Managing Research for Quantitative and Method - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theManaging Research for Quantitative and Mixed Method. Answer: Research is a vehicle through which a theory is developed. It is the process in which data that relates to the research is gathered. This applies whether the reason for which the research is conducted is to test a theory or generate one. Therefore, if the research is testing a theory, the data to be used will be dependent on the theory. On the contrary, if the purpose of the research was to generate a theory, the different variables involved will be used in the process. The purpose of this research is to explore how the different styles of decision making by the Chinese customers influence their switching from domestic to foreign brands. There are different types of theories that are used in the research process. These include; relational, descriptive, and explanatory. In this case, the type of theory that is being used is a relational theory and the research design used is correlational(Creswell, 2014). This is because the research aims at finding out customers decision making styles in order to consequently relate them to their purchasing habits of either local or foreign brands and to find out the reasons that cause the customers to switch from one brand to another. The research has properly defined the problem statement. First, it has provided background information on the current competition levels between local and international brands in China. It has also stated the reasons for the preference of foreign brands by the majority of Chinese people. These have been said to be due to their high quality levels and symbolic value. There are factors that have also been identified to be the major reasons for customers switching from local to foreign brands. These have been said to be; presence of attractive alternatives, switching costs, and customer satisfaction levels. However, it has already been established that these factors do not always guarantee switching and that is why this research was geared towards investigating how decision making affects the switching intention. This study has different variables that are being investigated that are presented as the research questions (Liamputtong, 2013). First, the research aims at finding out whether, if price was not a factor of consideration, customers would switch from the brands they are currently using. Second, it aims to find out how the different customer decision making styles affect their switching intentions. Finally, the research is geared towards finding out whether demographic factors affect the intention for customers to switch. All these research problems are concise and easy to understand. The research has defined the problem by stating the variables, and it has concentrated on building relationships that are internally consistent and that will be useful in making specific predictions through the research questions. This problem statement is also very favorable because past research studies have not sufficiently answered it. It has also been able to generate research questions. Finally, the research problem is directly related to the end goal that the research wishes to achieve (Nuttin and Lens, 2011). However, weaknesses in regards to the research questions are shown in that the research has not properly labelled them which could be time consuming for someone who was only interested in the major parts of the research. This study involved the collection of its own primary data by the use of questionnaires. In total, the number of questionnaires that were filled out were six hundred and twenty-eight. However, after the removal of incomplete questionnaires the number of questionnaires that were used in data analysis were five hundred and eighty-four. The sample was correct because it had an equal number of male and female respondents. The males made up 50.4% while the females made up 59.6% of the respondents. There were also only a few seniors in the sample. This was because majority of senior students were off campus carrying out internship activities. The sample population was also well diversified to take care of students with different education levels as well as different incomes. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors made up 44%, 21%, 31.3%, and 3.6% respectively. There however should have been more seniors in order to ensure that the students in the different levels of education were more even. This is to make sure that the findings after the data analysis are not biased. Conversely, the income levels follow a normal distribution with the majority of students having an average income of between 600RMB 1199RMB. The questions provided in the questionnaire such as which brands the students would buy if their economic conditions permitted them to do so and which brands they currently own were relevant to the research and were based on the research questions. The questionnaires that were used in this research were structured which aided in the process of data analysis and also reduced time required to fill out the questionnaires by the respondents (Lodico, Voegtle and Spaulding, 2013). Incidentally, the respondents were required to use 0 to present no and 1 to represent yes when answering the question on whether they had switching intentions. This study however fails to provide the complete questionnaire that was used in the research process in order to ensure that the reader gains a full perspective of all the questions that the respondents answered. The research has however tried to provide the information contained in all the questionnaires by availing the answers provided in table 3. Therefore, the questionnaire has been described properly but the questions should have also been provided to aid in assessing whether they were well asked or if they contained any biasness. Moreover, for the questionnaires that were not completely filled out, there should have been a follow up with the respondents in a bid to ask them for their responses and explain to them what the questions mean in cases of miscommunication in the questionnaire. When conducting a research, it is very important for the researchers to follow ethical guidelines especially when dealing with respondents. In this research, professional standards were maintained and the research conducted was scientifically rigorous in all the different stages (Pollock, 2012). This can be shown in that the primary data collected is related to the research questions and the problem statement and the conclusion is reached after the data has been thoroughly analyzed to find out if there are correlations that exist in the different variables. The research has also made it its priority to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality rights of the respondents, and their well-being. This is because when presenting and analyzing the data, there is no mention of the individual students who participated in the research. The research has also maintained sensitivity to differences that may be in existence among the respondents in terms of their social and cultural backgrounds. The questions asked strictly relate to the study and no personal questions have been asked. The appropriate quality control procedures have also been followed. This is mainly shown when the questionnaires that are not fully answered are discarded and not used in data analysis. This is to ensure that the results are unbiased and of a high quality. All the research findings are also provided. Additionally, this research has paid attention to gender differences and in the the number of male and female respondents is the same. The research also avoids any xenophobic or racist concepts and language. The language used in this research also serves the entire population. This is because, the research indicates that all the items in the questionnaire were translated into Chinese which is the countrys national language. Moreover, the questionnaires were distributed electronically to the respondents to ensure that they all received them and were able to fill them in and send them back in good time. This aided in saving time and resources for both parties. Finally, there was an element of justice in the selection of the respondents(El-Dessouky et al., 2011). This is because this research was conducted in the university which is an area where the respondents can benefit from the research since they can become entrepreneurs and use the findings of this research in strategizing their businesses. After thorough data analysis, this research indicates that brand loyalty and impulse buying do not affect retaining or switching intentions by customers to both local and foreign brands. However, the results indicate that domestic brands in china attract buyers who have low brand consciousness and who have high choice confusion from the foreign brands and they retain customers who buy low quality products, who are low recreational and fashion conscious, who are also low price conscious. On the contrary, foreign brands attract high fashion and recreational focused consumers and they keep the customers who are well aware of the types of products that they are looking for. Customers who are high price conscious as well as those who have a high level of brand confusion remain in both the domestic and foreign brands and are always looking to buy the products where the price is lowest. Therefore, domestic brands have been seen to be perceived by customers as having low quality products which are not up-to-date in terms of the different fashion trends. Conversely, customers are seen to believe that foreign brands are fashionable and trendy, have variety in terms of the products offered, and are high in quality. This therefore means that domestic brand managers have the responsibility of revamping their brands in a bid to increase their reputation. On the other hand, the foreign brand managers should not get complacent but should keep improving their strengths and try to correct any weaknesses they may identify in their businesses in order to be better than their fellow foreign brands. In terms of the theory, this research has proved that foreign brands are in fact preferred to domestic brands. The research has also shown that different decision making styles that influence switching or retaining such as price consciousness, brand consciousness, over choice, and recreation and fashion consciousness are very vital. It is therefore important for business owners-both domestic and foreign to take note of these findings and respond accordingly. References Creswell, J. (2014). research design; qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches.sage journals, (4). El-Dessouky, H., Silverman, H., Abdel-Aziz, A., Ibrahim, C., Moni, M. and Fadl, R. (2011). Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitudes about Research Ethics among Dental Faculty in the Middle East: A Pilot Study.International Journal of Dentistry. Liamputtong, P. (2013). Qualitative Research Methods.oxford university press, (4). Lodico, M., Voegtle, K. and Spaulding, D. (2013). Methods in Educational Research: From Theory to Practice. Nuttin, J. and Lens, W. (2011). future time perspective and motivation theory and research method.psychology press. Pollock, K. (2012). Procedure versus process: ethical paradigms and the conduct of qualitative research.BMC Ethics.