Business Research Methods

Question 1:A Washington Post article reported on a study about alcohol consumption and cancer inwomen. Since 1996, a team of British researchers has been gathering detailed informationfrom 1.28 million aged 50-64. The researchers recorded how much alcohol them womenreported consuming when they volunteered for the study and again three years later. Theresearchers then examined whether there was any link with the 68,775 cancers the womendeveloped over an average of the next seven years. They found that even among womenwho consumed as little as 10 grams of alcohol a day on average (the equivalent of about onedrink), the risk of cancer of the breast, liver and rectum was elevated.a) Is this an experiment? Explain your answer.b) We would prefer a sample survey to using women who volunteer for a study. Whatpopulation does it appear that the researchers were interested in? What variablesdid they measure?Question 2:What is the best way to answer each of the questions below: an experiment, a samplesurvey, or an observational study that is not a sample survey? Explain your choices:a) Is your school’s basketball team called for fewer fouls in home games than in awaygames?b) Are college students satisfied with the quality of recreational facilities available tothem?c) Do college students who have access to audio recordings of course lectures performbetter in the course than those who don’t?Question 3:The data set below describes the fuel economy (in miles per gallon) of 2011 model motorvehicles:a) What are the individuals of the data set?b) For each individual, what variables are given? Which of these variables takenumerical values?Make and Vehicle Transmission Number of City mpg HighwayModel Type Type cylinders mpgBMW 328ci Compact Automatic 18 28BMW 335ci Compact Manual 19 28CarBuick Midsize Car Automatic 17 27LaCrosseChevrolet SUV Automatic 16 23Question 4:You wish to study a condition that you have observed: “Some workers seem to be muchmore diligent than others.”a) Propose at least three concepts that you might use in such a study.b) Give three hypotheses, which could be tested for a study like this.c) What difficulties or limitations do you think you might face in testing each of theabove hypotheses?Question 5:The congressional campaigns are in full swing, and the candidates have hired pollingorganizations to take regular polls to find out what the voters think about the issues. Whatinformation should the pollsters be required to give out?a) What does the standard of informed consent, as discussed in this chapter, requirethe pollsters to tell potential respondents?b) The standards accepted by polling organizations also require giving respondents thename and address of the organization that carries out the poll. Why do you thinkthis is required?c) The polling organization usually has a professional name such as “SamplesIncorporated”, so respondents don’t know that the poll is being paid for by apolitical party or candidate. Would revealing the sponsor to respondent bias thepoll? Should the sponsor always be announced whenever poll results are madepublic?