EXPLAIN:

Flaws in research design in this study,

Flaws in the interpretation of the outcome of the research

The natural objective of this research, formulation of the research question(s), correct design of the research, and the correct methodology to deduce valid results from the acquired data

Case 17.1 Pointsec Mobile Technologies PHOTOORSC GREEN When salespeople, construction supervisors, of taxi fleets in each city, the researchers came up with city-by-city managers, and other employees are away from numbers: 3.42 cell phones per cab yielded 85,619 cell phones left the workplace, many of them carry mobile behind in Chicago, for example . In London, the researchers con- devices such as laptop computers and PDAs, cluded 63,135 cell phones were left in cabs, a startling inxrease of 71 often containing valuable, private data related percent compared to four years earlier. to their jobs. Pointsec (http//www.checkpoint. com/pointsec) provides security systems to pro- Questions tect such data. Ta bring home the vulnerability of mobile devices, 1. Discuss why the sampling method and sample size make these Pointser decided to share information about the number of such results questionable, esen though the numbers were reported as devices left behind in taxi if they were precise The research involved conducting a survey of taxi drivers. Staff 2. The simple survey method described in the case may have been members at Pointec's public relations firm called major taxi compa- sufficient as a way to draw attention to the issue of data secu- nies in nine cities in Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, rity: However, if the company were using data on lost mobile Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, and the United States. Each of the devices to predict demand for a product, accuracy might be cooperating companies put these interviewers in touch with about more significant. Imagine that you have been asked to collect one hundred drivers Drivers were asked how many devices of each data on mobile devices left in cals, and you wish to be able to typcell phones, PDAs, computers, and so on-had been left in report results with a 95 percent confidence level. How can you their cab over the preceding six months. From these numbers, they improve the sample design and select an appropriate sample up with the rate of iterns left behind. Multiplying by the size size