Evaluation of the Draft Moderation Guide - Research Paper Example

MAREKTING RESEARCH FOR RMIT UNIVERSITY (Student Name) (Course No.) (Lecturer) (University) (Date) QUESTION ONE PART A: Evaluation of the draft moderation guide The developed moderation guide intends to source relevant response so as to address the objectives of the research. The draft indicates among many other things the pain or delight pints of the students, the learning experience. The expectations of the students and seek to explore the current situation in the university. The research objectives aimed at addressing the experience of the second and final year students in the University, assessing better ways of creating opportunities in the university and also determining the relationship existing between the alumni body and the institution after their graduation. The specific concerns of ascertaining the experience of the second, final year and postgraduate students have been well captured in the draft moderation guide. The guide focuses on establishing the perception or the experience of the students in learning in RMIT. Some of the questions meant to address this concerns focus on the delight or pain experienced by the students, their perception regarding studying in the university, their feelings towards the programs offered and whether the university has met their expectations. Usually, the learning experience, especially in a university, depends on the perception developed by the student regarding the programs and the learning activities offered in a university. This explains why the guide focuses much on this area so as to ascertain the experience of the students. Besides, the draft moderation guide has a straighter and clear question oriented aimed at receiving clear answers regarding the subject asked. A careful study at this guide reveals a consistent questioning structure which is short, clear and focused on a particular area to address the objectives of the research. The guide is divided into sections meant for the second and final year students as well as the section of questions meant for the alumni and the postgraduate students. Therefore, this is a suitable question structure as well as the document structure which is comprehensive and focused on addressing the objectives of the research project. The draft guide successfully mixes various questioning techniques in providing a better approach to the intended response. For example, it has closed –ended approach in some questions while it has a more open-ended approach to some questions addressed to the respondents. This depends on the subject under study and also the main subject intended to be addressed by the question. The use of this mixed approach is suitable for addressing the objectives of this research due to the differences in the questions asked and even the different nature of objectives sought. This has been further promoted by the conscience and length of the draft guide. The questions which have been included in this guide are not so many making the length to be about one page. This is an ideal length for any moderation guide as it helps in saving the researcher the cost and time associated with handling a lot of questions related to a research topic. PART B: Recommended data collection method This research which is premised on three major objectives to help build an effective New Academic Street (NAS) project for RMIT is best achieved by the use of Interviews as the ideal data collection method. The project involves ascertaining the experience, views, feelings and attitudes of the existing students and even the alumni of the university to enable them to build an appropriate customer experience. This, therefore, seeks to understand the inner feelings and personal perception of the students in regards to their stay and activities of the university. The interview method has been deemed as one of the most appropriate and reliable data collection method to gauge and assess the perception, experience of a person and more personal information from the respondents. This would be the desired approach towards addressing the objective of the research (Cohen 2005). The following are some of the advantages of using the interview method for collecting data; One of the advantages concerns the ability of the respondents to provide much and detailed information regarding the questions asked. This approach does not limit the ability and space of the respondent to make more personal, passionate and express his r her feelings towards a given research questions. Therefore, it’s more appropriate as compared to another method such as questionnaires. The other advantage concerns its timeliness in offering answers during a research process. Interviews have been deemed to be a faster ways of getting a response on the questions asked since it involves an instant question and answer session with the respondent (Peter & Donnelly 2011). The research process is therefore saved of sufficient time in the use of the interview. Besides, the use of interview has been argued as the best way for collecting unquantifiable data and also assesses the feelings and body expressions of the respondents. It has been deemed as the most suitable data collection method in cases of seeking for data related to perception, feelings and even some of the unquantifiable expressions (Jain & Haley 2009). This research builds much on ascertaining the experience of the students and also seeking on data regarding their feelings, perceptions, relationship with the University among many other variables which can best be sourced through the use of the interview methods for data collection. Some of the disadvantages of applying the use of the interview as tools for collecting data include; Interviews are usually a costly method of collecting data. The process of research is usually dependant on the available financial resources, and this normally has a great impact on the sufficient and even the effectiveness of the process. Interviews require substantial financial resources in achieving all the logistical issues involved and also meeting the respondents for purposes of conducting the interviews (Wood 2008). This has therefore made it one of the undesirable methods of collecting data. The other disadvantage concerns the effectiveness of the process which is usually dependent on the interviewer. The person who conducts the interview process has a lot of significant bearing on the reliability, effectiveness, and efficiency of the data collected and also on the outcome of the research. Therefore, many people tend to use other methods which not much dependent on the skills and the ability of the interviewer in providing the data required (Root 1998). The interviews have also been deemed as limiting tools for the expression of feelings in many cases especially when the information intended to be given sensitive. Respondents usually opt to offer some sensitive information away from the glare and presence of people or the person conducting the interview. For example, some confidential information may attract reprisals, and therefore the respondents may fear to divulge such information during the interview process (Hollensen 2015). PART C: Sampling Method The Phase 1 requirements for the research involve the selection of a sample with at least100 respondents. The selection of these respondents will involve the choice of student interviewees from second year and third year. Further, the choice of the respondents must include those students who specifically study a mix of PG and HE programs in the university. This implies that there are several programs studies and also the fact that there is the possible scenario of some students taking just a single of either PG program or the HE program. Therefore, the choice of the sampling method needs to focus specifically on the students both in second and third years and who study a mixture of HE and PG programs. An ideal sampling method to be applied in this case is referred to as Stratified Sampling Method. This method involves the identification of the respondents constituting a sample them coming up with the proportions suitable to be representative of the target population (Wood 2003). The procedure entails the separation of the studied items or the elements in the sample into different categories or strata. Therefore, the ideal research sample is picked from the required sample category created by the research in the intended proportion (Westwood 2016). In this case, the procedure will involve the creation of various strata using the variables of the programs studied. The choice will be the selection of the representative 100 sample of students who specifically study both PG and HE programs. This stratum of the sampled population will be used to gather the information of the research in regards to the information required. The interviewer will, therefore, consider the sample population is falling in this stratum and ignore other strata such as those constituting students studying only PG program or those studying only the HE program. Advantages and disadvantages of Stratified Sampling method One of the advantages of using this method regards the high representation of the population achieved in the sample created. Usually, stratified sampling works with a selected proportion or selected percentage that reflects the desired representation of the target population. This makes it offer great results and more accurate study of the selected sample in the research process (Hopkins 1983). Besides, it’s deemed as a more suitable method for researching on a specific matter that affects a certain portion of the population which can’t be generalized in the entire population. For example, it’s suitable for studying a particular subject matter whose occurrence affects just a part of the population and not the general population such as an outbreak of a disease among the infants (Davids & Newcomb 2006). The disadvantage of using this method concerns the difficulty in coming up with the desired stratified sample and the much time consumed in the process. Usually, the established of a sample in the application of this method requires the use of various proportions such as ratios or percentages, for example, the creation of a particular stratum out of the entire population depends on the desired percentage and consideration of certain variable. In this case, the sample created considers the students belonging in the second and final year and further considers those taking both PG and HE programs. Besides the difficulty in the process, much time is spent in the entire process, and this makes the method unsuitable for most researchers (Kassel 1999). QUESTION 2: Recommended Quantitative Research Method The second phase of the research focused on the development of a quantitative study which best addresses the relationship existing between the alumni and the university. The RMIT seeks to come up with a relationship model which best suits the students by offering them satisfaction in their learning experience and also ensures a close relationship existing between the alumni and RMIT after their graduation. Therefore, the quantitative study seeks to establish if any such a kind of relationship currently exists and if it does then the model would intend to establish the extent of such a relation which is in existence. The best quantitative model to be applied in this case is the use of a statistical technique referred to as Correlation analysis. Correlation analysis is a statistical approach which best explains the existence of any relationship between variables and the extent of the relationship. It uses statistical features to ascertain the existence and the extent of the relationship between a certain pair of variables (Luther 2001). The application of this method also helps in establishing an understanding the data used in the research process. The existence of various variables in a research process requires the use of a statistical approach so as to ascertain the existing relationship in the variables and also to help explain the kind of relationship. Correlation, therefore, is a modeled example of an effective way of collecting such data and building a proper assessment of the existing relationship of these variables with the use of statistical figures and information (Goldgehn 1991). In this research, there is a need to establish if any relationship exists between the alumni students and the university. This requires the collection of statistical information about these two major variables and making use of the data in the correlation analysis. The particular approach which is suitable for performing the analysis is the use of the Correlation Coefficient. The application of correlation usually leads to the generation of information referred to as a correlation coefficient. These coefficients range in a scale of -10 to +10. Under this approach, variables are said to be closely related when the results of the correlation coefficient (r) appear closer to +10 or even -10. The basis of coming up with this technique is to find out the nature of satisfaction or otherwise received from the clients (students) who undergo their learning process in RMIT. The ultimate desire of the research is to develop a better approach to service delivery so that the current existing students gave a better satisfaction and experience in the university. The understand ion the relationship existing between the institution and the alumni students will be an indication of the general experience undergone by the students in the university. Suppose the results indicate a figure close to +1 or -1, this will imply that the alumni students and the university have a close relationship. The kind of close relationship can only exist if the students have a positive feeling or perception regarding the kind of services and activities offered by the university. The alumni students would only be closely related to the institutions if they were ultimately satisfied with the kind of services delivered to them while in the university. On the other hand, an outcome indicating a lack of or little relationship between the alumni and the university would be an indication of dissatisfaction experienced by the students while in the university. No single individual would wish to have an association or close relationship with an entity or a person who makes them undergo a painful or a less fulfilling experience. The appropriate data collection method would be the use of interviews so as to source the information from the various respondents. These will then be taken down and transferred to a particular scale which offers a quantitative assignment to the information offered by the respondents. In fact, the interview process would be able to give a chance to the students to rate the kind of activities offered, their experience and also their feelings towards the school (McDonald 1996). Further, it would be able to offer the alumni a chance to rate their closeness to the university in regards to their association or activities performed by the institution after their graduation. This will be focused on finding the qualitative information from the response given for the purpose of application of the statistical tool of correlation analysis. The use of the correlation analysis in this research will be useful in a addressing the objective of the research concerning ascertaining the existence and the kind of relationship between RMIT and the alumni students. It has been deemed as the best approach for evaluating and analysis relationship which exists between variables. Further, it has been taken as the best means of ascertaining if there is an existence of a relationship between any variables (Runyon 1979). The phase one of the research n entailed building an exploratory research in ascertaining the experience of the students and also establishing the existing opportunities to create a more effective service delivery. The creation of this model only depends on the information from the experience of the alumni. These are the people who have accurate information regarding the university since they have undergone the entire years required to fulfill the education requirement in the institution. Therefore, the exploratory research will be complemented with the information received from the study in the alumni relations with the institution to help create a more effective service delivery approach. QUESTION 3: Data Collection Instrument Design of the data collection instrument The research concerns the identification of various aspects which define the experience of the students who are still within the university and the existence of any relationship and the extent thereof among the alumni and the university. Therefore, the design of the data collection for the quantitative information will entail assigning quantitative figures to the nature of response developed. The instrument will have two extreme ends of -10 and +10 as the figurative assignment for the response of the students and the alumni. The responses which will tend towards the +10 will indicate positive affirmation, and agreement strength to the question asked. On the other hand, questions tending towards the -10 marks will indicate the strength of disagreement to the questions asked. The result will then be analyzed using the coefficient analysis method so as to ascertain the nature of relationship existing among the variables in the analysis. The layout takes the form of score sheet in which the respondent can place the strength of his or her response on the score sheet. It’s only a one paged- score sheet document to be filled. Besides, the question technique applied will be more of closed-ended which allows the respondents to scale the kind of response given. This implies that the respondents will have a chance to quantify their response by putting a mark on the agreeable point within the scale. The mark 0 within the score sheet of the interview indicates a neutral position of the respondent to the question sought by the interviewer. The score sheet is attached in Appendix I. QUESTION 4: Result Analysis The quantitative results obtained from the score sheet will be subjected o various statistical tests so as to ascertain the existence of any relationship and the extent of such relationships. Some of the inferential statistical tests applicable to this case include; T-tests: the t-test is an example of an inferential statistical technique which applies the use of the means to analyze the relationship. It focuses on comparing the means of the subjects analyzed. Some of the examples of this technique include one-sample t-tests, independent-sample t-tests, and the dependent sample t-tests. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): This technique is also used to compare various means of the subject under questions. It’s however different since it can be used to compare a multiple of means of various variables. The extent of the relationship is drawn from the variations in the means under comparison. Regression; Regression is an example of an inferential statistical technique which aids in making predictions of an outcome. Such a prediction is made based on the analysis of predictor variables. The regression method depends on the creation of a regression model which helps in making an analysis of the various variables. References Cohen, W. A. (2005). The marketing plan. John Wiley & Sons. Peter, J. P., & Donnelly, J. H. (2011). Marketing management: knowledge and skills: text, analysis, cases, plans. Plano: Business pub., INC. Jain, S. C., & Haley, G. T. (2009). Marketing planning and strategy. Cincinnati South-Western Publishing Company 1985.. Wood, M. B. (2008). The marketing plan handbook. Pearson Prentice Hall. Root, F. R. (1998). Entry strategies for international markets. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Wood, M. B. (2003). The marketing plan: A handbook. 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APPENDIX Appendix I +10 +9 +8 +7 +6 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 Rate your experience in RMIT Rate the quality of teaching in RMIT Rate you delight in the university Rate your pain in RMIT Rte you relationship with RMIT after graduation Rate RMIT in compression with other universities in the county Read More