module: Business Research Analysis

Order Description

This paper work need to based on the Assignment brief and SPSS data file which i will upload additional files later in my account. According to the case study from assignment brief to finish it.

SPSS activation codes

If you need a code to activate SPSS, please use these:  (active until 30 Nov 2015 & case sensitive)

SPSS v22

ff6ac60058e1334d968e

SPSS v21

cc2e467665d9e505ec79

The word limit of 1,250 words refer to the body of the assignment.

You are required to present a copy of the questionnaire and its coding plan in an appendix to your assignment.

The words in the body of the assignment relate to the critical justification of the questionnaire and coding plan presented, as well as other supporting documents.

Write in “applied terms” by making reference to the case scenario, avoid writing in a theoretical style.

Credit will be given to additional referencing to research methods texts in support of the arguments you are making.

Think about issues relating to flow, structure, coding, question types, presentation, instructions in your justification.

Do NOT go out and collect data with your questionnaire!

The word limit of 1,750 words refers to the body of the assignment.

Any useful graphs and tables should be in the body of this report, not hidden away in the appendices!

The assignment requires you to show how you have selected the relevant graphs, tables, summary statistics and hypothesis tests, so simply submitting Excel or SPSS output with no discussion will result in few or no marks being awarded to this part of the assignment.

Part B is a practical application to a problem, so unlike your essay type subjects and Part A, does not require additional referencing.

You are required to justify the selection of presentation techniques, summary statistics and hypothesis tests in terms of data types, sample sizes, assumptions that can or cannot be made etc.

For your hypothesis tests, present fully and if significance is found, do provide indication as to why!

Use graphs and tables sparingly within your presentation, sometimes you may be asked specifically, if so, present accordingly, otherwise use your judgement.

Look for key words such as difference (then consider numbers of samples, the relationship between them, sample size etc) or association (consider data types involved).

Present all findings, significant or otherwise!

These are not a repeat of your findings but applications of these findings in the decision making process, this is combined within the section containing the analysis and findings.

Apply your analysis and the case scenario to any findings and discussion, do not pluck ideas out of thin air or make very general observations about the problem.

All results can play a part in this process, significant or otherwise.

Module Code:    BM0421
Module Title:    Business Research Analysis
Distributed on:        Hand in Date:    Please do not enter a date in this box.  Please advise the relevant programme office of the preferred week for hand in.

Further information about general assessment criteria, ARNA regulations, referencing and plagiarism can be found on the module’s site on the e-Learning Portal.  Students are advised to read and follow this information.

Instructions on Assessment:

Word limits and penalties for assignments

If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.

The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover sheet.  The word count does not include:

•    Title and Contents page    •    Reference list    •    Appendices    •    Appropriate tables, figures and illustrations
•    Glossary    •    Bibliography    •    Quotes from interviews and focus groups.

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.

If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARNA page 30 Section 3.4 this will be regarded as academic misconduct.

If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded to the assignment will be deducted.  For example: if the assignment is worth 70 marks but is above the word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63.

Students are advised that they may be asked to submit an electronic version of their assignment.

Time limits and penalties for presentations

The time allocated for the presentation must be adhered to.  At the end of this time, the presentation will be stopped and will be marked based on what has been delivered within the time limit.

Submission of Assessment:
All assignments must be submitted via the Newcastle Business School Office.  Each assignment must be accompanied by an Assessed Work Form which must be completed in full.  The assignment will not be accepted by the Newcastle Business School Office unless the form is completed correctly.

Marked assignments will be returned to students.  It is advisable to retain a copy of your assignment for your own records.  Your mark will be returned on the Assessed Work Form via the Newcastle Business School Office.

Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives:

This assessment will contribute directly to the following Postgraduate programme goals and objectives.

Goal One: Be independent, reflective critical thinkers

1.    Demonstrate awareness of their personal strengths and weaknesses through critical reflective practice.
2.    Understand and challenge personal patterns of thinking and behaving.

Goal Two: Be culturally and ethically aware

1.    Demonstrate their ability to work in diverse groups and teams.

2.    Reflect on their own ethical values.

Goal Three: Have developed leadership and management capability

1.    Demonstrate their personal contribution to team effectiveness.

2.    Communicate complex issues effectively.

3.    Demonstrate decision making and problem solving skills.

4.    Carry out presentations and lead discussions.

Goal Four: Have developed and applied knowledge of international business and management theory

1.    Acquire, interpret and apply knowledge of international business, management and organisational functions.

Goal Five: Have developed a range of research skills and project capabilities

X    1.    Plan and complete a major individual piece of research on a contemporary business, management or leadership topic of their choice.
X    2.    Demonstrate skills of analysis and synthesis in the application of research methods to the exploration of contemporary business issues.

Goal Six: Have developed specialist knowledge about the theory and practice of your programme of study

1.    Demonstrate specialist functional knowledge in relation to your programme of study.

Important note about ARNA regulations

The regulations specify that students must complete every assessment component contributing to the modules on their programme.  This applies to all forms of assessment as defined in the module descriptor.  Please note that:

•    if any assessment component is not completed, students will be failed in the module even if the module pass mark has been achieved;
•    if the requirements for referral specified in section 5 of ARNA1 are met, a resit opportunity will be given;
•    if unable to complete an assessment component because of extenuating circumstances, students should follow the procedure described in the Student Guide to Extenuating Circumstances1.

This change was approved by Academic Board on 12 October 2009 in consultation with the Students’ Union.  Students should consult their Programme Leader or Guidance Tutor if they have any queries. Independent advice and support is also available from the Students’ Union Advice & Representation Centre (su.advice@northumbria.ac.uk) or from a student adviser in Student Services.

1ARNA and the Student Guide to Extenuating Circumstances Affecting Assessed Work are available from http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/ar/lts/assess/assproc/assdocstud/

Referencing your work

The APA method of referencing uses the author’s name and the date of the publication. In-text citations give brief details of the work you are referring to in your text. For example:

Coutu (2009) found that every team needs a deviant There are many examples of where teams go wrong (Coutu, 2009)

References are listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order by the author’s name.  The general format of an electronic journal reference in the APA style is shown below:

Coutu, D. (2009). Why Teams Don’t Work. Harvard Business Review, 87(5), 98-105. Retrieved from EBSCO http://searchebscohost.com

Author/s name and initials are listed first, followed by year of publication in brackets.  Then there is the title of article and the journal where the article appears, which is in italics.  Then state the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where article can be located. Finally add the name of the database, followed by the web address. Wherever possible use the homepage URL rather than the full and extended web address.

For further information on why it is important to reference accurately go to the Referencing and Plagiarism topic in Skills Plus available from the Library website:

www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus

You will find other useful help guides on Skills Plus to help you with the skills involved in writing your assessments and preparing for exams.

For further information on the APA style of referencing see the Concise Rules of APA Style located in the Library at 808.06615/CON and the APA website http://www.apastyle.org/learn
Plagiarism and Cheating

Your attention is drawn to the University’s stated position on plagiarism. THE WORK OF OTHERS, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO ITS SOURCE (a full bibliography and/or a list of references must be submitted as prescribed in the assessment brief).

Please note that this is intended to be an individual piece of work.  Action will be taken where a student is suspected of having cheated or engaged in any dishonest practice.  Students are referred to the University regulations on plagiarism and other forms of academic irregularity.  Students must not copy or collude with one another or present any information that they themselves have not generated.

For further information on Plagiarism, see the Referencing and Plagiarism topic on Skills Plus.
www.northumbria.ac.uk/skillsplus

Assessment Criteria (NBS)

General Assessment Criteria

Trait    0
Fail    1 – 39
Fail    40 – 49
Fail    50 – 54
Pass    55 – 59
Pass    60 – 69
Commendation    70 – 100
Distinction
Knowledge and Understanding    Work not submitted OR Work giving evidence of serious academic misconduct (subject to regulations in ARNA Appendix 1) OR Work showing no evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. None of the learning outcomes are met.    Work is not acceptable and provides little evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. Few of the learning outcomes are met.    Work is not acceptable in providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. However a majority of the learning outcomes are met and others are nearly satisfied    Adequate work providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7 but only at a bare pass level. All learning outcomes are met (or nearly met and balanced by strengths elsewhere).    Satisfactory work providing evidence of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes are met.    Commendable work providing evidence to a high level of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes met, many are more than satisfied.    Excellent work providing evidence to a very high level of the knowledge, understanding and skills appropriate to level 7. All learning outcomes met, many at high level. Marks at the high end of this range indicate outstanding work where all learning outcomes are met at a high level.
Structure,  Alignment and Research        Inadequate in some of the following aspects or seriously inadequate in at least one: use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.    Adequate in most but not all of the following aspects: use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.    Adequate in all of (or most of, with balancing strength elsewhere): use of relevant material; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.    Satisfactory in all or most of: use of relevant material from a variety of sources; development of analysis and structure of argument; evaluation of theory; application of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.    Good in all or most of: use of up-to-date material from a variety of sources; development of analysis and structure of argument; critical evaluation of relevant theory, research methods and findings to the problem in question; presentation of information to the intended audience.    Excellent in all or most of: use of primary sources of literature from a range of perspectives; development of analysis and structure of argument; critical evaluation and creative use of theory, research methods and findings; presentation of information to the intended audience.

Note:     For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc.  Marks will be gained on an accumulative basis.  In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.

Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment and it must be made available within 24 hours of them requesting it be submitted.

Module Specific Assessment Criteria

Trait    0
Fail    1 – 39
Fail    40 – 49
Fail    50 – 54
Pass    55 – 59
Pass    60 – 69
Commendation    70 – 100
Distinction
Knowledge and Understanding    No appropriate quantitative techniques applied.    An attempt is made to apply quantitative techniques, but these are either the wrong techniques are incorrectly applied.    Correct techniques are applied but there are many errors and very little interpretation of the results.    Correct techniques employed, few major errors but numerous minor errors. Limited interpretation of the results.    Correct techniques employed, no major errors but some minor errors. Full interpretation of the results.    All correct techniques employed, limitations of the techniques fully explained. Very few minor errors, detailed interpretation of results including limitations.    All correct techniques employed, limitations of the techniques fully explained. Virtually no errors, extensive narration of the techniques and interpretation of results including limitations.
Structure,  Alignment and Research    Poor structure, not aligned with assignment brief. No research employed.    Structure does not meet requirements for the most part. Extremely limited research grounding.    Structure has major errors and some key research concepts are missing.    Coherent structure, with acknowledgement of key research concepts.    Good structure, relevant research employed where appropriate.    Structure and narration guide the reader through the work very effectively, current research is critically appraised to a high degree.    Assignment makes full use of current research to support arguments. Excellent structure and presentation.

Note:     For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc.  Marks will be gained on an accumulative basis.  In these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.

Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment and it must be made available within 24 hours of them requesting it be submitted.

Assignment Brief: In this assignment you are required to complete these parts:

Part 1        Total 40 marks
(a) Develop a questionnaire (15 marks)
(b) Discussion of distribution method and associated documents [250 words] (10 marks)
(c) Critical evaluation of the questionnaire [1000 words] (15 marks)

Part 2        Total 60 marks
Data analysis, findings and managerial implications [1750 words] (60 marks)

The word count should be declared on the front page of the assignment.

Scenario

Part 1 (a) – Develop a questionnaire (15 marks)

A Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in an urban area are developing their strategic plans for the next 10 year period.  As part of this, they need to consult existing and potential customers about where they would most like to see development.  Some options under consideration are:

–    to extend the system to better serve outlying areas (particularly in the North or East of the city);
–    to run more trains (e.g. including a more frequent service at peak commuting times, running later in the night or improving off-peak services during evenings and weekends);
–    to update the current somewhat old stock used on the system with more modern trains.

However budgetary constraints mean that decisions must be made about which of these to prioritise.  The company would, therefore, like to know which of these areas would be most valued by customers so that suitable plans can be made. They would also like to know whether these priorities vary depending on factors such as what mode of transport is currently most used by city dwellers, their age, their income or their family status.

Design a questionnaire which could be used by the LRT company to find out about these issues.  Include the areas given above as a minimum, credit will also be given for independent thought about the scenario with inclusion and justification of other related questions which you feel might be important to answering the central question of how the system should develop.

Your questionnaire should be a maximum of three pages and should be presented professionally so that it is ready to send out to potential respondents.  You should use the above information along with any further research you may wish to do to decide on the questionnaire content.

Students are permitted to use the ‘Qualtrics’ software to produce their questionnaire, but this is not compulsory and students can choose to produce their questionnaire using normal word processing packages. The marks awarded for the questionnaire will not be dependent on the software used to design the questionnaire, however if Qualtrics is used then presentation should still be of a professional report standard, and a coding plan should still be provided.

Your questionnaire should be presented as an appendix to your assignment.

Part 1 (b) – Discussion of distribution method and associated documents (10 marks)
In this section you should discuss how the questionnaire should be distributed.  In your discussion, you should assess the benefits and challenges of using your chosen method of questionnaire dissemination, including methods for tackling non-response. You should also design a full and appropriate coding plan for your questionnaire and include any other supporting documentation that would accompany the questionnaire.

The supporting documentation should be presented in an appendix to the assignment.

Part 1 (c) – Critical evaluation of your questionnaire (15 marks)

In this section of the assignment you are required to provide a critical evaluation of the questionnaire you have developed (word limit is 1000). The evaluation of the questionnaire will consider your design decisions: the structure, presentation, types of questions used and supporting instructions for the potential respondents. You should justify your design decisions by considering the case scenario presented above and your justification should be supported with reference to Research Methods textbooks and journal articles.

Important information: The questionnaire and associated documentation do not count towards the word limit because they are included in the appendices. You are not going to use your questionnaire to collect data and the questionnaire you design should not aim to collect the data as presented in Part 2 below, which involves a different aspect of the scenario to that described in Part 1. Instead, you will be provided with a set of data in Part 2.  There is not a direct link between your questionnaire and the data in Part 2.

Part 2 – Data analysis, findings and managerial implications [1750 words] (60 marks)

The LRT company described in Part 1 have also recently carried out a customer survey looking at opinions of the system amongst current users.  Results were obtained from a sample of 200 adult travellers whilst they were on the system across a range of days (weekday or weekend day) and the following data collected from each:

The respondent ID number, recorded as 1 to 200 inclusive;
DAY of the week (0=Monday to Friday, 1=Saturday or Sunday)
GENDER of the respondent (1=female, 2=male)
TIME of day (1=morning: 6am-12noon, 2=afternoon: 12noon-4:30pm, 3=evening: 4:30pm-9pm, 4=late evening: after 9pm)
Approximate TRAVEL time spent on the system (in minutes)
TYPE of ticket used (1=single or return day ticket, 2=weekly pass, 3=monthly pass, 4=annual pass, 5=free pass for retired person)
NUMBER of people travelling together (including the respondent)
Rating for SAFETY on the system (1=not at all safe, 10=very safe)
Rating for VALUE for money of the system (1=not at all good value, 10=very good value)
Rating for CLEANLINESS of the system (1=very dirty, 10=very clean)
Rating for RELIABILITY of the system (1=not at all reliable, 10=very reliable)
OVERALL opinion of the system (1=very poor, 10=very good)

The data collected in this study can be found in the Excel file BM0421_SEM1_2014_15.xls and the SPSS file BM0421_SEM1_2014_15.sav, both of which are available from the BM0421 module site on the e-learning portal (Blackboard). The capitalised words in bold above give the related column headings in the data.

Note: The rating variables (those scored 1-10) should be treated as quantitative data in the analysis.

Analysis required:
In this section of the assignment, marks will be awarded for a justification of the displays, measures and tests undertaken, alongside their full interpretation.  You should show the main results using Excel/SPSS tables and graphs, but these must be relevant and fully explained. You must include an explanation with your  tables and graphs. Do not attempt Multiple Regression.  It is recommended that you set out your answers as we have done in the workshops. Any very large tables or graphs should be placed in the appendices of your report. Where hypothesis tests are undertaken, you should state the significance level you have used.

It is important that for each section, you should provide for your client a brief summary of the managerial implications of the results (this is particularly important when a null hypothesis has been rejected).

You are required to carry out the following analysis:

(i)    Give a description of the following variables using appropriate graphical displays and summary statistics: gender; time; travel; type; number.  Explain what these show about the typical travellers on the system.
(11 marks)

(ii)    How safe do travellers feel?  Use summary statistics and graphs to assess this, and also test whether the perception of safety on the system varies by gender or by the time of day when travel takes place.
(12 marks)

(iii)    Investigate whether there are any links between day of the week and time, travel time and number of people traveling together.
(10    marks)

(iv)    Provide a graph and summary statistics for the overall satisfaction. Does the level of overall satisfaction vary according to the type of ticket or time of day?
(11 marks)

(v)    Investigate whether there are any associations between the overall satisfaction and the four rating scores for safety, value, cleanliness and reliability. Using the most strongly associated rating score, develop and interpret a simple regression model to predict overall satisfaction.  Consider the following two cases:

•    one who gives scores of 4, 5, 7 and 10 for safety, value, cleanliness and reliability respectively.
•    one who gives scores of 1,2,3 and 1 for safety, value, cleanliness and reliability respectively.

Use your regression model to predict their likely overall satisfaction and comment critically on the predictions made.
(16 marks)

Total Part Two (60 marks)

End of assignment

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