Research Methods For Business Students 4th Edition Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill - Solutions

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9.1 It may be as well to suggest to her that she start her attendance at meetings with an unstructured approach in order to simply get the ‘feel’ of what is happening. She should make notes of her general impressions of the ‘new EU member states’ team members’ general participation in
5 Comment on the validity and reliability of the data Siphiwe has collected.
4 To what extent do you feel Siphiwe’s presence in the shop could have affected the behaviour of the shoppers?
3 Do you consider Siphiwe’s observations were of any value? Give reasons for your answer.
2 Do you think it was ethical for Siphiwe to use covert observation?
1 Given Siphiwe’s research question, do you think the observation method she used was the best option? Give reasons for your answer.
8.4 a The data are unlikely to be reliable. b Your judgement should be based on a combination of the following reasons: • Initial examination of the report reveals that it is an internally conducted survey. As this has been undertaken by the marketing department of a large manufacturing company,
8.3 a The secondary data required for this research question relate to organisations’ employee relocation policies. The research question assumes that these sorts of data are likely to be available from organisations. Textbooks, research papers and informaldiscussions would enable you to confirm
8.2 The arguments you have listed should focus on the following issues: • The study suggested by the research question requires historical data so that changes that have already happened can be explored. These data will, by definition, have already been collected. • The timescale of the
8.1 Although it would be impossible to list all possible situations, the key features that should appear in your examples are listed below: • to compare findings from your primary data; • to place findings from your primary data in a wider context; • to triangulate findings from other data
4 Is there scope for me to undertake an empirically based master’s project on theme parks and emotional labour using only secondary data? If so, what kind of secondary data might be available that relates to emotional labour within the theme park context?1 Imagine you are Jessica’s project
3 Can I use data from personal blogs and unoffi cial websites which expose grievances felt by employees?
2 Can I (Jessica) just interview employees about their emotional labour at the local theme park without asking the theme park’s permission?
1 What’s the difference between primary and secondary data, and what sort of secondary data could be relevant for the research project?
4 What limitations would Liam need to concede in his write-up?
3 How might Liam write up his case study, in terms of a structure?
2 In terms of his coding procedure, Liam opted to annotate the documents by hand. How else might he have done the coding in a more systematic and transparent manner?
1 How might Liam have got around the various subscription paywalls on certain media websites that prevented him from accessing their material?
• be able to identify threats related to validity and reliability for each type of observation and appreciate how to reduce these.
8.4 a The data are unlikely to be reliable. b Your judgement should be based on a combination of the following reasons: • Initial examination of the report reveals that it is an internally conducted survey. As this has been undertaken by the marketing department of a large manufacturing company,
8.3 a The secondary data required for this research question relate to organisations’ employee relocation policies. The research question assumes that these sorts of data are likely to be available from organisations. Textbooks, research papers and informal discussions would enable you to confirm
8.2 The arguments you have listed should focus on the following issues: • The study suggested by the research question requires historical data so that changes that have already happened can be explored. These data will, by definition, have already been collected. • The timescale of the
8.1 Although it would be impossible to list all possible situations, the key features that should appear in your examples are listed below: • to compare findings from your primary data; • to place findings from your primary data in a wider context; • to triangulate findings from other data
4 Is there scope for me to undertake an empirically based master’s project on theme parks and emotional labour using only secondary data? If so, what kind of secondary data might be available that relates to emotional labour within the theme park context?1 Imagine you are Jessica’s project
3 Can I use data from personal blogs and unoffi cial websites which expose grievances felt by employees?
2 Can I (Jessica) just interview employees about their emotional labour at the local theme park without asking the theme park’s permission?
1 What’s the difference between primary and secondary data, and what sort of secondary data could be relevant for the research project?
• apply the knowledge, skills and understanding gained to your own research project.
7.7 a Either snowball sampling as it would be difficult to identify members of the desired population or, possibly, convenience sampling because of initial difficulties in finding members of the desired population. b Quota sampling to ensure that the variability in the population as a whole is
7.6 a Prior to deciding on your quota you will need to consider the possible inclusion of residents who are aged under 16 in your quota. Often in such research projects residents aged under 5 (and those aged 5–15) are excluded. You would need a quota of between 2000 and 5000 residents to obtain a
7.5 a If you assume that there are at least 100,000 managing directors of small to mediumsized organisations from which to select your sample, you will need to interview approximately 380 to make generalisations that are accurate to within plus or minus 5 per cent ( Table 7.1 ). b Either cluster
7.4 a Your answer will depend on the random number you select as the starting point for your systematic sample. However, the process you followed to select your sample is likely to be similar to that outlined. As a 10 per cent sample has been requested, the sampling fraction is 1/10. Your starting
7.3 a Your answer will depend on the random numbers you selected. However, the process you follow to select the samples is likely to be similar to that outlined. Starting at randomly selected points, two sets of 20 two-digit random numbers are read from the random number tables ( Appendix 3 ). If a
7.2 Your draft of Lisa’s tutor’s reply is unlikely to be worded the same way as the one below. However, it should contain the same key points: From: “tutor’s name” To: Sent: today’s date 7:06 Subject: Re: Help!!! Sampling non-response? Hi Lisa Many thanks for the email. This is not in
7.1 a A complete list of all directors of large manufacturing firms could be purchased from an organisation that specialised in selling such lists to use as the sampling frame. Alternatively, a list that contained only those selected for the sample could be purchased to reduce costs. These data are
3 Identify a sampling technique that could enable Daniel to collect reliable data from which he could make statistical inferences. Give reasons for your choice and explain the steps you would take to select your sample.
2 Discuss how the distribution of a link to the Internet questionnaire using Facebook via email might jeopardise the statistical representativeness of Daniel’s findings.
1 Outline the problems Daniel is likely to face by using his Marketing assignment as his pilot study.
6.5 A number of ethical problems might emerge. These are considered in turn. You may wish to explore a point made by one of your participants but to do so might lead to harmful consequences for this person where the point was attributed to him or her. It may be possible for some people who read
6.4 The principal ethical issues you will need to consider irrespective of which research method you use are: • maintaining your integrity and objectivity during the data collection, analysis and reporting stages; • avoiding deception about why you are undertaking the research, its purpose and
6.3 We may consider the three particular scenarios outlined in the question in Table 6.5 .
6.2 Gaining access can be problematic for researchers for a number of reasons. The concept of feasibility recognises this and suggests that in order to be able to conduct your research it will be necessary to design it with access clearly in mind. Sufficiency refers to another issue related to
6.1 The types of access that we have referred to in this chapter are: physical entry or initial access to an organisational setting; continuing access, which recognises that researchers often need to develop their access on an incremental basis; and cognitive access, where you will be concerned to
4 Outline the ethical issues Helen had to consider and how she addressed them.
3 What impact did the decision to change to healthy snack foods have on the research’s success?
2 What did Helen do to help her gain access to the head teachers?
1 List the problems researchers can encounter when conducting research on children.
5.4 This would be a longitudinal study. Therefore, the potential of some of the threats to internal validity explained in Section 5.8 is greater simply because they have longer to develop. You would need to make sure that most of these threats were controlled as much as possible. For example, you
interview is a classic way of managers doing this. If this is the motive of the managers concerned then they are unlikely to let you have free access to their employees. What you could do is ask to see all the employees in a particular department rather than a sample of employees. Alternatively,
5.3 There is no easy answer to this question! You have to remember that access to organisations to research is an act of goodwill on the part of managers, and they do like to retain a certain amount of control. Selecting whom researchers may
5.2 The questionnaire will undoubtedly perform a valuable function in obtaining a comprehensive amount of data that can be compared easily, say, by district or age and gender. However, you would add to the understanding of the problem if you observed managers’ meetings. Who does most of the
5.1 You would need to stress here that your principal interest would be in getting a deep understanding of why car owners join manufacturer-sponsored owners’ clubs. You would discover why the owners joined these clubs and what they thought of them. In other words, you would establish what you set
3 What are the possible issues associated with Jessica interviewing her university friends?
2 Is Jessica’s research design (based only on semi-structured interviews in one case study organisation) likely to be sufficient to answer the research question?
1 Look at Jessica’s research question; is the research ‘purpose’ exploratory, descriptive or explanatory?
• consider the constraints of your role as researcher when designing your own research.
4.4 The question implies an either/or choice. But as you work through this chapter and, in particular, the next on deciding your research design, you will see that life is rarely so clear-cut! Perhaps the main factor that would cause you to review the appropriateness of the deductive approach would
4.3 The researcher working in the radical humanist or structuralist paradigms may argue that it is predictable that managers would say that the purpose of organisational investigation is to develop recommendations for action to solve problems without radical change because radical change may
4.2 Although you can see and touch a manager, you are only seeing and touching another human being. The point is that the role of the manager is a socially constructed concept. What a manager is will differ between different national and organisational cultures and will differ over time. Indeed,
4.1 Probably the most realistic hypothesis here would be ‘consumers of “Snackers” chocolate bars did not notice the difference between the current bar and its reduced weight successor’. Doubtless that is what the Snackers’ manufacturer would want confirmed!
3 How might Zoe’s interpretivist philosophy and approach impact on how she frames her research question?
2 Why should Zoe have been concerned about her previous relationship with the Theatre she was researching?
1 Why is it important for Zoe to be aware of her values and beliefs as an individual researcher?
3.5 There are two parts to this answer: rewriting the text and using the Harvard system of referencing. Your text will inevitably differ from the answer given below owing to your personal writing style. Don’t worry about this too much as it is discussed in far more detail in Section 14.5 . The
3.4 There is a variety of possible reasons, including: • One or more of the parameters of your search are defined too narrowly. • The keywords you have chosen do not appear in the controlled index language. • Your spelling of the search term is incorrect. • The terminology you are using is
3.3 There are no incorrect answers with brainstorming! However, you might like to check your search terms for suitability prior to using them to search an appropriate database. We suggest that you follow the approach outlined in Section 3.5 under ‘searching using the tertiary literature’.
3.2 This is a difficult one without knowing her research question! However, you could still advise her on the general principles. Your advice will probably include: • Define the parameters of the research, considering language, subject area, business sector, geographical area, publication period
3.1 There are numerous problems with the content and structure of this extract. Some of the more obvious include: • The content consists of predominantly trade magazines, in particular Post Magazine , and there are no references of academic substance. Some of the references to individual authors
3 Emily has decided to collect her primary data by interviewing human resource managers in the finance sector. How can she use the findings of her Systematic Review to inform her subsequent data collection?
2 What are the advantages and disadvantages in using an expert panel of stakeholders to assist in determining a review question?
1 a Why is it important to apply inclusion and exclusion criteria when deciding which publications to include in a Systematic Review? b What other quality criteria might you use?
2.6 Try including a subsection in the background section that is headed ‘How the previous published research has informed my research questions and objectives’. Then show how, say, a gap in the previous research that is there because nobody has pursued a particular approach before has led to
2.5 Let us go back to the example used in the chapter of the supermarket marketing manager who theorises that the introduction of a loyalty card will mean that regular customers are less likely to shop at competitor supermarkets. This could be the research proposal’s starting point, i.e., a
2.4 Your answer will probably differ from that below. However, the sorts of things you could be considering include: • How do business organisations benefit from their liaison with schools? • Why do business organisations undertake school liaison activities? • To what extent do business
2.3 From the description given, it would appear that your colleague has considered only rational thinking techniques. It would therefore seem sensible to suggest two creative thinking techniques, as these would hopefully generate an idea that would appeal to him. One technique that you could
2.2 One starting point would be to ask your project tutor for suggestions of possible recent review articles or articles containing recommendations for further work that he or she has read. Another would be to browse recent editions of operations management journals such as the International
2.1 These may include: • To identify the management and trade union objectives for the Joint Consultative Committee and use this to establish suitable effectiveness criteria. • To review key literature on the use of joint consultative committees. • To carry out primary research in the
3 George plans to collect his data from his fellow university students. a Is this a good idea? b What issues should George consider before commencing and why?
2 George has identified the need for qualitative rather than quantitative methods in order to understand the phenomena that constitute co-production, co-creation and value. What ways of collecting data might he consider using and why?
1 a Why is it important that George’s research draws upon existing theory? b At what point in the process should he identify a relevant model, theory or framework to guide his work?
1.3 Figure 1.2 emphasises the importance of planning during your research project. Forward planning needs to occur at all stages up to submission. In addition, you will need to reflect on and to revise your work throughout the life of the research project. This reflection needs to have a wide
1.2 The key differences between basic and applied research relate to both the purpose and the context in which it is undertaken. They are summarised in Figure 1.1.
1.1 The features you outline are likely to include: • the transdisciplinary nature of business and management research; • the development of ideas that are related to practice and in particular the requirement for the research to have some practical consequence; • the need for research to
3 In what ways are the kinds of research projects that most managers want to read likely to be different from the kinds of research projects that get high marks at university?
2 Can Katie’s decision to submit a report she thinks is misleading be justified on ethical grounds?
1 If Katie is correct, and evidence doesn’t necessarily tell managers the best way to take action, do we still need evidence?
The file Contract.xls (obtain the data from http://www.sagepub.in/books/Book242499/samples) contains data on the degree to which an outsourcing arrangement was successful and how the company scored on a rating questionnaire prior to establishing the relationship. Use factor analysis to construct
Use the file learning.xls used in Section 13.2 to compute a logistic model to determine how each of the derived factors contribute towards success.
What should the literature review do?
Types of literature review.
What Should the Literature Review Do?
Select a Journal article (any Journal related to social science or business) and use the template above to critically review it. Discuss the article and your findings in class.
define the key terms epistemology, ontology and axiology and explain their relevance to business research. LO6
explain the relevance for business research of philosophical perspectives such as positivism, realism, pragmatism, interpretivism, objectivism and constructionism. LO6
understand the main research paradigms which are significant for business research. LO6
distinguish between main research approaches: deductive and inductive. LO6
state your own epistemological, ontological and axiological positions. LO6
You have decided to undertake a project and have defined the main research question as ‘What are the opinions of consumers to a 10% reduction in weight, with the price remaining the same, of“Snackers” chocolate bars?’ Write a hypothesis that you could test in your project. LO6
Why may it be argued that the concept of the manager is socially constructed rather than ‘real’? LO6
If you were to follow up the Slonaker and Wendt (2003) study on discrimination against African American males, what philosophical stance may underpin your research choice? LO6

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Research Methods For Business Students 4th Edition Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill - Solutions

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