An alien object landed on earth about 12 months ago. Since then millions of humans have died from a new virus. Studies have shown that the virus was released from the alien object. At the current rate of deaths it looks like the human population will be wiped out within the next 12 months. Company XYZ has developed a vaccine to combat the virus. They have undertaken successful preliminary clinical tests on animals. However, the vaccine has not yet been tested on humans because there is not enough time. Company XYZ plansto try the vaccine out on a very large population of human subjects before distributing it to all humans on earth.
Company XYZ needs to locate the most appropriate test population. They have decided to tender a contract for a research company to get their answer and as luck would have it you have just started your own research company.
You are to write a bid to conduct a program of research to find the best test population. In your bid you need to outline the research design you would recommend and what data collection and statistical tests, if any, should be used to answer the question. You must defend your recommendations with appropriate theory.
When research companies bid for work in these cases they expect their proposals to be compared to other organizations. You need to therefore consider this in the way you present the information in your proposal, in the language you use and in ensuring that all recommendations are well supported and defended.
You are only designing a piece of research to show how you would go about locating the appropriate population. You are not expected to actually do the research yourself or nominate a population. However, if your proposal is successful you will have access to unlimited resources to carry out the research
Four areas that you need to focus on are:
(1) You need to decide on qualitative, quantitative or mixed method methodology. You also need to justify that decision with theory.
(2) You need to ensure that the research will be ethical (Draw on theories from either consequentialism or non-consequentialism – not both)
(3) You need to consider issues related to CSR
(4) You need to consider sample units, data, validity and reliability.
Assignment Structure:
In detail, your report should include the following elements:
1. A brief introduction identifying the question you have focused on and the background for your bid (keep this short and to the point).
2. A short literature review or summary of secondary data from existing sources that relates to your research question (approximately 500 words). You could also include some historical unethical research for background reading. For example, the Nazi WWII experiments, the Tuskegee Syphilis study, the Stanley Milgram conformity study and the Stanford prison experiment.
3. A statement of the research question(s) and objectives for this piece of research – what is it you intend this research program to achieve and what questions it will address – keep this focused and brief.
4. A recommended research design and methodology justified and supported with appropriate theory (from the applied business research literature) and evidence that will best address the research question and provide answers to Company XYZ. This includes discussion about whether you are recommending a qualitative, quantitative or mixed method approach (and why – justified and supported with theory), and within this what specific methods you are recommending (from the list of possible options) and why. Ethical issues are not exactly the same with qualitative and quantitative methodology.
5. Recommendations about the most appropriate sample unit and sampling methodology (also with justification) to match the design you are recommending and in this discussion show you have identified issues related to the research ethics of this proposed research and how you will address these.
6. A discussion of the data (questions) that would need to be collected – being as specific as possible and showing evidence of an understanding of the form and level of data required to answer the research questions and how these ultimately will allow you to address the overarching research objective or question.
7. A discussion of the type and level of analysis that should be conducted with this data to address the research questions (supported with theoretical justification) and
8. A discussion about the validity and reliability elements of your proposed research plan and any limitations of the research that should be considered by the XYZ board when viewing your findings and suggestions.
9. Finally, a summary statement about how this design will address the issue that Company ZYZ in exploring and will provide the answers to their questions – about one or two paragraphs at most.