Marketing Research

Introduction Introductory Paragraphs Marketing is a crucial part of a firm, business or financial institution. It determines the number of customers using services from the entity. As a result, it determines the profits that the business entity makes per unit time. Consequently, it determines the solvency and prosperity of the whole business.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Marketing Research specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The firms, in turn, struggle to improve their marketing and advertising strategies in their system. The strategies must compete favorably with other firms that offer similar products. It must aim at adopting a strategy that leads to customers and client satisfaction. This ensures that the firms maintain their customers and gain more customers than their competitors (Kotler, 1986). In marketing, public relation officers carry out researches which aim at getting preferences from the cu stomers. In these researches, they collect data on the perceptions and opinions of the customers. This helps the business entities to provide new services and improve the quality of current goods and services. Consequently, they retain their customer and attract others. The demand and profit margin rise simultaneously. This paper will focus on designing a research that aims at collecting opinions of the customers. Particularly, it will design a research on a restaurant offering fast food. Specifically, it will use McDonald’s restaurant for the research. History McDonald’s restaurant is found in USA offering fast food. It was started in the year 1940 by Maurice and Richard at San Bernardino. In 1948, the restaurant improvised a speed serving system which increased efficiency and gained more customers than earlier. The company changed administrative bodies of management severally. In addition, it has changed the logo for a number of times due to marketing and advertiseme nt. The restaurant operates in 119 countries around the world. In the countries, it has thirty four thousand restaurants that operate under the headquarters in Illinois. The restaurant offers sandwiches, breakfast, soft drinks and desserts. The restaurants in other countries deviate from the standard menu fitting the countries culture. For example, china serves soup while the Indian restaurants refrain from serving beef. This is due to the religious taboos that exist in the country. They have the outdoor and indoor serving that fits the customer’s choices and decisions. Therefore, the restaurant is an all-inclusive restaurant that fits every social class.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Statement of Problem The restaurant has grown rapidly in accordance to history. However, various criticisms have been directed to fast food. The critics target the menu, pract ices of business and the expansion of the business. For example, Morris group had designed leaflets which aimed at criticizing the health status of the restaurants. In 2004, a documentary called Super-Size blamed the company for increased cases of obesity. The criticisms that revolve around fast foods have affected growth of the restaurant. For the last two years, the restaurant has been progressing in a slower pace than the previous years. This has posed a serious challenge to the overall profitability and the solvency of the company. As a result, this problem needs to be addressed with urgency. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to solve this financial and economic crisis existing in the restaurant. The research aims at involving the customers in improving financial status and services. It seeks to use the outside-in strategy to solve the internal challenges. In addition, the study will enable the restaurant to make additional inputs in the current menu. Lastly, it w ill help the management to add attractive and useful services in the restaurant. This will be fulfilled through various objectives. Objective of the study To understand their customers in details To collect the relevant information pertaining to customer’s preferences To make relevant recommendations and conclusions for improvement Research Question In this research, we seek to understand the perceptions and opinions of the customers towards the products and services offered. As a result, we need a query that will form the basis and foundation of the research. Therefore, we might seek to know whether restaurants perceive a negative change in the quality of the products and services offered. Do restaurants perceive declines in the quality of products and services? This is a broad question that allows the development and design of the research. It provides sufficient space to get the opinions of the customers towards the improvements of products. It is a question which can form the methodological center of departure for the entire research. Hypotheses Although there is the research question, it is essential to speculate and make predictions before the actual research. Therefore, we could assume that there is no decline in the quality of the products offered by the restaurant. However, this hypothesis cannot be tested. We cannot carry out a research for the purpose of scrutiny. Scientifically, it is called the null hypothesis. We could assume that there is a decline in the quality of food offered in the restaurant. The hypothesis will, therefore, state that restaurants perceive declines in the quality of products and services. The hypothesis could be broken down into sub-hypotheses to state that McDonald restaurant perceives declines in the quality of services.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Marketing Research specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is, also, possible to rese arch on the hypothesis stating that restaurants rarely perceive declines in the quality of products and services. All these could form alternative hypotheses. However, there is no research that dwells on more than one hypothesis simultaneously. Therefore, this research will dwell on the alternative hypothesis about McDonald restaurant. A research can be carried out to determine the validity of this hypothesis. As a result, the research will revolve around this hypothesis. Background Literature Review The company has been offering products that have high calorie. The calorie products have been the target of criticism from many communities. Therefore, most customers feel that they should take food with fewer calories than the restaurant offers in the menu. Most of the current customers are aware of the dangers that the food bring to them. These dangers include obesity, high blood pressure and gaining unnecessary weight. In addition, the restaurant does not offer bitter drinks that hel p in breaking down the fats they consume. The customers get cautious of this situation and prefer making food at home rather than visiting the restaurant. Employment of young staff has deterred the companies’ reputation. The company was sued for the allegations of propagating child labor. Customers feel uncomfortable when they are served by staff members who are underage. The management has been overwhelming the staff for decreasing their efficiency during serving. Complains show dissatisfaction of service by the staff. This has been a crucial point of failure. Definitions of terms Qualitative analysis- This is an analysis that uses subjective reasoning on non-quantifiable data or information. Qualitative analysis- It refers to the analysis of quantifiable data by mathematical calculations and deductions. Sampling- Sampling refers to tactical selection of data sets from the target population Methodology- This refers to the strategies that are used to collect records and repr esent data for analysis. Instrumentation- Instrumentation focuses on the instruments used in the collection analysis of information. Methodology Population The population is comprised of the customers’ visit to the restaurant for the meals. It includes customers from the 119 countries around the world in 34,000 restaurants. The total number of customers served by the restaurants is approximately sixty eight million per day. This is a huge population that makes it difficult to reach all customers. Therefore, the research cannot consider the whole population of customers. For the purpose of data collection, sampling will be carried out. Sampling During sampling, two data sets will be considered for the collection of views. The two data sets will include customers who make regular visits and those visiting the restaurant occasionally. Regular customers visit the restaurant for three meals daily. On the other hand, occasional customers visit the restaurant for one meal only. On this sampling, the sample is not carried out in a manner that favors a desired outcome (Strauss, 1992). Therefore, the outcomes will be credible. The sample will randomize the respondent across gender, age and origin of the customers. Therefore, it will become extremely reliable and credible.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Instrumentation The most crucial instrument of this research will be the questionnaires which will contain several questions aiming at understanding the perceptions of the customers. On this light, the following questions will be included in the questionnaires. How many times do you visit the restaurant daily? What is your most preferred food product in this restaurant? What is your most preferred drink in the restaurant? What do you think is omitted in the menu? What should we add in the menu to suite the eating habit? How do you rate the service by the staff in this restaurant? Does the waiting time coincide with your time management? Does the cost of products match with their quality? What is your opinion regarding the health of the food you take on the restaurant? Customers will be given the questionnaires to fill when they visit the restaurant. Therefore, the questionnaire should have a few questions. This ensures that the questionnaire does not consume much of the respondent s time. Otherwise, it would lead to incomplete or unreliable formation. On this light, the questionnaires should be flexible. They should be designed in a manner that allows modification. This implies that it can be modified to include arising themes during the research. In addition, it allows the removal of any questions that are irrelevant to the study. These modifications arise during the actual research. A Facebook and Twitter account will be opened for the research. People will be invited to like the page and make their contributions. The questions will be posted on the page and customers invited to answer the questions. This will be a technological extension for the questionnaires. It will capture the customers who are in the social networks. As a result, the number of people considered will be sufficient to make conclusions. The children will be interviewed orally by the selected staff from the restaurant. The staffs will record the information on the questionnaire for analys is. However, the interview will be recorded using audio recorders. The audio recorders will ensure that the information that is omitted in the questionnaires is captured. Video recorders will be used where visual presentation of information is required. For example, a child who does not know the real name of certain food will tend to point at the food. The video recorder or camera will be used to capture the information. As a result, all the information that is required for analysis will be available. Therefore, the research will be all-inclusive and reliable. Consequently, the recommendations, conclusions, and solutions derived from the research will be credible. A suggestion box will be used for the purpose of the research. For the period of research, a small advert will be hanged beside the box. It will urge customers to drop any opinions on the box. The opinions will be incorporated in the analysis. This will widen the scope of the research. Procedures and Time Frames The most s ignificant procedure of data collection will be filling in the questionnaires. The questionnaires will have the nine questions. This will take a maximum of three minutes to answer the questionnaires. The questionnaire will have a section which will seek to capture additional information and opinions from the customers. This section might take about two minutes to write and express ideas. In total, a single respondent might take five minutes to fill in the questionnaire. The oral research for the children might take a little bit longer. Each question might take a maximum of 1 minute. On the other hand, they might take one minute to give an opinion about their experience in the hotel. A child might take a maximum of ten minutes to interview and get information that can be used for analysis. Analysis plan Analysis can either be qualitative or quantitative according to the data being collected (Strauss, 1987). In this research, qualitative analysis will be used to analyze data. During t he research, the collection of data and analysis will be done simultaneously. The simultaneous operations will ensure that the questionnaires are changed and altered to accommodate new themes rising during the research. The data between the mature customers and the children will be done separately. In addition, the data between occasional customers and regular customers will be separated. This allows comparison between the two data sets. It ensures that the existing similarities are reconciled, and the differences appearing in the opinions are retained. The diversity of the opinions in those data sets makes the results reliable and credible. Reliability and Validity of the Research Reliability and credibility in this research cannot be ignored. The consideration of the two factors is mandatory and paramount. Violating the reliability of research makes it biased and incredible. For this reason, the research has employed various factors to ensure the validity and reliability of the re sults. First, sampling will be done randomly. This implies that the research is not biased or inclined to a desired outcome. Secondly, the use of various data sets ensures that there is sufficient variation among the respondents. The variation occurs in reference to age, gender and level of regularity to the restaurant. Lastly, the use of flexible questionnaires, which allowed the incorporation of the arising themes, ensured the capture of much information. Also, it ensured that the research focused on the relevant information only. The three measures ensure full credibility, validity, and reliability of the information collected from the respondents. Conclusions This research will be a positive step towards solving the financial crisis that is facing the restaurant of McDonald’s. It will provide the necessary information which can be used to make recommendations and conclusions. The research described every step and detail that will be followed in collecting, recording, and analyzing the data and information. Consequently, it can be described as an all-inclusive research. In fact, it will be a crucial step towards solving the challenges that have been posed to the company. Works Cited Kotler, Philip. Principles of marketing. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1986. Print. Strauss, Anselm L. Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Print. Thompson, Steven K.. Sampling. New York: Wiley, 1992. Print. This research paper on Marketing Research was written and submitted by user Tanner H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesnt Help

3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesnt Help 3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesn’t Help 3 Cases When Hyphenation Doesn’t Help By Mark Nichol Writers are often confused by the complexity of hyphenation rules, mistakenly omitting them when their presence would help clarify meaning and inserting them when they’re superfluous. The decision about whether to use them can be further complicated in sentences in which it would be technically correct but aesthetically inadvisable to use them. Three examples, each followed by discussion and revision, demonstrate a few sentences in which recasting a sentence to avoid hyphens is preferable to using them. 1. They can lean toward easier-to-maintain, off-the-shelf server, network, and storage gear. Hyphenation of the phrasal adjectives â€Å"easier to maintain† and â€Å"off the shelf,† both of which modify the phrase â€Å"server, network, and storage gear† is correct, but the double dose of multiple hyphenation, complicated by the fact that the phrases modify a phrase rather than a single word, clutters the sentence. Relaxing the statement as shown here improves readability: â€Å"They can lean toward off-the-shelf server, network, and storage gear that is easier to maintain.† 2. The company’s conversation about buying a brand can evolve into a mergers and acquisitions (MA)-type dialogue. Identifying a term’s abbreviation within parentheses immediately after the first reference to the term when the abbreviation will be used in place of the term in subsequent references is standard procedure, but when the term is modified by a word attached to it with a hyphen, the intervening parenthesis is intrusive. Again, sentence relaxation is a simple solution: â€Å"The company’s conversation about buying a brand can evolve into a dialogue similar to that regarding mergers and acquisitions (MA).† (Also, technically, temporarily disregarding the parenthesis, an en dash should replace the hyphen in the original sentence to signal that type is being attached not just to acquisitions but to the entire phrase â€Å"mergers and acquisitions†: â€Å"The company’s conversation about buying a brand can evolve into a mergers and acquisitions–type dialogue.†) 3. The next step should be to evaluate the effectiveness of existing practices in customer information collection strategies. Technically, the string of nouns turned adjectives that combine to modify strategies should be hyphenated to signal their teamwork (â€Å"The next step should be to evaluate the effectiveness of existing practices in customer-information-collection strategies†), but that three-car train of adjectives can be avoided by relaxing the sentence: â€Å"The next step should be to evaluate the effectiveness of existing practices in strategies for collecting customer information.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and Toes41 Words That Are Better Than GoodPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

A Dolls House, by Henry Ibsen Essay -- Henry Ibsen, A Doll House

I find the metaphorical meanings in particular, quite supplementary to the overall plot, as well as the irony that sets us up for tense situations in which any drama should do. Directly after the title of the drama, we are immediately primed with the social standards of the time as the first character is listed: â€Å"Torvald Helmer - a lawyer,† and underneath his name: â€Å"Nora - his wife.† She above all else is first a wife and a mother; these titles assume her primary duties and responsibilities. Nora however is not much more than a â€Å"trophy wife† to Mr. Helmer and a playmate to her children. Torvald refers to her with what seem to be degrading nick nding, "thousands of women have" (875). This statement allows for Nora to realize her many accomplishments and her worthiness of a larger award than what she has ever been given. Torvald stops referring to her using bird metaphors, he now sees her strengths that far exceed his own. Instead of her relying on him, he is dependent upon her to keep his beloved public image. Nora no longer relies on his claims of "wide wings to shelter you with," (871) she breaks free and uses her own recently discovered wings to escape Torvald’s sheltering. One throughout the play is almost hoping for the â€Å"greatest miracle,† but can see Nora’s struggle to break free of her caged prison. Nora has set herself free to fly just as birds were created to do, and the sound of a door slamming shut emphasizes her gained strength. Works Cited Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll House. 1983. Print.

The Role of Internal Auditors in the Corporate Governance Framework Essay

The Role of Internal Auditors in the Corporate Governance Framework - Essay Example Internal auditing, as a framework, has been established for serving the particular organizational need. This study focuses on the role of internal auditors in the corporate governance framework. This issue is explored by referring primarily to corporate governance, as part of modern businesses. Then the role of internal auditors in corporate governance is analyzed taking into consideration the following fact: in each business, the tasks developed by internal auditors may be differentiated. Still, the power of internal auditors to check business processes is standardized; internal auditors have access to all business operations, meaning that the full authorization of the auditors by the top management is considered as guaranteed (Rittenberg et al. 2011). However, despite the fact that the role of internal auditors is closely related to Corporate Governance, the involvement of the auditors in the activities and data of firms is often not welcomed, a phenomenon resulted from certain events, as analyzed below (Cascarino 2007). On the other hand, the accountability of internal auditors for the tasks assigned to them is full; this means that failures and mistakes while performing the internal auditing can lead to severe consequences for the auditors even if the latter has taken all appropriate measures for avoiding such outcome (Ridley 2008). These issues are discussed below with reference to the literature that has been published in this field. It is proved that internal auditing is a complex process and for this reason, the evaluation of its performance can be a difficult task, especially in countries where the regulatory framework for businesses is unclear. The term ‘corporate governance’ is quite broad. Indeed, in a relevant definition, the term ‘is defined as the total of operations and controls of an organization’ (Fama and Jensen 1983, in Karagiorgos et al. 2010, p.17).  Ã‚  

Felony Criminal Charge Procedure Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Felony Criminal Charge Procedure - Term Paper Example This essay will be focussed on the criminal procedures stages that are common among the two level of government in bringing felony suspects to justice. It will make an in-depth discussion of the process right from the initial stage of the investigation until sentence of the case is determined (Moak & Carlson, 2012). A criminal case is essentially one that an individual is accused of causing harm or destruction to the general society through one or more of his actions. They usually take two forms either misdemeanour or felony charges (McCord, McCord, & Bailey, 2012). A misdemeanour is a less serious case and thus magistrate judges handle it. Often it is punishable by a fine of less than one year imprisonment in jail. On the other hand, felonies are perceived to be more grievous cases that require more attention. They are usually handled by district judges in district courts. These crimes are punishable of incarceration in state correction centres (Champion, 1988). A felony charge is committed when an individual acts in a manner that contravenes the state or federal laws thus causing harm or destruction to the general public. A suspect of a felony charge may be arrested depending on the scenario (Moak & Carlson, 2012). First an individual can be arrested by police responding to a reported crime if he/she around the crime scene where the incidence has been reported, alternatively after a crime has been reported police will commence investigations to determine the perpetrators. In the process of piecing together the available evidence an individual may be implicated by either the fingerprints, which were found at the scene of the crime, DNA samples found at the crime scene or CCTV footage of the premise where the crime occurred. In the first scenario the suspect is arrested, the police officer responsible for the arrest signs a sworn affidavit and complaint sheet that

Psychology Of Adjustment Essay Example for Free

Psychology Of Adjustment Essay When a person hears the term psychotherapy, images of a white padded room and a person wearing a straightjacket immediately enter the mind. Psychotherapy was at one time in the history of mental health, taken to mean that a person has lost control of his mental faculties and now requires severe medical treatments such as shock therapy, Indeed, there was a time when psychotherapy was not something that a person would willingly undertake. These days though, the medical field of mental health that covers psychotherapy has come to be recognized as something that helps anybody, not just a mentally unbalanced person, deal with life. In effect, it has become a field synonymous with helping a person learn how to cope with his life and the problems besieging him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In real life, basic psychotherapy is what we seek when we have problems and we turn to our friends and family for advice. The need to unload and seek the help of another person in analyzing situations is the way we cope with problems. By seeing things from another persons perspective, we gain a better handle on the situation and its relating situations or topics. Although, there are instances when problems become so severe that family or friendly intervention can no longer help the person cope. In such instances, it is important for a person to seek professional help either on his own volition or through intervention techniques.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is not hard to find the necessary psychological help once a person has acknowledged his need for professional intervention. There are psychologists in both private and public practice who are available to help. They can be found in community centers, hospitals, and sometimes, even among the religious.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the psychology practitioners range from psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, counselors, and paraprofessionals, it is of the utmost importance that a person seeking psychiatric help know which type of mental health professional would be the best choice to approach in order to help him deal with his problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is important to have a list of requirements when choosing a psychotherapist. Part of the criteria when choosing should include ( a ) insuring that the medical professional you choose is properly qualified and licensed to practice in the state, ( b ) and how that person makes you feel when you are talking to him. Comfortability and trust in the psychotherapist is of the utmost importance because this is a person whom you shall be entrusting your deepest and most private thoughts to. He or she will need to display a genuine concern for your welfare and actually listen to you in order to give you proper advise or analysis of your problems. This persons professional characteristics, professional experience, and skills can spell the difference between his ability to help and a continuing downward spiral into darkness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Remember, a person seeks psychotherapy in an effort to understand what he is going through and why. The help given by the psychotherapist can range from emotional support, medication, and sometimes, a lifestyle change. The important thing is for the person concerned to be he involved in his own welfare and recognize and accept that he has problems that require professional help in order to for him to properly deal with it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no real set time for the completion of a psychiatric treatment. Usually though, therapy can be ended once the person has gained control of the situation or problem and no longer poses a danger to himself and to others. Provided the person already knows and understands why he is going through certain difficulties in life, and he is capable of controlling the situation on his own, it will be safe to either end the treatment or continue it on an intermittent basis. It all really depends upon the patient and his needs.

Essay --

ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD There remains considerable gap between the health HR in position and that required for public health sector. This shortage is attributed to delays in recruitment and postings not being based on work-load or sanctions. Lack of sound HR management policies has also resulted in irrational distribution of available HR and suboptimal motivation. The envisioned public health cadre to manage NRHM and NUHM (or now National Health Mission) is not yet in place. Insufficient focus on public health is a major weakness of the system and must be urgently corrected. Effective public health management requires a certain degree of expertise and it calls for an urgent real need for a dedicated public health cadre (with support teams comprising of epidemiologists, entomologists, public health nurses, inspectors and male multipurpose workers) backed by appropriate regulation at the state level. Availability of skilled HR remains a key constraint in expanding health service delivery. A mere expansion of financial resources devoted to health will not deliver results if health manpower is not available. An expansion of public sector medical schools and public health institutions is necessary in this process. The norms for public health service providers were set long ago and are considered very inadequate according to today’s requirements and expectations. Even those under IPHS also need to be revised periodically based on the rapidly changing modern times. The shortfall of doctors and specialists is a serious issue. Availability of public health functionaries is very low. The doctors and specialists in position do not necessarily mean that they are physically present at their respective centres and performing their du... ...the convergence and development of public health systems that are responsive to the health and well being of the people, it is important to recognise the need for a comprehensive strategy that must include the public health HR (both professional and auxiliary health personnel). In India, availability of health HR in the public sector is quantitatively inadequate and most of the States/UTs lack a dedicated public health cadre. To develop a robust public health cadre in our country, the public health HR needs to be strengthened in a systematic, organised and well-planned manner. Though there are certain issues and challenges, yet the creation of a new public health cadre would result in an efficient public health management system delivered by teams of well-qualified and competent workers who would be able to deal with changing public health priorities in the country.