Data Gathering and Analysis

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In response to a given scenario, develop a research question hierarchy, determine how you would gather and assess qualitative data, and analyze ethical issues that may present themselves. Compile your work into a 1–2 page analysis with a recommendation based on your results.

Note: The assessments in this course build upon each other, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them in sequence.

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Data Gathering and Analysis In response to a given scenario, develop a research question hierarchy, determine how you would gather and assess qualitative data, and analyze ethical issues that may present themselves. Compile your work into a 1–2 page analysis with a recommendation based on your results. Note: The assessments in this course build upon each other, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them in sequence. Preparation Before beginning this assessment, use the Capella library guide and the resources for this course to locate peer-reviewed articles that describe the value of qualitative research methods or the ethics involved in conducting qualitative surveys. You will use this information to address the scenario for this assessment. Practical Application Scenario Suppose you are a manager at a multimillion-dollar real estate company. You have been entrusted to research the changing relationship between real estate agents and their clients and to make a recommendation to your organization's leaders for addressing the growing demands on real estate agents. 1. Develop a research question hierarchy for this endeavor. 2. Consider different types of qualitative data collection and analysis methods, and the ways in which they can support business decision making and strategies. How would you gather and assess qualitative data to support business decision making? 3. Analyze the ethical issues, if any, that should concern you in undertaking this initiative. Compile your work into a 1–2 page Microsoft Word file, pasting in any tables or charts you may have used to support your statements. Data Gathering and Analysis Scoring Guide Criteria Analyze ethical considerations in the collection and analysis of qualitative data to support business decision making. Develop a research question Proficient Distinguished Evaluates ethical considerations in Analyzes ethical considerations in the collection and the collection and analysis of analysis of qualitative data to support business qualitative data to decision making. support business decision making. Develops a research question Develops and Criteria Proficient hierarchy to clarify the purpose of hierarchy to clarify the purpose of qualitative research. qualitative research. Distinguished interprets a research question hierarchy to support business decisions and strategies based on qualitative research. Assesses qualitative data for fit in analysis. Assesses qualitative data for fit in analysis; presents conclusions for determining fit. Evaluate qualitative data collection and analysis methods. Evaluates qualitative data collection and analysis methods Evaluates qualitative data collection and analysis methods, and relates methods to relevant real-world situations. Compile findings into a management report with details for recommended actions. Compiles findings into a management report with details Compiles findings into a for recommended management report with details for actions; presents recommended actions. information in a format expected of the business profession. Assess qualitative data for fit in analysis. Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions. Communicates in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions. Communicates in a manner that is professional, scholarly, and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions. Adheres to APA guidelines, and Criteria Proficient Distinguished work is appropriate for publication. Running head: DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS Data Gathering and Analysis Koyel Dutta Capella University Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. 1 DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 2 Case Study Kalvino is a reputed brand for leather products in the United States. It sells its leather products across multiple stores in the United States. The owner of the brand has entrusted Damon, a market researcher, to address the cause of decline in the sales of its leather products and make recommendations to the organization's leaders addressing the various reasons causing the decline in sales (see Appendix, for the scenario). The research method that can be used to analyze the decline in sales is qualitative research. It is primarily an exploratory research method and used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations of the various respondents in a study. Damon can use the qualitative research method to analyze the reasons causing the decline in the sales of leather products. This research method will give him insight regarding the various decisions and choices made by the customers that might have an impact on the sales of Kalvino’s products (Leavy, Saldana, Beretvas, & Natasha, 2011). Research Question Hierarchy for the Management Dilemma A research question hierarchy is a six-step hierarchy of questions that helps management to find a solution to a problem through a step-by-step order of questions (Cooper & Schindler, 2006). The following steps describe the research question hierarchy that can be used by Damon to help the management of Kalvino solve their management dilemma.  Management dilemma: In a competitive and fluctuating market environment, decline of sales is a major problem that many companies face in the leather industry, including Kalvino. There is also a rise in the number of competitors in this industry, which would affect Kalvino. Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS  3 Management questions: In order to find out a solution to the decline in sales, it is essential to understand the major factors behind this problem and try to capitalize on opportunities to increase sales. Some of the questions that the management should address are—why is there a decline in sales? How can there be an increase in the sales of the company’s product? Is the cost of product affecting the sales? Is the quality of the product poor in comparison to the competitors? Are the salespeople dissatisfied with their jobs? Should the cost of leather products be reduced? What kinds of opportunities are available to increase sales?  Research questions: Based on the questions mentioned above, the management needs to decide what course of action should be taken to reach a solution. The questions that can be helpful for deciding the course of action could be —should the quality of leather products be improved? What measures can be undertaken to reduce cost without affecting quality? Should there be an increase in the incentives of salespeople? Should there be a change in the distribution system and methods? Should the market price of the products be reduced to pull in more customers?  Investigative questions: A further analysis of the questions would help the management find the most suitable solution to the problem. It requires considering certain questions— can Kalvino’s customers afford the products or services? Will the incentives satisfy the salespeople? Will a change in distribution incur more cost to the company? Will the improvement in product quality lead to an increase in the cost of production?  Measurement questions: A proper answer to the above questions can be gained by collecting relevant information, which requires collecting data from the concerned people—do the products or services fulfil the demands of the customers? Are the customers willing to pay more for better quality? Will salespeople be satisfied with a Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 4 changed incentive system? How did you find our pricing of the products in comparison to other service providers?  Management decision: According to the research conducted by Damon, the authorities of Kalvino should decide—whether they should improve the quality of the product? Whether there should be a reduction in the cost of the product? Should they go ahead and change the incentives structure for the salespeople? Based on the information from these questions, the company should pick up the best method that would help it achieve a substantial improvement in the sales of the leather products. Methods for Qualitative Data Collection A successful implementation of the research question hierarchy is possible by using the most suitable method of data collection depending on the situation. Some of the most common sources of data collection in qualitative research are interviews, focus groups, and observations. The methods for data collection that can be used by Damon in this scenario are interviews and focus groups.  Interviews: An interview is the most common source of data in qualitative studies. It is a verbal interchange between an interviewer and an interviewee. Damon can conduct interviews through face-to-face interactions or telephonic calls, and he can include closeended and open-ended questions in interviews, having fixed answers or varying answers respectively. Some of the questions that Damon can ask the interviewees are—how happy are you with your purchase? How did you find our pricing of the products in comparison to other service providers? What other services should we offer? What kind of incentives would you prefer?  Focus groups: The focus group is a type of qualitative research technique in which interviews are held with a small group of people on specific topics. Damon can use this Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [JK1]: Very good with the identification and detail development of the elements of the research question hierarchy Comment [JK2]: Very good describing several data collection methods to include focus groups, interviews and others. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 5 technique as he can gather information about several people in one session. This will allow him to find the perceptions, needs, and underlying reasons behind various decisions made by customers, which would help him, decide the cause behind the decline in the sales of Kalvino’s products (Strickland, 2010).  Sampling frame: The sampling frame is a list of members of the total population of interest from which a sample for study can be drawn. In this scenario, Damon can consider the customers and salespeople of Kalvino as the population. He can select a few customers and salespeople of Kalvino as the sample. There are two types of sampling observations that Damon can use to conduct his research—time sampling and event sampling. By using time sampling, he can observe the behavior of customers and salespeople for several days, weeks, or months. By using event sampling, Damon can record the reasons behind the decline in sales of Kalvino products real time. Some of the questions that Damon can ask the sampled customers are as follows—how happy are you with your purchase? What persuaded you to purchase from Kalvino? What is the one feature that differentiates Kalvino from other service providers? The question that Damon can ask the salespeople is as follows—what kind of incentives and benefits do they prefer? The data collected through qualitative methods is a direct reflection of the skills and competencies of the researcher. Damon should employ sophisticated interpersonal skills to interpret and respond accurately to the behavior of the customers and salespeople in various settings. Methods of Data Analysis in Qualitative Research A proper analysis of the data collected would help in finding the right solution to a problem. Recorded words and sentences provide rich data about the personalities, thoughts, and attitudes of respondents. Content analysis is a data analysis strategy used to access the Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [JK3]: Very good discussing several sampling issues Comment [JK4]: Good with the descriptio of some qualitative data analyses methods. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 6 gathered information in a more systematic and objective manner to identify concepts and themes in the collected data. In content analysis, coding is the process of combining the data for themes, ideas, and categories where similar passages of text are marked with a code label so that they can easily be retrieved at a later stage for further comparison and analysis. Coding the data makes it easier to search the data, to make comparisons, and to identify any patterns that require further investigation. Damon can start the analysis by coding sections of text or by making separate notes about the data collection. By coding, he can gradually convert raw data into usable data by identifying themes, concepts, or ideas that are connected to each other. He can give meaningful names to words, phrases, or pieces of text that exemplify what the participants are saying, which is called as “theming.” Damon should carefully document the various iterations of “coding trees,” which help in understanding how and why raw data are converted into a theme and what rules he has to use to decide on the inclusion or exclusion of specific data within or from a theme. At the end of the theming process, the customers’ narratives can be illustrated by quotations from the transcripts (Austin & Sutton, 2014). During the collection and analysis of qualitative data, a researcher might face various ethical issues, which need to be addressed. Ethical Issues Involved in the Collection of Qualitative Data In the qualitative research procedure, a researcher will face ethical challenges in all the stages of the study, from designing to reporting which includes anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, and researchers’ potential impact on the participants. Protection of customers through the informed consent process favors formalized interaction between researcher and customer. Customers should understand the risks they face and the benefits they gain as a result of participating in the research. The researcher must be Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [JK5]: Very good describing several ethical issues in the context of the problem. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 7 conscious that his own views and opinions should not affect the research process. Damon should attempt to keep the data anonymous. However, this can be sometimes difficult as the participants are recognizable at times because of their stories (Austin & Sutton, 2014). Damon, like any other researcher, needs to consider these ethical challenges for obtaining accurate results during his research. Recommendations for the Management of Kalvino The sale of leather products in Kalvino is declining. Damon should suggest ways to the authorities to increase the sales. If one of the causes for decline in sales is high price, then a way to overcome the high price is by using raw materials efficiently, which will minimize wastage and maximize productivity of the products. If the cost of production is reduced, then the sales of products will increase gradually. Another cause for decline in sales is quality of the product. High-quality products like bags have edges that have been polished by hand. The quality of these can be improved if the craftsmen put more attention into the products. The dissatisfaction of the salespeople also affects the sales. If the salespeople are offered more incentives and benefits, this problem can be resolved. This can help the business to increase the sales of the products. Based on Damon’s research and recommendations, the management of Kalvino should take appropriate measures to increase the sale of its products. Conclusion Qualitative research may not provide definitive answers, but it can yield a better understanding for the focused work. Damon should use the qualitative research method to find reasons for the decline in the sales of Kalvino’s products, which might be high price, degrading quality, and dissatisfaction of the salespeople in Kalvino. Based on his research and analysis, Damon can advise the management of Kalvino to take appropriate steps to increase the sales of its products. Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 8 References Austin, Z., & Sutton, J. (2014). Qualitative research: Getting started. The Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 67(6), 436–440. https://ncbi-nlm-nihgov.library.capella.edu/pmc/articles/PMC4275140/. Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P.S. (2006). Clarifying the research question through secondary data and exploration. Marketing research (pp. 110 –118) Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Cf1D0DvWXI8C&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq =cooper+research+hierarchy+question&source=bl&ots=ldRHPx1_yw&sig=dE14a2l K313Ubjzq7XJJgfU58cc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihvPLcpdDQAhUKNI8KHb 7aCzcQ6AEIOzAF#v=onepage&q=cooper%20research%20hierarchy%20question&f =false Leavy, Saldana, P., Beretvas, J., & Natasha (2011). Fundamentals of Qualitative Research Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/lib/capella/reader.action?docID= 665394 Strickland, O. L., Waltz C. F., & Lenz E. R. (2010). Measurement in Nursing and Health Research. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/lib/capella/reader.action?docID= 515306 Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 9 Appendix Kalvino is a reputed brand for leather products in the United States. It sells its leather products across multiple stores in the United States. The owner of the brand has entrusted Damon, a market researcher, to address the cause of decline in the sales of its leather products and make recommendations to the organization's leaders addressing the various causes for the decline in sales. Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. WEEKEND JOURNAL; The Home Front: The Gofer Broker Fletcher, June. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]05 Oct 2007: W.1. 1. Full text 2. Abstract/Details Abstract Translate Abstract In Florida, a faltering market, the demands can be extraordinary. Eleven months ago, Natalie Warner, a retired schoolteacher, asked agent Jeene Brown to help supervise repairs and repainting of her twobedroom vacation condo in Stuart. Ms. Brown says she spent almost 30 hours doing so, and even worked right along the cleaning person, scrubbing floors and organizing cabinets and closets. Then she held an open house and immediately found a buyer. But when Ms. Warner flew down from her home in New Jersey to close the deal, she saw how nice the spiffed-up condo looked and decided not to sell after all. "I felt bad in a way," says Ms. Warner, who offered to pay Ms. Brown for her time. Ms. Brown declined, because she hoped that Ms. Warner would use her services in the future and recommend her to her friends: "It's not always about an immediate profit," she says. Some clients ask for favors even after the sale closes. In August, Liz Dameron, a homemaker, closed on a three-bedroom Craftsman-style house in Roanoke, Va., after 18 months of hunting with agent Mary Dykstra. During the search, she was going through a divorce, and appreciated the fact that Ms. Dykstra did some personal favors for her, like bringing her a bottle of wine when she was feeling blue. So less than a month after the closing, when she couldn't pick up her 14- year-old daughter from an evening ballet class because of a scheduling problem, she called Ms. Dykstra, whom she has come to consider a friend. "I know she's there for me," says Ms. Dameron. But this time, she wasn't: Ms. Dykstra, who was driving around another client when the call came, gently declined the task. In such a competitive environment, new agents are especially vulnerable to demanding clients. To make her first sale, of an $849,000 home in Sebastopol, Calif., Cheryl Sanfilippo agreed to dig up landscaping -- including hauling away huge plants -- and remove the goldfish from an indoor pond before the house was tented to eradicate termites. "I didn't want to make waves," she says. Buyerr David Ostroff, a retired college professor, says he didn't see anything wrong with asking her to perform such tasks, and didn't offer to pay her. "It didn't seem necessary," he says. More Full Text • Translate Full text • [In the soft market, clients are asking Realtors to perform menial, sometimes humiliating tasks. June Fletcher on scooping, painting, vacuuming and drawing the line.] Jonathan Marks makes his living as a real-estate agent. Lately, he's been babysitting rats. With the housing market in a dive and homes lingering unsold for months, the relationship between real-estate agents and their clients is beginning to change. Both buyers and sellers are demanding more from their brokers, and getting it. Jim Perry, an agent in St. Helena, Calif., spent most of an afternoon vacuuming up thousands of flies from one client's guest house. Mary Hartley, in Albany, Ore., organized a garage sale for one seller, spent 10 hours painting the side of the house for another and recently enlisted her grandchildren to help clean out the debris in a crawl space for a third. And to help Sandra Le Buhn sell her $1.2 million, fourbedroom home in Mill Valley, Calif., Mr. Marks agreed to board her nine-year-old daughter's cherished brown-and-white rats, Zack and Cody, who had been living in a cage in the bathtub. But some agents are drawing the line. Kirsten Lindquist, a Sonoma, Calif., agent, says she made a marketing pitch to a seller a few weeks ago. Two days later, he called her from the hospital and asked if she would drive him home from his colonoscopy appointment. She declined, even though it cost her the listing. "I'm licensed to practice real estate, not medicine," she says. During the boom times just two years ago, real-estate agents didn't have to do much more than post a house on the multiple listing service and watch the bids roll in. But the dynamic is changing. In August, existing-home sales were down 12.8% from a year earlier, to 5.5 million, and the index of pending home sales plummeted 22%, according to the National Association of Realtors. During the same period, new- home sales dropped 21.2% to 795,000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. It would take 10 months to sell the number of existing homes on the market, according to NAR, the highest supply since the trade group began tracking this number in 1999. New homes are at an 8.2month supply, about twice the level they reached during the boom years of 2001 to 2005. As a result, client demands are escalating to the point that brokers say they're instructing their agents on how to walk the fine line between being helpful and being stepped on. Cora Bett Thomas, a Christie's Great Estates broker based in Savannah, Ga., encourages her 60 agents to do personal favors that aren't too time-consuming. Three weeks ago, for example, one agent retrieved a set of false teeth that had been left in a vacation home and sent them by overnight mail to the out-of-state owner, a task that took less than an hour. But Ms. Thomas counsels agents to deflect demands to scrub toilets or do other demeaning jobs by offering to recommend or set up an appointment with a business that specializes in that service. "It's all about managing expectations," she says. J.P. Garlington, a Century 21 broker in Houston, tells his 36 agents not to do tasks that are unrelated to their jobs because of liability concerns. "You get enough of those issues just selling houses," he says. Mary Jo McNally, director of education for Corcoran Group, which has more than 1,500 agents in New York and Florida, says that while new hires are expected to do minor favors, like dropping a client off at work after a showing, they're also told they don't have do to anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. The training coaches at RE/MAX International, which has 120,000 agents, encourage agents to provide extra services that they feel comfortable with. One agent who specializes in seniors, for example, calls them to remind them of their doctors' appointments. Agents are also advised to keep a list handy of the things they are willing to do, plus referrals to service providers, according to Shaun White, a spokesman for the Denver-based company. The need to please is part of a larger diminution of the agent's role in the age of Zillow, Trulia and other online real-estate research sites. In the past, agents controlled what houses buyers saw and provided data to sellers about local markets. Now, sellers can advertise their homes themselves online and buyers can do their own research, without a middleman. Listings on Forsalebyowner.com, for example, were up 12% at the end of September from a year ago, according to a company spokesman. Listings on Owners.com, which also includes advertising from people who use discount brokerages or pay a commission to buyers' agents, were up 45% in the same period. As a result, many clients now question whether agents deserve the commissions they once commanded. Indeed, average commission levels at big brokerages have dropped to 5.1% from 5.4% in 2001, according to Real Trends, a real-estate research and publishing company. In Florida, a faltering market, the demands can be extraordinary. Eleven months ago, Natalie Warner, a retired schoolteacher, asked agent Jeene Brown to help supervise repairs and repainting of her twobedroom vacation condo in Stuart. Ms. Brown says she spent almost 30 hours doing so, and even worked right along the cleaning person, scrubbing floors and organizing cabinets and closets. Then she held an open house and immediately found a buyer. But when Ms. Warner flew down from her home in New Jersey to close the deal, she saw how nice the spiffed-up condo looked and decided not to sell after all. "I felt bad in a way," says Ms. Warner, who offered to pay Ms. Brown for her time. Ms. Brown declined, because she hoped that Ms. Warner would use her services in the future and recommend her to her friends: "It's not always about an immediate profit," she says. Some clients ask for favors even after the sale closes. In August, Liz Dameron, a homemaker, closed on a three-bedroom Craftsman-style house in Roanoke, Va., after 18 months of hunting with agent Mary Dykstra. During the search, she was going through a divorce, and appreciated the fact that Ms. Dykstra did some personal favors for her, like bringing her a bottle of wine when she was feeling blue. So less than a month after the closing, when she couldn't pick up her 14- year-old daughter from an evening ballet class because of a scheduling problem, she called Ms. Dykstra, whom she has come to consider a friend. "I know she's there for me," says Ms. Dameron. But this time, she wasn't: Ms. Dykstra, who was driving around another client when the call came, gently declined the task. Still, surprisingly, agents continue to enter the field at an accelerating rate, according to the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, despite lower commission rates and slowing sales. From 2004 to 2005, 129,728 new agents received a real-estate license; from 2005 to 2006, 138,107 new agents entered the field. Though such a trend may be counterintuitive, it can be explained by job losses in other sectors and few barriers to entry into the real-estate profession, says Debbie Campagnola, chief executive officer of the association. "Real estate in most jurisdictions is fairly easy to get into," she says. In such a competitive environment, new agents are especially vulnerable to demanding clients. To make her first sale, of an $849,000 home in Sebastopol, Calif., Cheryl Sanfilippo agreed to dig up landscaping -- including hauling away huge plants -- and remove the goldfish from an indoor pond before the house was tented to eradicate termites. "I didn't want to make waves," she says. Buyerr David Ostroff, a retired college professor, says he didn't see anything wrong with asking her to perform such tasks, and didn't offer to pay her. "It didn't seem necessary," he says. But veterans don't necessarily see the need to do whatever they're asked to do, either. Sellers asked Suzanne Grace, an agent in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to straighten up before brokers visited and to be sure to bring her own bleach, since they didn't have any. During an open house, another couple asked her to clean up dog droppings that had been deposited on the bedroom floor. She politely demurred. "I have my limits," she says. Word count: 1394 (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
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Running head: DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS

Data Gathering and Analysis
Name
Date

1

DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS

2

Data Gathering and Analysis
Introduction
Qualitative research aims at identifying a problem in the society and then recommending
appropriate solutions. The research process aims at improving the relationship between the real
estate agents and the clients in the homeownership and leasing segment of the economy. Data
gathering is important in the research process because it ensures the effective understanding of
the perspectives of the research participants. The analysis method is also important in
transforming the data into useful information to facilitate the critical thinking and the
management decision-making process. The purpose of the paper is to develop the research
question hierar...


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