A marketing researcher reviews the month's sales slips for a ...

[Collmarie]

A marketing researcher reviews the month's sales slips for a convenience store and compares them with restocking orders, in order to determine which products are being stolen from the shelves. This study has little control. Why is this the case?
 
  (Select all that apply.)
  a. The researcher has no control over whether people choose to shoplift.
  b. There is no control for extraneous variables.
  c. No variables are manipulated.
  d. The design is descriptive or correlational; as compared with other types of research, control is low.
  e. The data collected were actually generated by other people and may be erroneous.

Question 2

A researcher conducts a pilot study before the main study is conducted. Why might the researcher choose to do this? (Select all that apply.)
 
  a. The researcher has no idea whether subjects will complete the various phases of the study.
  b. The researcher needs to know how much of a change will occur in the dependent variable, so that sample size can be determined.
  c. The researcher isn't sure whether the fourth phase of the study is really necessary.
  d. The study site is a new one, and the researcher wants to find out whether it's suitable for this kind of research.
  e. The researcher has insufficient funding for a large study.
  f. The researcher isn't sure whether the tool he or she is using to measure the dependent variable will be practical.

[pami445]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: B, C, D, E
Control occurs when the researcher imposes rules to decrease the possibility of error and thus increase the probability that the study's findings are an accurate reflection of reality. Through control, the researcher can reduce the influence or confounding effect of extraneous variables on the study variables. Quantitative research requires varying degrees of control, ranging from minimal control to high control of study design. Descriptive and correlational studies are usually conducted with minimal or partial control of the study design. Correlational research often has more control of its design than does descriptive research. Quasi-experimental studies are usually conducted with moderate control of study design. Experimental studies are highly controlled.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: A, B, C, D, F
A pilot study is commonly defined as a smaller version of a proposed study conducted to refine the methodology. It is developed much like the proposed study, using similar subjects, the same setting, the same treatment, and the same data collection and analysis techniques. Some of the reasons for conducting pilot studies are to determine feasibility, to develop a treatment or intervention, to develop an implementation protocol, to identify problems with the design, to evaluate the sampling method, to examine instrument reliability or validity, to refine instruments, to refine plans for data collection and analysis, to provide research experience, and to evaluate data analysis techniques.

[Collmarie]

Excellent

[alexanderhamilton]

TYSM