4. Research Design

A research design is a blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data, based on _____ of the study

• the purpose

• the research questions

• the introduction

An exploratory study is undertaken when not much is known about _____ at hand, or no information is available on how similar problems have been solved in the past.

• the situation

• the characteristics

Examples of exploratory research design EXCEPT:

• A study into the role of social networking sites as an effective marketing communication channel

• An investigation into the ways of improvement of quality of customer services within hospitality sector in London

• Market researchers that want to observe habits of consumers.

Exploratory research often relies on _____ research such as review of the literature and/or _____ approaches to data gathering.

• primary, quantitative

• secondary, quantitative

• primary, qualitative

• secondary, qualitative

Descriptive research's objective is to _____.

• describe

• explore

• test

Descriptive studies may help the research to EXCEPT:

• Understand the characteristics of a group in a given situation.

• Think systematically about aspects in a given situation.

• Explore new areas of research.

TWO examples of descriptive research:

• A specialty food group launching a new range of barbecue rubs would like to understand what flavors of rubs are favored by different sets of people.

• An assessment of the role of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior in pharmaceutical industry in the USA.

• A company that wants to evaluate the morale of its staff.

TWO advantages of descriptive research design:

• Effective in laying the groundwork that will lead to future studies.

• The opportunity to integrate the qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection

• Helping the researcher to understand the characteristics of a group

Causal research tests whether or not one variable causes another to change.

• YES

• NO

Examples of research objectives for causal research design EXCEPT:

• To assess the impacts of foreign direct investment on the levels of economic growth in Taiwan.

• To analyse the effects of re-branding initiatives on the levels of customer loyalty.

• To investigate the work ethic values of employees working in branch A are different from those in branch B.