Centre for Management Studies 27/08/2018

Quantitave Methods

I. Cardio Fitness

Sample Survey
 Product Purchased
 TM195
 TM498
 TM798
 Gender
 Male
 Female
 Other
 Age (in years) ____
 Education (in years) ____
 Relationship Status
 Single
 Partnered
 Annual Household income ___________________
 Average number of times the customer plans to use the treadmill each week ____
 Average number of miles the customer expects to walk/run each week ____
 Self-related fitness rating (1 is poor, 5 is excellent)
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5

1. Which variable in the survey are categorical?

A. The categorical variables in the survey are
 Product Purchased
 Gender
 Relationship Status

2. Which variable in the survey are numerical?

A. The numerical variables in the survey are
 Age (in years)
 Education (in years)
 Annual Household income
 Avg. no. of times treadmill used in a week.
 Avg. number of miles the customer expects to walk/run each week

3. Which variables are discrete numerical variables?

A. The discrete numerical variables in the survey are
 Age (in years)
 Education (in years)
 Self-related fitness test on a scale of 1-5

Hamid Husain 1
Centre for Management Studies 27/08/2018
Quantitave Methods

II. Managing Greenland MultiComm Services

1. What type of data source would the company's own historical data be? Identify other possible data
sources that the research team might use to examine the current marketplace for residential
broadband services in a city such as Greenland.
The company’s user database contains the historical data. Each subscriber has a unique subscribers’
id, each subscriber id has a renewal date, choice of packs chosen by the customers, dates of recharges
etc.
The research team can use the following data sources to examine the current marketplace.
 Market survey with individuals.
 Secondary data from internet, ecommerce websites offering options from other network
service providers.
 Conduct online surveys for current users.

2. What type of data collection techniques might the team employ?

A. The following data collection techniques can be employed by the research team.
 Interviews
 Questionnaires and Surveys
 Observations
 Ethnographies, Oral History, and Case Studies
 Documents and Records

3. In their suggestions and directions, the GMS managers have named a number of possible variables
to study, but offered no operational definitions for those variables.
What types of possible misunderstandings could arise if the team and managers do not first
properly define each variable cited?
A. If the managers do not define the variable “No. of subscribers” with sub-categories such as Age Group,
Language preference,
Qualitative data should be collected as well, such as customer satisfaction, which can be further
categorised with questions like rating the customer support, network quality, offers and pack choices
etc.
If these operational definitions are not defined, the collected data would not be definitive, and may
present a vague definition of the market. Further, if that uncategorised data is used while
implementing new market capturing techniques, it may result in backfiring and cost the company in
revenue as well as in market share.

Hamid Husain 2
Centre for Management Studies 27/08/2018
Quantitave Methods

III. Home loan application from Mr. Tsang

Information is collected from Mr. Tsang on his application for home loan:
a) Monthly payments: $1000
Type of data: Continuous Numerical
Measurement Scale: Ratio

b) Number of jobs in the last 10 years: 1

Type of data: Discrete Numerical
Measurement Scale: Ratio

c) Annual family income: $ 40,000

Type of data: Continuous Numerical
Measurement Scale: Ratio

d) Marital status: Married

Type of data: Categorical
Measurement Scale: Nominal

Hamid Husain 3
Centre for Management Studies 27/08/2018
Quantitave Methods

IV. Dog food Survey

A manufacturer of dog food is planning to survey rich households to determine purchasing habits of
dog owners. Among the variables to be collected are following:
 The primary place of purchase of dog food
 Whether dry or moist dog food is purchased
 The number of dogs living in the household
 Whether any dog living in the household is pedigreed.

Q1. For each of the four items listed above, indicate whether the variable is categorical or numerical
(discrete or continuous)
 The primary place of purchase of dog food
Categorical
 Whether dry or moist dog food is purchased
Categorical
 The number of dogs living in the household
Discrete numerical
 Whether any dog living in the household is pedigreed.
Categorical

Q2. Develop five categorical questions for the survey

Dog Food Survey
 How often do you buy food for your dog(s)?
 Daily  Monthly
 Weekly  Quarterly
 Do you research your dog’s food before purchase?
 Yes
 No
 Which of the following factors do you consider as the most important when buying dog
food?
 Price  Taste
 Safety  Brand
 Ingredients  None of these
 Which brand do you prefer for your dog food?
 Pedigree  Eukanuba
 Purina  Drools
 Royal Canin  Other
 Where do you purchase your dog’s food from?
 Grocery store  Licensed Veterinarian
 Pet store  Home prepared
 Online  Other

Q3. Develop five numerical questions for the survey.

Five numerical questions for the “Dog Food Survey”.
 How many dogs do you have?
 How many members are in your family?
 How much do you spend in a month on your dog’s food?
 How many times do you feed your dog in a day?
 What is the Avg. age of dogs in your house? (in months)

Hamid Husain 4