Module+3+-+Plan+the+Research

[|Semester Project Phase 4: Plan the Research - EoM]
=End of Module is 2/14/08 = //End of module is actually Sunday, 2/15 (per Module tab on course website) but if you want to try to wrap it up by 2/14 fine by me. (LG)// I am always for getting things done earlier than later (except when I misread the groups decision for due dates...whoops). If we want to shoot for 2/14, that's fine with me (SC) So this week we still have to chat with Robyn, do this plan, and do the questions for group one. I think we may need a chat to get everyone on the same page and set some deadlines for these deliverables. What do you guys think?


 * //Organized the page a bit -- hope its ok (gm)//**
 * Main Research Question
 * Team and Task Details
 * Roles
 * Schedule
 * Technical Details
 * Approach
 * Respondents
 * Data Collection
 * Data Analysis
 * [|Document] (on google docs)

For Friday Night
Be sure to review the section on methods on page 57 of O’Leary’s book.

//**Deliverables**//: Based on your research questions, create a research plan that includes the following items. Be sure to include your research questions in this phase report.

== __Main Research Question__ == Please join the discussion on narrowing the question down on this page. Are American consumers really "Living Green?"

__Supporting questions__
1) What factors contribute to the lack of environmentally-friendly consumers? 2) What are Americans doing to "live green?" 3) Do Americans feel that they are "living green?"

__Explanation__
The research shows that there is a gap between the number of consumers who say they purchase “green” products and the number of consumers who actually do. Our supporting questions focus on what factors contribute to this gap and what American’s think they are doing to “live green.” The literature review showed that the government is taking a role to help protect consumers from false “green” advertising and large corporations and retailers are working to become more environmentally friendly. This shows the importance society has placed on the “green lifestyle.” The attempts to protect the environment are something that affects everyone down to family, friends and coworkers.

==**Team and Task Details**== > >> //**Team Roles**//: **(Gina)** what are the team roles for conducting your research project. This can be based on that you have already turned in >> I wonder if we can have team duties, and assign teams to complete the duties? >> I pulled the chart of the research process into the wiki, to figure out what roles were needed. >>> This individual will ensure all tasks are on track, and that all deliverables due dates are met. This role can rotate for the various stages of the project. >>> This individual will ensure all technology needs for the team are met. This includes upkeep of the team wiki, the online survey tool, the data collection tools, and any other technology needs for the team. >>> This person will be the point of contact between the team and all outside entities. >>> This team will work collaboratively to create the survey instrument. >>> This team will work collaboratively to create the marketing strategy that will be used to recruit respondents from the identified target sample. The team will be led by the Survey Administrator. >>> This person will be responsible for ensuring that a minimum of 10 respondents from the sample population participate in the survey. >>> This person will be responsible for collecting, aggregating, and organizing all survey data. >>> This person will be responsible for ensuring the language used during and after the survey is factually complete. >>> This team will work collaboratively to analyze data collected from the survey. The team will be lead by the Survey Data Collector. >>> This person will be responsible for taking the data analyzed by the Data Analysis team and creating graphs, charts and tables that will be used in the final report. >>> This person will be responsible for crafting the final report once the Data Analysis Team has completed analyzing the data. >> **Research** >> **Analyze the Data** >> **Presentation** >> //**Schedule of research tasks**//: (Sarah) create a schedule of the various task that need to be carried out for the rest of the semester project. Be sure to assign team members to these tasks. >> based on Gina's lists of tasks, I thought it would be appropriate for us to sign up for the tasks we feel we have the knowledge/experience to accomplish (LE) (I tried to do a table but here's what I ended up with???) (I fixed the table -GM)
 * **Project Manager:**
 * **Technology Liaison**
 * **Communication Liaison**
 * **Survey Design Team**
 * **Survey Marketing Team**
 * **Survey Administrator**
 * **Survey Data Collector**
 * **Fact Checker**
 * **Data Analysis Team**
 * **Graphical Designer**
 * **Technical Writer**
 * Write Survey Questions
 * Put Survey on SurveyMonkey
 * Plan Recruitment Method
 * Plan Survey time line (when survey opens, closes, etc)
 * Quantitative Data
 * Qualitative Data
 * Create ways to display the data
 * Charts
 * Graphs
 * Tables
 * Abstract
 * Text (huh?)
 * Graphs, Charts, Tables
 * References


 * < Task ||< Who ||
 * < Write Survey Questions ||< ALL ||
 * < Put Survey on SurveyMonkey ||< Gina ||
 * < Plan recruitment method ||<  ||
 * < Plan survey time line ||< Sarah ||
 * < Evaluate Quantative data ||< Team ||
 * < Evaluate Qualitative data ||< Team ||
 * < Create ways to display data: ||<  ||
 * < Charts ||< Lorrie ||
 * < Tables ||< Sarah ||
 * < Graphs ||< Lorrie ||
 * < Other graphs, charts, tables ||<  ||
 * < References ||< Sarah ||
 * < Abstract ||< Gina ||

==**Technical Details**== //Approach/Methodology//: (Sarah) **what methods are you going to use in general** >> [Chapter 4, O'Leary (I think)]  The approach that will be used in this research study consists of survey research. The surveys will be conducted online using a surveying tool called Survey Monkey. The individual survey results will be anonymous and kept confidential. The survey will begin with demographic type questions to help analyze the data, but respondents will not be asked to provide identification. Respondents will be informed of the topics that will be covered, the time commitment, and type of activity for which they are consenting. Participation in the survey will be strictly voluntary and participants will have the option to discontinue involvement if they choose. The questions will be developed and asked in a logical and systematic manner. The survey process and results will be documented using survey monkey and the research plan presented at the end of the semester. The research team understands that their own biases towards the topic need to be taken into consideration when conducting the research and analyzing the results and all research subjectivities need to be accounted for. Chapter 4 says something about making sure the methods are reliable and consistent. I wasn't sure how to write that in here. Any thoughts? Please feel free to mark up anything else I wrote, as well. (SC) I think this is really good, but maybe we need to tailor it specifically to the questions are going to be asking. //**Respondents**:// **(Lea Ann)** who is your populations and how are you going to sample them >> [Chapter 5, O'Leary] >>>> >>>> >>> I don't understand the need to limit by one town. That being said - does everyone live in a separate town? That designation doesn't even make sense for any people I could get - I could probably do metro west Boston, but not one town. Does it HAVE to be restricted geographically?? (Gm) - I think metro Boston would be narrowed enough. I think what he was saying was that we couldn't sample Tallahassee AND Melbourne AND St. Simons Island, that a specific area needed to be targeted. >>>   //Data Collection Methods//**:**(Lorrie) **what collection methods are you going to use? For this section, be sure to provide a rationale for your choice of methods.** >> [Chapter 6, O'Leary] Here's what I've got, feedback? The first step in collecting data is to plan the data collection by focusing on who, where, when, how and what. Deciding on the population for the survey may prove to be difficult. Considerations will need to be made concerning access, researcher roles and any biases the researchers may have concerning green consumers. The population will be narrowed to those consumers that could be reached using an online survey. The plan is to use filtering questions to narrow the population surveyed. The second step will involve preparing the tools to be used in collecting the data. Additional searches will be conducted for appropriate questions to use on the survey. From this search, suitable questions will be gathered and modified to suit the purpose of the survey study. O’Leary reminds researchers to not try to reinvent the wheel but rather to take what is available and modify it to suit specific needs. Online survey sites have been explored and Survey Monkey has been chosen as the tool to be used for the analysis. The third step entails conducting a trial run to determine if the survey questions produce valid responses. Family members and friends will be used as guinea pigs for the trial. Difficulties incurred may include the lack of a consistent meaning for the term ‘green’. Modification of the survey will include a definition of ‘green consumer’ being added to the introduction. Implementation of the data collection will began after the modifications of the survey. Invitations to respond are scheduled to be sent to X (number of invitees) with responses anticipated to be no more than 10%. <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Once a reasonable amount of time has passed, all responses will be organized and collated. The use of a database will be used to systematically organize the results. The final step in the data collection process will be the analysis of the data to determine the information that is yielded through the survey. (Lorrie) <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(52, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 37);">Respondents will be contacted via word of mouth, as well as by email. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(52, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 37);">Respondents will use an online survey through Survey Monkey; however, if the respondent wants to participate and does not have access to a computer, an identical survey will be administered via interview. (LG) Re-written to be more technical: <span style="color: rgb(59, 33, 212);">Data collection will occur in two phases. During the first phase, existing research will be examined to determine what factors influence the purchasing decisions of the target population. Once the factors have been determined a survey instrument will be constructed. The survey will test the strength of each factor by asking respondents to reply to questions using a Likert scale of 1 - 5. There will also be a census type question to see if data such as age, sex, or education are influencing factors to the purchasing decisions. What do you think? (GM)
 * Survey <span style="color: rgb(3, 186, 10);">(Did we decide against interviews? It was discussed in the brainstorming section below. SC)
 * Respondents will be US consumers <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);">(do we need to define this as citizens? residents? do we care to get that specific?)
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Survey will be administered online.
 * <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Survey will be advertised using email and social media
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It is expected a wide sample of <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ages, genders, and geographies will be collected using this method
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);">What is our sample/sampling procedure?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 60, 255);">Population - Consumers living on the eastern coast of the United States that regularly make purchases - do we want to say the primary purchaser in the household as the sample? Define age range? Limit by gender? (LG) Based on what Tristan just told me, we need to state that due to limitations of data collection that we are doing a pilot survey of "Town X"
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(52, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 37);">Due to the time and resource limitations of surveying the entire American population, a pilot survey will be administered to residents in the City of Tallahassee who have access to green products and green recycling services. Respondents will range in age from traditional college age through residents in their 60s.  <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 77);"><span style="color: rgb(52, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 37);">
 * Surveying
 * Questions to test overall knowledge of "green" behaviors
 * Questions to collect consumer impressions on living "green"

//**Data Analysis Methods**//:**(Gina)** what type of analysis are you going to conduct? <span style="color: rgb(27, 39, 218);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The data collected using the survey instrument will be analyzed using quantitative methods. It is expected that there will be enough respondents to do a statistical analysis of the result of the survey. The Likert-scaled responses will be assigned equal-interval weightings. A weighted score will be tabulated for each factor. The results of these calculations will be examined to determine any correlations between the desire to practice a green lifestyle and actually purchasing green cleaning products. The census data will be examined for statistically significant sub-sections of the sample population. Any sub-sections found will be analyzed to determine correlations between age groups, sexes, or educational levels and buying habits. (comments? GM) >> [Chapter 11]
 * Qualitative Data
 * Responses to Likert questions
 * Does green depend on cost
 * Does green depend on being able to filter greenwashing advertisements
 * Some analysis can be done from within Survey Monkey
 * Otherwise, manually put data into Excel
 * Quantitative Data
 * How many people respond (Sample size)
 * How many subgroups we have (age, location, gender, etc)
 * Qualitative data can be broken out by the subgroups
 * Do different subgroups do a better job of choosing green
 * Census type data
 * Age (or age range)
 * Location
 * Gender
 * Education (HS, College, etc)

File Name: SPP3T##.doc

Brainstorming
//**Team Roles:**// Survey creation, interview question creation, data collection, analysis, documentation, (any others?) <span style="color: rgb(3, 134, 31);">These are some of the overall tasks that I think will be involved in our project. <span style="color: rgb(3, 134, 31);">I think we should all do the actual collection of data. <span style="color: rgb(3, 134, 31);">It looks like we will probably have to come up with the technical details first before we can figure out what roles will need to be filled and what tasks we will have to schedule. (SC)

//**Schedule of Research Tasks:**// <span style="color: rgb(14, 163, 5);">(I think we have to decide on our methodology and data collection methods before we can schedule the tasks (SC) ** || ** Due Date ** || //**Approach/Methodology:**// <span style="color: rgb(157, 0, 255);">**<span style="color: rgb(94, 10, 174);">It seems like our 'method' is going to be survey (LE) ** //**Respondents:**// <span style="color: rgb(10, 119, 9);">We can use coworkers, family and friends. I think we should all survey people to get a good random sampling. Then we can't second guess if it's just Melbourne, Tallahassee, etc. that is the cause for the responses. (SC) <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 236);">We have to be careful in choosing respondents because the results may be skewed - I know very few people that aren't green and I would imagine if you are green that it's the same with you. I do have some relatives that I could interview that be a different perspective. (LG) <span style="color: rgb(163, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(97, 9, 149);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 12, 255);">**<span style="color: rgb(101, 14, 175);">If survey monkley will allow is to email possible responents, we could all use our personal address books on email. (LE) ** <span style="color: rgb(0, 22, 255);">We can publish the link using social media (e.g Facebook, Twitter). If we do this, we should probably include census type questions to see if the data trends to different populations. Lorrie you stole blue from me!! :) (GM) <span style="color: rgb(110, 11, 188);">**Looks purple to me (LE)**
 * ** Task ** || ** Assigned to

//**Data Collection Methods:**// <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 212);">I would suggest something like Survey Monkey so that we can all collect data in the same way. I thought about personal interviews, too, but not sure if that'll work. What do you think? (LG) <span style="color: rgb(7, 142, 6);">I like the idea of using interviews. It gives a little bit of variety and in depth information to the study, rather than just using surveys. I have plenty of friends and coworkers that I could probably interview (I have a few friends who owe me since I have helped with their masters programs:). I also like the idea of using Survey Monkey. That would be much easier than trying to collect emails or keep track of paper and pencil surveys. (SC) <span style="color: rgb(255, 163, 244);">I also thought of observing people at the grocery store and other places where green products are available, but in places where both green and non-green are available (i.e. no health food stores, etc. (LG) <span style="color: rgb(56, 0, 255);">
 * <span style="color: rgb(20, 25, 245);"><span style="color: rgb(127, 14, 190);">Survey Monkey sounds like it would be a quick, automated way to go. Do we just 'invite' people to respond to our survey by emailing them or what? I have never used survey monkey. Sorry, I've got strep and haven't felt like doing anything but being horizontal, especially after work. (LE) **

<span style="color: rgb(17, 0, 255);">Yes we can send the survey out. I think the danger in observation is that I could observe here in MA, and it would be different than what you would observe in FL. Stores are different, culture is different, etc. (GM)

<span style="color: rgb(5, 128, 14);">I thought about observation also, but I didn't know how awkward that could be to just watch people in the grocery store. I don't want to look like I am a stalker and I'm a little too shy to randomly talk to people in the store to let them know what I am doing afterwards. (SC) //**Data Analysis Methods:**//