Research Methodology

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Research Methods Assignment – Structured Research Proposal

After completing this module you should complete a research proposal form (using the attached form above) to investigate a topic in a subject area relevant to your course. Your proposal should be guided by the methodological issues covered in the Research Methods module.

You are required to produce a structured research proposal, ensuring that you complete all elements of the attached Research Proposal assignment form. It is critically important that you carefully read all of this guidance before you start this assignment.

Your proposal should emphasise how you intend to answer whatever research question you formulate – you should, therefore, devote most of your answer to theoretical and methodological issues. Please do not make the mistake of attempting to carry out a piece of empirical research and answer the research question within the proposal. Rather, you should provide a detailed and feasible account of what you would need to do in order to answer your research question, if you decided to pursue this research project for your dissertation.

Additional Guidance

If you are planning to research this topic for your dissertation, do ensure that it is feasible, and can be completed in approximately five months, part time study. If you are not planning to undertake this proposed research for your dissertation, please make this clear in the proposal, and be sure your proposal provides a clear understanding of the resources that will be required to conduct the research, were the proposal to be accepted and commissioned, for example. This is very important in assessing the feasibility and quality of practical planning in your submission.

Even if you are not considering this topic for your dissertation, it would still be useful to think of the research in terms of a dissertation-sized project with similar time constraints, otherwise you may find that you have insufficient word space to outline a larger project. Remember, the two biggest limitations to carrying out research are time and money – it is likely you will have little of both so take this into account when you are designing your research project. Also consider carefully the issue of access – how likely is it that either companies or individuals are going to let you see documents/data or speak to them? For instance, gaining access to prisoners, certainly in the UK, is extremely difficult and closely controlled by the Government – it is unlikely that permission will be given without a very long period of negotiation.

You must ensure that your proposal provides a concise ‘mini’ literature review to demonstrate your critical understanding of the subject area and previous research on this topic. You should try to discuss at least three previous pieces of research (Previous Research Findings section).

Do ensure that you demonstrate your understanding of social science research methods by providing supporting evidence from the research methods published literature (for your Research Methodology section). This is very important; you need to support and justify your chosen method and tools by referring to the academic literature.

You must ensure that you demonstrate ethical awareness and give sufficient thought to any ethical issues. It is very rare in primary research, particularly concerning issues relating to crime, risk and security that there are no ethical issues.

Do remember that, as with all assignments, you should pay careful attention to your use of language and grammar, sources and with your referencing.

RESEARCH METHOD ASSIGNMENT FORM

1). Introduction

This section should introduce the topic that you plan to research. You should detail the specific question you seek to answer (e.g. what is the nature of the relationship between CCTV installation and burglary reduction?) and set out a short list of clear aims and objectives.

Please enter Introduction in below text box*

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2). Previous Research Findings

You should provide a clear and detailed discussion of research that has previously been conducted in this area. You should outline their methods and research design and consider their findings.

Occasionally, you may plan to conduct research into a topic where little previous research has been conducted. If this is the case, you may need to widen your research parameters and you will need to find comparable research in either a closely related topic, or where methods used match your own. Do not simply repeat methods and findings, but ensure that you discuss these.

Please enter Research Findings in below text box *

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3).Relevant Theoretical Perspectives/Framework

You should explain the perspective(s) that you will use to develop a theoretical framework to research and understand the problem and why you consider them to be most appropriate. You need to try to ensure that your proposed research is grounded in theory which will help you to structure and plan the research (as this will affect the research design, including your method(s) and how you analyse your findings). Looking at the theories and/or models that previous researchers in your topic area have used can help you with this. Note also that it is not always possible to find a theory that exactly matches your research problem. Therefore, you may need to take a more overarching view and look for theories that are relevant to the overall/general research topic area, rather than the specific research problem

Please enter Relevant Theoretical Perspectives/Frameworkin below text box *

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4). Research Methodology

You should outline at least two different types of research design that could be used for your proposed research. Each design should be feasible and it should be clear to the reader how the methods outlined in each design will enable you to achieve your overall research aim(s)There are often a number of different approaches that could be used to meet the overall aims and objectives of a research project so please consider the different ways in which you could research your chosen topic.

Please enter Design 1 in below text box*

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Please enter Design 2 in below text box*

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Please enter Design 3 in below text box (optional)

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Please present your case for, and against, using each of these designs (supported by reference to the literature) in the below text box.*

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Please identify your preferred choice from the above possible designs, discuss your reasons for this and outline in detail the method(s) chosen in the below text box.*

You should outline the methods you propose to use (e.g. documentary evidence, questionnaires, interviews) and why you consider them to be most suitable for gathering the necessary information to address your research problem. Do ensure that you provide sufficient information and justification for your methods in this section regarding sampling, access, validity and reliability, and participant numbers, for example. It is vitally important that you make use of the extensive social science research methodology literature to explain the various methods available and to justify your choice. Not providing supporting references for this literature is likely to lead to you failing this assignment.

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5). Research Ethics

Please outline the ethical issues associated with your proposed research and what actions could be taken to address these. Ethics are an important consideration in research design and you should ensure that you have given sufficient thought to ethical issues. There are likely to be ethical issues relating to any type of primary research involving people, and also with certain types of documentary research. Again, ensure that you support this section with referenced evidence from the social research literature.

Please enter Research Ethics in the below text box*

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6). Anticipated Problems

You should be able to anticipate problems in conducting your research and also be able to offer solutions as to ways of overcoming them (e.g. how to gain access to an appropriate sample).

Please enter Anticipated Problems in the below text box*

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7). References

Please insert list of references in the below text box*

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Outline the approach that you will take in your own research, discussing the philosophical and methodological rationale that will underpin your research.

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Research Method

Portfolio Exercise 1
What is Your Research Question? (750 words)
Having now been introduced to the dissertation, the aim of this portfolio exercise is to get you to think about your research question.
What is your research question? Write this out as a short sentence in the form of a question.
Write a synopsis of the central research problem you intend to address in your dissertation. Discuss a) why this problem was chosen; b) why it is a problem suitable for research at Master’s level; and c) what are the academic issues which underpin your research question?

Portfolio Exercise 2 Thinking Ahead (400 words)
• Thinking about the time you have to complete the dissertation, sketch out a timetable for your research and the writing of the dissertation. identify those stages that you feel will prove hardest to undertake or that will take the most time.

Portfolio Exercise 3 Locating Literature (600 words)
This portfolio exercise will develop your bibliographic skills – you will need these to locate relevant literature for your literature review.
As a registered distance learning student of the university of Leicester you have access to the University Library’s online facilities – these include a number of academic databases which cover a broad range of academic publications such as Sage Online, Science Direct, informaworld, business Source Premier, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation index, and Expanded Academic ASAP. These databases allow you to search and download articles to your computer, free of charge. The Library has an audio-visual library tutorial on databases, showing you how to use them to find information – if you have not already looked at this tutorial, you should do so nownote you may need your university of Leicester iT Account username and password to access articles.
note that via the Distance Learning service provided by the university Library you have a full library service available to you giving you borrowing rights, literature searching facilities, telephone and internet/email ordering and many other useful and accessible points of entry to the library’s holdings. The Service also deals with PINs, postal loans, document supply (i.e. photocopying), Sconul Access applications and literature search requests. The latter and subject-specific enquiries are passed on to the information Librarian, Andrew Dunn, or his colleagues in the social sciences team when he is on leave. You can contact Andrew by leaving a message on the ‘Library Issues’ discussion board on blackboard, or via e-mail Go the university website and access the databases and other e-resources it hosts. use one of the databases listed above (or others you know) to search for and retrieve three current (within the last 5 years) academic articles relevant to your research question. Once you have identified and downloaded your articles write a 150-word review for each article focusing on the main findings of the research, the research methods used and the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s approach.
Provide a list of ten additional academic articles or books that you intend to use in your research.

Portfolio Exercise 4
The Philosophy of Social Research and Your Approach (1000 words)
All researchers need to justify the reasons why certain approaches are chosen and why others are not and the philosophical and practical rationale underpinning their research. This needs to be set within the context of positivist/post-positivist/interpretivist positions and the related quantitative/qualitative/mixed-methodological approaches.
• Outline the approach that you will take in your own research, discussing the philosophical and methodological rationale that will underpin your research.
You should consider which of the positivist/post-positivist/interpretivist principles
will underpin your research and why, and reflect on whether your research question suggests one methodological approach over another, or a combination of approaches. You should consider the strengths and potential weaknesses/limitations of your chosen approach and why this was chosen over the alternatives.

Portfolio Exercise 5
Your Samples (400 words)
for this exercise you need to consider and respond to the following:
• Who will make up your sample?
• Explain the size of your sample.
• Explain why this choice of sample is appropriate for your research.
• Have you agreed access to this sample/how will you access your sample?

Portfolio Exercise 6
Ethical Considerations (1000 words)
All research raises ethical issues. This is the case throughout the research, not simply in the early stages.
• Drawing on what you have learned from this section, outline in what ways your research raises ethical issues and how you plan to address these.
it is a requirement of the university of Leicester that you complete the Research Ethical Review (RER) and receive approval before conducting any research. You cannot proceed with the dissertation until ethical clearance has been obtained. To do this, you will need to complete the RER once you have received feedback on your Module 4 assignment. The feedback will identify where to locate the RER and who you need to send it to. Please contact the Centre directly if you have any questions about the ethics form.
Please note that if you make any potentially significant changes to your proposed research in the course of working with your supervisor, you may need to submit a new form. if you do plan to change elements such as the research methods, the sample or if your access changes, please contact your supervisor immediately.

Portfolio Exercise 7 Techniques (1500-2000 words)
Having read about some research techniques available to you we want you to consider the following questions:
What research techniques do you intend to use in your dissertation? (remember that you can use more that one).
Why have you chosen to use these techniques?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques you have chosen?
What literature on research methods has led you to believe that this/these would be the best approach for your dissertation?
How do you propose to analyse the data you have collected?

FOUNDATIONS OF STATISTICS ASSIGNMENT

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STA10003 FOUNDATIONS OF STATISTICS ASSIGNMENT

This assignment is worth 20% of your final mark.

Scenario

You are a new graduate at a social science and psychological sciences research institute, and the lead researcher has given you a dataset to analyse. You will be graded based on the rubric attached to these instructions.

The data set is based on Australian victims of crime statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] collected over the period from 2010 to 2014. The original data file contained over 165,000 observations extracted from various ABS catalogues[eg Cat. 4510 /Cat. 4530.0], and a representative subset of the original data containing 8292 observations [STA10003_Assignment_SP3_2015.sav] is located in the Assignment Information tab on Blackboard.

Data Preparation

Before attempting the Assignment questions, you must use SPSS to draw a random sample of 2000 [from the 8292 cases]. You will conduct your analysis on your sample of 2000 observations. Instructions on how to generate your random sample is attached. Note, however, that some variables contain missing values, so each of your analyses may not contain the entire 2000 cases.

Submission Instructions

  • Your submission must be a single Word file or PDF file and should contain the relevant output.
  • You must submit your file via the Turnitin link on Blackboard by the specified due date and time. Only the last document you submit will be retained by Turnitin.
  • This is an individual assignment. Do not share your work with other students. They will have a different random sample of data, so any copying will be detected by Turnitin.

Video demonstrations

Videos showing how to prepare your data and how to submit via Turnitin are provided for you in the Assignment Information tab [ > Assignment Information folder] on Blackboard.

For your assignment, you are required to complete the following five [5] questions by producing the appropriate analyses and writing the relevant report for each question.

Note: For each question you should include the relevant output with your report.

Question 1

The variable ‘CRIME’ indicates the type of crime reported by Australian victims of crime during the period 2010 – 2014. Produce the relevant graph and table to summarise the ‘CRIME’ variable and write a paragraph explaining the key features of the data observed in the output in the style presented in the course materials.

Question 2

The variable ‘INCIDENTS’ measures the number of times that the respondent – or a member of their household – has been a victim of crime at the time this incident was reported. Produce the relevant graph and tables to summarise the ‘INCIDENTS’ variable and write a paragraph explaining the key features of the data observed in the output in the style presented in the course materials.

Question 3

The variable ‘WEAPONTYPE’ indicates the type of weapon used during the crime.

Previous research has shown that 79% of all crimes are committed without any type of weapon being used. It has been suggested that the percentage of crimes committed without a weapon being used is now lower than this.

Conduct a Binomial test using the ‘WEAPONTYPE’ variable to test this claim. Produce the relevant output and write a Binomial test report based on your output in the style presented in the course materials.

Question 4

The variable ‘AGE’ indicates the age of the respondent at the time the crime was committed.

Previous research has indicated that the average age of victims of crime is 24 years. It is expected that the average age of victims of crime is currently higher than this.

Conduct a One-sample t-test using the ‘AGE’ variable to test this claim. Produce the relevant output and write a One-sample t-test report based on your output in the style presented in the course materials.

Question 5

Researchers predict that the average number of incidents of crime is higher for females than for males. Conduct an Independent samples t-test using the ‘INCIDENTS’ and ‘SEX’ variables to test this claim. Produce the relevant output and write an Independent samples t-test report based on your output in the style presented in the course materials.

How to generate your random sample of 2000 observations:

  1. Open the STA10003_Assignment_SP3_2015.sav data file. From the Transform drop-down menu, select Random Number Generators:
  1. From the Random Number Generators dialogue box, click the Set Active Generator and Set Starting Point as shown below. Click OK:
  1. From the Data drop-down menu, select Select Cases:
  1. From the Select Cases dialogue box, choose Random Sample of Cases and then click the Sample button [the Sample button is in grey-scale until you select the Random sample of cases choice]:
  1. From the Select Cases: Random Sample dialogue box, click Exactly and type 2000 cases from the first 8292.

[again the information is in grey-scale until you select ‘Exactly’. We want to generate a random sample of 2000 from the entire data set, so enter 2000 cases from the first 8292 cases]:

  1. After clicking Continue [this returns you to the Select Cases Dialogue Box] you will see next to the Sample button confirmation that 2000 cases have been selected:
  1. We can remove the unselected cases by clicking the Delete unselected cases button under the Output heading:
  1. After clicking OK, your data set will now only show the 2000 cases selected.

You should now save the data file with a new name. The data file is ready to use for your Assignment!

What is meant by “accelerating the process?”

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MKT 421 Final Exam
1. A __________ is a road map for the marketing activities of an organization for a specified future time period such as one year or five years.
marketing dashboard
marketing plan
operation plan
mission statement
2. What is meant by “accelerating the process?”
Increase advertising costs during product launch
Speed up new product time to market
Identify major competitors early
Create a new market space
3. The product life cycle refers to __________.
a concept that describes the stages a new product goes through from product concept to commercialization
the average life span of a product
a concept that describes the stages a product goes through in the marketplace—early growth, accelerated development, maturity, and decline
a concept that describes the stages a product goes through in the marketplace—introduction, growth, maturity, and decline
4. Jay stops at the shopping mall to purchase a new pair of jeans from the Diesel store. He is the ultimate consumer in a pipeline from the producer through intermediaries including the clothing store. This pipeline is actually a _______.
marketing channel
marketing tunnel
consumer market
distribution matrix
5. What is the marketing objective for the growth stage of the product life cycle?
maintain brand loyalty
minimize promotion
increase market share
stress differentiation
6. In the nonprofit world of the performing arts box office technology has essentially remained the same since the 1980s. A company called Tessitura is trying to change that. Tessitura is able to track every transaction with its patrons in one database. The information collected includes ticket purchases, fund-raising, volunteering, and gift shop purchases that will help symphonies, operas, and theaters develop customer profiles in order to tailor their sales messages to specific individuals. In other words, Tessitura will allow arts groups to engage in:
mainstream marketing
societal marketing
relationship marketing
market aggregation
7. Marketing refers to:
the production of products or services that will generate the highest return on investment.
the activity for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that benefit its customers, the organization, its stakeholders, and society at large.
the activity involved in getting a product or service from the manufacturer to ultimate consumers and organizational buyers.
the process of identifying target market segments for a product or service.
8. Variables such as location the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and type of buy are all examples of ways to:
promote NAFTA.
segment an organizational market.
forecast sales to a consumer market.
differentiate products.
9. While pricing objectives frequently reflect corporate goals pricing constraints often relate to:
stockholder demands.
conditions existing in the marketplace.
an organization’s code of ethics.
the financial realities within the organization itself.
10. In personal branding the “price” component of the marketing mix refers to:
The number of hours you spend job searching
The annual cost of maintaining online profiles (such as LinkedIn)
The expense associated with job-hunting
The salary range and job benefits you hope to receive
11. At Mattel Barbie is child-tested to be sure the doll cannot be broken apart and accidentally choke a child. This type of consumer or safety test occurs during the __________ stage of the new-product process.
new-product strategy development
market testing
development
screening and evaluation
12. Customer value refers to:
the cluster of benefits that an organization promises customers to satisfy their needs.
the need of a customer to receive the highest quality product at the lowest possible price.
a statement that, before product development begins, identifies (1) a well-defined target market; (2) specific customers’ needs, wants, and preferences; and (3) what the product will be and do to satisfy consumers.
the unique combination of benefits received by targeted buyers that includes quality, convenience, on-time delivery, and both before-sale and after-sale service at a specific price.
13. Developing a pool of concepts to serve as candidates for new products is the __________ stage of the new-product process.
idea generation
product development
open innovation
new-product strategy development
14. The goal of a SWOT analysis is to:
identify market research questions in order to develop new products for new market segments.
determine how raises, bonuses, and dividends will be paid.
identify the critical strategy-related factors that can impact the firm.
reorganize the firm’s marketing department.
15. Marketing research refers to:
the science of using observable human behavior in order to identify and solve marketing problems.
the process of defining a marketing problem and opportunity, systematically collecting and analyzing information, and recommending actions.
the use of information technology to find objective solutions to a marketing problem.
the process of systematically collecting and analyzing information in order to define a marketing problem.
16. There is no single “generic” marketing plan that can apply to all organizations or all institutions. Rather, the specific format for a marketing plan for an organization depends on the following: the industry, the kind and complexity of the organization, and ________.
available resources
the financial investment needed
the competition
the target audience and purpose
17. Which of the following conditions are necessary for marketing to occur?
a quality product, a fair price, a clever method of promotion, and a place where a customer can buy the product
two or more people, a product, a reasonable price, and a place to make an exchange
two or more people, a method of assessing needs, a way to communicate, and an exchange
two or more parties with unsatisfied needs, a desire and an ability to satisfy them, a way to communicate, and something to exchange
18. Online retail purchases by consumers can be the result of several very different approaches, which include: (1) paying dues to become a member of an online discount service; (2) participating in an online auction; (3) going directly to online malls; and (4) _______.
participating in a buying cooperative
becoming a secret shopper
using a shopping “bot” to search for a product at locations with the best price
becoming a member of a research group that evaluates new products
19. Environmental scanning refers to:
assessing any possible negative impact a firm’s activities might have on the local ecology.
setting up a regular schedule to assess the performance of different divisions within a firm.
continually acquiring information on events occurring outside the organization to identify and interpret potential trends.
initiating an internal talent search to identify employees who can think “outside the box” to generate solutions to marketing problems caused by changes in the marketing environment.
20. Relationship selling refers to:
the assignment of a single salesperson to a single customer throughout the entire sales process.
the practice of building ties to customers based on a salesperson’s attention and commitment to customer needs over time.
when suppliers and sellers combine their expertise and resources to create customized solutions; commit to joint planning; and share customer, competitive, and company information for their mutual benefit, and ultimately the customer.
the practice of maintaining contact with a customer on a regularly scheduled basis following the initial sale of a product or service.
21. A global marketing strategy refers to:
the strategy currently used by most U.S. domestic firms that when entering a new international market, these firms offer only those products that require the least amount of product adaptation.
the global strategy of seeking out already established firms in other nations and selling them the rights to manufacture and distribute the firm’s products through a host nation’s local businesses.
the strategy of transnational firms that employ the practice of standardizing marketing activities when there are cultural similarities and adapting them when cultures differ.
the strategy used by multinational firms that have as many different product variations, brand names, and advertising programs as countries in which they do business.
22. Segmentation based on some subjective mental or emotional attributes, aspirations, or needs of prospective customers is referred to as:
socioeconomic segmentation.
psychosocial segmentation.
affective segmentation.
psychographic segmentation.
23. Computer-based networks that trigger actions by sensing changes in the real or digital world are known as:
global marketing platforms.
convergent systems.
intelligence technologies.
smart systems.
24. The study of similarities and differences among consumers in two or more nations or societies is referred to as __________.
transnational finance
market synthesis
cross-cultural analysis
international sociographics
25. Advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing are marketing communications alternatives that make up a firm’s __________.
marketing mix
promotional mix
communication source
media strategy
26. Neuromarketing is becoming more important in marketing as experts realize that traditional research methods such as focus groups and surveys may not be enough to understand what drives consumer purchase behavior due to:
It is not possible to formulate questions without bias
Consumers cannot verbalize their emotional responses
The data obtained is not quantifiable
The sample size is too small
27. Which of the following transactions occurred in the marketspace?
Connie sold Discovery Toys creative puzzles at an in-home demonstration.
Josh bought his mother a menorah through the Source for Everything Jewish gift catalog by calling a toll-free telephone number.
Corey bought a double-dipped chocolate ice cream cone from the ice cream person when his mobile ice cream truck came down the street.
Joan bought a brand new pair of Dansko shoes through Zappos.com.
28. Four trends in the past decade have significantly influenced the landscape of global marketing. One of them is:
a decrease in most countries’ GDPs and a renewal of nationalism.
the emergence of networked global marketspace.
a more aggressive attitude towards initiating international tariffs and quota systems.
an increase in most countries’ GDPs coupled with an increased degree of consumer ethnocentrism.
29. The term branding refers to __________.
the licensing of a name, phrase, design, symbol, or combination of these for a period of 17 years, at which time a firm may renew its intellectual property rights to them
an organization’s use of a name, phrase, design, symbol, or combination of these to identify its products and distinguish them from those of competitors
the establishment of a commercial, legal name under which a company does business
the identification of an organization’s products based upon individual SKUs.
30. The initial step in the strategic marketing process is to begin planning by conducting a _______.
situation (SWOT) analysis
market-product analysis and setting goals
diversification analysis
business portfolio analysis.