Research Methods for Business Students - Assignment Example

Market Research: Research Methods for Business Students Scenario 1 In this scenario, Lochiel Park (new residential housing development) has been selected as sample geographic region. In recent years, residents or local governments in the area have incorporated variety of sustainable technologies in order to transform it into a ‘green village’. Considering the master plan of Lochiel Park, it can be said that more than 65% of the area is being covered with wetlands, reserves and urban forest (Government of South Australia, 2014). Author of this report is working as marketing manager under Urban Renewal Authority. In order to understand how and why people are selecting the suburb as a future residence, market research needs to be conducted. Objective of this market research would also be to understand people’s perception towards the suburb and ways in which suburb has changed energy consumption pattern of respective residents. Research questions in this scenario needs gaining of understanding instead of establishing incidence of phenomenon or analyzing relationship between variables (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, 2009). Therefore, in order to gather the required understanding, exploratory research needs to be conducted. Zikmund, et al. (2012) suggested that qualitative research strategy is most suitable in case of exploratory study. Taking the suggestion on its face value, qualitative research will be needed in this case. Apart from focus group interview, other data collection techniques will not be applicable in this study due to three reasons. Reason 1- ethnographic interview is suitable for cultural studies, but objective of this qualitative research is different (Leech and Onwuegbuzie, 2010). Reason 2- buying and living in Lochiel Park by residents is a longitudinal process, which is why there is hardly any scope of employing short time interval driven observation method of data collection (Maxwell, 2005). Reason 3- nature of the research problem provides hardly any scope for applying projective techniques of data collection. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil (2009) pointed out that longitudinal time horizon is needed to study pattern and trend of occurrence of a particular phenomenon for many years. Lochiel Park’s ‘green village’ concept is comparatively a recent development and performing a longitudinal study will increase time and cost of doing the market research project. Hence, in order to lower cost and time duration of this market research project, cross-sectional time horizon (1 month timeframe) will be used. At present, frequency of remaining lots is 75 and potential respondent information (residents) can be easily availed from register book of Connek Urban Projects (Government of South Australia, 2014). From the collected database of residents, sample size of 30 respondents will be selected through simple random sampling. It is being assumed that each resident of Lochiel Park has equal probability of being selected because their socio-economic position can create latent effect on their perception towards sustainability aspect of Lochiel Park (Zikmund, et al., 2012). 30 respondents (head earning member of the family) will be divided into 3 groups (10 respondents in each group) during focus group interview. As per convenience of residents in the suburb, focus group interview will be conducted in community hall located in Lochiel Park (Government of South Australia, 2014). Unstructured questions regarding issues like, “how and why residents selected the suburban”, “nature of activities of respondents within premise of the suburban”, “personal liking/disliking regarding green village concept” and “impact of the green village concept on energy usage pattern of respondents” will be asked to respondents during focus group interview. Moderator of the focus group interview will encourage respondents to discuss the topic with other members. 1–3 hours will be allocated for each focus group interview and video recording of the same will be uploaded on respective internet sites for client viewing (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, 2009). Direct questions will be avoided during focus group interview. Around $3000 (inclusive of prices for interviewing, analysis and reporting) has been assigned as cost base for each set of focus group interview. Therefore, approximately $3000*3($9,000) to $10,000 has been calculated as market research cost. In order to increase representativeness of data, prior approval for participating in interview from respondents will be taken and on the basis of approvals, addition of buffer respondents will be done to form the selected sample size. Scenario 2 In this scenario, objective of doing market research is to analyze dimensions of customer service quality and customer satisfaction level in context of South Australian Ambulance Service. Target population has been categorized into two parts such as, 1- priority 1 patients (recently being transported by ambulance) and 2- priority 2 patients (non-emergency patients being transferred between hospitals). Considering the research work of Jamkhaneh and Gildeh (2011), it can be said that this scenario needs intervention of Statistical Quality Control (SQC) techniques. Objective of this study is to test relationship between variables like, customer service quality and satisfaction levels of patients. So, causal research design will be used. Jamkhaneh and Gildeh (2011) advocated that researchers should use quantitative research strategy while testing relationship between variables, in terms of statistical parameter. Thus, quantitative research strategy as part of casual approach will be employed in this study. While conducting research on Statistical Quality Control (SQC) techniques, Jamkhaneh and Gildeh (2011) and Srinivasa (2011) used close-ended questionnaire survey so as to collect data. In similar context, in this scenario, collected data should be continuous or ordinal in nature. Otherwise, it will be difficult to apply statistical techniques (linear regression, correlation, factor analysis and others) based on linear probability assumptions with collected data (Jamkhaneh and Gildeh, 2011). In case of categorical and nominal data, non-liner regression (logistic regression) might be used, but such approach will put limitation on the relationship between customer service quality and satisfaction levels of patients. As a result, close-ended questionnaire backed by likert scale and dichotomous questions will be used for sample survey process. Answers of the questions will be coded in numerical form and reliability of the questionnaire will be tested through Cronbach's alpha. As objective of this research is not to test longitudinal pattern in occurrence of particular phenomenon, cross-sectional time horizon will be considered. The population has been divided into 2 strata (groups) such as, priority 1 and priority 2. So, stratified sampling (probabilistic sampling) will be used as sampling strategy for selecting patients from each group. Within each group, patients are expected to show certain common characteristics and in this case; degree of emergency concerning patient’s medical condition can be classified as such common characteristics (Creswell, 2009; Jamkhaneh, Gildeh and Yari, 2011). Let, X = {χ1, χn} be the finite set of sample population in this case scenario. Srinivasa (2011) used Bayesian probability theorem by categorizing sample population, in terms common characteristics. Similarly, Bayesian probability theorem can be used to choose sample population among 100 to 150 patients on the basis comparing mean and standard deviation, derived from statistical analysis of patient’s age, gender and previous medical emergency cases. Data of the respondents can be obtained from register office of South Australian Ambulance Service. Survey questions will be e-mailed to respondents. Total cost for conducting online survey of 150 respondents has been estimated as $7500 (including data collection, analysis and reporting). In case of non-‐response rate greater than 10%, questionnaire will be sent to 100 additional respondents (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, 2009). Scenario 3 In this scenario, author of this report is working as marketing manager of Smiggle (Australian chain retail store), which sells stationary items. Objective of doing market research is to identify the ones buying from the store and items that are being preferred by buyers. Mentioned research approach requires establishing incidence of phenomenon (Gray, 2009). So, descriptive research design will be appropriate in this study. As part of descriptive research strategy, qualitative as well as quantitative research strategy can be considered. Purchase behaviour of customers within Smiggle store occurs for short point of time; consequently, observation technique as part of qualitative research strategy can be used to identify customers who are buying the product (Zikmund, et al., 2012). On the other hand, a short close-ended questionnaire can be used for recognizing the preferred items and reasons for the same. Target population will be incoming customers in the store. During analysis, target population can be categorized in terms of gender, age and preferences. Simple random sampling technique will be employed to select respondents from the target population because each customer has equal probability to buy or reject stationary items available in the store. In real world scenario, probability to buy or reject stationary items available in the store is affected by income level, brand loyalty and other such factors. Ignoring such interventions of latent factors, simple random sampling can be used to select sample size of 100 respondents. Market research executives of the company will observe and record behaviour of respondents inside the store. Approximately, one month will be needed to complete the entire survey and observation process. In order to avoid problems regarding non-response, sample size of more than 100 respondents will be taken as a precautionary measure. Observation technique will effectively help the market research executive to identify pattern of buying among certain clusters of customers. Such level of clustering will be considered during analysis phase. Table of Contents Scenario 1 1 Scenario 2 2 Scenario 3 4 Table of Contents 6 Reference List 6 Reference List Creswell, J. W., 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 3rd ed. California: Sage Publications. Government of South Australia, 2014. Home. [online] Available at: [Accessed 23 May 2014]. Gray, D. E., 2009. Doing Research in the real world. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Jamkhaneh, E. B. and Gildeh, B. S., 2011. Chain Sampling Plan Using Fuzzy Probability Theory. Journal of Applied Sciences, 11, pp. 3830-3838. Jamkhaneh, E. B., Gildeh, B. S. and Yari, G., 2011. Inspection error and its effects on single sampling plans with fuzzy parameters. Struct. Multidisciplinary Optimizat, 43, pp. 555-560. Leech, N. L. and Onwuegbuzie, A. J., 2010. Guidelines for conducting and reporting mixed research in the field of counseling and beyond. Journal of Counseling and Development, 88, pp. 61-69. Maxwell, J. A., 2005. Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. 2nd ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhil, A., 2009. Research methods for business students. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Srinivasa R. G., 2011. A hybrid group acceptance sampling plans for lifetimes based on generalized exponential distribution. J. Applied Sci, 11, pp. 2232-2237. Zikmund, W., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2012. Business research methods. New Jersey: Cengage Learning. Read More