Business Research Methodology: Survey Report and Analysis

This report delves into the application of business research methodology, specifically focusing on survey administration and analysis. The report details the reasons for selecting a quantitative survey method, outlining its advantages (e.g., obtaining real-world data, generating a high quantity of information) and disadvantages (e.g., potential for insufficient information, difficulties in managing). The report also addresses the success of the administration procedure, noting respondent comprehension issues and missing data. It provides suggestions for improving the process, such as enhancing email open rates, refining questionnaire design, and utilizing piloting tools. Furthermore, the report discusses changes made to the questionnaire before administering it to a larger group of respondents, emphasizing the importance of clarity and relevance. Finally, the report reflects on key lessons learned, including the significance of addressing research objectives, understanding the target population, and ensuring the confidentiality of respondents. The report concludes with a revised questionnaire, highlighting specific changes made to improve clarity and effectiveness.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Business Research Methodology

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Table of Contents
Reasons for selecting the particular method of survey administration, and the advantages and
disadvantages of using this method.............................................................................................................3
Was the administration procedure a success i.e., did respondents understand the questions (look confused
or ask questions)? Was there missing data (i.e., skipped questions)? On average, how long it takes for
respondents to complete the survey.............................................................................................................4
What suggestions would you make for improving the administrative procedure used?...............................4
What, if any changes, would you make to the questionnaire before administering it to a larger group of
respondents?................................................................................................................................................6
On reflection, what were the key lessons you learned from the survey administration process?.................6
Revise questionnaire the Changes being made............................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................9
Appendix: Complete 10 questionnaire.......................................................................................................11

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Reasons for selecting the particular method of survey administration, and the advantages
and disadvantages of using this method
The main cause of choosing the quantitative tool in the context of survey administration is to
create a response with regards to research concern in quantitative structure. In addition, close-
ended as well as open-ended questions were practiced for obtaining the responses regarding
respondents about the conspicuous shopping. I have classified to questionnaire into different
sections. In such a manner, the initial section was associated with data regarding the respondents
like trip type was the most recent trip and the main purpose of this trip. These types of survey
administration technique are effective for creating in-depth data about the shopping behavior of
participants (Roy and Ray, 2017). This tool is beneficial to comprehend the perception of
consumers towards purchasing the products. Through this tool, I have pointed out that the
motivation of respondents and the intention of purchasing luxurious products. I have observed
that in the second section, the close-ended question was practiced as it provides chances to
choose one response from the alternative. This technique is less time-consuming. I have also
developed my knowledge about the Likert scale technique. This tool involves different
alternatives and provides opportunities to select one of them (Ramya and Mohamed Ali, 2016).
I have also enhanced my learning regarding questionnaire associated with demographic factors.
It is practiced for increasing the knowledge with respect to personal information of participants
like gender, occupation, age-group, education, and income. This tool was effective as it entails
different factors that may impact on the conspicuous consumption (Lopez, 2018).
The key advantage of practicing the survey administers is that an investigation obtains the facts
and figures according to real-world perception. The large quantity of individual in the survey
shows that it is a more feasible strategy as compared to gathering the information through a

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smallrepresentative. Another benefit of practicing survey is to generate a high quantity of
information in minimum time with affordable expenses. A researcher can develop the duration
for investigation because it would help in building plan as well as arriving at favorable results
(Shoham and Gavish, 2016).
However, this survey tool has certain limitation. The appropriateness of data could be avoided
when a researcher focuses on depth information for dealing with the investigation concern. The
information obtained via this technique would be likely for considering the insufficient
information on the issue being investigated. This tool makes sure the high rate of response by
survey. However, it could be complex in terms of managing, particularly while it is executed by
post. It is difficult while the survey is obtained by over the telephones and face to face (Ahmed,
et. al., 2017).
Was the administration procedure a success i.e., did respondents understand the questions
(look confused or ask questions)? Was there missing data (i.e., skipped questions)? On
average, how long it takes for respondents to complete the survey
I have implemented an administrative process that was effective for obtaining the data about the
research concern from participants. At the time of the survey, I have observed that there are some
respondents who have difficulty to comprehend the question as they had questioning from
investigator till developing comprehension of the question. There are some respondents who
have skipped the questions about the confidential data because they feel unconfident to
communicate on their personal information such as age, gender,and income. This survey has
taken much time of participants such as 1 hour 30 minutes to complete the survey questions
(Shamout, 2016).
What suggestions would you make for improving the administrative procedure used?

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I would like to recommend to gain the quantity of e-mails that could be opened as well as
obtained by participants for increasing the rate of response from survey. It could be suggested
that a high amount of respondents who clicked on the start button of survey, have completed
survey. An investigator can select the right respondents from whom they can send a survey via
invitations on email. It should ensure that the participants will open the email (Farah and
Ramadan, 2017).
I can also recommend that a researcher can create designing related to investigation tool. The
questions that would be asked may cautiously plan together with piloted using interview and
postal questionnaire tools. The different concern can be entailed in the structuring of
questionnaire and interview like the format of the questionnaire, planning the content for
investigation tool, interview questions, piloting, as well as covering letter (Chung, Song, and
Lee, 2017).
I can recommend to a researcherfor utilizing the questionnaire structure to enhance the process of
administration. The questionnaire practiced in survey research should be clear as well as
comprehensible. The practice of capital letter can be avoided because this structure is hard to
interpret. Along with this, questions should be perceptibly grouped as well as numbered by
theme. Along with this, comprehensive instruction can be offered as well as headings involved to
make a meaningful questionnaire. I can also suggest to the researcher for utilizing the piloting
tool. This tool could be measured through a pilot sample of a predetermined population. This
tool will allow me tocomprehend the developing questionnaire structure (Maheshwari, Seth, and
Gupta, 2016).
Piloting will make competent to me to emphasize on whether sufficient response categories are
demonstrated as well as whether any questions are methodologically skipped by respondents. I

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would also recommend a researcher to develop the effective content associated with
investigation tool. The topic of interest can be carefully targeted as well as comprehensibly
related to research questions. This would be also advantageous to me because of entailing the
proficient in such field, targeting the sample as well as colleagues in designing a questionnaire.
This would make sure to legalize the coverage of the survey questionnaire (Rana, and Paul,
2017).
What, if any changes, would you make to the questionnaire before administering it to a
larger group of respondents?
I would make some transformation in survey before allocation to higher amount of participants. I
would also address questionnaire for accessing whether these questionnaires is advantageous for
both researcher as well as customers or not. I would also eliminate those questionnaires that
could not be associated with investigation objectives for completing the investigation in a
systematic way. I would focus on a questionnaire that will take minimum timing period of
participants for avoiding the dullness from the survey (Mo, Li, and Fan, 2015).
I would create a transformation to those questions that generateillogically as well as irrelevancy
for participants. I would identify the language of survey that should be unambiguous with
straightforward because participants can provide responses to each question rather than skipping
the questions. I would develop a survey questionnaire before allocating to larger group of
participants. In such a manner, it is significant to consider target publication in mind earlier
creating the survey. These transformations are significant for eliminating the errors as well as
mistakes from the survey as well as supporting reliable result (Lu, Chang, and Chang, 2015).
On reflection, what were the key lessons you learned from the survey administration
process?

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I have increased different learning from the procedure of administrating the survey. In such a
manner, I have developed my knowledge that initially, an investigator can address the issue as
well as investigation objectives. This procedure was significant to address how socio-
demographic characteristics, cultural values, and intention of shopping might influence the
choice of customers with respect to conspicuous purchasing. I have also generated my
knowledge with respect to the target population (Lu, Chang, and Chang, 2015). I have enhanced
my knowledge with respect to keeping confidentiality as well as the privacy of respondents. In
such manner, it is evaluated that confidentiality, as well as the privacy of the respondent’s data,
were secured to provide an appropriate response in a survey. Throughout initial section, I have
learned that an investigator discussed with participants about items that generally purchase by
them. They also asked about cultural values, shopping motivations, experience, and behavioral
intention of customers. I have built my knowledge that researcher discussed with respondents
regarding the conspicuous consumption issues and their views regarding it (Mo, Li, and Fan,
2015). This learning would be advantageous to conduct the investigation in a significant way.
Through section two, I have generated my knowledge on the Likert scale. Under this manner, I
have pointed that the Likert scale involves different alternatives such as strongly agree to
strongly disagree. I created my understanding that question should rely on key investigation
concern (Ahmed, et. al., 2017). I gained my experience that the key intention of gathering
information from respondents is to collect in-depth data associated with conspicuous shopping
behaviour. By the last section, I built my understanding that an investigator should ask for
respondents about the demographic information like race, age, as well as gender. This learning
would be effective for me to develop questionnaire in the upcoming period (Rana, and Paul,
2017).

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Revise questionnaire the Changes being made
The survey is conducted on 16 customers who purchased conspicuous/luxury item. The monkey
survey tool is used for conducting the survey. The given below is used for piloting the survey
through the questionnaire, some questions were rephrased as well as some were removed with
clarity. It is discussed as follow:
Changes to question 2 of section A:
Wording:
Pilot: what is your perception of a conspicuous/luxury item?
High quality of material Uniqueness Product exclusivity
Quality of craftsmanship Premium price Aesthetics
Rarity Famous brand Premium quality
Authenticity Expensive price Distinctiveness
Final: what is your perception of a conspicuous/luxury item?
Authenticity Expensive price Premium quality
Wording: Changes in question 3 of section A
Pilot: Have you traveled in the last 12 months during which you bought the
conspicuous/luxury item(s)?
Yes (Go to Question 4) No (STOP, Thank you)
Final: Have you traveled in the last 12 months during which you bought the
conspicuous/luxury item(s)?
Yes No

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Wording: Changing in question 10 of section C
Pilot: Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in relation to the
cultural values with 1= Strongly Disagree 7= Strongly Agree
Respect for other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A cohesive family 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Education and achievement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cooperative and harmonious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Loyalty 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Seeking fun and excitement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Desire for material possessions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A belief in the value of hard work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Willingness to delay gratification 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A balance of work and play, with no excesses 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Seeking out new experiences 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Responsible about carrying out obligations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Maintenance of traditional customs and rituals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Living in harmony 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A secure and comfortable life 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Final: Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in
relation to the cultural values with 1= Strongly Disagree, 2= agree, 3= neutral, 4= strongly
disagree, 5= disagree
Respect for other 1 2 3 4 5
A cohesive family 1 2 3 4 5
Education and achievement 1 2 3 4 5
Cooperative and harmonious 1 2 3 4 5
Loyalty 1 2 3 4 5
Responsible about carrying out obligations 1 2 3 4 5
Maintenance of traditional customs and rituals 1 2 3 4 5
Living in harmony 1 2 3 4 5
A secure and comfortable life 1 2 3 4 5
Wording: Changes in question 11 of section C
Pilot: Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in relation to your shopping
motivation with 1= strongly Disagree 7= Strongly Agree
The brands of the conspicuous/luxury items that I like best are
ones that express my individuality. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I sometimes buy conspicuous/luxury items to create a more
distinctive personal image. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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An important goal is to buy conspicuous/luxury items that
communicate my uniqueness. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Using conspicuous/luxury items helps me to fit in with the
groups I like.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Owning and using conspicuous/luxury items make me feel
attractive. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Using conspicuous/luxury items provides me with a sense of
self-esteem 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I like to have a lot of conspicuous/luxury items in my life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Some of the most important achievements in life include
acquiring material possessions like conspicuous/luxury items.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Using conspicuous/luxury items always gives me a lot of
pleasure.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I like to own things like conspicuous/luxury items to impress
people.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Final: Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in
relation to your shopping motivation with 1= strongly Disagree, 2= agree, 3= neutral, 4=
strongly disagree, 5= disagree
The brands of the conspicuous/luxury itemsthat I
like best are ones that express my individuality. 1 2 3 4 5
I sometimes buy conspicuous/luxury itemsto create
a more distinctive personal image. 1 2 3 4 5
An important goal is to buy conspicuous/luxury
itemsthat communicate my uniqueness. 1 2 3 4 5
Using conspicuous/luxury itemshelps me to fit in
with the groups I like.
1 2 3 4 5
Using conspicuous/luxury itemsprovides me with a
sense of self-esteem 1 2 3 4 5
I like to have a lot of conspicuous/luxury itemsin
my life.
1 2 3 4 5
Wording: Changes in question 12 of section C
Pilot: Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in relation to your
shopping experience with 1= strongly Disagree 7= strongly Agree
Final: Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements in
relation to your shopping experience with 1= strongly Disagree, 2= agree, 3= neutral, 4=
strongly disagree, 5= disagree

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I felt thrilled about the new shopping experience. 1 2 3 4 5
I was indulged in the shopping activities. 1 2 3 4 5
The experience was really enjoyable. 1 2 3 4 5
It was novelty. 1 2 3 4 5
The experience was unique. 1 2 3 4 5
It was different from previous experience. 1 2 3 4 5
I closely experienced the local culture. 1 2 3 4 5
Remove questions from the survey
 Remove question 1 from section A due to irrelevancy
 Remove questions 5, 6, 8 and 9 from section B due to vagueness
 Remove 13 from section C as it was almost similar to other questions and may create
boredom for participants
 Remove 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 from section D that can make feel insecure to participants

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References
Ahmed, Z., Su, L., Rafique, K., Khan, S.Z. and Jamil, S., 2017.A study on the factors affecting
consumer buying behavior towards online shopping in Pakistan. Journal of Asian Business
Strategy, 7(2), p.44.
Chung, N., Song, H.G. and Lee, H., 2017. Consumers’ impulsive buying behavior of restaurant
products in social commerce. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 29(2), pp.709-731.
Farah, M.F. and Ramadan, Z.B., 2017. Disruptions versus more disruptions: How the Amazon
dash button is altering consumer buying patterns. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 39, pp.54-61.
Lopez, M.O., 2018. Consumer Buying Behavior as Loyalty Antecedents at Selected Fast Food
Chain Restaurants. International Journal of Recent Innovations in Academic Research, 2(6),
pp.186-201.
Lu, L.C., Chang, H.H. and Chang, A., 2015. Consumer personality and green buying intention:
The mediate role of consumer ethical beliefs. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(1), pp.205-219.
Maheshwari, P., Seth, N. and Gupta, A.K., 2016. An empirical approach to consumer buying
behavior in the Indian automobile sector. Industrial and Commercial Training, 48(3), pp.156-
162.
Mo, Z., Li, Y.F. and Fan, P., 2015. Effect of online reviews on consumer purchase
behavior. Journal of Service Science and Management, 8(03), p.419.
Ramya, N. and Mohamed Ali, S.A., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying
behavior. International journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.