The Influence of Culture on KFC in Chinese Market - Research Proposal Example

 Table of Contents Research Methodology 2 Research Methods 2 Research Strategy and underpinning Philosophy 3 Research Design 4 Data Collection and Analysis 5 Data Analysis And Presentation 6 Research Plan 7 Reference list 8 Research Methodology The chapter aims at highlighting the detailed process that is followed for accomplishing the research objective. It lays emphasis on the research method, philosophy, design, data collection and analysis along with its presentation. Moreover, detailed research plan is given so as to decipher the process followed in the research in order to obtain definite results from the surveys that will help in achieving the research objective. Research Methods Research method explains the primary stages which are adapted for achieving the main research objective of research. The method is ascertained after considering the research strategy. Qualitative research method is employed for accomplishing the research. Hence, questionnaires will be prepared based on the research questions (Flower, 2009). In order to obtain accurate results from the questionnaire analysis, the researcher has applied random sampling. The variables that are used in the questionnaire apply Likert scale, measuring from strongly disagrees to agree. Likert scale helps in deciphering the exact reaction of the respondents other than obtaining responses in just Yes and No (Bryman and Crame, 2011). This also assists in examining the strong opinion of the respondents regarding the questions. The respondents of the questionnaire are customers of KFC in China. They will give their opinion based on observation and satisfaction with the food and services that are experienced in the KFC restaurants in China. All the respondents of KFC are above 18 years, who are frequent visitors at KFC. The responses are significant so as to evaluate whether KFC is able to provide them foods and services that are according to their culture in the business. Their experience with the food products and service will encourage them to give rates to the quality. In order to maintain good relation with KFC, the researcher has taken approval from the fast food giant regarding the variables that are used for measuring the quality of services and food products. The variables are also approved by the culture study experts and practitioners so as to ensure validity of the research area in the real world. Qualitative research method is employed for accomplishing the main aim of the research. The qualitative research helps in comparing the data in cross section. It also provides information regarding the perception of the individual respondents of the survey. The qualitative research also helps in examining the responses, which aims at describing the local condition (Hennink, and Bailey, 2011). The focus group includes both staff of KFC and its consumers, who are frequent visitors. The questionnaires are distributed among 300 respondents, which are selected randomly from the population. Research Strategy and underpinning Philosophy The research strategy aims at describing the process that is followed for providing appropriate answers to the research questions (Badke, 2011). It depicts the general orientation of the research that is executed for the achievement of the research aim. The strategies concerning the research are solely dependent on the nature and objective of the research and depth of the existing knowledge on the topic. The study is based on the strategies such as surveys, case studies, participatory enquiry, archival research and the action research. The reason behind using these strategies is that, it gives qualitative information, which aims at answering the research questions directly. The research philosophy highlights the fundamental structure of research. It also aims at depicting the basic pattern for collecting the information that are related to the topic. The data and information are examined in order to produce feasible results. These results are associated with fulfilment of the research objectives. Research philosophies are developed based on the research theories and the approach of the research that is undertaken (Maxwell, 2013; Kumar, 2010). There are five research philosophies within which interpretivism is chosen for this research. Interpretivism is selected for this project as it interprets the opinions and ideas of different authors regarding the topic. Hence, the research will decipher whether the customer expectations had influenced the choice of fast food restaurants. It also establishes the importance of quality and price and which one comes first for consumers in China. Hence, consumer satisfaction related to quality and price is also examined in this research. Research Design The research designs are also known as the blue print of the study that is executed for achieving the research aim. It defines whether the study will be descriptive or co-relational or experimental. There are basically two types of research designs such as explanatory and confirmatory (Maxwell, 2013; Kumar, 2010). The confirmatory research identifies the priori hypothesis i.e. predictions that are made for the accomplishment of the research aim. The main advantage of the method is that the results are meaningful and trustworthy; it has statistical significance. However, the explanatory research generates posterior hypothesis by evaluating the data-set. This method seeks to establish the relationship between the variables that are used in the research. In this research, explanatory research is employed, which has the objective of establishing relation between the quality and price of the KFC products and expectation of the customers in China. Moreover, study seeks valuable answers to the research questions that are formulated for achieving the research aim. The research designs support the statistical analysis plan and the data collection method. The explanatory framework thus employs case study and survey techniques for determining the results of the research. The research strategies and methods are considered very carefully so as to avoid any problem related to the establishment of the results. In this study, the researcher cannot use ethnography or cross-sectional experiments for ascertaining the relationship between quality of service and the expectation of the consumers of KFC products. The results obtained from the survey, which is executed with the help of questionnaire, are expressed in such a manner that it supports statistical analysis. The statistical analysis is employed for producing accurate results of the questionnaire. Data Collection and Analysis Data is collected from both primary and secondary sources. Firstly, the primary data is collected from the selected population in China, who are frequent consumers of KFC and the staff of the KFC restaurants, who have worked for quite a long time and have gained experience regarding the reaction of the consumers. The data is collected with the help of questionnaires, which are distributed to the consumers who are above 18 years. The data will provide adequate information regarding the opinions and ideas of the individuals pertaining to the quality of services and products of KFC. About 300 questionnaires are distributed to the selected sample. There are several advantages for selecting questionnaire survey in the Chinese market. Questionnaire survey is relevant for those markets, which has vast population and particular sample size is chosen for obtaining responses of the questions. It helps in depicting the opinion of the individuals, who visits KFC at a regular basis. The data obtained through questionnaires are analysed with the help of statistical tool i.e. SPSS. SPSS will compare the data obtained from the present survey and the past researches so as to decipher the expected outcomes (Weisberg, 2005). Secondary data is also significant for the study. This secondary data are collected so as to compare it with the primary data and test the consistency of the results (Saunders, M., 2009; Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009; Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, 2012). It also helps in highlighting validity of the results pertaining to customer’s expectation and quality of services provided by KFC in the contemporary world. The secondary data is defined as the information that is collected by other researchers, who have conducted similar type of research on the research topic. The main process of obtaining secondary data is through online database. This online database consists of several journals, articles, written speeches and relevant materials. In this research, the data is collected from the mentioned sources and it will not use outdated articles or journal, as it may lead to wrong conclusions. The main advantage of obtaining secondary data from internet is that it is less time consuming and cost effective. Hence, the researcher had taken the advantage of appropriate technological advancement in order to obtain exact results. Data Analysis And Presentation The data obtained from the primary and secondary source of information are presented in the SPSS data sheet for analysis. In this regard, statistical procedures such as visual inspection of rates of frequency changes over time, counting and graphing are employed. However, the data is presented in the charts, tables and graphs. Research Plan The research plan is very essential for accomplishment of a study. In this research, the secondary data is obtained from the online sources such as journal, articles, speeches and websites. This data are compared with the primary data, which are collected from the population in China. The primary data is obtained with the help of questionnaires, which are distributed among the frequent visitors of KFC and staff. The data are explained with the help of graphs, charts and tables. Therefore, the research will be successful in providing the appropriate results that are expected by the researchers and which align with the past researches. Reference list Badke, W., 2011. Research strategies: Finding your way through the information fog. Bloominton: iUniverse. Bryman, A. and Crame, D., 2011. Quantitative data analysis with IBM SPSS 17, 18 and 19. London: Routledge. Flower, F., 2009. Business research methods. New York: SAGE Publications. Hennink, M. and Bailey, I., 2011. Qualitative research methods. New York: SAGE Publications. Kumar, R., 2010. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. New York: SAGE Publications. Maxwell, J., 2013. Qualitative research design: An interactive approach: An interactive approach. New York: SAGE Publications. Saunders, M., 2009. Research methods for business students. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhil, A., 2012. Research methods for business students. 6th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., 2009. Research methods for business students. New Jersey: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Weisberg, S., 2005. Applied linear regression. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Wiley. Read More