Research Proposal Plan: Methodology for Food and Beverage Management

Running Head: Food and Beverage Management
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Food and Beverage Management
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Food and Beverage Management 2
Research Proposal Plan: Methodology
Research Problem
The world produce large amounts of food for human consumption every year. However,
one-third of the food produced internationally is not consumed as required and therefore end up
being wasted despite different ramifications in social, environmental and economic aspects
(Arnold, 2010). The main aim of this plan is to design a methodology so as to investigate the
reaction of consumers in hotel buffet before and after educating them about food wastage and
good eating habits.
Research Methods
The study under investigation will apply mixed method that incorporate both qualitative
and quantitative approaches. This is because the types of data required for the research need to
answer and focus on the project objectives. There are three main decisions required to design the
project research methodology. That is, qualitative Vs quantitative research, empirical Vs desk
research and breadth Vs depth. The research methodology is designed based on the research desk
model as discussed below. First, the desk research involves qualitative research approach where
the researcher collect information on the general overview on the topic on food wastage (Camm,
2016). Again, through desk research, the researcher can access information on food wastage
from online media and books.
For the quantitative approach, data will be collected from participants so as to respond to
research objectives and questions. The most appropriate methods to collect data in this study are
survey study,, questionnaire and observation. Through observation, the researcher is required to
visit hotel buffet and observe different behaviors of consumers in the process of handling food
(Davis et al., 2012). The researcher is required to observe consumers in two scenarios. That is,
before they are educated on good eating habits and after they have been educated on good eating
habits. This method assists the researcher to determine any change in consumer behavior (June &
Theis, 2011). The sample observed from the entire population is 150 participants.
Similarly, questionnaire and survey study should be applied in data collection. They are
performed using similar model. The sample considered in survey should involve 150
participants. 100 participants are selected from population of food consumers while 50
participants are selected from the population of workers in hotels. Since the study need to be
unbiased in gender representation, 50 consumers should be male participants while 50

Food and Beverage Management 3
consumers are female participants. Similarly, 25 male hotel attendants and 25 female hotel
attendants. There is also need to formulate survey questions that are directed to answering
research questions and objectives. These questions are administered within one week after
commencement of the study.
In order to gather data in this study, two groups will be involved in data collection
experiments. The first group is required to collect data on consumers eating habits that result to
food wastage before they are fully educated on the same. This experiment will be conducted in
one week. The following week, the group will educate consumers on good habits of handling
food. After educating the consumers, another experiment will be conducted on how consumers
behave when handling food so as to determine any improvement that would reduce food
wastage.
In the first one-week experiment, 100 consumers will be involved in the study. We will
request hotel operators to serve consumers with food as per their preference. Each day we will
observe the behavior of each consumer and record our data. We will record the amount of food
wasted within the week. We will also record reasons behind food wastage from each participant.
After educating consumers on good eating habits, we will conduct another experiment to
determine any changes in food management and wastage. In this experiment, 100 consumers will
be used as a sample. We will observe the behavior to determine whether they improved on food
management. By the end of the two experiments, we will compare data on both case to find out
whether there is any significant change.
Again, it very important to analyze the data from the experiment through use of
hypothesis. In the experiment, we anticipate that a bigger sample from the population will
respond negatively when handling food in hotel buffet in the first experiment. This assumption is
made because the first experiment involves a sample with little knowledge on how to handle
food. Their eating habits are not good. The process of testing hypothesis in the two experiment
will be applied to determine the decision of food wastage. The general statement in the
hypothesis that need to be tested is; there is relationship between eating habits and food wastage.
This hypothesis need to be tested and proved. In the first experiment, the team will collect data
on the mode of food handling. This data will be analyzed statistical using statistical tools. Then,
there researcher will test the hypothesis by calculating the confidence level of this data. This will