Quantitative Techniques for Business - Research Paper Example

QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR BUSINESS Question A) To investigate which washing power brand people buy and the reason for popularity, a full fledgedresearch will be conducted. The outline of the research is given below. Research Objective: The objective of the research is to find which washing power brand people buy and why do they buy that particular brand. Scope: The scope of the research is limited to New York City only. The reason for selecting New York is that a variety of washing power brands are available in the market and it would be beneficial for all the companies to know which brand in the market leader. Limitations: Due to the shortage of time and resources, not all parts of New York City will be covered in the research. Target Market: The target market for the washing powers are usually females above the age of 18. However singles living in homes is also very common in the city, therefore all males and females between the ages of 18 to 60 will be included in the research process. Budget: Traveling costs will be the greatest due to the size of the city and its population. Other costs such as stationary, cell phone, food etc would also be there. Therefore a tentative budget of $1000 has been kept initially. Research Methodology: The research will involve the use of both primary and secondary sources of information. Initially a secondary research will be conducted from online libraries to find any past researches related to the current one in hand. Based on the information extracted from the secondary research, primary research will be conducted. Three basic primary research tools will be used. First a focus group will be conducted using 8 to 10 respondents from the target market. This would be used as an exploratory research tool which will help identify the important issues. Using these, interview guides and questionnaires will be made. The interviews would be conducted from the shop owners and market hosts to find which brand of washing powder sells most. The questionnaires will given to people from the target population and will be filled by them. Analysis: The results from the interviews will be organized, tabulated and finally analyzed for trends. Statistical software will be used to further analysis. Result: The result will be presented in a report which will contain all of our research material, all of the findings and analysis, and factual proof of the hypothesis. This report will be a comprehensive coverage of our study and will include graphical, tabular and statistical representations besides text. B) 10 to 12 year children would not be the ideal respondents for the research questions as they are not the users of the product. Also they might not be even aware what brand of washing power is used in their homes. Even if they are observant and can identify the brand used in their homes, they would not be able to answer the most important question as why that particular brand is being used. Weaknesses and problems or strength of that particular brand will not be known to the children therefore it will be useless asking questions from them. C) Surveys Surveys are (in our context) special interviews administered to a large groups which are designed to obtain descriptions of peoples attitudes, beliefs, opinions, or behavioral intentions. [5] Strengths: [1] They are cheap to conduct They help to describe the characteristics of a population. Face to face communication is not necessary as it can be administered from remote locations using mail, email or telephone. Large samples of population can be easily researched Many questions can be asked about the topic to analyze it from different points of view They are flexible as questions can be administered: as face-to-face interviews, by telephone, as group administered written or oral survey, or by electronic means Standardized questions make measurement more accurate Standardization ensures that similar data can be collected from groups then interpreted comparatively By using standardization, observer subjectivity can be eliminated Weaknesses: [1] Standardization forces the researcher to develop questions general enough to be minimally appropriate for all respondents, possibly missing what is most appropriate to many respondents. Surveys are inflexible in one way as the design tools remain unchanged throughout the data collection The researcher must ensure that a large number of the selected sample will reply. It may be hard for participants to recall information or to tell the truth about a controversial question. Interview bias comes into play The respondent may give deliberately false answers to sensitive topics Questionnaires Questionnaires are a type of research instrument that consists of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. [4] Advantages: [2] they are relatively easy to analyze a large sample of the given population can be contacted at relatively low cost; they are simple to administer; the format is familiar to most respondents; they should be simple and quick for the respondent to complete information is collected in a standardized way they can be used for sensitive topics which users may feel uncomfortable speaking to an interviewer about respondents have time to think about their answers; they are not usually required to reply immediately. The respondents can answer at any time they want as questionnaires are respondent focused Disadvantages: [2] if you forget to ask a question, you cannot usually go back to respondents, especially if they are anonymous an error in the questionnaire will be very difficult and costly to correct respondents may ignore certain questions respondent bias may creep in it is sometimes difficult to obtain a sufficient number of responses, especially from postal questionnaires those who have an interest in the subject may be more likely to respond, skewing the sample they are not suitable to investigate long, complex issues respondents may misunderstand questions because of poor design and ambiguous language the researcher can infer wrongly from the response as it does not provide an opportunity to clarify the answer questionnaires are unsuitable for some kinds of respondents, e.g. visually impaired students there is the danger of questionnaire fatigue if surveys are carried out too frequently they may require follow up research to investigate issues in greater depth and identify ways to solve problems highlighted. They are inflexible as they ask close ended questions D) The three tools that a manufacturer can use to extract information from the customers are: Interviews Questionnaires Focus Groups Question 2) Sampling techniques come in three broad categories. Usually a combinations of these techniques are used in business and commerce for a getting a better sample. The important thing in sampling is getting a representative sample of the whole population. If this is not done then errors and biases will creep in to the research and the whole research will be skewed. These three categories of sampling are:  1. Random Sampling 2. Quasi – random sampling 3. Non – random sampling 1) RANDOM SAMPLING [3] a) Simple Random Sampling This is a type of sampling that ensures that each member of the population has equal chance of being selected for the sample. In practical terms this means that every individual in the target population has equal likelihood of being selected in the sample. Normally it requires the use of random sampling numbers either through table or though the use of scientific calculators. Advantages The sample is unbiased as every member has equal chance of being selected General acceptance by the layman that the method is fair Disadvantages Need for a population listing which is not easy to collect Since the chosen people can be from any where, they need to be located first and then questioned Certain significant attributes may be under or over represented b) Stratified Sampling Stratified sampling is done by dividing the population in to different strata with respect to age, wealth etc. This way, different segments are identified and equal representative samples are taken. Advantages The sample itself is free from bias Disadvantages Extensive sampling frame is necessary due to different stratum Significant attributes can be subjectively selected Increased costs (due to extra time and manpower) 2) QUASI – RANDOM SAMPLING [3] This type of sampling is often used when random sampling is either not possible or too expensive to consider.  2.1) Systematic Sampling This method can be used where the population is listed or some of it is physically in evidence. e.g. a row of houses, items coming from a production line. This technique should be used where the population is uniform. The technique involves choosing a starting point at random and then choosing the rest in a regular pattern like taking every 10th sample. Advantages This method is easier to use than simple random selection Can be used where no sampling frame exists Disadvantages Bias can occur where there are recurring sets in the population 2.2) Multi-Stage Sampling This is normally employed where the population is spread over a wide geographical area. A combination of all the sampling techniques can be utilized to conduct the research. Advantages Less time and manpower is needed Disadvantages Possibility of bias Not truly random 3) NON – RANDOM SAMPLING [3] These techniques are employed when the above techniques are not possible or practical. 3.1)  Cluster Sampling This is employed where no sampling exists for a population which is distributed over some geographical area. One has to select one or more geographical areas and sample all members of the target population. Advantages It is an easier alternative to multi-stage sampling It is cheaper than other methods Disadvantages Selection bias as clusters are predefined on subjective opinions Not random as the clusters are predefined and they are not chosen randomly 3.2) Quota Sampling This method involves the use of a team of interviews each with a set number (quota) of subjects to interview. After than quota is achieved, the research ends even if all the types of subjects are not covered. Advantages No non response as quota has to be completed. More people can be asked if some people don’t respond It is cheaper and the sampling is much more convenient to do Disadvantages Selection bias can occur as the sample may not be representative of the whole population as the research finishes when the quota is completed irrespective whether all the types of the people in the population are covered or not Not random as the people who are met first are selected Interviewer bias occurs as it is upto the interviewer to select the people and it follows no fixed pattern Question 3) A) The frequency distribution is showed in the table below [6]. The starting class widths are inclusive of the number while the ending class widths do no include the number. Class Widths Mid Point Frequency Cumulative Frequency 345-370 357 16 16 370-395 382 8 24 395-420 407 4 28 420-445 432 1 29 445-470 457 11 40 B) The cumulative frequency diagram is shown below [6]. The graph is constructed with the help of the Microsoft graphs tool. The graph shows the increasing pattern of the numbers and an abrupt increase at the end. The slope of the graph skewed towards the initial values meaning that most of the values lie in the early 50% of the data. However the slope skews towards the later value too. This means that most of the values lie in the start and the end while very few values lie in the middle section of the graph. C) The median from the graph comes to be approximately 28. this can be seen by constructing a straight line on the graph at 407 and extending it horizontally towards the y-axis to reach the point 28. D) The mean gives the average location of the data while the median of the set of a data us the number that divides the bottom 50% of the data from the top 50%. Median is less sensitive to extreme scores and is a better indicator of where the middle of the class is, especially for smaller sample sizes. As in the graph we have extreme values in the start and one extreme value in the end. Therefore the median will be a better tool to indicate the central value rather than the mean. Works Cited 1. CSU (2007), “Advantages and Disadvantages of the Survey Method”, Colorado State University, Accessed on December 24, 2007 from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/com2d1.cfm 2. Evalued (2006), “An evaluation toolkit for e-library developments”, Evidence Base, Accessed on December 24, 2007 from http://www.evalued.bcu.ac.uk/tutorial/4a.htm 3. NetTom (2004), “Sampling Techniques”, Accessed on December 24, 2007 from http://cbdd.wsu.edu/edev/NetTOM_ToT/Resources/Other/TOM606/page7.htm 4. “Questionnaires”, Definition, Wikipedia, Accessed on December 24, 2007 from www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questionnaires 5. “Surveys”, Definition, Houghton Mifflin, Accessed on December 24, 2007 from www.college.hmco.com/psychology/bernstein/psychology/6e/students/key_terms/ch02.html 6. Weiss, Neil. A (1995), Chapter 1: “The Nature of Statistics”, Introductory Statistics, 4th Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-201-53270-0 Read More