Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts Essay Example for Free

Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts Essay Historically, qualitative methodologies have been available much longer some as early as the 19th century as the quantitative tools marketers rely on so heavily. (2014) Donald R. Cooper Quantitative research attempts precise measurement of something. In business research, quantitative methodologies usually measure consumer behavior, knowledge, opinions, or attitudes. Such methodologies answer questions related to how much, how often, how many, when, and who (2014) Donald R. Cooper There are a few methods researchers’ uses to acquire or validate data; The interview is the primary data collection technique for gathering data in qualitative methodologies. Interviews vary based on the number of people involved during the interview, the level of structure, the proximity of the interviewer to the participant, and the number of interviews conducted during the research. The interview can be conducted individually (individual depth interview or IDI) or in groups. (2014) Donald R. Cooper Questionnaires often make use of Checklist and rating scales. These devices help simplify and quantify peoples behaviors and attitudes. A checklist a list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is looking for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa. A rating scale is more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a continuum. They are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001) http://people.uwec.edu/ Some strengths of each statistical approach is that they can help to find the studies generalized to the population about which information is required, samples of individuals, communities, or organizations can be selected to ensure that the results will be representative of the population studied. Structural factors that determine how inequalities (such as gender inequalities) are produced can be analyzed, QUANT estimates can be obtained of the magnitude and distribution of impacts, QUANT estimates can be obtai ned of the costs and benefits of interventions. Some weakness of each  statistical is there is often no information on contextual factors to help interpret the results or to explain variations in behavior between households with similar economic and demographic characteristics, administration of a structured questionnaire creates an unnatural situation that may alienate respondents, studies are expensive and time-consuming, and even the preliminary results are usually not available for a long period of time, research methods are inflexible because the instruments cannot be modified once the study begins.(2014) interaction.org When it comes to statistic analysis, there are two classifications: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. In a nutshell, descriptive statistics intends to describe a big hunk of data with summary charts and tables, but do not attempt to draw conclusions about the population from which the sample was taken. You are simply summarizing the data you have with pretty charts and graphs–kind of like telling someone the key points of the book as opposed to just handing them a thick book. (2012) mymarketresearchmethods Sampling is a shortcut method for investigating a whole population which it gathers data here on a small part of the whole parent population or sampling frame, and used to inform what the whole picture is like Systematic point sampling a grid can be used, and the points can be at the intersections of the grid lines or in the middle of each grid square. Sampling is done at the nearest feasible place. Along a transect line, sampling points for vegetation/pebble data collection could be identified systematically. Systematic line sampling the easting’s or nothings of the grid on a map can be used to identify transect lines, along a beach it could be decided that a transect up the beach will be conducted every 20 metros along the length of the beach Systematic area sampling A ‘pattern of grid squares to be sampled can be identified using a map of the study area. Advantages: It is more straight-forward than random sampling, a grid doesnt necessarily have to be used; sampling just has to be at uniform intervals, good coverage of the study area can be more easily achieved than using random sampling Disadvantages: It is more biased, as not all members or points have an equal chance of being selected; it may, therefore, lead to over or under-representation of a particular pattern In this article, we analyzed a dataset of fraudul ent credit card transactions to uncover patterns in fraudulent transactions and to demonstrate the importance of  focusing on suspicious transactions. We argue that revealed patterns in fraudulent transactions may help financial The ability to combine to combine different research approach across conventional methodological often frustrated. Qualitative and quantitative researchers often operate with a different set of assumptions about the world and ways of learning about it. These assumptions may be seen as mutually and inevitably irreconcilable. Researchers are often taught to master only one type of method and, so, become comfortable with their expertise in handling either quantitative or qualitative analysis, but not both After reading all the material provided I must say that the best and most appropriate research method in my business would be qualitative research because it goes more in depth into the study of the business platform would give me a better and clear picture of the stability and understanding, another approach would be sampling because it gives me different choices of how to find data and make it more accurate . Inferential Article, macromolecular structures calculated from nuclear magnetic resonance data are not fully determined by experimental data but depend on subjective choices in data treatment and parameter settings. This makes it difficult to judge the precision of the structures objectively. We used Bayesian inference to derive a probability distribution that represents the unknown structure and its precision. This probability distribution also determines additional unknowns, such as theory parameters, which previously had to be chosen empirically. We implemented this approach by using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. Our method provides an objective figure of merit and improves structural quality. Because conventional structure ensembles depend on user-specific parameter settings and the minimization protocol, it is difficult if not impossible to assign statistically meaningful error bars to atomic coordinates. In contrast, stochastic samples drawn from the joint posterior density p(X, ÃŽ ³, ÏÆ'|D,I) are statistically well defined and can directly be used to calculate estimates of mean values and standard deviations (14). As a special case, we can derive an average structure with atomise error bars and are thus able to define an objective figure of merit for NMR structures (2014) Inferential Structure Determination Descriptive article Walking is second only to private cars as the most common means by which individuals get from place to place in the USA and Europe. The speed at which individuals walk is relevant to their  functioning in the community, mortality of older adults, incident ischemic stroke among postmenopausal women, and incident dementia among older adults, this study does have several limitations. First, it is not comprehensive. Although four databases were used to find relevant literature, the final search was up to the end of 2008. Between that time and the present, relevant articles other than the two identified through hand searches may have been published. Of the relevant articles identified, some did not provide data in a manner that enabled inclusion Reference (2014) Donald R. Cooper Business Research Methods 12e Entire eBook http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/descriptive-inferential-statistics-difference/ http://people.uwec.edu/ http://people.uwec.edu/ http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/Fieldwork+and+local+learning/Fieldwork+techniques/Sampling+techniques.htm http://gbr.sagepub.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/content/14/3/373 http://www.interaction.org/annex-1-strengths-and-weaknesses-quant-evaluation-approaches http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/213604856?pq-origsite=summon

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Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence produces significant health problems, including an unfavorable lipid profile, cough and phlegm production, and decreased physical fitness. One may also develop an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, and be susceptible to potential retardation in the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung function. Once advanced beyond their teenage years, almost all individuals try to quit smoking, but most fail. Therefore, a solution to the problem of smoking among children and adolescents must be to prevent young people from being lured into the destructive habit. In order to effectively prevent, or at least decrease the likelihood of, smoking among young people, one needs to understand the reasons why children and teens start to smoke. A few are: peer and societal pressures, internal struggles, and the obligation to succeed in academics. Peer pressure is one of the primary reasons young people smoke. It may be placed on the subject in the form of outright, verbal persuasion, or it may manifest itself as one's...

Legal and Professional Issues – Manager of an IT company

You are a manager with an IT company supplying information management systems to medical practices. A company marketing health-related products (complementary medicines, books on diets and ‘miracle' cures of various kinds) has approached you. They suggest that you jointly offer doctors incentives to accept a feature in your system that will print out advertisements for their products on documents for patients and target different categories of patients with mailings. Content Page Title Page Content Page Ethical Issues it raises for; * The individuals- doctors, IT manager 4 * The groups – marketing company, patients 4-5 Enquires which may be carried out in order to understand the problem better 5 Proposed ‘solution' for the problem 5-6 Bibliography 7 Appendices 8-11 Manager of an IT company Ethical Issues it raises for; IT Manager * Data Protection Act 1998- â€Å"sensitive personal data† within the act states that ‘his physical or mental health or condition'1 should not be disclosed. See Appendices. * Human rights act 1998 * The act of ‘Bribery', illegal in the UK. * Company should have made a legal binding to the medical practice to secure data leakage. * Ethics and Information Technology. See Bernhard Debatin in Appendices. * In relation to Mills theory- the consequences could lead to higher monitoring of privacy if the activity is disclosed. See Appendices. Doctors * Following the principle of Mills, again, the consequences could be increased monitoring of doctoring practice locally or through the UK. * Data protection act 1998 * Human rights act 1998 * Unspoken confidentiality agreement with patient (doctor/ patient relationship) * Medical ethical practices, as laid out by the General Medical Council http://www.gmc-uk.org/standards/default.htm. * Breaking position of patient/ doctor authority * Misinforming patients/ disclosing information about a product he/she may know little about i.e. not knowing the side affects and misinforming patients claiming a ‘miracle cure'. * Accepting a personal ‘incentive' on behalf of patient confidentiality * Viewed as a high profile in society- should set a high ethical example * Potential- under Mills theory, of loosing the Doctor Status, respect and trust of the patients. Marketing Company * The British Code of Advertising Practice * Marketing ethical practices * Freedom of Information Act 2000 – could be viewed as ‘ethical' for such medical information to be disclosed in Europe. Patients * Unspoken confidentiality agreement with doctor (doctor/ patient relationship) * Date protection Act 1998 as before * Human Rights Act 1998 as before * Doctor- medical professional, patient- not a medical professional, thus the acceptance of something neither may no much about would potentially occur * Names/ Address/ disabilities and/or illnesses being disclosed; private and personal information which could be very sensitive to the individual. Enquires which may be carried out in order to understand the problem better It would be beneficial to do all the following in order to understand the situation better: * Contact the marketing company to gain a comprehensive understanding of the products; if not, the manufacturer. * Conduct research to find out if the product(s) have been used elsewhere, and if so, what the results were. * Contact the NHS; what are the regulations behind the marketing of products within medical practises. As the governing body, has research been previously carried out on these products? * Contact the General Medical Council who protect/ guide doctors and patients. With thorough knowledge of ethical guidance procedures for doctors and patients, they claim doctors should along with many other things; o â€Å"Respect and protect confidential information [about patients] o Respect patients' dignity and privacy o Avoid abusing your position as a doctor†2 * Speak to the doctors, ask them about the product and for them to speak to their peers in regard to the product- has others heard/used them. Proposed ‘solution' for the problem There are a couple of steps that can be carried out in order to minimise the ethical dilemmas that are concealed within this problem; 1. The IT Manager [myself] could give the doctors details obtained from the company marketing health-related products so that they have the choice as to whether they carry out the advertising- it would then be their responsibility to ensure date protection. 2. The idea of disclosing patient information in my view [acting as the manager] is totally unethical, and will not even be taken into consideration; even with an incentive- it would put my profession as well as the medical practice under legal scrutiny. 3. The NHS could be contacted to see if it would be possible for the marketing company to operate through them, ensuring that nothing illegal/unethical is taking place, and thus increasing the financial position of the NHS, again, leaving the IT company out of the equation

Essay about Interpersonal Effectiveness - 681 Words

Amongst the stronger areas for me out of the four components of interpersonal effectiveness are emotional intelligence, ethnics, and competence. Mindfulness is a weak area for me. I’m not completely mindless, but it wouldn’t hurt working on being more mindful in some situations. I have been told my whole life what a wonderful listener I am. How I’m such a people’s person and how I was born to be a Psychiatrist. In a nutshell, I am pretty comfortable with being aware of my emotions and keeping them in check as well as being fully aware of other’s emotions as well. In addition, I not only keep my eyes on the prize, I don’t lose focus on my relationships with the desired people in my life. While needing improvement in the mindfulness†¦show more content†¦The client became irate and very agitated. These particular clients may become very dangerous. So I decided to come to her aid and I calmly asked what was going on and listened to the young man explain the situation. Once he saw that I was calm and trying to be understanding, he calmed also. Afterwards we both explained to my co-worker how in his country it is disrespectful for a female to talk to a male in that manner. One thing I learned at Central State Hospital is to treat ALL people like humans! You would not believe how most of the staff treats the clients. It pains me to believe that people can be so cruel. I always try to be sympathetic and empathetic to my clients. I think I was effective in this situation because I kept my emotions in check, but was still aware of the emotions of the ones around me. By me knowing the young man’s background a little, it made it easier for me to react accordingly and explain to my co-worker about how the young man has different morals than us. To be ethical in interpersonal communication to me is to not think of everything in black and white. 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Clients must learn both how to manage their own strongRead MoreSummary: Interpersonal Effectiveness Psy 1801251 Words   |  6 PagesSummary: How To Listen Empathetically Sharon Gaither Argosy University Psychology 180: Interpersonal Effectiveness Professor Erica Wattley October 10, 2012 Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills: Empathy Empathetic Listening Empathy is the way you feel or understand another person; it is a deep emotional understanding of a person’s feelings or problems. It is as we often hear people say put yourself in someone else’s shoes. An empathic listener gives the otherRead MoreThe Theory Of The Constructivist Theory2000 Words   |  8 Pageslearning goals and rewards; 5) Interpersonal skills: For example, decision-making, leadership, communication, trust-building and perseverance(6). 2) ‘Effect size’ (ES) is an easy method of quantifying the magnitude of the size of difference existing between two groups. 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