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QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND CRITICAL THINKING/ANSWERS
1. What is a decision statement? How does the focus on an irrelevant decision affect the
research process?
A decision statement is a written expression of the key question(s) that a research user wishes to
2. Define problem recognition. How is this process like translating text from one language into
another? What role does “probing” play in this process?
Translating a business situation into something that can be researched is somewhat like
translating one language into another. It begins by coming to a consensus on a decision statement
or question. A decision statement is a written expression of the key question(s) that a research
3. List and describe four factors that influence how difficult the problem-definition process can
be.
Factors that influence how difficult the problem definition process can be are:
a. Situation frequency – the more frequent and routine the situation, the easier it is to identify
problems.
4. What are three types of gaps that exist, indicating that research may be needed to assist a
business in making some decision?
A problem occurs when there is a difference between the current conditions and a more preferable
set of conditions. That is, a gap exists between the way things are now and a way that things
could be better. The gap can come about in a number of ways:
68
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 69
5. Examine an article in the Wall Street Journal or similar source that discusses a business
situation of a company in the electronics or defense industry. Identify a problem that exists
with the company. Develop some research objectives that you believe correspond to the
problem.
6. What is a situation analysis? How can it be used to separate symptoms from actual
problems?
A situation analysis involves the gathering of background information to familiarize researchers
and managers with the decision-making environment. It is a way of formally documenting the
problem definition process. Gaining an awareness of marketplace conditions and an appreciation
7. Define unit of analysis in a marketing research context.
The unit of analysis for a study indicates what or who should provide the data and at what level of
aggregation. Researchers specify whether an investigation will collect data about individuals
8. Find some business journal articles that deal with culture and international expansion. Find
one that lists some hypotheses. What kinds of decisions might be assisted by the results of
testing these hypotheses?
9. List and describe at least four terms that can describe the nature of a variable.
There are several key terms that help describe types of variables. The variance in variables is
captured either with numerical differences or by an identified category membership. For example
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 70
In addition, different terms describe whether a variable is a potential cause or an effect. In
descriptive and causal research, the terms dependent variable and independent variable describe
10. For each of the following variables, explain why it should be considered either continuous or
categorical:
a. Whether or not a university played in a football bowl game during 2011.
b. The average wait time a customer has before being served in a full-service
restaurant.
c. Letter grades of A, B, C, D, or F.
d. The job satisfaction of a company’s salespeople.
e. A consumer’s age.
11. Write at least three examples of hypotheses that involve a managerial action statement.
Provide a corresponding decision statement for each.
While students’ answers will vary, the hypotheses they provide should be specific and able to be
tested empirically. A managerial action standard specifies a specific performance criterion upon
12. What are the major components of a research proposal? How does a research proposal assist
the researcher?
The research proposal is a written statement of the research design. It always includes a
statement explaining the purpose of the study (in the form of research objectives or deliverables)
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 71
13. The chapter provides an example dummy table for the Deland Trucking vignette. Provide
another example dummy table that corresponds to this same situation.
While students’ answers will vary on this question, one example is that customers could be
surveyed and separated into two groups – first time customers and repeat customers. It could be
14. Evaluate the following statement of business research problems. For each, provide a decision
statement and corresponding research objectives:
a. A farm implement manufacturer: Our objective is to learn the most effective
form of advertising so we can maximize product line profits.
This problem statement is vague. It does not indicate what is meant by “effective advertising.”
It would be much better if a more specific objective was stated, such as to measure ability to
This is an improved problem definition, but it would be even better if the criteria for attention,
b. An employees’ credit union: Our problem is to determine the reasons why
This is a fairly good problem definition. It indicates specifically that they want to identify
c. The producer of a television show: We have a marketing problem. The
program’s ratings are low. We need to learn how we can improve our ratings.
This statement is the equivalent of saying “Our sales are down—we have a problem.” It indicates
something is wrong and the most obvious symptom has become apparent, but does not say
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 72
d. A soft-drink manufacturer: The marketing problem is that we do not know if
This research objective does not indicate any action standard or any decision alternative. This is a
situation where researchers should anticipate outcome. They should ask what the final report
e. A women’s magazine: Our problem is to document the demographic changes
that have occurred in recent decades in the lives of women and to put them in
This is an excellent problem definition. This definition indicates that women will be the subject
f. A manufacturer of fishing boats: The problem is to determine sales trends over
This is a relatively straightforward set of descriptive objectives for a secondary data study. The
g. The inventor of a tension-headache remedy (a cooling pad that is placed on the
Although this is not a poor statement of the problem, it is too ambitious and it could be more
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 73
15. Comment of the following statements and situations:
a. “The best researchers are prepared to rethink and rewrite their proposals.”
This statement is definitely true. Research proposals are prepared to make sure there is an
agreement between the researcher and the manager. In many cases the first proposal is accepted
and there is no disagreement. However, after the initial proposal has been submitted it is not
b. “The client’s signature is an essential element of the research proposal.”
This statement suggests one purpose of a research proposal is to put down in writing exactly what
the researcher will do for the client. In other words, when the client signs the proposal, it
16. You have been hired by a group of hotel owners, restaurant owners, and other people engaged
in businesses that benefit from tourism on South Padre Island, Texas. They wish to learn how
they can attract a large number of college students to their town during spring break. Define
the marketing decision statement.
Answers to this question will vary. However, an answer similar to the following might be
expected.
The general purpose of the research will determine the expectations and behavior of college
students visiting South Padre Island during spring break. It will determine where students
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 74
17. You have been hired by a local Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization to learn how they
can increase the number of males who volunteer to become Big Brothers to fatherless boys.
Define your research objectives.
Students’ research objectives will vary somewhat. The following objectives could be identified:
• to determine males’ awareness of the Big Brothers and Sisters organization
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
1. Examine the web site for International Communications Research
(http://www.icrsurvey.com). What services do they seem to offer that fall into the problem
definition process?
This company offers a wide variety of services, and some fall into the problem definition process.
2. Consider the current situation within your local university music department. Assuming it
stages musical productions to which audiences are invited and for which tickets are sold,
describe the situation it faces. Prepare a research proposal that would help it address a key
decision. Make sure it includes at least one dummy table.
Students’ answers can vary widely on this activity. For example, the department might want to
CASE 6.1 EZ PASS
Objective: This case can be used to show how a good problem definition leads to a sound
research design.
Summary: In the 1990’s, a task force was formed by seven regional transportation agencies to
investigate the feasibility and desirability of electronic toll collection (ETC) via small transceivers
called tags. The task force was most interested in identifying the ideal configuration of service
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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 75
attributes for each agency’s commuters, and determining how similar or different these
configurations might be across agencies. Six questions the task force identified were:
How many accounts are necessary and what statements will be received?
How and where does one pay for EZPass?
What lanes are available for use and how they are controlled?
Is the tag transferable to other vehicles?
What is the price of the tag and possible service charge?
What are other possible uses for the EZPass tag (airport parking, gasoline purchases,
and so forth)?
From a researcher’s perspective, it also seemed important to assess commuter demand for the
service, but the task force was not convinced that it needed a projection of demand because it was
committed to implementing ETC regardless of initial commuter acceptance. The task force
viewed its principal role to be investigating commuters’ preferences for how the service should be
configured ideally.
Questions
1. Evaluate the problem-definition process. Has the problem been defined adequately so that a
relevant decision statement can be written?
Representatives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (who played a leadership
The problem-definition process steps are:
1. Understand the business situation – identify the key symptoms.
The problem, traffic congestion and the concerns regarding implementing a solution across several
agencies, was identified, and commuters should be selected as the unit of analysis. The case
2. What type of research design would you recommend for this project?
3. What research questions might be tested?
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 76
4. What might a dummy table included in this research proposal look like?
CASE 6.2 Cane’s Goes International
Objective: To develop a decision statement.
Summary: Raising Cane’s is a fast-food chicken finger establishment based in Baton Rouge,
LA. The restaurants are popular throughout the Gulf South, and Cane’s has recently been
approached by people interested in opening Cane’s restaurants in other countries (e.g., Australia,
Canada, and Mexico). Cane’s prepares high quality fried chicken fingers and has a limited menu
consisting of fingers, fries, slaw, and lemonade.
Questions
1. Write a decision statement for Raising Cane’s.
The problem-definition process steps are:
1. Understand the business situation – identify the key symptoms.
Students are being asked to get to step 3 of this process. While it is unlikely that they can
2. Write corresponding research objectives and research questions.
The specific research objectives could entail finding out the market potential in specific countries
3. What role would a proposal play in assisting this research effort and in assisting Cane’s in
improving their business situation?
The research proposal is a written statement of the research design. It includes a statement
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter Six: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research 77
One role that a proposal could play in assisting this research effort and Cane’s business situation
is that of a planning tool – it forces the researcher to think critically about each stage of the
CASE 6.3 Deland Trucking
Based on the case scenario described throughout this chapter, prepare a research proposal that
corresponds to this situation.
The problem-definition process steps that students should follow are:
1. Understand the business situation – identify the key symptoms.
2. Identify key problem(s) from symptoms.
3. Write managerial decision statement and corresponding research objectives.
4. Determine the unit of analysis.
5. Determine the relevant variables.
6. Write research questions and/or hypotheses.
Students’ responses will vary on this exercise, but it they should all agree that a key symptom is
the retention of truckers dropping in the last six months. So the problem facing Deland Trucking
is that his business performance is worse than expected business performance based on previous
years of business. Some of the key problems causing this symptom could include new
competitors in the area, a change in their employee compensation or benefit package, economic
conditions, or problems with the company’s service that have caused them to lose customers.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
