Res-351wk 4 Understanding Terms and Concepts

University of Phoenix Material

Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts: Part 2

Which type of research design— exploratory, descriptive, or causal—is appropriate for the following examples? Explain why.

* The goal of this research is to discover the real nature of the problem and to suggest new possible solutions or new ideas.

a. Exploratory, there is a need to establish the problem and provide a hypotheses as to what is or has caused the problem. From there the company can develop solutions and new ideas to resolve the issues.

* A food manufacturer wants to know the demographics of people who purchase organic foods.

b. Descriptive, to determine the demographics of who is purchasing organic foods, the manufacturer would study and observe consumer purchasing behaviors. This research must be done without the manufacturer influencing the outcome.

* A firm is considering hiring American celebrity Paris Hilton to endorse its products.

c. Casual, this is a classic of the term "cause and effect". The firm is looking to contract a celebrity, in this case Paris Hilton to help boost sales for their products. As with all celebrities, Paris Hilton has a following that look to emulate her and purchase anything she endorses - the question however, is what kind of draw does she have.

* British Airways would like to test in-flight Internet services on one of its regular flights from New York to Tokyo. The company charges $30 one week and $15 the next week.

Causal

* This type of study attempts to discover answers to the following questions: who, what, when, where, or how much.

d. Descriptive, these are the types of research questions businesses use to determine who is purchasing their products, what products the consumer is looking for, when to release a new product or discount a product, where to place the product to achieve the best sell through rate, and how much to sell the product or how much of...