Activity 1 - Choosing research strategy

Nigella is a student and wants to develop a website to advertise local restaurants when she graduates. She is thinking of testing the feasibility of the idea as part of her BSc project. That way, she can start to develop the business itself as soon as she graduates. She is planning to send all local restaurant owners a questionnaire about their marketing needs.

Do you agree with Nigella, that a questionnaire would be appropriate? (Give reasons why or why not)
What issues might she be taking into account when considering an approach?

Activity 2: Mixed methods

• Discuss the following:
• What mixed methods approach was taken by the researcher?
• What type of data was collected? Who do you think the research participants were?
• Why do you think this mixed methods approach was effective?

Quantitative/Qualitative research
• Quantitative research is a formal, objective, systematic process
• generally associated with positivism
• focuses on measurable, quantifiable data, examining relationships between variables
(implies a deductive approach)

• Qualitative research is subjective - studying and interpreting the meanings and opinions of participants
• typically focuses on the development of theory
• may collect data using unstructured or semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and document analysis
• the focus is on discovering new insights without using numerical measurements
• the researcher collects data and interprets their meaning

ACTIVITY 3 - Research Participants

Review your case brief and discuss:
• Who will be the participants in your research?
• Can you describe the population from which these participants have been chosen?
• How will you select the participants from the population? (Type of Sampling)
• Why have you selected this sampling method?
• Identify one benefit and one limitation of using this sampling method.