In the following task I will be discussing the positives and negatives of my sampling and research methods which I had chosen to decide whether there is a market for an Internet Café in Tilehurst and how they impacted my decision.
Sampling
• Methods chosen
When I decided my research methods I had to sample my research, I chose Cluster and quota sampling. I used these sampling methods on my research methods which were surveys and internet. Below I will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of sampling, the research methods and the consequences on my research. Cluster Sampling:
This method of sampling allowed me to pick out groups of people geographically, this allowed me to pick the most suitable people and this meant that I was able to gather information which was relevant because one of my objectives was to find out who my target audience is but I already had ideas, this meant I was able to pick students for my focus group because I thought they could be a possible target market this was a benefit because it allowed me to do be more direct with my research Another benefit of this sampling method is that it is an effective and cost efficient and this benefited me because of the restrictions which I had on time and costs.
The positive consequence of this on my market research was that the quality of data which I collected was high as the information which was being gathered was directly from the relevant source geographically which meant that I was also able to conduct my research on the right scale which made sure that my market research was efficiently done. Another positive consequence on my research was that the reliability and quality of research would also be high as I would not be getting research from random people that would not necessarily be impacted by the business, cluster sampling allowed me to make sure I was asking the relevant people for information as geographically I was asking people for information who were in the Tilehurst area.
The negative side of this sampling method is that it can make some information biased and unreliable and the consequence of that would be that my research which would be collected from research methods where this related to for example the Focus Group where I chose the panel possibly could have given me biased information.
The down side of the cluster sampling method have meant that some of the data which I have collected could possibly have the risk of being biased, and this would not be effective research as it is important to gather true information as I would not want to set up a business based on false information to later realise it was not accurate as this could potentially cause big losses in the future if the business was to be set up. The focus group had the ability to compromise the quality of the results due to the reliability of the data as its truly impossible to know if the answers given at the time where accurate, if I was to do this Market Research again I would try to get people who I may not know well to be within the focus group. Also there was the possibility that I would not receive accurate information by not considering other regions where I could have got information from the ideal target audience as the geographic location which I had chosen is only a minority of students.
Quota Sampling: The main strength of this sampling method is that it allows me to be able to pick direct individual from who I want information from, this would mean that the information that I collected was direct and accurate, the positive consequence of this sampling method in my market research was when I began to get the idea of who my target audience maybe I was able to specifically ask the relevant people for example I recognised students would be a target audience and the judgment sampling method allowed me to get information from students specifically to get the accurate and relevant information. It also benefits me on the point that I had certain time and cost