QUANT30 Group Project Guidelines

The primary objective of the project is for the students to be able to apply the different statistical
tools and methods discussed in class. Each team will act as a third-party consultant, and is tasked to
perform a statistical study for one business establishment, social enterprise, or non-
government/non-profit organization to be determined by the instructor during the semester. The
teams must be able to produce both a written report and an oral presentation discussing their
statistical insights about a certain aspect of the chosen organization, and how it could address the
issues discovered. Applications could include market research, advertising, operations, finance and
others.
Example 1: students can prepare a market study for a rubber shoe company. The research can
revolve around the purchase and usage behaviors of millennial consumers. The students craft a
survey that answers their research question, and gather responses. From the gathered data, the
students would be able to describe the traits of millennial consumers and their typical consumption
behavior, and then come up with recommendations of how that company would best enter the
market.
Example 2: students can propose a sustainability strategy for a company with a particular focus on
plastic bottles. The students craft a survey to understand the frequency of purchase, consumption,
and disposal of plastic bottled beverages. They gather respondents and analyze the link of certain
mindsets to certain behaviors. The students then propose solutions to encourage the reduction of
plastic bottles disposed.

IMPORTANT DATES:
PASS 1 – RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE: February 14, 2020
PASS 2 – DATA SET OF SURVEY RESPONSES: March 27, 2020
PASS 3 – RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: May 15, 2020
ORAL PRESENTATION: the week of May 6-8, 2020. May be scheduled out of classroom hours.

Note: students have the responsibility of following the submission guidelines set by their respective
teachers, e.g. file type, email submission, Turnitin submission, hard copy submission, etc.

GENERAL PROCEDURE:
Per class, the students would group themselves into 4 to 6 members per team.

PASS 1: Each team must identify a specific research topic as well as at least three (3) research
objectives under their teacher’s chosen theme/industry. For reference, the main research thrusts of
JGSOM are sustainability, family business and social entrepreneurship. Students are encouraged to
choose topics that are related to one of these three. In addition to their identified research topics,
each team will have to craft a questionnaire that address their research objectives and their chose
research topic. PASS 1 is 7% of the student’s grade.
Example: Teacher’s chosen theme – sustainability in Ateneo

 Research Topic – Reduction of the disposal of plastic bottles in JSEC

 Research Objective 1 – profile JSEC customers in terms of their demographics and patterns
of usage of JSEC
  Research Objective 2 – identify the key motivations for behaviors purchase and disposal of
plastic bottles such as convenience, affordability, etc.
 Research Objective 3 – discover relationships between disposal behaviors and consumer
traits
Outline:

 Introduction: provide a brief background on the topic and the research study. For example,
identify the size of and the trends in the industry. Sub-sections should include:
o Review of Related Literature – discuss secondary data, academic journals and other
past research that are related to the research topic
o Significance of the Study – provide the rationale why the research is important and
useful for the reader
o Statement of the Research Topic and Objectives – define the research topic and the
research objectives.
o Scope and Limitations – identify the boundaries (what concepts/topics are included
and what are not included) of the study given the research topic and objectives
 Methodology: discuss how the study was conducted. Outline who were part of the survey,
how the survey was disseminated and the survey questionnaire used.
 References – properly cite references using APA format

PASS 2: The class with the guidance of the teacher will come up with a master questionnaire that
the class will use to gather responses. The master questionnaire is a combination, or the combined
form, of the different survey questionnaires of each group. Each student is expected to gather at
least ten (10) respondents each. For example, a class of 20 students would need to submit a data set
with at least 200 responses. PASS 2 is 3% of the student’s grade.
Note: sections working with the same theme may be grouped together. This arrangement would
have the benefit of larger data set for the teams and thus allow them a more complete, richer
analysis. The class beadles would be in charge of coordinating with each other for the combined
data set.

PASS 3: Each team will now use the data set submitted in Pass 2 to do their analyses. Their analyses
would answer the research objectives and ultimately, the research topic stated in Pass 1. The
students are expected to use the statistical analysis tools that were taught during the semester. The
teams would write a paper on their findings and recommendations as well as prepare for an oral
presentation. PASS 3 is 15% of the student’s grade.
Outline of the paper:

 Introduction
o Review of Related Literature
o Significance of the Study
o Statement of the Research Topic and Objectives
o Scope and Limitations
 Methodology
 Results and Discussion: present results of analyses with regards to the specific research
objective being addressed. State the conclusions for each research objective.
 Conclusion and Recommendations: summarize and integrate findings, and propose relevant
recommendations.
 References – properly cite references using APA format

Note: The sections on Introduction and Methodology are based on the team’s submission during
PASS 1. It is expected that these sections have already been improved and refined compared to
the first submission.
Format: Calibri 11, 1.5” spacing; A4 paper, 1” margins