Business Research Methods

Cluster, Anova analysis and Research Reports.

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Steps of Cluster Analysis

Selection of the sample to be clustered(buyers, products, employees). Definition on which the measurement to be made (Eg. Product attributes, buyer characteristics, employees qualification) Computing the similarities among the entities. Arrange the cluster in a hierarchy.

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Example of Cluster Analysis

Baskin Robbins , was interested in expanding its customer base. The objective was to identify potential consumer segments that could generate additional sales. Gedemography, a method of clustering consumers based on geographic, demographic and lifestyle characteristics, was employed for this purpose. Primary Research was conducted to develop demographic and psychographic profiles of Baskin-Robbins users, including frequency of purchase, time of the day they came in, day of the week and other product use variables. The addresses and zip codes of the respondents were also obtained. The respondents were then assigned to 40 geodemographic clusters based on the clustering procedure.It was then used for expanding customer base and develop suitable http://www.facebook.com/mr.fortyseven advertising strategy to attract more customers.

ANOVA One Way and Two Way Classification (Analysis of Variance) It is a statistical technique. It is used to
test the equality of three or more sample means. Based on the means, inference is drawn whether samples belong to same population or not. One Way Analysis of Variance involves only one categorical variable, or a single factor. The differences in preference of heavy, medium, light and non users would be examined by One-way Anova.
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One way Analysis of variance

Marketing researchers are often interested in examining the differences in the mean values of the dependent variable for several categories of a single independent variable or factor. For eg. Do the various segments differ in terms of their volume of product consumption? Do the brand evaluations of groups exposed to different commercials vary? Do retailers, wholesalers and agents differ in their attitudes toward the firms distribution
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Conditions for using ANOVA: Data should be quantitative in nature. Data normally distributed. Samples drawn from a population follows random variation. Following are the steps followed in ANOVA: a) Calculate the variance between samples. b) Calculate the variance within samples. c) Calculate F ratio using the formula. F = Variance between the samples/Variance within the sample d) Compare the value of F obtained above with the critical value of F such as 5% level of significance for the applicable degree of freedom. e) When the calculated value of F is less than the table value of F, the difference in sample means is not significant and a null hypothesis is accepted. On the other hand, when the calculated value of F is more than http://www.facebook.com/mr.fortyseven the critical value of F, the difference in sample means is

Example of One-way Analysis of Variance

Three prices are considered for a new coffee box introduced by Nutrine company. Price of three varieties of toffee boxes are Rs. 39, Rs. 44 and Rs. 49. The idea is to determine the influence of price levels on sales.

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Two-way Analysis of Variance

In marketing research, one is often concerned with the effect of more than one factor simultaneously. For eg. How do the consumers intentions to buy a brand vary with different levels of price and different levels of distribution? How do advertising levels (high, medium and low) interact with price levels (high, medium and low) to influence a brands sale? Do educational levels(less than high school, high school, and college graduate) and age (less than 35, 35-55, more than 55) affect consumption of a brand?
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The procedure to be followed to calculate variance is the same as it is for the oneway classification. A major advantage of this technique is that it enables the researcher to examine interactions between the factors. Interactions occur when the effects of one factor on the dependent variable depend on the level of the other factors. Example: A firm has four types of machines A,B,C,D. It has put four of its workers on each machines for a specified period, say one week. At the end of one week, the average output of each worker on each type of machine was calculated.
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Module 8 Topics to be covered

Research Report: Oral Report, Written Report reports , Types and Advantages/Disadvantages of oral and written reports Components of written research report.

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Report
A report is a very formal document that is written for a variety of purposes, generally in the sciences, social sciences, engineering and business disciplines. Generally, findings pertaining to a given or specific task are written up into a report. Importance of the Report They are the tangible products of the research effort. Management decisions are guided by the report and the presentation. Managements decision to undertake marketing research in the future or to use the particular research supplier again will be influenced by the perceived usefulness of the report and the presentation. http://www.facebook.com/mr.fortyseven

Types of Report
There are two types of report: Oral Report This type of reporting is required, when the researchers are asked to make an oral presentation. Making an oral presentation is somewhat difficult compared to the written report. Nature of an Oral Presentation Opening Finding/Conclusion Recommendation Method of presentation: Visuals, if need to be exhibited, can be made use of. The use of tabular form for statistical information would help
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Points to remember in oral presentation

Language used must be simple and understandable. Time management should be adhered. Use of charts, graph, etc, will enhance understanding by the audience. Vital data such as figures may be printed and circulated to the audience so that their ability to comprehend increases, since they can refer to it when the presentation is going on. The presenter should know his target audience well in advance to prepare tailor-made presentation. The presenter should know the purpose of
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Guidelines for Oral Presentation

Employ visual aids

Use transparency slides

Hold interest of audience

Help audience to grasp the information

Avoid reading the report

Mention high points

Audience will lose interest

Interaction is blocked by reading

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KYA Know Your audience

Suit your report to audience

Executives at various levels need different information

Presentation should satisfy especially the main audience

Plan and deliver

Make the presentation effective

Follow time management

Main points to be covered within the allotted time

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Various types of written Reports Based on the time interval such as

Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly Short Report When the problem is very well defined and if the scope is limited. For eg. Monthly sales report Long Report Technical Report Non-Technical Report Informal Report Formal Report Government report

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Distinguish between Oral and Written Report Oral Report

Written Report i) No rigid standard format ii) Remembering all that is said is difficult if not impossible. This is because the presenter cannot be interrupted frequently for clarification. iii) Tone, voice modulation, comprehensibility and several other communication factors play an important role. iv) Correcting mistakes, if any is difficult. v) The audience has no control over the speed of presentation. vi) The audience does not have the choice of picking and choosing from the presentation.

Standard format can be adopted. ii) This can be read a number of times and clarification can be sought whenever the reader chooses. iii) Free from presentation problems. iv) Mistakes, if any can be pinpointed and corrected. v) Not applicable. vi) The reader can pick and choose what he thinks is relevant to him. For instance, the need for information is different for technical and nontechnical persons.

i)

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Report Format (Layout of the Research)

Title Page Title of the report, information (name, address, and telephone number) about the researcher or organization conducting the research, the name of the client for whom the report was prepared, date of release and nature of the project. Letter of authorization Written by the client to the researcher before work on the project begins. Table of Contents List the topics covered and the appropriate page numbers. Executive Summary It is an extremely important part of the report, as this is often the only portion of the report that executives read. The summary should concisely describe the problem, approach, and research design that was adopted. A summary section should be devoted to the major results, conclusions and recommendations. The executive summary should be written after the rest of the report has been completed.

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 Problem definition a) Background to the problem b) Statement of the problem Approach to the problem a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h)

Broad approach that was adopted in addressing the problem. Research Design Type of Research design Information needs Data collection from secondary sources Data collection from primary sources Scaling techniques Questionnaire development and pretesting Sampling techniques Fieldwork Data Analysis Describe the plan of data analysis and justify the data analysis strategy and techniques used.
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Results Should be organized in a logical way. Limitations Limitations caused by time, budget and other organizational constraints should be presented. Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography Mention the title of the books and websites referred for the purpose of research. Annexure Graphs, Tables and Questionnaire should be attached.

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Questions

What are the guidelines for making oral presentation more effective? 3 Marks What is executive summary? 3 Marks Differentiate oral and written report.7 Marks What are the different types of report? Explain the contents of each section of a report. 10 Marks Describe the steps in writing a research report including layout of the research. 10 marks How should a research report be organized? Explain the contents of each section. 10 Marks Discuss in detail the various conponents of a research report. 10 Marks
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