The Eating Habits of the British People - Term Paper Example

 1-Introduction: The increasing number of immigrants in UK has also introduced different cultures in the country. Food is an important ingredient of a culture. The immigrants have started adopting the British values on the other hand the native people also welcome the foreign customs. The last decade has seen a devastating change in the eating habits of the British people. About the market: “2005’s market for Chinese food is estimated have increased by 20% in real terms across the period from 2000. In a market defined by a complex supply structure and changing consumer tastes, ready meals are the dominant sector, accounting for almost 50% of value sales. Two thirds of this is chilled, having grown by 26% in value terms since 2002; however, frozen sales are bucking the general trend for long-term decline that has been witnessed across the other ethnic cuisine markets. The Chinese cuisine is the most popular choice for the UK consumer after ‘British’ cuisine. Eaten regularly by 49% of respondents, children are key to product choice. Consumers of Chinese ready meals span the 15-64-year-old age range, reflecting the success of this product, with usage peaking among 25-44-year-olds.” (Just-food.com, 2006) 2- research objective and question: The main purpose of the study is to find out the reasons attached with the popularity of Chinese restaurants in U.K. The main aim of this paper is to summarise what has been written so far about the advantages of the Chinese food and to examine the reasons of the popularity of Chinese food in UK. 3- introduction and relation to previous research: Although there is not a very large amount of data available on the topic which was the main reason of undertaking the research study on the topic but still below I will present a review of the literature written so far. The increasing problem of obesity has been an important issue in the last decades in UK, which has lead to a remarkable transition in the structure of the diet of British people (Popkin et al., 1993). The composition of the Chinese diet is lower in fat and meat, and higher in carbohydrates and fiber (Du et al., 2004). Additionally, decreased levels of physical activity and leisure are linked to increases in the prevalence of an overweight condition, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (Du et al., 2002). In 1980s a new breed of Chinese restaurant arrived (at least it took that long to reach the provinces) which provided lighter, tastier Chinese cooking demonstrating regional differences. There was one drawback, however, which was that this new type of restaurant was much more expensive than the original cheap ‘n tasteless ones (Canham, 2005) The success of Chinese dishes depends very much on the authenticity of the recipes, cooking equipment, and ingredients. Because of the sheer popularity of Chinese cuisine in the West, there are plenty of Chinese takeaways and restaurants here. But to suit the perceived Western palate, restaurants often alter dishes to taste sweeter, saltier, generally a whole lot less subtle than the original. Some Chinese/Eastern dishes simply exist nowhere in the world but in Western countries. (WokanoToGo.com) Many British’s now recognize what ancient civilizations have known for thousands of years--that the key to optimal health may lie within the foods we eat. While we tend to approach eating from a rote standpoint by embracing the specific dietary guidelines of the popular Atkins, South Beach, and blood-type regimes, Chinese food therapy makes recommendations that are unique to every individual. Its approach seeks to address the root cause of a problem, rather than focusing on simply eliminating symptoms (Harris, 2004) 4-proposed methods: 4.1 Philosophy: Research is a fact finding activity (Dominowski, 1980). The aim of primary research is to make known something previously unknown to human beings and to advance human knowledge by making it more certain or better fitting; the aim is discovery (Elias, 1986). Kerlinger (1970) uses more technical language to define it as the systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about presumed relations among natural phenomena. The research philosophy depends on the way we think about the development of knowledge and this thinking affects the way we do search (Saunders 2000). Whilst undertaking the research, a clear understanding of research philosophy is essential. Easterby-Smith et al (1997) identify three reasons why the exploration of philosophy may be significant with particular reference to research methodology: Firstly, it can help the researcher to refine and specify the research methods to be used in a study, that is, to clarify the overall research strategy to be used. This would include the type of evidence gathered and its origin, the way in which such evidence is interpreted, and how it helps to answer the research questions posed. Secondly, knowledge of research philosophy will enable and assist the researcher to evaluate different methodologies and methods and avoid inappropriate use and unnecessary work by identifying the limitations of particular approaches at an early stage. Thirdly, it may help the researcher to be creative and innovative in either selection or adaptation of methods that were previously outside his or her experience. Two views about the research process dominate the literature: positivism and phenomenology which have an important part to play in business and management research (Saunders, 2000). Positivism is founded on the belief that study of human behavior should be conducted in the same way that as studies conducted in the natural sciences. On the other hand phenomenology is concerned with the understanding human behavior from the participant’s own frame of reference (Hussey and Collis, 2003). Positivistic paradigm Phenomenological paradigm Tends to produce quantitative data Tends to produce qualitative data Uses large samples Uses small samples Concerned with hypothesis testing Concerned with generating theories Data is highly specific and precise Data is rich and subjective The location is artificial The location is natural Reliability is high Reliability is low Validity is low Validity is high Generalizes from sample to population Generalizes from one setting to another Figure 1: Features of the two main paradigms (Hussey and Collis, 2003) As the research philosophy depends fundamentally on the research question (Saunders 2000), the phenomenological philosophy has been chosen in this paper. This choice originates from that researcher’s topic/question that aimed to investigate the impact of Total Production Maintenance. In this specific research, -related to the question- the author will collect data and develop a theory as a result of data analyses rather than developing a theory and test it afterwards. 4.2 Qualitative versus Quantitative primary research techniques: Qualitative techniques stand in contrast to quantitative techniques, the main difference being that quantitative techniques involve numerical data whereas qualitative techniques involve more abstract information. Data collected using qualitative techniques do not generally lend themselves to statistical analysis whereas quantitative techniques do (Veal, 1997). A mixed methodological approach will be used in this research, because mixing methods enables the insufficiencies of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies research design to be overcome and can assist with data collection and data analysis (Jennings, 2001). The methodology of this study will be based upon the interviews and questionnaires obtained by the British customers from the Arcadia retail outlet. First step is to identify the necessary variables that would make up the study. 4.3 Locale of the Study: The research will be undertaken at the nearest Chinese restaurant. 4.4 Respondents The respondents for this study are from the customers of the Chinese restaurants. To be able to reach the respondents, the author of this paper will try to visit the nearby restaurant in order to get the information regarding the perceptions of the customers for Chinese restaurants. The interview forms will be given to the customers of the restaurant. The names of the survey respondents will be kept hidden for the sake of secrecy and confidentiality. 4.5 Sampling Procedure Since the results of the study are merely based upon the results given through questionnaire response, the sampling procedure is simply dependent upon the ones who would be able to comply with the survey requirements. Hence, the only sample population involved in this manner are the customers of Chinese restaurant. This way the author is able to narrow down the results easier than handling the sample population from a bigger scope of computations. The results are merely based upon the journals done by other researchers and their comparison with the results of this study’s completion. 4.6 The Variables The questionnaires shall be expected to give exact results regarding the satisfaction that the clients receive from the provided services. This way, the variables which includes the satisfaction level of the client and the performance capabilities of the restaurants providing the services are to be evaluated through the questionnaire and interview results. 4.7 Research Design The design to be used for this research as mentioned earlier would be the utilisation of the survey and interview questions in a form which will be given to the respondents a couple of days before the formal computation of the results. The said design of research is indeed applicable for this study and would be able to provide the necessary details for the completion of the research. The reason behind this is the fact that the respondents themselves are capable of giving the necessary answer for the needed data in this case. Hence, the results of the study are expected to give accurate details for the research procedure. 4.8 Research Instruments The Questionnaire will include different questions regarding the perceptions of employees for the importance of motivation in improving their productivity level. Some of them are as follows: What is the most important quality of this restaurant? How many times a weak does you take Chinese food? What is your perception regarding the Chinese food? Why do you prefer the Chinese cuisine on rest of the available variety? What is the speciality of Chinese food? 5- Possible limitations of the research There is not a huge amount of literature done so far concerning the popularity of Chinese Restaurants in UK. Another limitation might be lack of time. The researcher will follow a hybrid approach in data collection, which will include interviews and questionnaires. Collecting data through these methods, analysing and demonstrating them is time consuming and the researcher does not have much time. There might be challenges in convincing to gain access to the relevant information required within the companies I intend to research. Confidentiality has been a barrier before researchers. It is required to reassure the firm that all data and information collected will be treated in the strictest confidence. 6-conclusion: The proposed study is to examine the reasons of popularity of Chinese restaurants in UK. The research will underline the overall factors contributing to the popularity of Chinese cuisine in UK. Evidence of increase in the customers of the Chinese restaurants will also be examined. The study will be an important contribution towards finding the reasons of the divergence of the customers from the British cuisine to Chinese cuisine. 7- time table: The study will be undertaken according to the following Gantt Chart Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Introduction Literature Review Methodology Interviews Data Interpretation Results Compilation Results and Conclusion References Dominowski, R, L, 1980. Research Methods. Prentice-Hall Du S, Mroz TA, Zhai F, Popkin BM: Rapid income growth adversely affects diet quality in China – particularly for the poor! Soc Sci Med 2004, 59:1505-15. Du S, Lu B, Zhai F, Popkin BM: A new stage of the nutrition transition in China. Public Health Nutr 2002, 5:169-74. Easterby-Smith M., Thorpe R. & Lowe A., 1997, Management Research: an Introduction, London, Sage Publications. Elias, R. (1986). The politics of victimization: Victims, victimology and human rights. New York: Oxford University Press. Jennings, N. R., (2001). An agent-based approach for building complex software systems. Communications of the ACM, 44 (4) 35–41. Kerlinger, F, N, (1970). Foundations of behavioral research. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Lorraine Harris, (2004). East meets west at the dinner table: an introduction to Chinese food therapy, New Life Journal, Oct-Nov, 2004, available form http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KWZ/is_8_5/ai_n7577475 Just-food.com, (2006). Chinese Foods – UK, Published by Aroq Ltd, available at http://www.just-food.com/store/product.aspx?ID=34658&lk=rotw_arch Liz Canham, (2005). A Beginners Guide to Chinese Cookery, available from http://www.chinatownconnection.com/guide_to_chinese_cookery.htm Popkin BM, Keyou G, Zhai F, Guo X, Ma H, Zohoori N: The nutrition transition in China: a cross-sectional analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr 1993, 47:333-46. Saunders M, Lewis P, & Thornhill A, 2000. Research Methods for Business Students, 2nd Ed. Pearson Education Limited. Veal, A, J, 1997. Research Methods for Leisure and Tourism: A Practical Guide. Chatham, Kent, Pearson Education Limited. WokanoToGo.com, available from http://www.wokcanocafe.com/cuisine_of_19.html Read More