Data preparation – 30% • Your data should contain at least two independent variables and two dependent variables connected with the research question you wish to solve through data analysis. Gather as much data as possible on minimum of four variables or more around the business problem or business opportunity discussed above and prepare datasets required for statistical analyses (to be carried out in Assignment 2). • Conduct Internet search looking for data relating to the research and select relevant datasets you propose to use for solving your defined problem. Focus your search on case studies where the business issue you have identified have been researched. You may find such data in websites on statistical analysis, software vendor website case studies on operational databases containing ongoing transactions e.g. CRM (Customer Relationship Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) & SCM (Supply Chain Management) databases. • You must ensure that the data are obtained from a representative sample of the population of variables under investigation. Your datasets should be suitable for descriptive statistics (quantitative summaries of datasets), statistical modelling purposes such as correlation/regression models including probability concepts and other inferential statistical analyses. • Prior to starting your data analysis (Assignment 2), the data should be collected, characterized, cleaned, and may be transformed into an appropriate form for further processing. Task 3 Method selection and methodological defense – 30% For this task, you are required to explain: • why you selected a particular quantitative research methodology (e.g. Deductive and/or positivist approach) and methods (Statistical techniques and methods learnt in class) used in your research; • why you did not make any other choices of methodologies (Qualitative research methodologies such as Action research, Case study, Grounded theory, Narrative research, Phenomenology, etc.) and methods (Coding, Triangulation etc.); and • how effective the choices you made in enabling you to acquire useful data/information and draw factual and conceptual conclusions (i.e. how statistical analyses would be used in the selected business and how they will contribute to organisational decision-making with the case study example).