Business Research Methods

Business Research Methods: Part Three

Learning Team ‘A’

Antionese Anderson, Jana LeBeau, Dain Sisk, Jefferson Smith, Donald Wills

QNT/HC-561

December 4, 2011

Professor: Carol Sommers

Business Research Methods: Part Three

Introduction

In the development of a research question as to the effects and results surrounding treatments and survival rates for breast cancer patients of the MD Cancer Center, insured verses uninsured. Statistical analysis of a sample set of patients with different dilemmas help to define the issues associated with the population of breast cancer patients as a whole. The importance of the research question and data along with the analysis of that information presents its own set of challenges as to the validity and reliability of the information. “Validity is the extent to which a test measures what we actually wish to measure. Reliability has to do with the accuracy and precision of a measurement procedure“(Cooper & Schindler, 2008 pp. 289).

Statistical Analysis

Determining an individual’s access to medical care and prevalence of insurance coverage, at any level, requires complex survey design and respondent participation. Multivariate regression analysis of medical care access measures the pertinent elements, such as age, socio-economic status, employment, education, regional differences, and language preference. The independent variables are women from the region routinely treated by MD Anderson Hospital and women outside the MD Anderson catchment area. Dependent variables are women who routinely receive care, those who receive emergency department visits relative to clinic or primary provider office visits, and the probability of office or emergency visits.

A concise research question and design helps determine how gathered data will be analyzed and presented. Data may be presented as either descriptive or inferential. “Descriptive statistics can clarify large volumes of data. These statistics are limited in that...