Spring 2024 - STA630 - 1 - SOL
Spring 2024 - STA630 - 1 - SOL
Learning Outcome:
After attempting this activity, students will be able to comprehend and apply the characteristics
of scientific methods in real-time scenarios. They will also be able to answer questions in their
exams related to characteristics of scientific methods.
Scenario
Zarah, a team lead of the marketing department at a renowned social media company,
arranges a brainstorming session with her social media team. The discussion focuses on
generating innovative ideas to enhance user satisfaction with the mobile app.
The team suggested conducting an online survey to gather valuable feedback directly
from users. They designed a comprehensive survey containing close-ended questions that
covered topics such as app usage patterns, useful features, user preference, ease of use, and
suggestions for improvement. Additionally, open-ended questions were also included in the
survey to capture qualitative insights.
Excited about the potential feedback, Zarah and her team actively monitor user responses
from the survey. They are confident that this information will be instrumental in upgrading and
improving the mobile app.
REQUIREMENTS:
Which five important characteristics of the scientific method, as outlined in your research
methodology course, are addressed in the provided scenario, and which ones are either not met or not
discussed? Justify your answer as well.
Verifiable
Cumulative
Deterministic
Statistical Generalization
Note: The solution should be provided in the following table. Failure to provide the
answer as suggested will result in a deduction of marks.
Solution:
Marks
Characteristic Met (✔️
) / Not Met (❌) with justification
Met, the team carries out an online survey
Empirical to obtain empirical information directly
from users.
Met, verifiability is what the team
Verifiable contributes to when it analyzes survey
results for common themes.
Not met, the team does not compare
Cumulative survey findings openly with earlier
feedback or industry data.
Not met, surface level feedback limits the
Deterministic team’s ability to explore deep-rooted
reasons for occurrence.
Not met, the team does not do any
statistical tests aimed at evaluating how
Statistical
universally applicable their findings are.
Generalization
Just mention that statistical generalization
is not the purpose of this study.
IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:
FORMATTING GUIDELINES:
• Use the font style “Times New Roman” or “Arial” and font size “12”.
• It is advised to compose your document in MS-Word format.
• Use black font color only.
Good Luck!