Research Question:
It has been suggested that a student’s course of studies tends to be related to the type of political beliefs he/she may hold.
Assignment:
• Construct a survey instrument (inclusive of a pre-test).
• Interview at least 100 students.
• Perform a Chi-Square test on the data, both manually and on the computer.
• What can you conclude at 5% level of significance?
• Present your final conclusions in whatever manner you deem best for this type of report.
• Are there any caveat or observations you would like to share with future researchers of this type of research question?
• Report
Your assignment should include the following format:
• Title Page
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Detailed Findings
• Conclusions
• Appendix
These assignments must be completed in groups. The average size of a group will be 5 people, with a standard deviation of 1 person . Groups must remain the same for all assignments, and should be from the same class, so choose your group members carefully. Prepare a tentative list of group members and a possible topic you wish to work on and hand it in simultaneously with your first assignment. Please ensure you select a good mix of people for your group (i.e. someone strong in statistics, report writing, etc.).
For each group assignment choose a topic from the attached list or have your topic approved. Assignments 2, 3, and 4 are in fact just one assignment broken down into three parts. In other words, these three assignments all relate to the same topic.This means, amongst other things, that you will have prepared a bibliography of current publications in your research area to be attached to your final report.
ASSIGNMENT 2 – RESEARCH DESIGN
Prepare a Plan for your Research. This research plan should include at least the following information:
i) The research question/problem – you may have to define some terms and do a literature review
ii) The method of solving this problem (in other words, how you intend to operationalize your research question)
iii) Data collection forms –questionnaire, focus group, etc. Discussion regarding the development of the questionnaire (remember, no questionnaire should be submitted)
Pre-test – where, when, and how large? You are not actually doing the pre-test, just preparing for it.
• Sample design
• Target population
• Sampling frame
• Sampling procedure
• Sample size
• Data collection methods
• Operational procedures
• Analysis plans – what do you expect from the data, what software are you going to use, etc.
• Report preparation
• Personnel requirements which includes phases of study and time schedule
• Group schedule and organization
• Any other preliminary information you would like to provide
Note: This part of the assignment must be detailed enough that it could be given to a third-party collection firm to conduct the research. In practice, the plan could be developed first and then handed off to another organization that specializes in collection and analysis.
ASSIGNMENT 3 – THE QUESTIONNAIRE Prepare a Questionnaire to solve your research problem. Include with your questionnaire the methods undertaken to develop. Include:
• How you developed the questionnaire
• Physical Characteristics of questionnaire
• Content of individual questions:
• Why you used the questions that you did
• Why you excluded certain other questions or types of questions
• What information you are trying to get from the question
• How you pre-tested the questionnaire
Assignment 4 – The Final Report.
Prepare a report of your research results. Include within your report:
1) The results of your research
2) Copies of your questionnaire
POSSIBLE RESEARCH TOPICS
1) During an election, many campaign promises are made. Should there be consequences for broken promises and/or should this be legislated?
2) Do you shop primarily within your neighbourhood or outside of your neighbourhood? Under what circumstances are you willing to shop outside of your neighbourhood?
3) Do you feel “self service” or "customer involvement services" offer customers real advantages in terms of time savings and increase customer satisfaction. (Self service is commonplace at gas stations, certain grocery stores, and banks).
4) Are there differences among groups in time spent on internet and types of internet activities. (Demographics characteristics could include age, gender, educational level etc. Internet activities could include email, internet browsing, games, online activities - shopping, banking, e-commerce etc).
5) Is there a relationship between demographics and online shopping? What do internet users think of online shopping and security of conducting commerce over the net?
6) Parking fees are to many a deterrent to shopping in downtown Toronto. If parking fees were substantially reduced for short term parking, would this make a difference to you? Would you shop downtown instead of the shopping malls?
7) Grocery stores have expanded their range of products that include clothes, appliances and furniture. Do customers want this?
8) Are banking facilities equally important to all bank customers? (Banking facilities can include such items as branch location, parking, branch décor, etc. Demographic characteristics could include sex, age, educational background, income level etc.)