Research case study

​Research case study

Along with the attitudes and usage questions make a list of the other variables you would like to see incorporated into the telephone questionnaire.

In the highly competitive and aggressive environment of today’s contemporary business world, it is very essential for food industry suppliers to understand the changing needs and preferences of their consumers. The specific types of information, primary issues and customer targets for each of the component market- research studies were developed in close cooperation with industry leaders and main industry organizations such as the industry’s comprehensive promotional commission. This case report summarizes a market-research plan, including a series of interrelated specific research studies, regarding changing consumer necessities and preferences related to the Australian apple industry.

A main element of the sets of market-research studies is a customer telephone questionnaire. The objective of this telephone questionnaire is to receive information from a large sample of consumers about their favors, attitudes, psychological associations, and buying behavior regarding apples. In spite of the fact that these goals are similar to those for the focus groups, a restriction of the focus-group access is that it involves only a small sample of customers. For that reason, a telephone questionnaire with a large sample of customers was undertaken as the next step of the market research in order build onto and to advance explore and check the information from the earlier focus groups. These focus groups used in-depth conversations to explore consumers’ observations, preferences, reasons for apple purchases, good and negative experiences with apples, awareness of apple varieties, psychological associations, and many other aspects related to customer demand for apples. Without clear answers to such questions as “are “Golden Apples” consumers ready to pay more for particular varieties at similar levels of quality?” and “if so, which ones and which customers?” or “what are the components that signify quality to different classes of customers?” it will be a hard for the researchers in “Golden Apples” to see what exactly should be the essence of product differentiation.

Information about attitudes and beliefs suggests intuitive understanding into the question of why particular customers do, or do not, favor certain brands. Normally, market researchers conduct telephone questionnaire of large samples of households or business customers to collect these data. Recognition, attitudes, and usage studies characteristic a rank of questions that intend to shed light on consumers’ interrelations with a brand

There is a list of questions which would be incorporated into the telephone questionnaire:

State the procedures you would use when defining the telephone sample. Give justifications for your answers.

The initial point is for the researcher to refer to the plan and brief and make a listing of all the purposes and what information is required in order that they are achieved. The next step is to make a rough listing of the questions. A list is now made of all the objections that could go into the telephone questionnaire. The goal at this stage is to be as detailed as possible in the listing and not to concern about the phrasing of the objections. That comes next.

Step 3 – elevate the question phrasing. The questions should now be developed direct to the point where they make reason and will create the right answers.

Step 4 – evolve the response format. Every question requires a response. This may be a pre coded list of replies or it could be open ended to gather verbatim comments. Reflection of the answers is just as important as getting the questions right. In fact, regarding the answers will assist get the questions right.

Step 5 – put the questions in sequence. Ordering of questions is important because it brings the logic and flow to the telephone questionnaire. Typically, the respondent is facilitated the task with a relatively easy question, but more difficult or unusual of them left until they are warmed up. Questions about the brand asked first without help and then they requested.

Step 6 – complete the questionnaire layout. The questionnaire must now be fully formatted with clear instructions for the interviewer, including a strong introduction of routes, and probes. There must be enough space to write in answers and responses codes must be well separated from each other, so there is no danger of a circle is not the same.

Step 7 – pre evolution and review. The final step is to test the questionnaire. This is usually not necessary to perform more than 10 to 20 interviews in the pilot because the goal is to make sure that it works, but not for the experimental results. In theory, the questionnaire should be piloted using the interviewing procedure that will be used in the field (over the phone if telephone questionnaires are to be used; self completed if it will be a self achievement questionnaire). Time and money can prevent a proper pilot, so at least it should be tested on one or two colleagues for a feeling, flow and clarity of purpose instructions. The whole aim is to determine the changes are needed so that the final changes can be made. When carrying out the pilot it is best to run through the telephone questionnaire with the guinea pig respondent and then come back over the questions and inquire for each one, “what was going through your mind when you were asked this query?”.  A procedure of making questionnaire is one of the difficult and yet one of the most crucial components of the market research process. Given the same purposes, two researchers would probably never design the same questionnaire.

Define how you would recruit and control researchers used for the telephone research.

“Golden Apples” used a couple of quality checks of data collection. All thorough training of interviewers over the telephone surveying methodology prior to the interview.  All interviewers were entirely trained in telephone questionnaire methodology before the interview. After several general training sessions, interviewers received training on this project andremained in the practice mode to a maximum of qualification was achieved. Once the interviewer was prepared to manage the questionnaire, managers made frequent and regular monitoring ofcalls and data collection. In order to test the questionnaire, recruitment of appropriate subjects is essential. One initially needs to define and recruit volunteers from the respective groups for testing the questionnaire, taking into account several considerations:

– Subjects or features of interest to study (a special status with regard to health, jobs, age, sex characteristics), or they may be “general” subjects for the questionnaires which are asked of the general population. However, even for a questionnaire that is designed for special populations, it is worth testing the initial stages of screening on people who do not possess the characteristic (s) of interest.

– Subjects are recruited through newspapers, leaflets, service agencies and support groups. If payment will be involved, flyers and newspaper ads should clearly emphasize this Function (monetary incentives tend to be very effective).

Quality control is important because it provides assurance that the data are collected carefully and systematically, objectively, planned procedures. It is important to have in place systems of control from day to day, and the interviewer-to-interviewer, the quality of fieldwork. This is especially important for large-scale studies over a long period of time. The records must be kept to provide objective evidence that the data collection procedures should be, and they often need to be addressed with appropriate feedback, both positive and negative, as warranted.

The purpose of fieldwork is whether the interview was actually conducted with the designated respondent, and whether the appropriate mode and sequence of questioning was used. Sometimes checks are also made of the factual information obtained in interviews, in particular, the respondent and household data classification.

The quest for valid measurement is crucial, even if research is not up to the rigid bandwidth – both for determining the cost of research and to providing feedback to the research team.

The best approach follows five steps:

1. Identify the solutions under the influence of research.

2. Estimate the cost of a research informed decision over a decision based solely on the analysis or past experience.

3. Select the metrics to be used and obtain consent for their appropriateness.

4. Relate the cost of research for the potential value of the best solution and identify ways to conduct research to maximize its contribution.

5. To outline how knowledge and learning will be used.

The managers of “Golden Apples” are not very literate when it comes to data analysis. Explain to them in general terms the rationale behind data coding, measures of central tendency, cross tabulations and frequency counts, and why you used them.

The aim of data analysis is to offer answers to the research questions being studied. The research question also prescribes the type of data to be gathered during a study and the type of analyses to be performed. Our measure of what is normal is named the central tendency.  Our measure of how the cases differ is named the variance or dispersion in the data. “The mean, the median, and the mode are measures of central tendency. The mean is just an arithmetic average. It is the sum of individual scores divided by the number of individuals. The median is the midpoint measure in a group of measures: Half of the observations fall above the median and half below.’ (Dillman, D. 2000, 3). The mode is the most regularly occurring figure in a set of figures. Each of these statistical measures explains the normal characteristic or tendency of a group in a slightly dissimilar way. Data coding happens when data is grouped (often notautomatically) after collection. The amount of coding is an equality between making responseeasier for the respondent and allowing the probability of a systematic coding error by incorrect coding. The coding process removes additional errors and omissions in addition to establishing inconsistencies amid the answers given by the respondent. This process does not address the non-response issue (obviously, coding and redacting may only take place if the questionnaire wasreturned).  “Cross-tabulations oppose how subgroups of respondents compared to one another in answer to telephone questionnaire. For example, the cross-tabulations will describe if there is a distinction between males and females in the kind of park facilities that they use.)” (Umbach, P. 2005, 8). Easy explicative statistics such as frequency counts and  percentage distributions offer the main information  teams need to answer the questions for which they originally  started the questionnaire process.  

​Valid, meaningful telephone questionnaires offer an effective means for company to get stakeholder input, but require much time and attempt from team members. Before undertaking a telephone questionnaire, company should consider whether the data may be collected in other ways. If surveys are requisite, it is essential that possible sources of error be minimized. To reach this, “Golden Apples” should ensure that persons surveyed represent the real population under study; respondents accurately comprehend the questions asked; people are willing to participate in the questionnaire process; and, the results are analyzed externally.