or spearman (Rosner 1995) (Agresti 1997) (Elifson 1998) (Rees 2000). We used spearman test to assess the correlation between age of company and the importance of staff training. The procedure is given below. RQ: Is there any significant correlation between the age of the company and the importance of the training of the staff GH: the age of the company and the importance of the training of the staff are correlated H0: the age of the company and the importance of the training of the staff are correlated H1: the age of the company and the importance of the training of the staff are not correlated (2-tail) Dependent variable: level of agreement on the importance of the training of the staff (categorical/ranked) Independent variable: (the age of the company) Test: spearman for the correlation Spearman p-value = 0.081 (non-significant) We fail to reject H0 Conclusion: the age of the company and the importance of the training of the staff Table 2: Spearman test for the correlation Correlations YRSINBUS Business age (years) VIEW1A Training Spearman's rho YRSINBUS Business age (years) Correlation Coefficient 1 -0.16 Sig. (2-tailed) . 0.081 N 118 118 VIEW1A Training Correlation Coefficient -0.16 1 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.081 . N 118 118 Median values of factors which are important for a successful business Table 3 is the SPSS output giving us the values of the median of the factors, which are important for a successful business. The strongest factor is the rapid uptake of ideas. Table 3: Importance of a successful business with their median values Median (Importance of a successful business) RKTEST1A RKTEST1B RKTEST1C RKTEST1D RKTEST1E RKTESTF N Valid 118 118 118 118 118 118 Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0 Median 4 3 4 2 4 4.5 Mean values of factors which are influential for the success of the managers Table 4 provides us with the mean values of various factors which may become influential for the success of a manager. Communication skill is th efactors which shows the maximum influence with mean value of 6.64. Table 4: Influence of the factors on the success of manager with their mean values Mean (Factors influencing the success of the manager) INFLU_A INFLU_B INFLU_C INFLU_D INFLU_E N Valid 118 118 118 118 118 Missing 0 0 0 0 0 Mean 6.34 6.64 4.95 5.38 3.14 Title of the Managers Table 5 gives a good idea of the distribution of various types of the titles of the managers who took part in the interview. Almost half of the interviewees were managers (44.92%). One fourth (25%) were branch managers. A very small proportion represented executive managers (7.6%) and chief executives (5%) in the interviews. Table 5: Managers with their titles Title of Manager Title Frequency Percentage Manager 53 44.92 Branch manager 30 25.42 General manager 20 16.95 Executive manager 9 7.63 Chief executive 6 5.08 Total 118 100 Validity and reliability: In this assignment we tried to analyze two types of data, qualitative and quantitative, which are related to the field of business. There are a number of points where we were able to compare the two datasets as far as the conclusions are concerned. We observed in the qualitative section the age of the company was correlated with the importance of the training of the staff; the older the company the more chances of involving their staff members in training activities. We could also assess that the manager interviewed in the focus group discussion stressed on the re-investment of profits, qualified staff, better communication and listening to others for better ideas were the factors associated with progress of the company. Similarly, we were able to get some estimates from the quantitative data, which supported re-investment, effective communication, highly qualified staff members as the good indicators of successful business. This way we could find that both the data we used were valid as well as reliable (William 2005). Conclusions Although, both the data sets, qualitative as well as quantitative, were small in sample size but they were of quality. Both the data sets complemented each other as far as validity and reliability are concerned. Qualitative data provided very important, interesting and doable issues for marketing and business research. These were rich data. Handling of quantitative dataset in SPSS was easier reflecting the good quality of the data. Even though, the sample size was small but statistical testing could be completed supporting the sample size for its efficiency. In ranked data, estimation of mean through frequency tables or fried man's test (mean ranks) were similar, indicating that estimation would be same irrespective of the method used. Practical Application: The findings from these two data sets (qualitative & quantitative) are very important as far as the business establishment and progress is concerned. Training of the staff may improve efficiency of the company. Good communication among the staff members and good communication skills have got an influence on the progress of any business. Re-investment of the profits is a good predictor of business expansion. Managerial level staff with high and related qualification is the key to success References Agresti, A., & Finlay, B. (1997). Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, (3rd Ed.); New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Dorsett, D. (2006). Four learning approaches to enhancing employee productivity. Handbook of Business Strategy, 7, 273-277 E-HR brings everything together at KPN:but organizations must also pay attention to potential pitfalls (2006). Human Resource Management International Digest, 14, 34-35 Elifson, K., Runyon, R., & Haber, A. (1990). Fundamentals of Social Statistics, (3rd Ed.); Boston: McGraw Hill. George, D. and Mallory, P. (2001) SPSS for Windows step by step: a simple guide Margerison, C. (1992). The rise of the corporate business school. 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