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. Exploratory, because they are trying to discover the problem.
A food manufacturer wants to know the demographics of people who purchase organic foods. Descriptive, because they are looking for a better understanding of who will be the most likely to buy organic food.
A firm is considering hiring American celebrity Paris Hilton to endorse its products. Causal, because Paris Hilton would have a great impact on sales.
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, testing the price of usage of the internet.
This type of study attempts to discover answers to the following questions: who, what, when, where, or how much. Descriptive, it describes data and characteristic.
A manufacturer investigates whether consumers will buy a new pill that replaces eating a meal. Exploratory, to get better understanding of what consumers are looking for.
Cosmopolitan magazine sends out a cover in selected markets featuring a female model to half of its readers and a cover with a female and male model to the other half of its readers to test differences in purchase response between the two groups. Casual, because they want to see how consumers responds to the cover verses the other cover.
This type of research attempts to capture a population’s characteristics by making inference from a sample’s characteristics and testing hypotheses. Descriptive, to get a more general conclusion.
On the CBS television show Undercover Boss, top executives disguised as middle level or lower level employees investigate company