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Comsats Institute Information Technology Department of Management Sciences Islamabad Campus

The document provides instructions and questions for a final exam in a Research Methodology class. It outlines 5 questions for the exam related to conducting market research for a kitchen appliance company interested in expanding into Pakistan. The questions address collecting exploratory data, developing a formal research proposal, discussing sampling methodology, outlining data collection techniques, and analyzing the data using statistical tools. Students are instructed to answer concisely and avoid unnecessary details.

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99 views3 pages

Comsats Institute Information Technology Department of Management Sciences Islamabad Campus

The document provides instructions and questions for a final exam in a Research Methodology class. It outlines 5 questions for the exam related to conducting market research for a kitchen appliance company interested in expanding into Pakistan. The questions address collecting exploratory data, developing a formal research proposal, discussing sampling methodology, outlining data collection techniques, and analyzing the data using statistical tools. Students are instructed to answer concisely and avoid unnecessary details.

Uploaded by

Ora goo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COMSATS INSTITUTE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Department of Management Sciences


Islamabad Campus

Class: MBA (E), III Semester

Subject: Research Methodology


Marks: 50
Exam: Final Examination, Fall 2005 Time: Three Hours
Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan Dated: 20 January, 2006

i. Attempt all questions.


ii. Dont try to write unnecessary details, it will be considered as
negative point.
iii. Carrying of digital diaries is not allowed
iv. Mobile phones, calculators, laptops etc. are not allowed in the
examination hall

The Happy Housewife Appliances Corporation is an American manu-


facturer of kitchen appliances. Based in Boston, Massachussetts, in
1962, and with an employee base of around 5,000, the Corporation
markets its range of high-quality kitchen products, comprise numerous
electrical items such as microwave ovens, fuel-efficient cookers and
stoves, vegetable cutters, juice mixers etc. throughout North America,
Europe, the Far East, and parts of the Middle East. It is now trying to
expand into the South Asian market. Pakistan, with its population of
150 million, ranks high on the Corporations market priority list.

In a chance encounter at a dinner reception in Islamabad sometime in


January 2006, you meet and strike up a long conversation with the
Corporations Marketing Director, who visited Islamabad on a three-
day preliminary fact-finding mission. You inform her that in the
course of your recent Fall Semester MBA evening progamme at the
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in Islamabad, you have
studied the ins and outs of undertaking business research, and have
gained some basic experience in undertaking empirical research in a
group setting as part of the course. Now you are eagerly looking for-
ward for the opportunity to apply your knowledge in a professional
business research endeavour, and would be willing to assist Happy

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Housewife Appliances Corporation in finding out whether it can profi-
tably market its products in Pakistan. Impressed by your enthusiasm,
and by your description of the course you attended, she hires as a
consultant on the spot and gives you a series of assignments as under:

Question 1: The Marketing Director asks you to undertake some quick


exploratory research with a view to determining the opportunities for
selling its kitchen appliances in the Pakistani domestic market. For a
start, this would entail obtaining out all sorts of data and information
which are relevant to the planned venture.

What fundamental criteria does the data or information you collect


have to fulfill and why? What sort of data and information would you
try to obtain for your exploratory research and where would you look
for this data and information? Specifically name several possible cate-
gories and sources of data and information relevant for this venture
(10 Marks).

Question 2: Based on the preliminary findings of your exploratory


research, the Marketing Director of Happy Housewife Appliances
Corporation thinks that a venture in Pakistan may be financially
rewarding, but she is not willing to formally commit her organization
until further detailed research is undertaken by you. She assigns you
the task of developing a formal research proposal for her based on the
guidelines you learned in your Research Methodology course in your
MBA programme at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Islamabad.

Design a formal research proposal for the Marketing Director, in-


dicating the title of each section and specifically including important
content which relates directly to your research undertaking. Choose
arbitrary but reasonable values for any section where numerical data
may be required (10 Marks).

Question 3: The quality of business decisions are determined to a


large extent by the quality of the informational input in the decision-
making process. The Marketing Director is aware of this fact from
previous bad experience in other foreign market entry ventures and
she asks you to be especially careful in how you go about obtaining
data and information. In particular, she asks you to explain to her the

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sampling methodology you intend to use for obtaining your data and
information, your reasons for using use this particular sampling
methodology, and about all the possible pitfalls or problems which may
be associated with it. Discuss in detail (10 Marks).

Question 4: Several techniques for obtaining data were discussed in


your course on Research Methodology. Which one technique, or tech-
niques, would you opt for in your research undertaking? Where in
Pakistan would you apply this technique (or techniques)? Who would
you target and why? What possible sources of error may arise in the
course of your data gathering activity and how would you try to
minimize the impact of these errors? Be as specific as possible in all
your answers (10 Marks).

Question 5: You have, finally and after painstaking effort, gathered all
the data that you need for your research. The next step prior to com -
piling your research report for your subsequent written and oral
presentation to the Marketing Director and Executive Board of Happy
Housewife Appliances Corporation in Boston is to analyze the data
using statistical tools and techniques. Briefly discuss some of the
simpler statistical tools and techniques, including measures of dis-
persion, which may be relevant for your research undertaking. If
possible, mention if you think any more sophisticated (univariate,
bivariate, multivariate) statistical techniques need to be applied (10
Marks).

Quality takes precedence over quantity!

Remember, the essence of knowledge is having it to apply it!

GOOD LUCK!

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