Exercise : Chapter Five

Scenario A

Wizero Almaz, the owner of a small business (a women‘s dress boutique), has
invited a consultant to tell her how her business is different from similar small
businesses within a 60-mile radius with respect to use of the most modern
computer technology, sales volume, profit margin, and staff training.

Scenario B

Ato Addisu, the owner of several restaurants on the Addis Ababa Gullelle
Kifle Ketema, is concerned about the wide differences in their profit
margins. He would like to try some incentive plans for increasing the
efficiency levels of those restaurants that lag behind. But before he
actually does this, he would like to be assured that the idea would work.
He asks a researcher to help him on this issue.
Scenario C

A manager is intrigued why some people seem to derive joy from work
and get energized by it, while others find it troublesome and frustrating.
 1. Given the above three scenarios. Indicate how the
researcher should proceed in each case; that is, determine
the following, giving reasons:
a. The purpose of the study
b. The type of investigation
c. The extent of researcher interference
d. The study setting
e. The time horizon for the study
f. The unit of analysis

Exercise 2
A foreman thinks that the low efficiency of the machine tool operators is
directly linked to the high level of fumes emitted in the workshop. He
would like to prove this to his supervisor through a research study.

1. Would this be a causal or a correlational study? Why?

2. Is this an exploratory, descriptive, or hypothesis-testing (analytical or
predictive) study? Why?
3. What kind of a study would this be: field study, lab experiment, or field
experiment? Why?
4. What would be the unit of analysis? Why?
5. Would this be a cross-sectional or a longitudinal study? Why?