1) The goal of this research is to discover the real nature of the problem and to suggest new possible solutions or new ideas.

This research method would be exploratory; because when you are utilizing exploratory research you find the nature of the problem while researching to find possible solutions.

2) A food manufacturer wants to know the demographics of people who purchase organic foods.

This research method would be descriptive, because the food manufacturer wants to know the specific demographics of those individuals who purchase organic foods.

3) A scientist wanted to find out what animals lived the longest, how long they lived, and what environmental characteristics were that the animals lived in.

The method to this question would be descriptive because the scientist would like to know all of the different types of characteristics of the animals. They scientist is going above and beyond the life span to include the environmental characteristics which would make this method descriptive.

4) British Airways would like to test in-flight Internet services on one of its regular flights from New York to Tokyo. The company charges $30 one week and $15 the next week.

The research method for the type of study would be causal because you are testing the cause and effects of a varying rate between the flights. You would test the cause and effect of the Internet service with a rate of $30 the first week, and then the varied rate of $15 the next week on the same flight. You would then compare the results, or “effects” of the varied prices. You are essentially testing the cause and effect of the Internet service price.

5) A firm is thinking of hiring a research firm to ‘try out’ different commercials with potential customers. They plan on showing each commercial to the respondents, and asking them to rank the effectiveness of each commercial.

This would also be causal because you are contracting your research out to a research firm. The contract itself does not make this causal, however, the firm trying out the commercials on the customers makes it causal.

6) A manufacturer investigates whether consumers will buy a new pill that replaces eating a meal.

This would be an exploratory study. The manufacturer is investigating whether or not there is a demand for this specific product, and if consumers will actually purchase this product. The manufacturer is “exploring” the market for his product.

7) Cosmopolitan magazine sends out a cover in selected markets featuring a female model to half of its readers and a cover with a female and male model to the other half of its readers to test differences in purchase response between the two groups.

This would be a causal study because the magazine is testing the cause and effect of its cover of this issue between its customers. The magazine is essentially testing out how the sales are affected in different geological areas by the difference in magazine covers.