Assignment:
Question 1 (a)
The research suggestion made by my boss is sensible because it lays emphasis on the aspect of learning from others in order to come up with a suitable plan to counter a problem, and to know the nature of the problem being faced, that is, whether the problem is internal or external. A suitable biblical verse that is relevant to this situation is Philippians 4:9, which states that "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." This verse means that the things that one learns and receives from a spiritually superior person, as far as his/her relation with God is concerned, would help the spiritually inferior person to know his/her position as far as his/her faith is concerned. Through this knowledge, the spiritually inferior person would know what to do in order to be in a safe position, which is being with the God of peace (Adkins, 2015).
From this verse, we can get deductions that mainly relate to knowing what others do and comparing it with what one is doing in order to know the nature of the results that one is getting concerning an issue. In this case, my boss is interested in knowing what other restaurants are facing in order to know the nature of the problem being faced, which is, reduction in sales of beef products within the restaurant. The survey to be carried out would help the restaurant to know the nature of the problem that it is facing. This is because there is a possibility that the decline in sales has also affected other restaurants due to the outbreak of the E. coli contamination.
Similarly, there is also a possibility that the contamination has only affected our restaurant. Therefore, in order to know about the nature of the problem and to get enlightenment about the situation, I agree with the boss' decision to carry out a survey on other restaurants in order to know if they are facing the same situation (Fowler, 2013).
Question 1 (b)
In order to improve on my boss' formulation of the research suggestion, I would recommend that the boss come up with a more detailed approach when carrying out the survey. This is because it would be difficult to get financial information concerning other restaurants, since this type of information is considered confidential in most cases. Therefore, it would be wise to add the most effective mode of data collection when carrying out this survey. In this case, the most effective mode of data collection, concerning this situation, is coming up with questionnaires. However, these questionnaires would include questions about the current buying patterns of customers, particularly, in beef products, and comparing with the buying patterns of these customers before the issue of E. coli contamination was raised. The information obtained from this is a direct reflection of the sales that these companies are making, and there would not be a possibility of giving biased or false information concerning the same. This is also a cheap and less time-consuming method of carrying out a survey (Bryman, (2015).
References:
Adkins, C. S. (2015). Evaluating Theory from a Christian Perspective: Transformative Learning Theory. Journal of Christian Nursing, 32(2), 112-115.
Bryman, A. (2015). Social Research Methods. Oxford University Press.
Fowler Jr, F. J. (2013). Survey Research Methods. Sage Publications.