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Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS I

Business Research Methods I

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Business Research Methods I

Businesses are always coming up against organizational dilemmas. A dilemma is

anything that necessitates making a decision. It could be because of increasing costs, declining

sales, an increase in employee turnover, or other issues that are particular to the trade that the

company is involved in. It is not difficult to find organizational dilemmas, but it can be hard to

choose which dilemma to focus our resources on (Cooper).

When the organizational dilemma has been identified, managers need to examine

questions which help the research process. When the researcher knows the questions

management is considering, they can create a research question (Cooper). Eventually the

research question has been determined, and it is necessary to use this information to fit the

organizational dilemma. This paper is concerned with these topics, as they relate to Wal-Mart.

Research Question

The fundamental research question is how the recession has affected consumers who

shop at Wal-Mart stores. It is clear from historical evidence that 1930s Great Depression

changed how consumers behaved, because such a large part of the population felt the impact of

this economic downturn. The Great Depression happened a long time ago, but even though it

happened several generations ago, many American shoppers are still motivated to save money

after the improvement in the economy. Consumer spending in the United States is about two-

thirds of the nation's GDP, and since this is the case it is important to consider whether the

consumer spending will gradually increase back to pre-recession levels, and how this will impact

Wal-Mart.

Most of the time consumer spending recovers after a recession, but the most recent

recession is the worst that the nation has faced since the Great Depression itself. It is standard

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knowledge that if a recession lasts for a long time, it will change consumer spending more than a

shorter recession. Many people wonder how the United States consumer will react to this

economic downturn, especially since it has been so severe for so long. This research question is

concerned with how consumer spending at Wal-Mart will change, and if this spending will ever

return to the levels that in reached before the recession.

Research Design

It appears that the best research design to use for Wal-Mart is a causal study. This kind

of study explains the relationships that occur between dependent and independent variables

(Cooper). The economy and its impact is an independent variable in this case, since it cannot be

controlled, manipulated, or changed by this research. It can also produce change by itself, which

is clearly seen. This study's dependent variable is the number of people who shop at Wal-Mart

during a set period of time. The dependent variable is what the researchers want to study, and

measuring this will determine the effect of the change.

This causal study is going to be formulated in the non-experimental longitudinal research

design. In a research design that is longitudinal, data will be collected in two or more periods of

time, and data can be ordered according to time (Bachman & Schutt). A related cohort study

will allow for different, time-sensitive, collection of information. People in a cohort share a

starting point. In this case, the cohort is all adult people who lived through 2008's economic

recession. The follow-up sample will be taken from the same cohort, at different times, in this

event-based design, and the expectation is that they can create a causal relationship between the

number of shoppers spending money at Wal-Mart and the economic recession.

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Sample Design

A major part of collecting data that will be used to make decisions is the right kind of

sample design. If the sampling design is planned correctly, the correct data will come from the

target population. There are a lot of ways and means that a company can conduct a sample

process. The sample design is how researchers gather sample information from the selected

population. It is classified both by the element selection techniques and the representation basis.

The sample design must be selected to support if, whether, or how the economic recession

changed the number of customers shopping at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart will be best served by the simple random sample as it tries to determine the

shoppers affected by the economy. The sample's element selection is unrestricted, and its basis

for representation is based on sampling probability. This design means that every member of a

population is equally likely to be included (Cooper). This technique has the advantage of being

able to select a sample that is representative of the entire population. Wal-Mart has customers

from all ethic groups and social classes, so the random sample is the most efficient way that they

can sample this group.

Conclusion

Choosing the right sample design is an important part of research, in order to solve

company dilemmas. The research might be misdirected and the effort wasted if the management

tries too quickly to solve one problem instead of another. The economy changes how consumers

spend their money. This sample design is the best way for Wal-Mart in this case.

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References