Research Design And Statistics Concepts Worksheet

Research Design and Statistics Concepts Worksheet

Concept Application of Concept in Scenario Reference to Concept in Reading

Research

• Knowable

• Unknowable

• Researchable USA World Bank will need to know if their new program they want to launch is possible. They know that these types of ventures can be successful and believe their bank is ready. They will need to know more about their customers to be able to move forward.

The research firm, Best Market Research provided services to provide an organized inquiry to assist them in decisions. The research includes “reporting, descriptive, explanatory, and predictive studies”

“Good research generates dependable data, being derived by practices that are conducted professionally and that can be used reliably for managerial decision making. Good research follows the standards of the scientific method”.

The study of research methods provides you with the knowledge and skills you need to solve the problems and meet the challenges of a fast-paced decision-making environment. (Cooper, 2003, p. 26)

(Cooper, 2003, p. 14)

(Cooper, 2003, p. 5)

Tools of Data Analysis

• Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

• Statistics, graphics, and ethics

• Skewness

Statistics and graphics refer to data crunching, interpretation and presentation of data to find useful and reasonable information to accomplish the research objectives. Interpretation and reliability are the two key words that may change the meaning or implication of the research results.

“Descriptive Statistics are methods of organizing, summarizing, and presenting data in an informative way.”

The statistical research provided to the executives of World Bank was inferential based on the statistics that were analyzed to determine the outcome of the credit card product based on the organization’s clients and small business-owners. The main concern regarding inferential statistics is finding something about a population from a sample taken from that population. “Inferential statistics are the methods used to determine something about a population on the basis of a sample.”

In the Coffee Time simulation, the sampling data was collected by combining various factors based on cultural outlook, demographics, competitors’ data and consumer market data. Leaving out survey questions that are important variable for research will lead to incomplete information and misleading results. Similarly, asking wrong question or sensitive information may skew the target sample population.

Coffee Time used graphs to present a pictorial comparison of research variables. Coffee Time’s research design used the bar charts to display the trend of potential consumer class by age groups for the target cities. The vertically drawn compound bar charts trace the trends of each individual age group as well as help in making comparisons between the cities. Charts enable the viewer a quick overview, in this simulation the chart displayed the age groups that have higher consumer density and the comparison can be run across the cities as well.

(Lind, et.al., 2004, pp. 5-7 )

(Lind, et.al., 2004, pp. 29-31 )

(Coffee Time Simulation, 2008)

I

Levels of Measurement

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

• Ratio

There are four scale types. In increasing order of power, they are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Nominal scales classify without indicating order, distance, or unique origin. Ordinal data show magnitude relationships of more than and less than but have no distance or unique origin. Interval scales have both order and distance but no unique origin. Ratio scales possess all of these features.

The nominal data may only be classified but cannot be counted; ordinal data can be ranked and USA World Bank’s Bea questioned this data. Whereas Interval data has meaningful difference between values and ratio has a point that can be counted, divided, multiplied are possible.

(Lind, et.al., 2004, p. 243)

Validity and Reliability

• Characteristics of sound measurement

Sound measurement must meet the tests of validity, reliability, and practicality.

• Sources of measurement differences

The USA World Bank directors were very cautious with the new Reward Program and Brian had to make sure the data was thoroughly reviewed and asked Mary if the information was reliable and valid.

Brian then met with Jim to discuss the specifics regarding the research methods used for the small business market and the success of the methodology.

This is because “omission of significant procedural details makes it difficult or impossible