Ethical considerations in business research and publication reader service card strategy

Management-Research Question Hierarchy

What are the reasons for our decline in the use of publication reader service cards amongst our customers?

What are we supposed to do to increase the publication reader service cards?

Should we introduce a publisher of business trader magazines which can determine the long-term visibility and can also be used as an advertiser service? This reader service card is a post card size device which is normally used by readers to request other information from a particular writer.

What is the possibility that the introduction of business trader magazine will eventually increase the publication of reader service cards? How would we know if the introduction of business trader magazine would result to the reduction of revenue and profit make since making publication will go unnoticed, this because many companies don't track the source of their leads?

Could you please rate the level of concern which you have following the introduction of business traders' magazine and its outcome? What would be the most likely scenario if business trader magazine is implemented to the customer satisfactory and the rate of revenue to be generated?

Ethical issues involve in the research study

Ethical issues are fundamental for the success of any business research. They are applied during business and management research at various stages. According to Bryman & Bell (2011) ethical issues should never be ignored when conducting a research because they normally relate directly to the integrity of any piece of research which is being conducted and all the disciplines that are involved. However, there are a number of cases which are famous and infamous that transgresses ethical principles. Different attitude should be taken in consideration when doing ethical business research. For a period of time the discussion on the ethics of business and management research has been in dominate, where the role of values in research is questioned in away that can make it be understood (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

The best ethical principles normally require the entire researchers to brief the participants before the research is done, to ensure the participants are well informed about the research and purpose of the research they are being asked to participate in. In doing so, this provides participants with an opportunity to understand the kind of risk involve in the research they are being asked to undertake and also to understanding the benefit that might be accrued as a result of taking part in particular research. It also offers an absolute moment for any participants to make decision free without any fear of negative consequences (Fritz, 2008).

These ethical practices are necessary during business research simply because they tend to protect both the researcher and participant. It offers participants with an informed consent process which favor formalized interaction between researcher and participant. Strength of qualitative research methods often lies in the informality of the communication as well as the iterative nature of the research process (Fritz, 2008).

Research design

In most cases research design is used in the education sector and it takes different meaning depending with how it's applied. it's normally used interchangeable with the term research method. However, according to Berliner (2002) research design should reflect the whole process of research, starting from the conceptualizing main problem to the question of the research, methods and the conclusion. Identifying a study's research design is important because it communicates information about key features of the study, which can differ for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. However, one common feature across research designs is that at one or more points in the research process, data numbers, words, gestures are collected in different ways and for different purposes.

Critique the survey used for the study.

The survey is built using stratified disproportionate random sampling with subscribers who are considered as to one of 42 cells. In the survey a total of 710 complete questionnaires were sent and received, and in the questionnaires 676 of the respondents indicating that were the people making decision on the purchase for their organization. However, the Penton analyzed on the answers of the 676 buyers, again the data of the study were analyzed by using weighting responses from each cell according to their percentage makeup in overall population. The whole margin error of the survey is indicated as ± 4% at the 95% level of confidence. In more elaborate a good number of follow-up through telephone interviews were conducted with 40 respondents, to gain a deeper understanding of their behavior and attitudes.

Prepare the survey for analysis. Set up the code sheet for this study. How will this study be set up to be tabulated by a statistical analysis program like SPSS?

The analysis of the research will involve the coding of the collected data and then transcribing it. The interviews will be coded and then the outcome analyzed using SPSS. The coding will be done by re-reading the interview and then effectively classifying the relevant information into a series of cells (also known as cross-categories. The coding sheet is show below.

For an immediate product or service

For a Nonimmediate product

Did not do in the past year

Reader service card

Negative

Positive

Toll-free telephone

Negative

Positive

Fax number

Negative

Positive

Web-visits

Negative

Positive

Fax-on-demand

Negative

Positive

Email

Negative

Positive

For an immediate product or service=1

For a Nonimmediate product =2

Did not do in the past year=0

How SPSS will be used

The coding values will be entered into SPSS and then an analysis of the correlation between the variables be carried out. The statistical significance test will then be used in determining the importance of variables in order of significance.This will be carried out using the npar tests.

Assume you are compiling your research report. How would you present the statistical information within this case to the IndustryWeek decision maker, the manager who must decide whether or not to continue to publish reader service cards?

YES.

Assume you are compiling your research report. What are the limitations of this study?

The limitations of this study include the lack of reproducibility for other forms of media, the inability for the findings to be used for nonprofit making and public organizations.

Assume you are the decision maker for IndustryWeek. Given the declining value of the reader response card to subscribers, originally designed as a value-enhancing service to IW readers and advertisers alike, what further research might be suggested by the findings of this study? Or do you have sufficient information to stop the use of the reader response cards in IndustryWeek?

There is a need to conduct further research on the exact market segment (in terms of age, sex or social status) that is disregarding the use of reader response cards.