Exploring Fashion, Fit And Affordability Report Analysing - Essay Example

The Unhappy Shopper, A Retail Experience: Exploring Fashion, Fit And Affordability Report Analysing Appropriateness Of Research Methods Used An evaluation and assessment of the research methods adopted by different studies, helps to understand the right research method that should be applied. This report will hence, assess if the appropriate research method has been used in the article ‘The Unhappy Shopper’ to achieve the objectives of the research. Along with the research method, the justification for the sampling technique and the method of data collection, used by the researchers, would also be evaluated. Finally, the strengths and limitations of the applied research method would be discussed. The research philosophy was to understand the basis of knowledge, in this case, why the shoppers behave in a particular way. The objective of the report under study was to explore the fashion availability, fit and affordability in the UK stores especially for women who wear size 16 and over. Alongside, the study also examined the satisfaction/dissatisfaction level of the women with the retail experience which includes the fashion provision and shopping environments. Presentation of objectives The objective of the research has not been presented clearly and distinctly. If the researchers have a clear perception of the objective and the purpose of the research, it helps to develop the research methods more accurately. It also allows the reader to understand the purpose of the study better. The purpose could have been split into three parts and presented in a better way as: 1) To explore the fashion availability, fit and affordability in the UK stores 2) Focus on women who wear size 16 and over 3) To examine the satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the retail experience. Presenting the purposes as above would make it easier for the researchers to analyse their research and findings more effectively, and achieve what they intended to find. It also makes it easier for the reader to judge whether the findings corroborate with the purpose. Moreover it is easier to refer back to the purpose. Research methodology The study applied a mix of the quantitative and qualitative research methodology, as one of the prime objectives was to examine the satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the retail experience. This would be difficult in a purely quantitative approach. Quantitative approach is equally essential for this study because it enables distance between the observer and the observed. Moreover, quantitative research is descriptive and such a study requires description. A qualitative approach, on the other hand, allows the researcher to get an “insider perspective on social action” (Knox, 2004). In the quantitative method the focus is on numbers while the qualitative method has the potential to reveal complexity. Pure quantitative research would not be able to reveal the individual feelings and emotions of the consumers. According to Saunders, there is no rigid division between the two approaches and a mixed or a balanced approached is suggested (Knox, 2004). Thus, a mix of both approaches for the study is justified. This was an exploratory study but an exploratory study takes into account multiperspectival analysis. This study has only considered the consumers’ perspective from a limited region. Sampling The sample size was large enough to enable the researchers to estimate the consumers’ views on sizing, fit and fashion availability, perception of current offers, pricing and shopping environments. However, the sampling strategy does not seem to be appropriate to the objective of the study. The focus of the study was supposed to be women of body size over 16 but from a convenience sample size of 250 women, only 37.2 percent of people were size 16 and over. This percentage could have been larger to achieve the objective of the study. Another possibility of error is that the researcher visually tried to estimate the respondents’ body size. Unless the researcher was an expert, this is not the accurate method of finding respondents. Instead, the researcher could have targeted a certain number of women, and determined the body size based on the responses. Since this was a convenience sample, chances are that the population may not have been represented accurately. Data collection The research strategy adopted for the study was survey through questionnaires. Self-completion questionnaires enable collection of unambiguous quantitative data (Redmond & Griffith, 2003). Data was collected through questionnaire which enabled the collection of the views of 250 women. Before the actual survey, the questionnaire was pre-tested at a railway station and with university employees in Manchester. The purpose was only to detect ambiguities or biases, if any. The research questions on consumers’ views are: Where do women shop? Ease/difficulty in buying various garment types The availability of fashionable clothing Rating of fashion availability Finding well-fitting clothes Store selection for fashionable clothing Enjoyment of and reasons for shopping for clothes Visual merchandising Pricing policies The questions are not simple enough for the shoppers to understand and may deter the respondents from answering at all. For instance, ‘visual merchandising’ does not really communicate what the researcher is asking for. Again, questions such as ‘fashion availability’ and ‘fashionable clothing’ can be quite confusing to a shopper who may not understand the two terms explicitly. The questionnaire could have carried the explanation of such terms to facilitate the right responses. Moreover, when the respondents do not understand the questions, they tend to skip it altogether. The questionnaire did not carry the purpose of the research and had this been done, more serious attempts at answering the questionnaire was likely. Moreover, it is the norm to explain the purpose of the research. Limitations of the study The survey was conducted in Manchester at the Trafford Centre and the Arndale Centre only although the objective was to explore fashion, fit and availability in the UK. These two centres do not represent the whole of the UK even though all the respondents from Manchester may not necessarily be from Manchester. The researchers do not justify their sampling strategy and nor do they explain the selection of the two locations. Women of all sizes answered the questionnaire but specific additional questions targeted the size 16 plus shopper. The researchers do not specifically justify their sampling methods, but just explain why they have chosen the two locations for finding respondents. The research assistance jotted down the responses of the respondents but this does not allow independence. The respondents could have been conscious and may have been reluctant to give the true answers. They could have even tailored their responses to what the researchers wanted to hear. The fashion industry changes as consumer preferences change. As such, the references used in the study were outdated and may not be relevant to the period of study. The study also contains a lot of matter which may not be useful or relevant for people interested in this research. Observation is another technique applied by researchers and hence the researcher in this study could have observed the behaviour of women with a body size of 16 and over. They could have followed the types of shops these women tend to visit and then observed the emotions, the decision-making behaviour whilst browsing and making the final purchase. Ethical issues have not been considered by the researchers. The study does not state whether informed consent had been sought and obtained from the respondents. If the respondents are assured of anonymity, they would be more likely to give honest replies. Collis and Hussey (2009) contend that anonymity should be offered to all participants as it encourages greater freedom of expression and more open responses. Being students themselves, the researchers possibly had time and budgetary constraints. Because of such constraints, it may not have been possible to use postal questionnaires or online questionnaires or use a market research organization. Areas of further research have not been suggested at the end of the study although the research findings have been addressed. The abstract however, does mention that future research could include a wider sample from more cities. Bibliography Collis J & Hussey R. Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students, 3rd Edition Palgrave. Knox K. (2004). A Researcher’s Dilemma - Philosophical and Methodological Pluralism, Retrieved online 28 August 2010 from http://www.ejbrm.com/vol2/v2-i2/vol2-issue2-art7-knox.pdf Redmond EC & Griffith CJ. (2003). A comparison and evaluation of research methods used in consumer food safety studies, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 27 (1), 17–33 Read More