Data Collection

Introduction
Review of Literature
The first peer-reviewed article was showing how in the 1950s, SUV’s (sport utility vehicle) sales increased tremendously with baby boomers. People were in need of larger vehicles to accommodate their entire family. This was not just for domestic vehicles this also included foreign vehicle. With so many people interested in purchasing the SUV’s, this led to other car companies designing more comfortable, larger vehicles.
Another peer-reviewed article was in regards to the searching strategies people used before actually purchasing a new vehicle. Not everyone can walk into a dealership and know exactly what they are looking for in their price range and it is readily available. That is why most people before purchasing a vehicle use a strategy before purchasing. Not everyone’s search strategies are the same, not everyone is looking for the exact type of vehicle. Some automobile companies sent out surveys to some of their customers for a 3 month span to see how satisfied they were with the new vehicles and what the new vehicle may not have had that the consumer would have liked. When the surveys were returned they categorized the responses to see where improvements could be made to accommodate more people.
The next peer-reviewed article pertained to how well auto incentives increase business. This article was in reference to finding out if car incentives and manufacturer rebates increased sales of vehicles. It started with one manufacture using incentives, which quickly spread too many others, including domestic and foreign companies. The increase in business was much more than the companies had expected. Previously dealerships were only offering rebates to the manufacturers not necessarily the consumers. In knowing about how sales increased during baby boomer years, to the age of people purchasing the vehicles can all be helpful information. Knowing exactly what people are looking for when searching for a vehicle. Showing that incentives are a positive way to increase car sales and help with a consumer’s research when looking for a vehicle to purchase. By performing surveys and incorporating the results into organizational decisions, these results can greatly benefit a company and aide in increasing business. Businesses determined that offering more incentives resulted in the increase in car, truck, and SUV sales.

Sampling Design
The selected sample for this research came from a systematic selection of people who purchased vehicles from Whitner Autoplex during the period of April to May 2005. Whitner Autoplex sells both import and domestic vehicles to a diverse customer base. This information provides the necessary protection against surveying customers from a biased population. Furthermore, it is in the best interest of this research that the selection process itself remains bias free. Whitner Automotive provided a list of all their customers who purchased a vehicle during the period of April to May 2005. This research is only interested in the consumer’s age, price of the vehicle, and the vehicle’s national origin.
The final systematic randomization resulted in a data set of 80 customers. An important function of this research is determining whether this data range is appropriate for the scope of this research. The sample size is appropriate for this research because of its generalization of a small population, thus requiring a low level of precision. However, a study that attempts to generalize a larger population beyond the scope will require a larger sample size than the 80 consumers in this study.
The best attempts at eliminating biased sources and sampling error will not always produce a valid sampling design. Opportunity sampling (Gonick, Smith, 1993) is once such sampling method that attempts to sample a random population; however, this method is incapable of providing biased free sampling because of its propensity of sampling groups that consist of similar demographics. An opportunity design may be suitable if the sampler only wants information from a specific group; however, this type of sampling is not acceptable for studies that attempt to represent multiple demographics.
Researchers must be aware of the errors that can occur during the measuring process. Reliability is the process in which the researcher attempts to produce the same results with the same test methods (Sekaran, 2003). Errors occur when there is a flaw in the measuring process, which in turn causes inconsistent results. Validity is another error that occurs when an assessment misrepresents the test subject (Sekaran, 2003). In other words, the assessment of said test does not correlate with the information from the test. The goal for any test process is to use a reliable testing procedure, and to produce a valid assessment of the information.

Data Collection
Primary Data Collection Methods:

Interviews:
The purpose behind interviews is to obtain information from respondents on issues of interest. There are two different types of interviews commonly used. They are unstructured and structured. Unstructured interviews occur when a problem or issue begins to surface but the exact natures of the issue are not known. The unstructured interview will begin with the interviewer asking a series of questions that are designed to bring the issues into the open so that the interviewer can determine what variables need further research to find the root cause of the problem. After the unstructured interview questions are examined and the root cause is determined, the interviewer will conduct a structured interview. The structured interview will consist of predetermined questions, questions gained from the results of the unstructured interview and the result will relate directly to the problem or issue.
Face to Face Interviews:
Face to face interviews allow researchers to build a rapport with the people or person being interviewed. This advantage allows a researcher to not only analyze the response to a question, but also to analyze the respondent’s body language and pick up on non-verbal clues such as discomfort, stress, or problems that the respondents have with the questions. This advantage can allow the researcher to rephrase or explain the question in order to get a valid response.

Questionnaires:
Questionnaires consist of reformulated questions to which respondents give an answer usually to a predetermined and closely defined set. Questionnaires are usually used when a researcher knows exactly what is required and knows how to measure the variables of interest. Questionnaires are administered in three different ways; personally, mass mailings, or through electronic means. Personally administered questionnaires are usually used in a group setting. This is a cost effective way to introduce a large group of people to a subject, explain it to them, and administer the survey. This also allows researchers instant access to the data collected in a paper format. Mass Mailings are a good way in which to cover a large geographical area. The survey is mailed to the respondents and they can complete the survey in their homes at their own pace. Although the return rate is low, 30% is an acceptable amount. Electronic questionnaires, used through the internet and portable wireless devices, are considered easy to administer, have a fast delivery time, are inexpensive, can be used globally, and like mail in surveys, respondents can answer at their leisure. As with mail in surveys, electronic surveys have the same disadvantages such the respondents must be willing to complete and return the survey. Telephone Interviews:

Interviews conducted over the phone offer the researcher an unlimited amount of participants both domestic and international if needed. Telephone interviews can eliminate any discomfort that a respondent has by giving answers of a personal nature that they may have in a face to face interview. A down side to telephone interviews is that the respondent can end the interview simply by hanging up the phone at any given time The tabular and graphical data below was obtained using the data set from Whitner Autoplex and contains data sampling of age, price (in thousands of dollars), and vehicle type with 0= domestic vehicle and 1= imported vehicle.

References

Mary L. Tucker; Karen Sterkel Powell; G. Dale Meyer. . The Journal of Business Communication, Oct 1, 1995, Vol. 32, Issue 4, p383. Retrieved March 4, 2011 from University of Phoenix, University Library, Gale Power Search

Sekaran, U. (2003). Research methods for business: A skill-building approach (4th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Gonick, L., Smith, W. (1993). The cartoon guide to statistics. New York, NY: HaperCollins.