UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA (UPSA)

DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES
(Students’ Submission Cover Page)

END OF FIRST SEMESTER TAKE HOME EXAMINATION (THE) - 2022/2023 ACADEMIC YEAR
FACULTY OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND FINANCE
LEVEL 200

DIPC 051: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

Start Date: Friday, April 14, 2023, 6:00pm

End Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023, 6:00pm

Student ID Number: 10291670

Student Digital/Physical Address: GW-0841-9125

NB: it is mandatory to affirm online your Academic Integrity (Honour Pledge) before submission

Honour Pledge for Examinations:

“I affirm that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help on this examination, and that all responses
to the questions will be my own”.

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QUESTION 1
a. Research topic: Relationship between demographic characteristics and digital platform patronage
among Ghanaians

The dependent variable is Patronage of Digital Platform.

The independent variables are age of citizens, level of education, gender, income, and rural and urban
settlement.

b. The general objective is to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics of

respondent and the patronage of digital platform.
The specific objective is to determine age and the patronage of digital platform in Ghana.
ii. To evaluate the relationship between gender and the patronage of digital platform in Ghana .

c.
i.
H0 : There will be no significant relationship between age and digital platform patronage.
H1 : There will be significant relationship between age and digital platform patronage.

ii.
H0 : There will be no significant relationship between gender and digital platform patronage.
H1 : There will be significant relationship between gender and digital patronage.

d. The appropriate research approach for this study is a quantitative research approach. This is because
the study aims to investigate the impact of various demographic factors on the patronage of digital
platforms, which requires numerical data analysis. A quantitative approach that will adopt the cross-
sectional survey method will allow for the collection of numerical data from a large sample size which
is a representative of the larger population, which can be analysed statistically to draw meaningful
conclusions.

e. The population of the is the Ghanaian population of those who have access to use digital platform in
the country. A sampling technique to be adopted in selecting a sample size of 700 should be
Probability Sampling Method under which Simple Random Sampling technique is the best to use
because each element of the entire population has an equal probability of being selected.

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 Justification of sample size: Krejcie and Morgan (1970) have developed a table for the determination
of sample size from a known population. According to the authors, a population of 1,000,000 will
require a sample size of 384 respondents. Juxtaposing these facts, to determine the population of a
known sample size of 700 will be as:

700/384 * 1,000,000 = 1,823,000

From the above, the population of the study is expected to be above one million Ghanaians.

f. Nominal research question: How old are you?

Ordinal research question: Rank your level of education between 1-10 (1 being basic education and 5
being postgraduate education).
Ratio-based research question: What is your monthly income?

QUESTION 2

Introduction
Bombers Eatery is a popular fast-food joint in Ghana with about 30 branches across Accra and
Kumasi. However, the fast-food industry in Ghana is highly competitive, and the emergence of health
concerns has resulted in a reduction in the target market for fast food joints like Bombers.
Additionally, the lifestyle changes of consumers have led to a preference for restaurants that offer
healthier food options, posing a threat to Bombers' business. Therefore, it is crucial for Bombers to
identify strategies to retain its existing customers and attract new ones.

Statement and Analysis of the Problem

The problem faced by Bombers Eatery is two-fold. Firstly, the emergence of health concerns has led
to a reduction in the market segment, with consumers looking for healthier alternatives to fast food.
Secondly, consumers' lifestyles have changed, with an increasing number of consumers opting for
healthy lifestyles, which require them to reduce or eliminate fast foods from their diets.

Solution
To retain its existing customers and attract new ones, Bombers must adopt a two-faced approach.

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To begin with, it should expand its menu to include healthier options. This approach would allow
Bombers to appeal to the growing number of health-conscious consumers. In addition, Bombers
should consider reducing the calorie content in its existing meals to provide healthier food choices.
Bombers Eatery should focus on the in-store experience to attract customers. This can be
achieved by redesigning the interior décor to create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere for
customers. The seating arrangements should be comfortable and spacious, and the restaurant should
be well lit and ventilated.

Benefit
By offering a wider range of healthy options and improving the in-store experience, Bombers Eatery
can retain its current customers and attract new customers who are looking for healthier
alternatives. This will increase the customer base and lead to increased revenue for the business.

Results
The expansion of Bombers' menu to include healthier options would enable it to cater to a broader
customer base, including those who prefer healthier food choices. Leveraging technology would
allow Bombers to enhance its customers' experience, provide convenience, and retain their loyalty.
Ultimately, this strategy would lead to an increase in revenue and market share, making Bombers a
significant player in the Ghanaian fast-food industry.

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QUESTION 3

a. The regression equation can be derived by combining the co-efficient and variables in the table. It
can be written as follows
Y = 3.91 + 0.34Number of branches + 0.65Age of the firm in years + 1.56Education of Manager +
1.15Number of employees

b. To identify the significant and insignificant variables,

Hypothesis
H0: β1 = 0
H1: β1 ≠ 0

Level of Significance
0.05

Test Statistics
co−efficient
𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙 = standard error

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 Critical Value
Assuming 𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑏 = 2

Decision Rule
If |𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙 | is greater than |𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑏 | we reject Ho, which means the co-efficient is significant.
Variable Co-efficient Standard Error 𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑏 Decision Rule
Number of 0.34 0.4812396 0.706 2 Fail to reject Ho
branches
Age of the firm 0.65 0.0664992 9.774 2 Reject Ho
in years
Education of 1.56 0.2199711 7.091 2 Reject Ho
Manager
Number of 1.15 0.1416380 8.119 2 Reject Ho
employees

Conclusion, we are 95% confident that all the variables are significant except Number of branches.
c. i. A unit change or increase in age of the firm in years will lead to a change in profit level by 0.65
unites in the same direction all other things being equal. Age of the firm in years has a positive
relation with Profit level.

ii. A unit change in Education of managers will lead to a change in profit level by 1.56 units in the
same direction, all other things being equal. It has a positive relation with profit level.

iii. A unit change in number of employees will lead to a change in Profit level by 1.15 units in the
. same direction, all other things being equal. It has a positive relation with Profit level.

d. The R-squared value is a measure of the goodness of fit of the model. It represents the percentage of the
variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the independent variables. In this case, the R-
squared value is 0.5259, which means that 52.59% of the variance in profit level is explained by the
independent variables in the model.

e. The F-value is a measure of the overall significance of the regression model. It tests the null
hypothesis that all the regression coefficients, except the intercept, are equal to zero. In other
words, it tests whether the independent variables have a significant effect on the dependent
variable. The F-value is calculated as the ratio of the explained variance to the unexplained
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 variance. In this case, the F-value is 25.1123, with a probability of 0.0000, which means that the
model is significant at the 5% level of significance. This implies that at least one of the
independent variables has a significant effect on the dependent variable.

f. i. The age of the firm, education of the manager, and number of employees have a significant
positive effect on the profitability of the firm. Therefore, the manager should consider hiring
more qualified employees, invest in the training of existing employees, and retain experienced
employees to improve the profitability of the firm.

ii. The number of branches does not have a significant effect on the profitability of the firm.
Therefore, the manager should consider other factors such as market demand and competition
before deciding to expand the operation of the firm.

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