Design of Business Research Project

Design of Business Research Project The title of the event: Research workshop Questionnaire Design and Construction The date of the event: 10 /02 /2016. Description. Developing a good survey questionnaire is a helpful tool in business. Survey questionnaires are a simple method of obtaining market research data which you need in order to acquire relevant and accurate insight on your target market or responses to a particular product you introduce. Apart from knowing abstract concepts in class, I browse different sets of questionnaires and I can tell a good questionnaire from a bad one. I have had experience administering survey questionnaires for academic and professional purposes but I never had the opportunity to design or develop a questionnaire suited to my specific needs. From my point of view, the research workshop I attended provided me with the information I needed in order develop a questionnaire which will be helpful in obtaining perceptions data on what potential consumers need from a startup computer business. In a business, market research data involves a strategic process which will ensure that you know your audience and your data reflects objective reality (Webb, 2000). For this purpose, it is necessary to have the skill in developing an instrument which can inform me at the onset what the target market wants and what customers expect from an efficient computer company. In addition, it is also necessary to develop a questionnaire which can also gauge customer satisfaction so that I may be informed what makes customers happy and unhappy with the services my company intends to offer. In a way, designing a questionnaire can be used to jumpstart the communication process between the customers and the management and provide baseline data for a business relationship. Self-analysis. At first, I thought questionnaires were pro-forma documents that researchers distribute to people and that answering them was boring and tedious. I realized that the questionnaires which I have had the opportunity to answer may not have been constructed well. In my experience, some questionnaires have redundant items written and some items seem errant and off topic. Some questionnaires are really unnecessarily lengthy so that some items are left unanswered or unmarked. Some questionnaires become spoiled because the respondents ticked two answers for an item that required only one answer. Market research data is everything when you are trying to start a business. It provides you with legs to stand on by gathering data that can help you make sound business decisions (Miller Dickson, 2001). Hence, if the questionnaire does not collect the data you need to make those decisions, then the purpose is defeated (Canada Business Network, 2016). I began to appreciate that the design and constr uction of a good and reliable questionnaire must be a systematic process that requires skill and diligence in making. Analysis of learning. As a result of the research workshop and the subsequent further reading I made on design and construction of questionnaires, I gathered the important concepts on designing a good questionnaire. The design depends on what information you need. A questionnaires design depends on the research needs and specifications. If the researcher wishes to collect numerical data in order to determine the perceptions of a target market, then it will need to take the form of a standardized questionnaire (Webb, 2000). However, if the aim is also to explore in a more in-depth manner the perceptions and views of a target audience regarding a product, then a qualitative interview questionnaire will be suitable. Exploratory questionnaires will require only a brief guide with perhaps ten open-ended questions with prompts and probing questions per interview questions (Trochim, 2008). For the formal standardized questionnaire however, which is what I need, the task is lengthier and more tedious because it needs (FAO, 2012): Prescribed wording and ordering of questions in order to assure receipt of similar stimuli Variables need to be operationalized or defined clearly in order for respondents to answer consistently A prescribed response format in order to ensure fast completion of the questionnaire A good questionnaire meets research objectives. Designing a good questionnaire requires that it accomplishes the research objectives (Schonlau et al., 2001). This entails substantial preparatory work on my part. By preparatory work, this means that before I set out to design a questionnaire I need to do research on relevant literature on the topic or issue I want to solicit perceptions about. The workshop teacher reiterated that questionnaires fail due to poor understanding and research work on the issue or topic. Complete and accurate information makes a good questionnaire. If respondents do not understand the questions outlined in the questionnaire, then the more likely it will be that they do not answer or refuse to answer (Canada Business Network, 2016). The questionnaire should be simply and adequately worded so as to elicit the proper and accurate answer from the respondents. A well-arranged questionnaire is important. Questionnaires must not only be easily understood on the part of the respondents but it should be well-arranged and structured so that it will be easier to analyze and interpret (Trochim, 2008). It is also important to ensure that the questionnaire is short and it flows in a manner as to keep the respondent interested in answering. Unnecessary or irrelevant questions should be dealt away with. Response scale An important feature of a well-designed questionnaire is the selection of an appropriate response scale where respondents may rate their experience or perception on a scale of, for instance, one to five, one being lowest and five being the highest (Trochim, 2008). Ensure pre-testing of the questionnaire It is very important to pilot test your questionnaire in order to point out what changes need to be made and how the instrument can be improved. Finalization After pre-testing the questionnaire, a final version will be produced based on the feedback and evaluation. Application in context. Learning about questionnaire design and construction allowed me to make a strong connection on the importance of surveys in market research. Based on my actual circumstances, I am interested on starting up a digital marketing business and my target audience are individuals who are inclined to use the Internet and social media in their commercial transactions. When I visit social media websites, several short online questionnaires pop up and asks the user certain questions on website usage. These questions are meant to map the frequency of user engagement with a particular social media platform, in what I could hypothesize is an attempt by the company to pull out of a profile of their user base. User data will be extremely important in making market decisions and offering suitable product choices for users. I was also able to evaluate the online survey forms that some websites offer in order to get to know their customers better. Most just deal with demographic data which are actually boring and length. I was able to link the lessons I obtained from the research workshop to come up with an initial design for a questionnaire to determine user preferences in online shopping. Evaluation. Learning more about questionnaire design and construction has allowed me to appreciate the science of survey-making especially its relevance in market research (Brown, 2008). I was able to tie the connection between a good and well-design survey questionnaire to more sound decision-making process in marketing and management (Webb, 2000; Schonlau et al., 2001). Understanding the impact of surveys in ascertaining user perceptions and employee satisfaction provided better insight for me of its importance. Due to the additional insight I learned from the research workshop, I was able to evaluate with certainty and guidelines some of the previous questionnaires I had constructed in relation to my work and I was able to assess its strong and weak spots. Based on the learning outcomes of the research workshop, I can say with confidence that I now have a clear appreciation of the importance of a good questionnaire design. I now also have a newfound appreciation on how important preparatory work is in designing the questionnaire and identifying clear what your research objectives are. I am now more challenged to design future market survey questionnaires in the future for my own personal use as well as those related to the demands of my profession. Self-concept. There was a great deal of unlearning which occurred as a process of engaging in the research workshop. The difference between being a respondent in a survey questionnaire is immense compared to when you have to design the questionnaire yourself. You need to appreciate the relevance of the content in the questionnaire as well as the suitability of the design. In short, I now consider questionnaire design both a science and an art. It is a science because it needs to be systematic; on the other hand, it becomes an art because you need to be creative and innovative so that the questionnaire keeps the respondent engaged and interested. Action In light of the learning outcomes of the research workshop, I have undertaken the construction of a preliminary survey questionnaire to produce a demographic profile of the users of a website that I manage as well as to determine user satisfaction on the design, layout, and ease of use of the website. I have scheduled it to be pre-tested among a circle of my friends in order to determine what parts of the survey needs to be improved. References Brown, L. (2008). Market research and analysis. Chicago: Wildside Press. Canada Business Network. (2016). Conducting market research. Retrieved from http://canadabusiness.ca/business-planning/market-research-and-statistics/conducting-market-research/designing-a-questionnaire/ Food and Agriculture Organisation. (2012). Chapter 4: Questionnaire Design. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3241e/w3241e05.htm Miller, T. W. P. R. Dickson (2001). Online Market Research. International Journal of Electronic Commerce 5(3), 139-167. Schonlau, M., R. D. J. Fricher, et al. (2001). Conducting Research Surveys via E-mail and the Web. New York: RAND Publications. Trochim, W. M. K. (2008). Social research methods. Retrieved from: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survwrit.php Webb, J. (2000). Questionnaires and their Design. The Marketing Review 1, 197-218.

Digital Encoding and Music Sharing :: Internet

Digital Encoding and Music Sharing Computers have revolutionized the world of music. Through the Internet, users can get any type of music at little to no cost. They practically eliminate the need to purchase new CD’s. This new concept is made possible through the process of digital encoding. The Internet is only a tool allow the freedom of sharing music. Mp3’s are the most popular form of encoded digital music and are the most readily available for the Internet. Most Mp3 players are played on winamp, which is available to the public. There has also been a great amount of controversy within the free sharing of Mp3’s. Mp3’s stands for Mpeg layer-3 type format media file. Mp3’s are digitally compressed songs form CD’s. The average track on a CD is proximally 50 megabytes in size. Through the process of digital compression modern software can minimize the amount of space for the same CD track to one-tenth the size, making the average Mp3 file 5 megs, losing only minimal amount of quality. The small amount of space that the Mp3 take up on the hard drive is much less than copying a .wav file from a CD. The average modem can transfer 5 Megs of information in about 10 min. It would take hours to transfer a .wav file of the same music quality. This is what makes mp3’s so popular for Internet and computer users. The average CD on the market today costs about 20 dollars. Through the uses of the Internet and Mp3 sharing communities such as Napster, Scour net, File quest, and Imesh, users can build a music library for a fraction of the cost of purchasing normal CD’s from a music store. Napster is one of the front-runners in Mp3 sharing. It works by networking your computer to every other computer that is logged onto Napster. Users can search for any song and download any song that is on any computer that is log onto the network. This program is so simple that a 10 year old can uses it. The simplicity of the program made Napster a multimillion-user program within months of it’s beginning. Napster has also made some real powerful enemies by allowing users to trade music. The music industry survives mainly on the sales of CD’s. Napster enables one person to purchase the CD, and through the use of their computer, they give the music to millions of different users.

A Human Is A Complex Organism

Human beings are complex and special organisms as there is a complex organisation of cells in the human body. The organisation in the human body is summarised as follows: Cells—> Tissues—> Organs—> Systems—> Organism.The same type of cells which carry out a specific function are organised into a tissue. For example, a group of nerve cells form a nerve tissue. They are organised to work together to perform specific functions as the result of cells in the human body do not work individually.An organ is a group of tissue that cooperates to carry out a specific life process. For examples, epithelial tissues form blood vessels. Several organs are organised into a system.Each system consist of several organs which are organised to carry out life processes such as respiration, reproduction and digestion.Various systems in the human body are well organised to carry out all the life processes efficiently. They are able to function because the cellular components wo rk together to ensure the survival of human beings.The human brain is well developed to integrate information's and store them as memory. This allows human beings to have the ability to talk, think rationally, create new things, learn from experience and use languages. The ability to do all these makes us really special compared to other organism.Water is driven into the tanks to raise density and allow the submarine to sink and it also pumped out to reduce density and hence allow the submarine to float. The tanks can be filled with water and air, which allows the submarine to sink or rise in the water. When a submarine is floating, its ballast tanks are filled with air, which makes it less dense than the sea water it displaces hence allowing it to float. Submarines sink when water is let into the ballast tank. This is because the submarine's density becomes greater than that of the surrounding water, resulting in negative buoyancy and causing it to sink.

Definition Essay Sample on Love What Is for Me

Definition Essay Sample on Love What Is for Me What is love? Thousands and thousands of philosophers spent plenty of time on this subject, but none of them managed to give an acceptable response. Words appeared to be too primitive to explane this unique feeling. What I can say exactly is that every person understands the meaning of love in his or her individual way. And it is silly to generalize any of these meanings! For example the way I understand the role of love in my life is very original; however, anybody can say the same. By the way I dont believe in any tests in magazines because of their dull generalization. Were all different, our feelings are different, they cant be put in any restrictions. I remember somebody once said that people call LOVE two absolutely different feelings. Tears into a pillow, jealousy, conflicts all that means I want you belong only to me. But the right meaning of love is I want you to be happy! And if you think like that, there is  really no difference, whether you are together with your beloved or not. It is painful, oh yes! But such love is light.

Conjugation of the Spanish Verb Salir

Conjugation of the Spanish Verb Salir Salir, a common verb that typically means to leave, to exit or to depart, is irregular in ways that few verbs are. A -ga- or -dr- is inserted in some endings in ways that arent predictable. The only frequently used verb that is conjugated in the same way as salir is sobresalir, which usually means to stand out or to tower above. Two rare verbs, also based on salir, share the conjugation. They are resalir (an architectural term for emphasizing a feature in a building) and asalir (to leave for a meeting). Irregular forms aestabanre shown below in boldface. Translations are given as a guide and in real life may vary with context. Infinitive of Salir salir (to leave) Gerund of Salir saliendo (leaving) Participle of Salir salido (left) Present Indicative of Salir yo salgo, tà º sales, usted/à ©l/ella sale, nosotros/as salimos, vosotros/as salà ­s, ustedes/ellos/ellas salen (I leave, you leave, he leaves, etc.) Preterite of Salir yo salà ­, tà º saliste, usted/à ©l/ella salià ³, nosotros/as salimos, vosotros/as salisteis, ustedes/ellos/ellas salieron (I left, you left, she left, etc.) Imperfect Indicative of Salir yo salà ­a, tà º salà ­as, usted/à ©l/ella salà ­a, nosotros/as salà ­amos, vosotros/as salà ­ais, ustedes/ellos/ellas salà ­an (I used to leave, you used to leave, he used to leave, etc.) Future Indicative of Salir yo saldrà ©, tà º saldrs, usted/à ©l/ella saldr, nosotros/as saldremos, vosotros/as saldrà ©is, ustedes/ellos/ellas saldrn (I will leave, you will leave, he will leave, etc.) Conditional of Salir yo saldrà ­a, tà º saldrà ­as, usted/à ©l/ella saldrà ­a, nosotros/as saldrà ­amos, vosotros/as saldrà ­ais, ustedes/ellos/ellas saldrà ­an (I would leave, you would leave, she would leave, etc.) Present Subjunctive of Salir que yo salga, que tà º salgas, que usted/à ©l/ella salga, que nosotros/as salgamos, que vosotros/as salgis, que ustedes/ellos/ellas salgan (that I leave, that you leave, that she leave, etc.) Imperfect Subjunctive of Salir que yo saliera (saliese), que tà º salieras (salieses), que usted/à ©l/ella saliera (saliese), que nosotros/as salià ©ramos (salià ©semos), que vosotros/as salierais (salieseis), que ustedes/ellos/ellas salieran (saliesen) (that I left, that you left, that he left, etc.) Imperative of Salir sal (tà º), no salgas (tà º), salga (usted), salgamos (nosotros/as), salid (vosotros/as), no salgis (vosotros/as), salgan (ustedes) (leave, dont leave, leave, lets leave, etc.) Compound Tenses of Salir The perfect tenses are made by using the appropriate form of haber and the past participle, salido. The progressive tenses use estar with the gerund, saliendo. Sample Sentences Showing Conjugation of Salir Nadie los vio salir. (Nobody saw them leave. Infinitive.) Inglaterra ha salido de la institucià ³n europea, pero no ha salido de la economà ­a europea. (England has left the European institution, but it hasnt left the European economy. Present perfect.)  ¿Quià ©n dice que hemos salido de la crisis econà ³mica? (Who says that we are out of the economic crisis? Literally, who says that we have left the economic crisis? Present perfect.)   Las cosas se estaban saliendo de control. (Things were going out of control. Present progressive using the gerund.) A esa hora, en la costa oriental de Estados Unidos, la Luna estar ponià ©ndose y el Sol estar saliendo. (At that time on the east coast of the United States, the moon will be setting and the sun will be rising. Future progressive.) Salgo de mi trabajo a las tres de la maà ±ana. (I get off work at 3 a.m. Present indicative.) Los buses salen cada 20 minutos. (The buses leave every 20 minutes. Present indicative.) Todos los estudiantes salieron con lgrimas en los ojos. (All the students left with tears in their eyes. Preterite.) Podà ­as ver cà ³mo le salà ­a sangre de sus ojos. (You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Imperfect.) La verdad saldr a la luz. (The truth will come to light. Future.) No saldrà © si mi padre no quiere que salga. (I will not leave if my father doesnt want me to.  (Future,  present subjunctive.) Aunque hacer helados caseros no es excesivamente complicado, lo cierto es que se necesita un equipamiento bsico para que salgan lo ms deliciosos posible. (Although making home-made ice cream treats isnt especially complicated, it is certain that you need basic equipment so they turn out as delicious as possible. Present subjunctive.)  ¿Que pasarà ­a si la Tierra se saliera de su à ³rbita? (What would happen if the Earth left its orbit? Imperfect subjunctive.) Si salià ©semos a la calle a preguntar por la mejor serie de videojuegos de basket, probablemente 9 de cada 10 nos responderà ­an â€Å"NBA 2K†. (If we were to go out on the street to ask what is the best basketball game video series, probably nine out of 10 would respond with â€Å"NBA 2K.† Imperfect subjunctive.) S​al ahora de tu zona de confort. (Get out of your comfort zone now. Imperative.) No salgis de allà ­ hasta que encontremos lo que queremos saber. (Dont leave from there until we find out what we want to know. Negative imperative.)

Cloud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cloud - Essay Example Access rights given allow the client to run applications, save data, or compute virtually any task. It has been enabled by the ever improving computer processing capabilities while reducing cost on the other hand. The distinctive services provided by cloud computing are either; SaaS (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), or IaaS (infrastructure as a service) (Rodrigues, 2012). Saas’ functionality can be explained in a business perspective. Uses of software as a service, clients are availed with access to databases and application software. Cloud vendors manage the involved technicalities platform and infrastructure running the involved applications. On-demand software is the other term used to describe software as a service and is charged on the basis of pay per us. The vendors tag prices on their services based on a subscription fee per package. The subscription may be monthly or annual allowing the prices to be adjustable and scalable where users are removed or included at a certain point. Manipulation is not possible for the clients as the owner of the infrastructure manages applications. The cost of I.T infrastructure is cut from the clients end through the process of outsourcing software and hardware support and maintenance from the cloud computing vendor. The salvage cost is channeled to equally productive objectives. Updates are done without affecting the client or without the need of any installation. The main demerit is that the clients’ data is stored in these servers which risks unauthorized penetration that turns clients to increasingly embrace intelligent or third-party managing systems to attempt to secure their data. As for the pros of Amazon EC2, there is no vendor-locks system, which eases code transfer. It also allows for code writing in simpler languages such as MVC, C#, and Net above being backed by a strong support team. It allows its clients to scale single instances to several more giving full

GMC, How it Influences Political Policies to Benefit Itself, Ehy This Essay

GMC, How it Influences Political Policies to Benefit Itself, Ehy This is Wrong and How to Prevent it - Essay Example However, there are times in which individual persons or large corporations can use their power to influence political policies in order to benefit themselves, especially financially, at the expense of the public. Such people or corporations use coercion, incentives or their close relations to the government to influence the actions of others in the way they desire. An example of a large corporation that has influenced political policies for its own financial gain is GMC. GMC is an automobile company that manufactures vans, sport utility vehicles, military vehicles and trucks that are marketed in the Middle East and North America by General Motors. By 2007, the company was the second-largest vehicle-selling company in North America. One of the company’s policies on corporate political expenditures and contributions is that the company may express its views on particular public issues that are of importance to the company. As authorised by the vice president through the Public P olicy and Government Relations and permitted by the law1, company expenditures may be made to influence or inform voting on public policies that are of paramount importance to the business of the company, its stakeholders and employees (GMC 3). Acting on this policy, the company seems to have gone to the extremes in 2010 to direct political actions for its financial gain at the expense of the American tax payers. The Chevy Volt story was brought to public attention as one of the biggest scandals for the Obama Administration. In this saga, GM used its close relations to the Obama administration to secure a tax payer funded subsidy to leverage and promote the production and sale of its unready-for-prime-time Chevy Volt car brand, a poorly-performing electric car. The GM is a politically powerful UAW2. Modica (par 4) explains that the Obama administration perpetuated a manipulated bankruptcy process that openly favoured this politically powerful UAW financially over other classes. In t he midst of this bankruptcy process, GM’s Chevy Volt hype came to light as the public was presented with the so called green wonder-car that would benefit them. This explanation was then used to justify the use of $50,000 million worth of tax-payer’s money to bail out the company from its bankruptcy. The use of tax-payer money to subsidise the business activities of the company was therefore an added an insult to the injury of the company’s bankruptcy arrangement. Under this economy, many Americans cannot afford a new car and therefore, it would have been proper for the government to subsidise the production of goods that are of priority to the public. This shows that the government decision to commit in such a subsidy was a result of some form of undue influence from GM. According to Ponick (par 9-2), the White House intends to increase government subsidies for the rich buyers of the Chevy Volt and other green technology vehicles up to as much as $10,000 per bu yer, of course, through the use of tax payer’s money3. An evaluation of the situation reveals that to some extent, the company lied to the government and the public to win their support. Early claims about the car praised it as a pure electric vehicle that could secure the equivalent of 230 MPG. However, none of the two claims was true. At the same time, the Volt was also presented to the public as a vehicle that would be a saviour for the GM Company.