Assignment 8: Draft Data and Analysis Plans
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MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT AND SYSTEMS

Research Process and Methodology

MASY GC- 1260

MEMORANDUM

TO: Dr. Andres Fortino

FROM: Your Name

DATE: [Date of your briefing]

RE: Assignment 8 – Draft Research Design and Methodology

Chapter 3 – Research Design and Methodology
Theory
This chapter deals with the theory we will use with regard to our research project. The dependent variable – the variable of primary interest in our study – is …. We based the conceptual model of our study on …. The variables of our conceptual model will be introduced and defined in this chapter. What’s more, we will try to explain how and why the variables in our conceptual model are related to each other. This chapter will conclude with hypotheses relevant to our study.

Your theory goes here…

Research objective

Our research objective is: “…”
Our framed research question(s) is (are)….
Theoretical framework

In this section, the theoretical framework will be depicted and the variables that are included in this theoretical framework will be explained. Below, in figure 3.1, you can see the theoretical framework that will be used in this study.

Figure 3.1 Proposed Effects

IV

DV

IV

MD

Explanation of the variables in our model

Variable A: Definition, explanation and type how to measure.

Variable B: Definition, explanation and type how to measure.

Variable C: Definition, explanation and type how to measure.

Variable D: Definition, explanation and type how to measure.

Use as few or as many variables as you need. Change A, B, C, D for the real names of the variables. You must define each variable, give expected values, ranges, etc and how you will measure.

Relationship between constructs

This research examines the effect of Variable A on Variable B. This research aims to prove that …. will affect …. More specifically, we argue that…. On the other hand …. Hence, we are able to develop the following hypotheses:

Explain the relationship between variables as much as possible

Hypotheses

In this research, we would like to solve the central problem by the means of several hypotheses. In a following chapter, these hypotheses will be tested on their validity through statistical testing.

Hypothesis 1:

Hypothesis H0:

Hypothesis H1:

State both the H0 null hypothesis and H1 the alternate hypothesis. The titles of “Hypothesis” above should be left in italics, as is the custom. There should be, at minimum, one hypothesis.

Hypothesis 2:

Hypothesis H0:

Hypothesis H1:

Hypothesis 3:

Hypothesis H0:

Hypothesis H1:

Must have at least one hypothesis. Remember H0 is “nothing” changes, and H1 is that is the change I hope to see. It could be directional (higher, lower) or non-directional (there will be a difference, just don’t know which direction until In run the experiment).

Research design

In this section, we will explain how we set up our study. More specifically, explain the study setting, the procedure, the sampling technique we used, sample size, and the operationalization of the variables in your study.

Research method and procedure

A … study was used to test the hypotheses we developed. Data were collected from… Respondents will be asked to complete an anonymous personally administered questionnaire….

Data Collection ( Your study may have more portions or pieces so add them accordingly.)
This study will use a mixed methods approach to gathering the data for the research. Your study may have more portions or pieces so add them accordingly. For each type of data, state what is the data you will collect, and give the details of how you will do it, who or what and how many of them you will collect, and how exactly you will collect the sample or documents or existing data? From where? And where will you store them before the analysis?

Qualitative data collection. The first portion of the study if any

Quantitative data collection. The first portion of the study if any

Sampling (if appropriate)

We used convenience sampling for our study. In multivariate research, the sample size should be preferably ten times as large as the number of variables in the study. Since our model includes … variables, our minimum sample size is …. A total of … will be selected as a sample to participate in our study. The respondents would those who are customers of one of the Jupiter stores, and who had been in contact with a salesperson of the store.

Operationalization of our variables

If you include sampling as your technique. To gather the necessary data a questionnaire will be developed. The measures were adapted from Goff et al (1997). Every variable (salesperson customer orientation, salesperson selling orientation, satisfaction with salesperson, and satisfaction with retailer) was measured with multi-item scales. All the items will be tested with 5-point Likert scales with end-points labelled “completely disagree” (1) and “completely agree” (5). As can be seen in table 3.1, the measures will have adequate reliability.

At the end of the questionnaire two general questions will be asked: … (If using a questionnaire) You are not required to include the questionnaire.

Data analysis
In this section, we will analyze our data. In the first section, we will discuss the descriptive statistics. Next, we will provide a …. which provides an overview of the relationships between the variables in our conceptual model. Finally, we will test our hypotheses.

Once both the quantitative and qualitative data are collected we will then determine:

Qualitative data analysis. How exactly will you code the data? What will you do after coding to categorize it, organize it, and extract themes and trends?
Quantitative data analysis. What descriptive statistics will use on the sample you used? Give the details of them whether they be documents, people or other existing sources. Follow it with the inferential statistics. Exactly, which one will you use, how, and the reason you are using it?
Descriptive statistics

We will create a general picture of our data by presenting descriptive statics of the main variables. We will show ….. We will also show the level of satisfaction of Jupiter customers with the salesperson. Also if ….

Correlation (if appropriate)

In order to test whether there is a relationship between our variables we will compute and present a correlation matrix of the main variables.

Testing our hypotheses

Early in this chapter we stated the hypotheses of our model. In this section we will carry out the statistical analysis of these hypotheses. All tests performed are with a reliability of 95% (p-statistic < .05. We will provide results with standardized estimates of the regression coefficients (the beta’s) together with their respective significance levels and the adjusted R2 values of the models. The results will show the relationship between selling orientation and its effect on satisfaction with the retailer. This effect is mediated by satisfaction with the salesperson. We will see if the results of our analysis show support for our hypotheses. Limitations Although this study will provide significant insight into ………………. there are limitations. First, this study will only This study will not account for… Summary We hope that our results will show that … We hope that Variable A are to a large extent focused on… , and less on …. This is desirable because .... (for example)