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Research Process
A company is considering creating and selling a new soda. Create a report explaining the
research process that should be used by the company to make this decision.
Your report should answer the following questions:
What data would you collect and how would you prepare that data?
How many scale items will you put in the survey? Justify your answer.
How many scale points will you use in the survey? Justify your answer.
What data type will be used in the survey? Justify your answer.
Create three survey questions with simple category scales. Justify why you selected those
questions and scales.
Create three survey questions with multiple-choice, single-response scales. Justify why
you selected those questions and scales.
Create three survey questions with multiple-choice, multiple-response scales. Justify why
you selected those questions and scales.
Create three survey questions with Likert scale summated ratings. Justify why you
selected those questions and scales.
Geographical location
Number of employees
Industry
Complete the survey assuming the role of an outside company analyst. Justify why you asked the
questions that you did and why you answered the survey as you did.
Submit your answers in a four- to five-page Microsoft Word document.
Calculate the return on equity (ROE) for a sample of 20 banks for the year before the SarbanesOxley Act was enacted. For the same sample of banks, calculate the ROE for the year following
the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Then, answer the following questions:
Was the average banks ROE lower following the enactment of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act than before the act? If so, why do you think that was the case?
Choose at least three different significant levels to conduct the hypothesis test. Is it
possible that a Type I error occurred with the hypothesis test? Why or why not?
Is the average current ratio for the sample of 15 firms greater than 2.0?
Choose at least three different significance levels to conduct the hypothesis test. Is it
possible that a Type I error occurred with the hypothesis test? Why or why not?
Create a scatter plot of the average returns for U.S. stocks (represented by the S&P 500
Index) and long-term U.S. Treasury bonds.
Test the hypothesis that the null hypothesis is that rho (the population correlation
coefficient) equals zero.
o What does the test statistic equal?
o Is the null hypothesis rejected?
Submit your answers in a two- to three-page Microsoft Word document and the scatter plot in a
Microsoft Excel sheet.
Before running the regression, predict what sign each variable will be and explain why
you make that prediction.
Does each predictor play a significant role in explaining the significance of the
regression?
If so, did you consider removing those and rerunning the regression?
Is the Fama-French model a better model in explaining securities returns? Why or why
not?
Submit your answers in a three- to five-page Microsoft Word document and a Microsoft Excel
sheet.
What are the various phases of a business cycle? Which part of the business cycle is the
U.S. economy currently in?
Discussion Question 3
When should exponential smoothing be used for data? Explain with an example.
In exponential smoothing, what type of smoothing constant should be chosen for little
smoothing compared with moderate smoothing?
Create trend-moving averages with the following values for m: 10, 100, and 200. Graph
the data with Microsoft Excel.
Create centered-moving averages with the following values for m: 10, 100, and 200.
Graph the data with Microsoft Excel.
How do the moving averages for the same values of m compare between a trend-moving
average and a centered-moving average?
Explain how these moving averages can assist a stock analyst in determining the stocks
price direction.
Would an exponential model be a better model to use here than a linear trend model?
Why or why not?
Submit your answers in a two- to three-page Microsoft Word document and a Microsoft Excel
sheet.
Would you select a reduced sample size for the research study? Would you utilize less
expensive software for the research study?
Would you delay the research study until you are provided with a larger budget?
Using Microsoft Excel, create a correlation analysis of Wal-Marts annual net income
over the past 10 years compared with Searss annual net income over the past 10 years
and interpret the results.
o Do both companies net incomes fall during a recession?
Using Microsoft Excel, create a multiple regression equation that explains Wal-Marts
annual net income and interpret the results.
Using Microsoft Excel, create a multiple regression equation that explains Searss annual
net income and interpret the results.
Submit your answers in a two- to three-page Microsoft Word document and a Microsoft Excel
sheet.