Research Methods (STA630)

Fall 2018 Assignment No. 1

Due Date: December 05, 2018 Total Marks: 12

Objective of the Assignment:

The objective of this activity is to make the students able to comprehend the literature and
identify the variables (Dependent, Independent, moderating, and intervening) for formulation of
theoretical framework, hypothesis and identify elements of research design from the given piece
of literature.
Learning Outcomes:
After attempting this assignment students should be able to:
Identify the variables
Formulate the theoretical framework and schematic diagram.
Formulate hypothesis
And Identify the research design elements

Increase in Product Price

A CEO of a renowned hospital equipment’s distributor organization sought out research
because he believed that there was an opportunity to increase revenues by raising prices of its
various products like MRI, CT Scan, and digital X Ray machines. He hired a research consultant
to assist him for making this decision with sound rationale. The consultant, after several weeks
of discussions, price analysis reviews, and after studying the various similar research articles, He
figured it out that customers are less concerned with price in markets that are more turbulent,
meaning there are ever-changing environmental, competitive, and political pressures. For
business segments where delivery time is of critical importance, higher prices can be charged
without the fear of losing business. Similarly, in turbulent international markets, customers have
other important concerns that make them less sensitive to equipment price and more sensitive to
reliability and service.
He has proposed the following theoretical framework as supported by the relevant
literature. “Equipment reliability and durability leads toward increase in price where there is
less delivery time as compare to competitors in the market.”
He has planned to collect a data on structured questionnaire from existing customers of
the company in order to explore their sensitivity regarding various products prices.

Requirements:
1: Develop a schematic diagram after reading above mentioned theoretical framework after
clearly delineating dependent, independent, moderating/intervening variables whichever is
applicable in this scenario). 6 Marks
2: Develop at-least two hypotheses from the above case. 4 Marks
3: Research type (Basic or Applied) provide justification. 2 Marks

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:
 Students are advised to study the whole text carefully.
 Try not to include any irrelevant material in the solution.
 Try to come up with precise and original answers.
 Any act of plagiarism like copy paste from internet will result in ZERO marks.
  Assignments reaching after the due date would not be considered.
 Make sure to upload the solution file before the due date on VULMS.
 Any submission made via email after the due date will not be accepted.
FORMATTING GUIDELINES:
 Use the font style “Times New Roman” or “Arial” and font size “12”.
 It is advised to compose your document in MS-Word format.
 You may also compose your assignment in Open Office format.
 Use black font color only.
RULES FOR MARKING:
Please note that your assignment will not be graded or graded as Zero (0), if:
 It is submitted after the due date.
 The file you uploaded does not open or is corrupt.
 It is in any format other than MS-Word or Open Office; e.g. Excel, PowerPoint, PDF etc.
 It is cheated or copied from other students, internet, books, journals etc.
IMPORTANT
24 hours extra/ grace period after the due date is usually available to overcome uploading
difficulties. This extra time should only be used to meet the emergencies and above mentioned
due dates should always be treated as final to avoid any inconvenience.
Good Luck!