A Quantitative Method of Study - Case of Kellogg's - Assignment Example

Market research Market research is an important aspect that can help a company or any other business entity understand the nature of the market the business aims to serve, who are the likely competitors and how the business can apply marketing strategies to overcome its competitors (Kish, 1965 p21). Thus, there are various research methods that Kellogg's can adopt while undertaking its research, in a bid to measure shoppers attitudes and behavior towards their products. However, some of the research methods will prove more worthwhile for the company to apply, as they are best placed to derive the required and anticipated feedback, with a high degree of validity, reliability, and accuracy, than others. Owing to the fact that, it is well known in advance, what the research is seeking to understand, then, a quantitative market research is the method most appropriate for application by Kellogg's, as compared to the qualitative method. While a qualitative method of research offers a complete description of the company’s situation, quantitative research will go an extra mile to classify and express the situation in a quantifiable manner (Herbert, 2005 p229). The quantitative method of research proves the most appropriate in the sense that the objective of this method is to seek precise measurement and analysis of shoppers behaviors and attitudes, where the results are presented inform of data and statistics. This serves to create a clear and precise understanding of the issues at hand, in that the specifics of these issues are brought into the limelight in ways that are easily quantifiable (Bethlehem, 2012 p51). Paramount is the fact that a research by Kellogg’s, in trying to understand the attitudes and the behaviors of the buyers towards its products, will be well depicted under the application of quantitative methods of research, in that, the data obtained is more efficient (Groves, 1989 p23). The method also allows the opportunity to develop and test hypotheses, while allowing for the generalization of the results and findings of the study, through an inference into the general population. This is a significant aspect of the research that Kellogg's should undertake, in that it will go a long way in helping the company observe the behaviors and attitudes of the shoppers in a broader perspective, while generalized to the whole of the Australian shoppers (Fricker, 2008 p195). Quantitative method of study allows the researchers to remain more objective, as opposed to qualitative research, where the researcher is highly subjected to the subjects of study. Additionally, the ability of the quantitative research to give rise to findings that can be verified and validated statistically is very vital for Kellogg’s since it creates a better understanding of the market environment of its products, which can easily be validated, increasing the reliability and accuracy associated with the data (Weimer, 1995 p18). The ability to control the research by the researchers, through the application of certain rules and procedures makes quantitative the most appropriate method of research for Kellogg’s to apply. Most advantageous is the ability of this method to yield results, which are measurable and with low chances of bias (Davies, 2006 p14). However, the limitation associated with the application of quantitative methods of research is the fact that, the study will be limited to the analysis of certain variables, guided by the rules and procedures of the research that are predetermined (Romney, 1988 p9). Additionally, some aspects of the shoppers’ behaviors and attitudes that are not quantifiable may be ignored through the application of the quantitative method of study, yet they could be informative and of great importance for appropriate decision making regarding the products and marketing strategies for this company (Davies, 2006 p15). Data collection helps in obtaining information that can be analyzed later and applied in decision making by a business, regarding its products and marketing strategies. Sample survey is the data collection technique most suitable for application by Kellogg’s. Sample survey entails the division of the population into various subsets, based on various characteristics, and then measuring the attributes of such subsets of the population, in order to obtain a wider picture of the population attitudes and behavior (Given, 2008 p31). The benefit associated with sample survey as a method of data collection is the fact that it reduces the labor, time, the costs, and resources necessary for undertaking a research on the whole population. In so doing, the technique provides an efficient avenue, through which the characteristics and behaviors of the whole population can be understood, through the inference of the sample results and findings to the general population (Bethlehem, 2012 p62). However, the technique is not free of limitations, in that, it is associated with sampling errors, which can give a wrong impression of the population characteristics, if not well controlled. Nevertheless, if the technique is well administered, it provides the ability to estimate the sampling errors, making the results obtained by the technique reliable (Hunter, 2008 p290). Considering that Kellogg's deals in a variety of foodstuff products, then, the research should target women, children, and the youth shoppers in Australia. This is because, women, children, and youths, are mostly the ones involved in the purchase of foodstuff products such as snacks and cereal products. The inclusion of this target groups in the study will thus be most appropriate to generate the feedback desired, as they are the ones involved in the shopping behavior, which is the most significant aspect that Kellogg's seeks to understand. Sample selection for women, children, and youths, is also informed by the fact that these are the groups, which spends most of their time shopping, as opposed to men, who simply picks a product needed and leaves the business premise. These groups spend most of their time scrutinizing and comparing products, in an attempt to include variety and flavors in their shopping basket (Groves, 1989 p22). A sample size of two thousand respondents, with different purchase behaviors and attitudes should be targeted by the research. This sample size is appropriate to consist of various shoppers with different purchase behaviors, tastes and preferences, an aspect of the research that serves to create a better understanding of the shoppers attitudes and behaviors, as desired by Kellogg's. In selecting such a sample, women should account for 50% of the sample selected, while the youths accounts for 35% and children for the remaining 15%. This sample sizes are more suitable in that women are the greatest shoppers of foodstuffs, followed by the youths and children in that order (Kish, 1965 p29). Stratified sampling technique should be applied in selecting the sample to be investigated in the research, as a sample selected in this manner is assured of diversity of the respondents’ characteristics, while minimizing the chances of sampling errors (Fricker, 2008 p207). This technique is most appropriate since it allows the population to be divided into various strata, for example, women, youth, and children. From each stratum, the members to be investigated are then selected by applying random sampling, where each member possesses an equal chance to be selected (Given, 2008 p34). In a situation where the recommendation is to be presented to the board of directors in two weeks time, then some aspects of the research method and sample size shall be modified. The research method will change from applying stratified sampling to applying random sampling, since random sampling requires less procedures and time to effect (Davies, 2006 p12). Additionally, the sample size selected will be reduced from the targeted two thousand shoppers to two hundred, an aspect that will allow the investigation to cover all the members of the sample. This change will be informed by the limitation of the time available to undertake such an investigation. References Bethlehem, J., 2012. Handbook of Web Surveys. Wiley Handbooks in Survey Methodology. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. 50-67. Davies, R., 2006. Qualitative Developmental Research Methods in Their Historical and Epistemological Contexts. 11-18. Fricker, D., 2008. Sampling Methods for Web and E-mail Surveys. London: SAGE. 195–216. Given, M., 2008. The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sage Publications. 32-35. Groves, M., 1989. Survey Costs and Survey Errors. New York: Wiley. 20-24. Herbert, F., 2005, The Total Survey Error Approach, University of Chicago Press: Chicago.228-231. Hunter, L., 2008. Collaborative Research in Sociology: Trends and Contributing Factors. American Sociologist. 290–306. Kish, L., 1965, Survey Sampling. New York: Wiley. 20-59. Romney, A., 1988. Systematic Data Collection (Qualitative Research Methods Series 10). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. 8-17. Weimer, J., 1995. Research Techniques in Human Engineering. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 16-20. Read More