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that which defines a single observation from your population, from which you can draw measures of one or more variables |
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A measure of a very specific attribute from an observation in your population. The value this attribute takes should differ among at least some of the observations in your sample and population |
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a variable whose measurement is taken on a scale without breaks, and which any fractional measure is allowed |
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A variable whose value defines membership of one of two or more groups |
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Variable that depends on, is explained by, or can be predicted by other variables |
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Independent/Explanatory Variable |
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One or more variables that explain or influence a dependent variable |
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written statement of what the research project will entail |
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description of what will be done to answer the question |
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process of developing and deciding among alternative ways of resolving a business problem or taking advantage of a business opportunity |
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a situation in which negative consequences are possible |
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the effects caused by a problem, serve as observable clues that a problem may exist |
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a situation in which there is potential for competitive advantage |
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Existence of an opportunity or problem may not be obvious. Precise nature of the problem is not known. |
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identify problems or opportunities, discover alternatives. Purpose is to clarify ambiguous situations, but not intended to provide answers to problems or opportunities. |
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describes people, organizations, customers, groups that are relevant to the business decision. Usually done after a problem or opportunity is well understood |
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answers how will a change in one even in a manager's control change another event of interest |
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type of descriptive research that seeks to discover reasons for business outcomes |
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cause happens first, then effect. |
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simply means two variables are related |
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Non-spurious Relationship |
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concomitant variation is evidence that one variable causes another. This one is extremely tough to establish. |
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data on two variables are correlated but variables are not directly related to one another |
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cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the effect |
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Cause is necessary, but not sufficient, to bring about an effect. Ex. smoking and lung cancer |
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Cause does contribute to effect, but the cause is not necessary or sufficient to bring about the effect. Weakest, and most common form of causality. Multiple causes may have the same effect. |
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detailed, carefully constructed plan of the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing data. |
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Informing potential participants about your research project, then asking them for their written consent to use them for research |
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the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests |
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something that appears to be a treatment applied to the participant, but in actuality does nothing |
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when all members of the population have an equal probability of being selected for the sample |
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when a sample estimate of a population parameter on average returns the true population parameter |
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when a sample estimate on average returns a value different than the population paramter |
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Statistical fluctuations determined by chance due to random sampling |
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some imperfect aspect of your research design causes additional error |
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the persistent tendency of the results to be biased due to a problem in the sampling procedure |
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systematic error that occurs when individuals surveyed choose not to participate in the research, and the choice to not participate may be related to the outcome variable |
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bias the results from nonresponse error. Example: Viterbo Awareness Survey |
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a bias that exists when respondents either consciously or unconsciously give answers to questions that misrepresent the truth |
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Unconscious Response Bias |
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well meaning respondents unconsciously give answers that misrepresent the truth. Examples: Aircraft preference, future buying behaviors, and reporting past activities |
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when respondents tend to agree or disagree with every statement |
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when respondents choose to use extreme responses on a scale |
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either consciously or unconsciously, respondents give answers to appear prestigious, socially conscious or avoid appearing socially unattractive |
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qualitative data the consists of categories that cannot be ordered in a meaningful way. Example: Store Location |
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qualitative data, but order is meaningful, but quantitative value assigned to categories are meaningless. Example: Rating something Excellent, Good, or Poor. |
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order is meaningful, and distances are meaningful. Examples: Temperature and time |
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order, difference, and zero are all meaningful. Examples: weight, prices, and speed |
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Fixed Alternative Questions |
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questions where the interviewer provides only a limited number of answers to choose from. Example Yes/No question |
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Frequency Determination Questions |
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Questions which ask for how often some occurrence generally happens |
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fixed-alternative question that allows respondents to provide multiple answer to a question |
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Responses to a question that have a natural order/ranking |
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Questions that lead the respondent to a particular conclusion |
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Questions that suggest a socially desirable answer, or questions or answers that are emotionally charged |
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Strategy of asking general questions before specific questions in order to limit question-sequence bias |
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To eliminate bias caused by lack of knowledge or prior opinion, first ask questions that reveal the respondent's background on the topic, then proceed only if there is sufficient background |
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the study of how to use data to answer interesting questions |
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the complete collection of all elements to be studied |
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collection of data that includes every member of the population |
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collection of data from a subset of members from a population |
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when some members of a population are excluded from the sampling frame |
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when the means of taking a sample is broken into stages |
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element or group of elements that is selected to a sample |
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difference between the sample statistic and population parameter |
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Systematic Sampling Error |
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errors that are not due to chance, but are due to flaws in the way the sample is drawn |
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every member of the population has a known, non-zero, probability of being selected into the population |
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Sampling technique in which elements of a population are selected based on person judgment of convenience |
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sampling technique where most convenient elements are drawn from the population |
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researcher uses his or her own judgment for determining who is put in the sample. Example: test markets for new products |
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put a minimum requirement on the number of observations that must be drawn from a number of subgroups |
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