Nathalie Worp
Quantative research
Quantitative research provides insight to uncertainties in the market. Surveys are being used for the quantitative research. In the survey, the research questions from L.O.O.P. and WOOF&WOW have to be operationalized into questions to the target group. It is important to translate the general research questions into sub-questions in order to specify what we exactly want to know. These sub-questions form the basis of the questions in the survey.
General research questions
Together, the qualitative (observational) research and the quantitative research answer the general research questions. The general research questions stated below are the ones that are being researched during the quantitative research section.
- What do Peruvians find valuable in a product?
- In what state is the Peruvian society, concerning environmental development?
- In what way are there possibilities to implement a product?
Sub-questions
The sub questions stated below are being researched during the quantitative research section and are the questions that form the base of the survey.
What are important requirements for a product
- What kind of products do people buy and in what frequence? (Is there a difference between for example gender or age?)
- How much do people spend on present on average?
- To whom give people the most often presents?
- Are people willing to pay more for products that contribute to the environment? If yes, how much?
- How many persons already contribute to the environment?
- How many persons acknowledge the seriousness of the pollution problem?
Measurement scales
The sub-questions form the basis for the survey but in order to obtain sufficient information from the target group and to be able to provide profound insight into the population it is important that the sub-questions are being operationalized into measurable variables which can be expressed on different scales. These scales are mentioned below:
Nominal scales are used for the labeling of variables without a quantitative value. “Nominal” scales could simply be called “labels.” Examples are gender, location of living.
Ordinal scaleswhat is important is the order of the values, but the differences between each one is not really known. An example is the expression of importance: not important, little important, really important, etc.
Interval scales are numeric scales of which we know not only the order, but also the exact differences between the values. An example of an interval scale is Celsius temperature because the difference between each value is the same.
Ration scales tell us about the order of values. They tell us the exact value between units, they also have an absolute zero–point. Examples are weight, height, age and percentages.
Defining variables
The sub-questions form the basis for the different variables that need to be explored. The following variables need to be translated into questions in order to answer the general research questions. The variables are divided into the different measurement scales.
Gender - male or female. As explained above, this is a nominal variable.
Age - this is a ratio variable.
Important requirements - derived from the observational research, 9 different requirements are being researched in the sample: brand, price, packaging, good for the environment, sustainability, useful, attractiveness, where to buy it, made in Peru. The importance is expressed in ‘’not important, little important, very important, highly important’’, this is an ordinal scale.
Frequence of buying - for each category this will be divided into ‘every week, every two weeks, every month, every two months, every half year, every year and never’ This is divided on an ordinal scale.
Spendings on presents - this is a numerical value which could be zero and tells us the exact value. This is a ratio variable.
Present to whom - to whom people are giving presents is divided into categories, labels, thus this is a nominal scale.
Willingness to pay for environmentally friendly products - willingness to pay extra will be translated into percentages. Percentages are ratio variables.
Contribution - how many people are already involved or want to become involved in environmental actions. This is expressed in different categories.(yes I am, no I am not but I would like to be involved, no I am not interested) This distribution is done on an ordinal scale.
Seriousness of the problem - through different questions people are being asked if they know about the problem and what they think of it. These question are ‘’yes or no’’ but also open questions which allows us to learn more about people's’ perspective on the pollution problem. This are a lot of different and not in one way measurable variables, therefore no measurement scale is being assigned.
Survey
Based on the variables derived from the research questions, the survey is composed. The questionnaire is divided in four subjects.
1.Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
5. Awareness/caring about the environment
This is done because the first 4 subjects form a marketing mix which provides L.O.O.P. with a lot of information on what, how, where, when,.., a product should be placed. And secondly because it is important to know at what stage people are right now regarding the awareness matter in order to find out what next steps on spreading the word of awareness are going to be.
Sample size
In order to obtain reliable data regarding the market, the sample size of the survey must be adequate. The smaller the sample size, the bigger the influence of one respondent on the relations between the variables will be. A realistic sample size is dependent on factors such as size of the population, the margin of error and the confidence interval.
determination of the sample size is done through the following factors.
size of the population
The total size of the population is included in determining the sample size. Based on the target group, the upper-middle class of Lima, the size of the population is 725.000.
margin of error
This is an amount (usually small) that is allowed for a value of a variable in case of a miscalculation or change of circumstances. During this market research willen we verbanden weten maar exacte resultaten komen niet op een aantal procenten. Om de sample size te beperken is gekozen voor een iets grotere foutenmarge namelijk +- 7%; er kunnen alsnog profound resultaten ontstaan met deze sample size.
Confidence interval
The confidence level describes the uncertainty associated with a sampling method. A 90% confidence level means that we would expect 90% of the interval estimates to include the population parameter; A 95% confidence level means that 95% of the intervals would include the parameter; and so on. During this research, a confidence level of 95% is used. Choosing an interval is a subjective decision. Considering the seriousness of the research, it is not necessary to be 99,9% sure about the outcomes of the research (since it is not a matter of life or death). However, since the results of the research may fungate as the fundamental base of the further development of L.O.O.P., veritable results are neccesary and a high confidence is essential.
Actual sample size
Bearing the factors above in mind, the size of the sample is set on a minimum of 200 respondents.
Validation
Before launching the survey and gather a minimum of 200 respondents it is important to validate the survey. Together with L.O.O.P. the survey is checked on ambiguities and misconceptions. After the validation day the survey is ready to be launched.
Execution of survey
Now it is important to collect enough responses in order to provide useful information. The survey is distributed in the streets (live) and on the Internet (online).
Live
The surveys are being collected in different districts in Lima. It is important to diversify the places and time of the day that the surveys are being collected. This will decrease the chance that the collected data is unreliable. The selected districts are Miraflores, Barranco, San Isidro and San Borja. In these districts it is most likely that the target group will be found because these districts are business districts, shopping districts and above all the districts where the people live with the highest level of education.
Online
The surveys are also spread throughout the internet. During the observational research a lot of email addresses are collected and the surveys are also sent to friends, friends of friends and family of the people we know in Lima.
Data responses: summary of the sample
All the responses on the survey are gathered in an excel file. The survey has provided us with over 230 respondents. First some numbers, facts and percentages about the respondents will be presented and secondly, facts and numbers of the respondent’s opinion will be presented. From these results, conclusions will be drawn. Based on these conclusions, more detailed information can be provided about the target group.