Find the definition that fits each scenerio

           Research Process Vocabulary

Select the correct word or phrase.   Record answers on page 3 and return your list for grading.  Words or phrases are only used once, and all correct answers are found in the Chapters 1, 4, and 6 along with Appendix A of Business Research Methods.  Also, definitions for many of the terms are given in the glossary. This research process follows the order of Exhibit 1-4 in your text.

Based on an analysis of the last year of sales, your boss, posed with a (1) (research question, management dilemma, sampling design, management decision), notices that sales of beef products are declining in your chain’s restaurants. As beef entrée sales decline, so do profits. He fears beef sales have declined due to several newspaper stories reporting E.coli contamination discovered at area grocery stores.  He suggests researching recent studies performed by trade groups such as the National Restaurant Association which are performed on restaurants nationwide and documented in trade magazines.   You disagree and think that data should be collected specific to your chain, and therefore do not favor these interpretive studies which rely on (2) (internal research, primary data, secondary data, corporate data base mining).   After all, your boss is asking the (3) (measurement question, management question, research question, hypothetical question), “What could we do to increaseourbeef entrée sales?

To look at data already collected, and to set the problem in its proper context, you examine your corporate (4) (decision support system, business intelligence system, confidentiality statement, strategy) , asking questions such “Has the decline in beef sales resulted in a shift to fish, chicken, or vegetarian foods?”   You don’t find all of the answers, so you move on to other questions, clarifying and refining them through a hierarchical approach.  You come up with questions such as, “Should smaller beef entrée portions be offered?” or “Should a lower-fat beef supplier be found?”  These are examples of (5) (management, research, strategic, hypothetical) questions.

Ultimately, you decide that you must ask questions such as these to your customers, but you rule out a (6) (model, pilot test, research report, census), which consists of all of your customers, because there are too many. Your total customer base serves as your (7) (sample, target population, sponsor, theory).   You decide to outsource the study by writing a (8) (ROI, research proposal, RFP, research report) for a contractor to perform the more in-depth research, including the survey.  You hope to select a (9) (specialty research, omnibus, full-service, direct marketing) firm who has experience doing surveys specific to the restaurant industry.   In evaluating the proposals, you are particularly concerned about proper (10) (data analysis, sampling design, data preparation, confidentiality) to make sure that the customers surveyed are representative of all of your customers.  The proposals typically come with a (11) (CPM, longitudinal, cross sectional, reciprocal) schedule outlining the sequential and simultaneous steps of the proposed work.

You expect that the proposals will start by suggesting an initial exploration phase, to be conducted before designing the survey, which will rely more on (12) (quantitative, qualitative, laboratory, statistical) techniques.  This phase will come up with additional questions and issues that can be addressed in the survey.  One of these techniques is the selection of a focus group consisting of (13) (2-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-25) customers which will be led by a moderator and explore customer behavior and preferences.

When all the survey questions are written, it is wise to conduct (14) (data mining, expert interviews, pilot testing, ex post facto evaluations) in one of your restaurants to detect ineffective questions.   After the survey is finalized and administered, in the (15) (data mining, data collection, research design, data analysis) phase, statisticians look for patterns and determine if the results were consistent with what was hypothesized.    Finally, after the research report is written and your company reviews the results, your company will develop business (16) (proposals, strategies, reports, analysis) to help us reach our goal, perhaps by advertising our safety procedures in purchasing and handling beef.

Fill in the correct word from one of the possible words on the next sheet.

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