A Sample Project

Methodology
The Sample

This is a description of the source of the data

you want to collect: people or business or
product or service etc. You describe the
target population or category of
people/business you will be investigating,
(who will give you your data/where your data
will come from), and state the actual group
the data will come from.
Example of The Sample

The reseacher will target the bag juice

making businesses in the Down Town area,
specifically Cal's Jucies Ltd. The researcher
will also target bag juice buying customers in
HiLo to examine the effect of the, “Are you
drinking yourself sick?” ad campaign on
customer choices.
Type of Data

This is where you decide what

type of data you will collect;
qualitative (descriptive,
detailed), or quantitative
(numbers or statistical,
specific) data. This will depend
on the type of data you will
need to prove your topic.
Example of the Type of Data

Since the researcher needs to

establish a connection between the “Are
you drinking yourself sick?” campaign
ad and bag juice sales at Cal's Juices
Ltd, the most appropriate form of
information to collect is quantitative;
documents from the business and a
survey.
Data Collection Strategy

In this section you will have to

outline the strategy you will use to
collect data; whether
observations, surveys, interviews
etc.
 Example of a Data Collection Strategy

The researcher intends to use

the survey method along with
documentation from the business to
achieve the objectives of the
research.
Data Collection Instruments

Here the reseacher needs to state the specific

documents that they will use to collect the data - if
you choose a survey as your data collection strategy,
then your instrument would be a questionnaire. If you
had chosen an observation, then your instrument is
an observation checklist. If you had chosen an
interview as a strategy, then your instrument is the
interview questions etc. Put a copy in your
appendices.
Example of a Data Collection Instrument

In keeping with the choice of survey and

sales documentation from the business as
the source of data, the reseacher will use a
questionnaire for the customers in Hilo
Supermarket. The questionnaire will consist
of ten questions; four demographic (general
population data - age group, gender etc) and
six target questions on the issue of the
campaign ad.
Method of Data Presentation

This is where the researcher

will say what visual aids they
will employ in presenting
their data; the findings of the
research. You can choose
graphs or tables or devise a
presentation mode that is
suitable to your findings.
Example of a Method of Data Presentation

The researcher has decided to use

graphs to show the results of the
comparison between the sales before
and during the campaign ad, as well as
for the feedback of customers from the
questionnaire. It is easier to analyze and
understand.
Method of Analysis

The researcher will have to say how they will

analyze the data they collect. You will need a
strategy. Whether you will use an average of your
figures or you will just compare and contrast the
figures or state any mathematical stategy - mean,
median, mode, you may use to make sense of your
data.
Example of a Method of Analysis

The researcher will analyze the data collected by

comparing the figures before and during the ad campaign of
Cal's Juices Ltd sales. the reseacher will examine the data
for patterns in the sales - a smaller sales figure after the ad
would suggest a loss in sales, and vice versa if the number
is larger.
The researcher will similarly assess the results of the
questionnaires. The reseacher intends to find a correlation
between the customers seeing the ad and what they buy to
drink.
Limitations

This would come after you

have issued your instruments
and actually collected the data.
This is where you
outline/explain all the problems
you experienced collecting the
data for your research.
Example of Limitations

The researcher experienced a

major setback when Cal's refused to
give us their sales data. We had to
choose another business that makes
bag juice and other juices, Big Joe's,
to collect data from. And we were
asked not to reveal all their private
sales information in our research.
Your turn....

How far are you with your research? What have you
done or not done so far?