DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL INSTRUCTED Faculty of Business, Economics and Law Bachelor of Business (Incorporating Graduate Diploma in Business & Graduate Certificate in Business) DATA, INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE MARS601 FINAL EXAMINATION SEMESTER ONE 2016 Date: Thursday 9 June 2016 Time Allowed: 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading for the paper. ALL UNAUTHORISED ITEMS MUST BE PLACED AT THE FRONT OF THE ROOM. THIS INCLUDES MOBILE PHONES. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY BE DEEMED A BREACH OF ACADEMIC HONESTY. Items permitted on your desk for this examination: • Pen Instructions: 1. Candidates must not write during the reading time. 2. All questions are compulsory and should be attempted. 3. Use blue or black pen only. 4. No dictionaries (of any sort) are allowed. 5. The marks allocated to each part of the question are indicated in brackets. 6. Extra exam paper is available from your examination invigilator. 7. Please print your Student ID number and full name on the front page and every page of the blue answer booklet and on each additional sheet of paper used. 8. Start each question on a new page in the blue answer booklet provided. 9. Candidates should support their answers with appropriate references where possible. 10. Please follow all instructions on the blue answer booklet. Exam Summary: Section Marks Suggested Time 1. Short Answer 30 54 2. Exercises 20 36 3. Case Study 30 54 4. Essay 20 35 TOTAL: 100 180- 2 - SECTION 1: SHORT ANSWER (TOTAL: 30 MARKS) Answer each of the following questions. Each question is worth 5 marks. 1. Explain the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research. 2. Explain three benefits of conducting research using focus groups. 3. What are the advantages of using a survey compared to observation? 4. What is a semantic differential scale? Explain the term, using an example to illustrate your understanding. 5. Explain how observational techniques might be used to explore media consumption behaviours. What are the limitations of using this method for gathering this type of information? 6. Explain the terms dependent variable and independent variable, as they relate to experimental design.- 3 - SECTION 2: EXERCISES (TOTAL: 20 MARKS) 1. Critique the following excerpt from a survey questionnaire. Identify any faults in the questions asked; explain what each fault is; and suggest appropriate re-wording of the question. (10 marks) a) What is your age (tick the one correct answer)? __ 15-19 years __ 20-39 years __ 40-49 years __ 50 years and over b) What do you think of Countdown's prices and quality? ___________________________________________________________________ c) Do you think it right for retail stores to pack sold items into shopping bags that are harmful to the environment? ___ yes ___ no d) How much do you spend on takeaway foods each week? __ under $20 __ $20-$40 __ $40-$60 __ $60 or more e) Have you looked at or read your textbook in the past week? ___ yes ___ no- 4 - 2. The following illustrates the first five rows in a much larger Excel spreadsheet. AGE GENDER MAKE LIKELIHOOD OF PURCHASE 35 yrs or under male Apple 3 36-45 yrs male Samsung 6 65+ yrs male Apple 5 46-55 yrs male Apple 4 46-55 yrs female Huawei 3 a. If this was a spreadsheet of several hundred rows, what Excel formula could you use to count up the number of 46-55 year olds? (3 marks) b. What formula could you use to calculate the mean likelihood of purchase? (2 marks) c. Explain how you could use Excel to calculate the mean likelihood of purchase for each group. (5 marks)- 5 - SECTION 3: CASE STUDY (TOTAL: 30 MARKS) A recent AUT graduate has had considerable success with her fashion store in Takapuna that is based on the concept of repurposed clothing (new fashion items created from second hand items). She is now considering opening a second store in Mt Eden. Answer each of the following questions. 1. Provide a statement of the management problem for this case. (5 marks) 2. Provide a statement of an appropriate research problem for this case. (5 marks) 3. What are the steps in the research process this shop owner should follow to address the reseach problem? (5 marks) 4. Discuss the sources and content of secondary research you might undertake to address the research problem. (5 marks) 5. Identify four different methods/research tools that the shop owner could use to answer the research problem. (10 marks)- 6 - SECTION 4: ESSAY QUESTION (TOTAL: 20 MARKS) Write 250-500 words on ONE of the following topics. a) How is big data mined? OR b) What are the advantages of modelling for MARS decision-making? OR c) What lies ahead in the future, for MARS research?