Which Type Of Research Design: Exploratory, Descriptive, Or

Which Type Of Research Design Exploratory Descriptive Or Causalis

Which type of research design— exploratory, descriptive, or causal—is appropriate for the following examples? Explain why. · The goal of this research is to discover the real nature of the problem and to suggest new possible solutions or new ideas. · A food manufacturer wants to know the demographics of people who purchase organic foods. · A firm is considering hiring American celebrity Paris Hilton to endorse its products. · British Airways would like to test in-flight Internet services on one of its regular flights from New York to Tokyo. The company charges $30 one week and $15 the next week. · This type of study attempts to discover answers to the following questions: who, what, when, where, or how much. · A manufacturer investigates whether consumers will buy a new pill that replaces eating a meal. · Cosmopolitan magazine sends out a cover in selected markets featuring a female model to half of its readers and a cover with a female and male model to the other half of its readers to test differences in purchase response between the two groups. · A hair-care manufacturer interviews wholesalers, retailers, and customers to determine the potential for a new shampoo package. · This type of research attempts to capture a population’s characteristics by making inference from a sample’s characteristics and testing hypotheses. · On the CBS television show Undercover Boss, top executives disguised as middle level or lower level employees investigate company departments to discover potential issues or problems.

Paper For Above instruction

Research design plays a pivotal role in shaping the approach and validity of a study. Selecting the appropriate type—exploratory, descriptive, or causal—depends on the specific objectives and questions posed by the research. Each design serves distinct purposes and follows different methodologies, thus ensuring the research findings are meaningful and actionable.

First, an exploratory research design is primarily employed when the problem is not well-understood or is ambiguous. Its goal is to investigate an area where little information is available, aiming to gain insights and generate hypotheses. For example, the goal of discovering the real nature of a new marketing challenge or understanding consumer attitudes towards a novel product feature aligns with exploratory research. When a company seeks to identify potential solutions or gather preliminary insights without firm hypotheses, exploratory studies are ideal. In the case of testing in-flight Internet services, an exploratory approach might be utilized initially to determine operational feasibility or customer interest before large-scale deployment.

Descriptive research, on the other hand, is suitable when the objective is to describe characteristics, behaviors, or phenomena within a population. It seeks to answer questions like who, what, when, where, and how much. For instance, the food manufacturer’s goal to know the demographics of organic food buyers falls under descriptive research, as it involves profiling a specific population to inform marketing strategies. Similarly, a hair-care manufacturer interviewing wholesalers, retailers, and customers to assess market potential employs descriptive methods to gather detailed information about current product perceptions and market opportunities.

Finally, causal research aims to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables. This involves manipulating one or more independent variables to observe their effect on dependent variables. British Airways testing in-flight Internet service is a good example of causal research, where the airline manipulates the service environment (e.g., offering free or paid Internet) to monitor effects on customer satisfaction or usage patterns. In addition, the magazine’s testing of different cover designs to compare purchase responses exemplifies causality, as it seeks to determine whether visual elements influence buying behavior.

Furthermore, studies like the CBS Undercover Boss episode demonstrate causal research, where executives manipulate or investigate organizational factors to discover issues, acting as an intervention to observe results. The manufacturer exploring whether consumers will buy a new meal-replacement pill also utilizes causal methods to test product acceptance under controlled conditions. Overall, choosing among exploratory, descriptive, or causal design hinges on the research’s specific goals: understanding, describing, or explaining relationships among variables.

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