Most Common Survey Errors and How to Avoid them

Market research is the most common process for all businesses to get insights about the market and its customers. To perform market research probability samples are drawn from the population to get the underlying trend of the market. 

The random sample selection process is usually the most reliable way to form a representational sample of a population, although this does not always guarantee a perfect sample. After implementing numerous statistical tools to create the best random samples there will always be the change that it would be different.

To eliminate and reduce these error market research professional uses different procedures and methods. This could help to ensure accurate characteristics of the population. The researcher’s aim is to design processes that reduce or eliminate the error.  But in reality, this elimination is costly and often difficult to achieve.

Survey error is inevitable when getting a sample, we take g error is inevitable when getting a sample, we take measures to estimate and reduce sampling error. 

The margin of error that you usually see with survey outcomes is an estimation of sampling error. As it’s just an estimate, there exists a small.

The diagram below explains the flow chart of sampling error: 

Common Types of  survey Errors

  • Population Specification Error:-This error happens when the researcher does not recognize who they should survey. example:  create a survey about rice consumption at home. Whom to survey? who should be surveyed – entire family, mother, children? The mother makes the buying decision, but the kids change her selection.
  • Sample Frame Error:– this error occurs when the wrong subpopulation is used in the selection of a sample.
  • Selection Error:-This occurs when respondents volunteer their cooperation in the study. these errors can be controlled using extra lengths for participation. If a reply is not obtained, then the second survey is done using alternate methods like telephone or personal interview.
  • Sampling Errors:-These errors generally occur due to variations in the number of representatives that respond in the sample chosen. These errors can be controlled by
  1. careful sample designs
  2. large samples
  3. multiple contacts for a response.
  • Complicated language:–  this occurs when the researchers uses complex language in the survey making it difficult for the researcher to understand the question thereby randomly answering questions.

Ways To Avoid Sampling Error 

  • Keep your survey question easy and directing to the purpose of your study. 
  • Lengthy questionnaires distract the respondents making them answering the questions randomly. So try keeping the questionnaire compenshive and short (minimum questions ) it should take more than a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire.
  • The main intent of getting open ended questions is to understand the mindset and thoughts.Don’t use too many open ended questions making the respondents feel like they are writing essays instead of filling up the questionnaire and will eventually distract them. 
  • Use similar type of questions by using likert scale making it easy for researchers to interpret. It’s easy for respondents to give valuable feedback in one go by using rating scale.
  • Sending it across lot many respondents would make the sample size sufficiently large. A large size of sample will make the study more effective but the respondents should relevant and reliable.
  • Use digital platform to create survey to increase the ease of filling and giving some additional feedback , coupons codes to increase the responsive of the respondents.

All in all, surveys can be a comprehensive tool to help you collect feedback! By avoiding these blunders, you can place your study on the way to success!

How to Write a Research Project Proposal – An MBA standard.

Academic assignments are very unpredictable. Thorough research is needed when you work on the assignment, especially for MBA students. While writing an essay in general, it would be very easy but there would be complications arising from doing a project proposal assignment. This research project proposal assignment/presentation is merely done with high concentration and detailing the fact for a particular subject when its dealt.

When choosing this type of particular project and presenting it in the group, this will take the students to do an in-depth study of topic or subject which is organizational, professional aspect, and social relevance to understanding. It is required to identify the specific business management problem that you’re discussing and need to overview it.

As a part of the presentation that takes, you’re required to present the project management plan for conducting the proposed study. It should be realistic and be like achievable with a timeframe.

You’re required to choose a small pilot study to conduct the methods.

    1. Introduction:

In the introduction, you need to explain what the project/assignment about. Do remember, if it’s presented in a group, make sure you introduce the team and their specific roles in the project.

You have to start with a standout point, like what’s the business management problem and giving away the evidence for the project. You’ve to explain why the evidence is based on the management practices and it’s important for practitioners to process skills to plan & conduct research as part of your practice. Note that, the assignment takes it to be a research project proposal only. Give the aim of the assignment like any developments needed regarding that.

    2. Identifying of Research Project Question:

Outline the research project problem that you identified and explain why it’s important to get a deeper understanding  of “why this type of problem” and “why researching this problem will provide management with the decision-making process.”

    3. Literature review – theories follow the topic:

Having identified the problem, you need to explain why the problem is significant. You need to search & retrieve relevant information to understand “what should be known.” List the search engines searches that justify their use. While the literature review may start with the literature in a general topic area, but you should end with a focus on your specific problem and it’s the outcome.

And then, outline “what is known” that leads to your research question. You do not need to develop the new theory, just determine the previously existing ones as – “how they can solve the problem” or “how their theory explains the problem.”

    4. Methodologies:

Research methods are various ways and strategies may use to testify the theories stated. Research methods provide the platform to map out the process of carrying out of one’s research. These methods are classified into 3:

  1. First, it constitutes the method through what/which data collected.
  2. Secondly, the statistical methods which employed the link between data collected and problem in hand.
  3. Third, the group used to assess how accurate are the results obtained after analysis.

Including the research methods like surveys, questionnaires, case studies, interviews… etc, are taken for support for the assigned project can also be stated with clear and concise.

You can also write the quantitative reseach design, explaining by the numerical data collected in research that objectifies the research proposed project.

    5. Results:

Give the alternatives for the research project proposal, apart from the existing theories that relate to solving a problem or what can be developed further.

    6. References:

You must present a list of specific references for the project that whatever formatting style you prefer as such APA, MLA… or under guidelines of University. 

    7. Conclusion:

The selection of appropriate research methods along with the theories that extracted, you will bring out the useful information which adds to the knowledge base and helps in proposal project research.

With these methods and structure format,  we can conduct thorough research on every topic you choose before writing. As for the academic scholars, researchers, and amateurs writers, this particular study of conduct is very useful to follow and finish the project in the timeframe as well as in the formatting styles or under particular sort of University guidelines that one ask for and preview them indeed.

How to kill writer’s block and get going with your research document?

Writing a flawless research document is difficult and stressful. This, coupled with the dreadful due date, peer review, etc. can paralyze you and stop you from pouring your thoughts. Writer’s block is not about not knowing what to write but is all about the fear of not being able to craft a perfect research document. Writer’s block happens to every writer (especially the first time writers) and is invertible. But taking measures to overcome it can help you increase your productivity & progress with your research document. 

But why do academicians face writer’s block?

  • Fear of rejection from the supervisor 
  • Perfectionism
  • Fear of mediocrity
  • Continuous distraction
  • Procrastination 

Given these blend of emotional, cognitive, rhetorical and behavioural forces, arming yourself with effective strategies can help you overcome this terrifying & paralyzing effect and proceed with your research document.

      1. Begin with the big picture of your research 

One way to get rid of the writer’s block in academia is to motivate yourself (all again). Begin with your research question. Pen down ‘why is your research important?’ ‘what are its contributions?’ ‘how it can help you build your career?’. Keep your writing loose at this stage. Ignore grammatical errors and other language errors. Focus only on the importance of your research. 

      2. Review similar documents 

The mere thought of writing a lengthy piece of work acts as a major roadblock in accomplishing a research document. At this stage, refer to the previous paper or research documents similar to that of your topic. Compare your data with that of the existing ones. This will provide you with some elements that can fit in your research document. But remember, do not copy-paste the elements. Instead, take the rough idea from them and write in your own words. 

      3. Jot down ideas 

In spite of trying your best to concentrate on your writing, your mind might wander. An idea/thought might cross your head and disappear within no time. Keep a notepad with you and intrude your ideas on it. By recording the thoughts/ideas, you need not spend time in recalling them and also can address them whenever required.  

      4. Outline the sections  

Do not get overwhelmed with the collected data and the details to be included in your research document. Begin by creating an outline of each section. Further, segregate the sections by points and subpoints. If you are willing to add relevant quotations to back your arguments, include them within the outline. Once the outline is ready, add wordings to formulate your thoughts.  

      5. Write regularly 

As the saying goes, ‘practice makes a man perfect’, take out some time from your other academic activities and write whatever crosses your mind. Writing for an hour on a daily note will eliminate the starting trouble and will also train your brain.   

There is no trick that helps you get rid of the writer’s block instantly. Add the above-mentioned tips to your arsenal and beat the writer’s block.

Some Great Tips And Tricks For Writing Effective Scientific Research Paper

Writing a research paper is a daunting task, and soon this becomes a turmoil as time passes by, but you are blank about the writing process. This blog shares the ways to vanquish challenges faced while writing a well-structured manuscript for publication purpose. 

Schedule your writing hours

Writing is hard even if it is your first research paper. It requires brainstorming and sharp concentration. The most onerous part of writing is the starting process for which you need to have a rigid writing schedule. Writing a research paper is not a process of a few hours, it takes years to finish. Therefore, regularity is a must to complete the work. If you have stopped exercising for years, a regular workout can only help you trim down. In the same way, regular writing sessions are a must to complete your manuscript. 

Tip: Create fixed hours for your writing and keep sticking to them unless you finish your research paper.

Prepare an outline

Considering you have scheduled your writing sessions, you cannot plunge into writing because you are still stuck in a situation where you do not know how to start. You will prepare an outline that will be more or less like a template of your research paper. The framework will include the following questions:

  • What is the topic of your research paper?
  • What is the importance of your research?
  • What are your research objectives?
  • What were the research hypotheses?
  • What materials did you use?
  • What were the research designs?
  • What are the findings of your experiments or research?

Tip: Create an outline and discuss it with your peers.

Start writing

The writing process begins when you have created an outline for your research manuscript. Extend the draft by adding details and elaborating on them. To make this job successful, keep writing. Do not halt yourself to decide on a better word or phrase. Do not cease yourself to improve sentence-structure as this is what you will do at the time of editing. You just keep pouring your ideas into a paper. 

  • Writing materials and methods

If you are struggling with writing a research paper, first of all you should write materials and methods. This is the easiest section to describe as you have all notes for your experiential designs and procedures. You should provide enough details and references as explicit as possible. However, if your method has been previously published, you need to write down literature reference only. 

Fluency is crucial in this section thus do not switch from active voice to passive and vice versa within the same paragraph. Frequent switching causes bafflement among readers. To improve coherence in your writing you should be consistent with a subject. However, if you choose experimenter as a subject, for example, “we did the experiment and we found that…”, you will find “we” repetitive, and this would be disruptive. So try to write sentences to vary the beginning of sentences and keep “we” to a minimum. 

Tip: Be specific while writing methods and materials and try avoiding shifting a subject within one paragraph. 

  • Writing result section

Writing result section can be more intimidating for you because you have to be very particular about the choice of words that will not mislead readers after they have read your findings. In result section, you will mention the purpose of your experiment, experiential methods, texts including visual data such as tables and graphs, and data commentary that will include a meaningful summary of data presented in charts, graphs and tables. In brief, this section requires you to summarise and highlight scientific findings for your readers’ interpretation. 

Tip: Be concise and objective about your results. 

  • Writing introduction section

You have written methods, materials and results section. Before moving onto the introduction section, you should reread the methods and results section to corroborate them with your research focus.  This review will help you know the topic, research gap/problem, research importance, and research questions that are intrinsic to define introduction. 

Tip: Insert all sections and state the novelty of your work. Do not write the introduction very long. Try to wrap it up in 250 to 500 words.

Make revision strategies

You have completed your research paper, but it is still not ready for submission. You have to refine your document. Have a glance at the outline and check whether your research paper includes all sections from the introduction to conclusion. Edit it acutely to replace ambiguous terms with appropriate words and improve sentence structure to make a flow. 

Tip: Use different strategies and techniques to polish up your document. 

Surviving the Dissertation: Tips from someone who practically has

The tip I would like to give you at the end of this blog, I would rather do it right in the beginning and it is nothing very technical or ambitious. It is a simple cliche statement” YOU CAN DO THIS”. It is a message full of hope and pushes you to not give up in challenging times. It worked for me and today I have the actual draft of my dissertation ready and I can see myself progressing on the journey of final submission.
Through this post, I do not intend to brag about my academic achievements and my skill set but to offer you practical tips that will help you to go through the dissertation process from someone who mostly has been able to do it.

Some of the good things I did and could help you are:

  • Set deadlines right in the beginning:Having a goal to work at is extremely important and the sooner you start doing this the better it is. Most importantly it helps you to sustain motivation over a long time period. When I had the list of due dates with me, it helped to keep me on the track with doing work and performing consistently.
  •  Ensure the deadlines are flexible: It is a long journey and I always knew that I had the window to adjust those deadlines in light of the unexpected circumstances that life offers. The best way I did it was to set early deadlines so I always had the scope to shift them a little when the need arose.
  • Ask for feedback right in the beginning: The earlier you communicate with the committee regarding your writing, the editing stage is going to be smoother. Beyond that it will keep you away from feelings of isolation and situations where in the end stage you have to rewrite the entire chapters and prolong your writing process, I learnt this earlier and it did save a lot of my time and duplication of effort.
  • Take time off when you need it: It is very important to take time off for doing things that give you happiness and this should be done without any guilt. Creating the first draft of my dissertation took time and taking breaks from time to time did help to recharge. Beyond that I also diverted my energies to teaching assignments, meeting job consultants, spending time with family and so on. These short breaks worked as awesome energy boosters.

10 Latest Dissertation Topics on International Marketing & Their Scores

Marketing is an extremely wide domain when it comes to management. This implies that a lot of research can be done in this arena. Following are the Top 10 ongoing marketing topics that have been arranged in the decreasing order of relevance, captivating nature and available data.

  1. Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is essentially an advertisement practice in which firms undertake unconventional methods to market their products. Usually these marketing strategies place their product promotion where a target customer least expects it, and due to their unconventional nature, usually leave a lasting impression in the customer’s mind.

  1. Mystery shoppers

Mystery shoppers are a tool for market research that are used by professional market research organizations as well as internal marketing departments of firms, to carefully examine the quality of services delivered, demand for products, feedback of other customers and after sales services regarding their product.

  1. Brand name development and brand name impact on consumers emotional and psychological aspects.

Brand name development is a tedious part of the marketing framework since the organization not only has to come up with a safe, easy to pronounce and non-offensive brand name it but also needs to generate a name that captivates or excites the target customers.

  1. Brainstorming and Idea Generation in Market Research

Brainstorming is a group creativity process wherein all participants randomly come up with ideas to solve a particular problem with the help of their creative instincts.  It is now being considered as a productive method for idea generation and problem solving.

  1. Deploying psychographic data for marketing your product.

Psychographic data is the study of attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, interests and lifestyles. A study of such data can help a great deal in accurately marketing a product by making use of the psychologies of target customers.

  1. Impact of a scandal on the sales and demand of a particular good.

A scandal is never considered productive or beneficial for a brands image, but the same might not be true when it comes to sales. There are a lot of products that have significantly prospered even though they had massive scandals.

  1. Visual Merchandising

The most obvious aim of visual merchandising is to transform window shoppers to potential customers by making the display of products so pleasing and enticing that buyers are attracted towards the products displayed.

  1. Violent Marketing

This is a marketing practice that uses “shockvertisements” instead of advertisements to promote their products. They make use of ghostly figures, dead bodies; visuals of blood etc. These are considered quite intriguing but are highly debated as being adopted as a promotion procedure.

  1. Content Marketing

Content Marketing is another marketing strategy adopted by firms, wherein organizations create and disseminate content or text related to their products with the help of social media, internet, books etc, and thereby boosts sales.

  1. Impact of Creative Packaging techniques on volume of sales and perceived quality of products.

Creative packaging is an unconventional method used for packaging goods that apart from enhancing visual appeal, may even add a utility dimension to the package and in the end help in promoting sales and improving perceived quality of products.

Steps on How to Choose a Dissertation Topic

Tension and depression have become a common problem of the 21st century. Even students in their early school days, have been observed to lack concentration due to depression and tension. These problems are predominant when they have to accomplish a long term task like writing a dissertation, which requires efficient planning and execution. The main cause of tension while writing a dissertation is, selecting a topic. Here are some of the steps that will help them to choose a dissertation topic.

Choose the area of the dissertation

Before selecting the dissertation topic it is essential to understand area of interest. It is less stressful to work in the area of your interest than any other. As the first step to choose the area, collect information from reliable sources, read different journals, browse the internet to collect information about different areas of research.

Choose the topic for the dissertation

After identifying the area of interest, choose topics for the dissertation. Make note of all the topics that seems to be fit for being a topic for the dissertation. The topics should be interesting and compel the reader to read through the dissertation. The topics should be unique and have ample source of information, so that there are refer books and journal to write the different sections of the dissertation. The guide assigned by the institute can also suggest topics for dissertation, add all such topics to the list.

Consult the guide

After the list of topics is ready, discuss them with the guide assigned. Understand the scope and feasibility of the topics to be build as a dissertation. Thus, by the inputs of the guide, choose a topic which best for the dissertation. Enquire with the guide for a sample dissertation from the library, to get a fair idea of how the topics take the form of a dissertation.

There are companies who provide assistance to students in choosing the right topic for their dissertation, one such service provider is Dissertation help.asia., who have experts to guide the students in selecting the topic.

How to Complete Dissertation in a Week

Week away from submission date of your dissertation? No problem, here are seven tips that you can follow and complete the mammoth task in a week.

Set up your work station

It is essential to make your workstation clutter free. Organize your belonging so that you get some work space and all required documents for writing your dissertation in the reach of hand.

Get formal

Even if you are going to be glued to your computer screen for the whole week in your room, get dressed and work. Change your clothes when you are exhausted, it will refresh your body and mind.

Stock up supplies

Before starting to write your dissertation, go grocery shopping and get healthy and tasty food that are easy and fast to cook. You will need a lot of variety during this week and you don’t want to spend time going to the hawker center down the street to get a coffee.

Get your notes together

Before you start writing, organize all your notes and files. Collect and keep all your soft copies and interim reports in a folder and keep all your reference books near your workstation. By working on ideas that you have already worked on, you will save a lot of your time.

Organize your ideas

Refer to the guidelines and requirements laid down by the university and make a linear plan for your dissertation. Make a note in google docs or text editor or scribble on a piece of paper. This will be your guidelines for completing your dissertation.

Plan your work schedule

Make a schedule to complete the writing and proofreading in a week’s time and try to follow it.

Write the dissertation

The last and most important step, is to sit down and write. Take a rest by sleeping properly and keep writing till you complete the dissertation.

Seek Dissertation Help in UK to Enhance Writing Credibility

Each year, a great number of students opt for higher degrees with preparing quality dissertations. Many prefer to seek assistance from the dissertation writing service providers, but to contact the best in the market; you have to contact dissertation services in the UK.

Students seem to stay worried and anxious about preparing their study proposal as they are not capable of producing a master dissertation without aid from any professional. You can find a various dissertation service providers, but getting your study done from a supreme provider will only achieve your results with distinction. Talk to other students who have already used the services of the provider that you want to contact. It will prove the credibility of its writers and their skills of preparing dissertations.

Remember, clients who have already used the service of a dissertation service provider that you want to contact testify the quality of writings by its writers. If you are approaching the provider for the first time, then consult the various forums and blogs. Here, you are enlightened about the various writing services that need to be followed and the guidelines to adhere to.

You can find the best writing companies in the UK who have writers suggesting crucial key points for your project and providing essential expertise and skills for completing the study successfully. A student has to follow the University guidelines and a writing company/provider can help you with it if you feel confused. Remember, a student has to hand over all the materials to the provider as provided by his/her professors or tutors. The professionals help to prepare custom dissertation for students. Besides, these professionals offer plagiarized-free and flawless content free of grammar or spelling errors!

After all, you have to produce a masterpiece at the end that can fetch you a degree. Therefore, a professional can only guide you through the intricacies of the process for getting the overall presentation right.

Approaching the Dissertation Marathon One Step at a Time

Many people have found the process of writing their dissertation is pretty much like a marathon. Both of them require diligence, patience, and a step-by-step approach. Just as a runner, who comes back every time to the side-lines the moment he or she realises that she has not achieved her goal of reaching the finishing line, a graduate student has to go back to the starting point the moment he or she realises that she has not planned a strategy.

Dissertation Writing Is Like a Marathon

Completing a 26 mile race can seem difficult for the marathon runner. However, the runner who sees only the crest of the next hill or some other obstacle and focuses on each of these obstacles would be able to see the race as manageable. The situation is similar when you write a dissertation. Similarly, when you focus on the individual chapters and the sections within them, you would be able to see the dissertation as a series of tasks that are manageable rather than as a 400 page long obstacle.

Focus on the Section

Several universities have defined what the ingredients would go into each of the sections of a dissertation. However, in case they have not been defined, a student can always go through a model dissertation and find a good organisational guide in it. The best way to decide what you should focus on can be determined by going through the table of contents and the names of the chapters listed in it. When you think of each of the sections in the dissertation as that “crest of the next hill,” you will not be able to see the dissertation as an obstacle in itself. You could also think of the sections in the dissertation as parts of the main research work, which are made of a few pages of ideas and information.