Assignment title: Information

Project Title: Understanding the market for beverages at La Trobe University La Trobe is a large university attended by thousands of students. The purpose of this project is to understand the student demand for beverages at the university. This type of project requires researchers to (1) design a survey questionnaire, (2) select a sample of the population to survey, (3) conduct the interviews, (4) analyze the data collected, and (5) prepare a written report. For convenience, the subject coordinator designed a survey questionnaire (attached to this assignment) which will be completed by all students. Moreover, since it is impossible to interview every student visiting the university, the subject coordinator proposes that only BUS1BAN students should be surveyed. And, to make life easier for all, all students are requested to respond to the anonymous survey online on the subject LMS page. The data will be provided to students for analysis. What should you do?  Respond to the survey online on the subject webpage before Friday 5pm, 14 August. Your responses will be completely anonymous (this is a standard requirement for all surveys). Once the online survey closes, the subject coordinator will export the anonymous responses to an Excel file. The Excel file will be uploaded on the LMS. Each group will have to select a random sample from the data for their group assignment. The Excel file will provide further details about the sample selection. 1 1. Form a group of 3 students for the project using the group selection option on the LMS. You must select your group on the LMS before the end Week 3 (Friday 5pm, August 14). You will lose 0.3 marks per day thereafter, if you fail to select a group by the stated deadline. 2. Submit the following: a. A group report of around 1000 words (excluding tables and graphs) using Turnitin on the LMS. The report must respond to the specific questions asked in a report format. See the 'Report Format" for details. The best way to do this will be to convene a meeting after each tutorial (computer lab) and discuss how you could apply the analytical techniques covered in the tutorial to the survey data. The Group Activity Log Form formally requires you to do so and has implication for the marks you may score in this assignment. See the Group Activity Form for details. b. A group activity log: You need to maintain a group activity log on the "Group Activity Log Form" which keeps track of each group member's involvement in the project. The form is attached with this assignment. You must submit a scanned copy of the group activity log, signed by all group members, along with the group report, on Turnitin. Marking criteria: You are expected to use the data analysis techniques covered in this subject to answer the specific questions listed in the "Report Format" section. Marks will be allocated on the basis of correctly identifying the tools of analysis; their successful application to the survey data and the overall quality of your report. A detailed break-down of the marks is given in the "Report Format". 2 Survey Questionnaire Reminder: Please respond to this survey online (on LMS) before Friday 5pm, August 14. 1. Student Origin: I am a A. domestic student B. international student 2. Consumption: On average ow many serves (cans, bottles, cups etc.) of beverages (Coke, Pepsi, Fruit Juice, Tea, coffee, energy drinks or any other hot or cold drink of your choice) do you CONSUME in a typical week? . a. Soft drinks (Coke/Pepsi etc.) b. Fruit Juice c. Tea/Coffee d. Energy drinks e. Other (water, milk drinks etc) ________ _ 3. Demand: On average how many serves of the beverages do you estimate you would buy for CONSUMPTION per week at the university if the price of a regular serve was a. $0.50, _ b. $1.00, _ c. $1.50, _ d. $2.00, _ e. $2.50, _ f. $3.00, _ g. $3.50, _ h. $4.00, _ i. $4.50, _ j. $5.00,_ 4. Beverage Preference: Rank the beverages in preference order (assuming they all have the same price). 1= first preference, 2=second preference, 3=third preference, 4=fourth preference, 5= last preference. a. Soft drinks (Coke/Pepsi etc.) b. Fruit Juice c. Tea/Coffee d. Energy drinks e. Other (water, milk drinks etc) __________ _ 5. Impact of price: Would you change your choice of beverage from your first to your second preference if a. b. c. Your second preference was 25% cheaper than your most preferred beverage? i. Yes ii. No Your second preference was 40% cheaper than your most preferred beverage? i. Yes ii. No Your second preference was 60% cheaper than your most preferred beverage? i. Yes ii. No 3 Report Format The survey can be used to answer many interesting questions. You are however required to focus on specific questions listed below. The report must follow the following format. Cover Page Group no on the LMS: _ Group Members: _ you must submit a signed copy of the group activity form (attached to this assignment) Tutor Name:_ Tutorial details (Day/Time/Location):_____________ Student No Name Tutor Name Average effort 4 1. Introduction: (5% marks) Provide a brief introduction to what this assignment is about and how your sample was selected? 2. Data Analysis (75% marks): This section must answer the following specific questions Section A: Basic Analysis (25% marks) 1. What proportions of the students in your sample are domestic students and what proportion are international? 2. What is the relationship between price and estimated average weekly consumption of beverages by students in your sample? 3. Summarise the beverage preferences for your sample of students. What are the most popular and least popular beverages? 4. Will price affect preference? (Do students in your sample indicate that they would change to their second preference if this beverage was 25%, 40% or 60% cheaper than their first preference?) Section B: The behavior of domestic students vis-à-vis international students (25% marks) 5. How does the demand (price-quantity relationship) of international students differ from that of domestic students in your sample? 6. Compare the distribution of beverage preferences for domestic and international students. What are the most and least popular beverages for students in each group? 7. Does price influence choice of beverage for domestic students more than for international students? Section C: Advance scenarios (25% marks) 8. Suppose, you randomly selected a student from the 2015 BUS1BAN class. a. How likely is it that the student will be a domestic student and how likely is it that the student will be an international student? Provide interval estimates and interpret your results. b. How likely is it that the student will choose soft drink (Pepsi, Coke etc.) as their first preference? Provide interval estimates and interpret your results. c. What is the probability that the student will choose tea/coffee as their second preference if he/she selected soft drink (Peps, Coke etc.) as the first preference? Provide interval estimates and interpret your results. 9. It is claimed that more than 25% of the students at La Trobe prefer soft drinks over any other beverage. Use your sample data to test this claim at 1%, 5% and 10% levels of significance? 10. Suppose a total of 20,000 students (10,000 domestic and 10,000 international students) attend La Trobe University every week. The university expects this number to increase to 25,000 next year (comprising of 10,000 domestic and 15,000 international students. Using your survey results, calculate the impact of this change on aggregate consumption of beverages at La Trobe. 5 3. Summary and discussion (20% marks):  Provide a quick summary of the MAIN RESULTS from your analysis of the data (response to sections A, B and C).  Discuss possible errors in predicting weekly or monthly beverage consumption in 2016 based on this survey. For example: o Seasonal variations: Comment whether or not we should be concerned about the timing of the survey (August which is a cold month). o Sampling method: Critically evaluate the sample selection method in this assignment and discuss whether or not inference about all students in the university in parts 9 and 10 based on this sample are valid. Can you suggest what additional information would be needed to reduce these errors? Group Activity Log: Attach a copy of the Group Activity Log (next page). This must be signed by all group members. Suggested word limit for each section Suggested maximum word limit Introduction 80 words Section A 240 words Section B 240 words Section C 240 words Summary and discussion 200 words 6 Group Activity Log Form This activity log must be completed on weekly basis once you receive a sample of the survey results. The group must meet every week after completion of the tutorial and discuss how they can apply the techniques they have learned by that week to analyze their survey sample. Every group member is than required to apply the technique on the group survey sample and report to the group in follow up meetings. Date Attended by Tutorials discussed Techniques to be applied on the data (all members should go back and apply these techniques on the data) Follow up Who performed the tasks and how much effort was exerted in the task out of 10  (0 means no effort at all, 10 means maximum effort). Member 1 Member 2 Member 3 Average effort x y z Signature of the group member Sign here Sign here Sign here Marks allocation:  Marks received by group member 1 = 3Mx/(x+y+z)  Marks received by group member 1 = 3My/(x+y+z)  Marks received by group member 1 = 3Mz/(x+y+z) Where M = actual marks received by the group. x = average effort exerted by group member 1 y = average effort exerted by group member 2 z = average effort exerted by group member 3