Suppose a certain population of observations is normally distributed. What percentage of the observations in the population (a) are within ± 1.5 standard deviations of the mean

A student has submitted the following research proposal of her final MBA thesis. She is interested to conduct the study by using a qualitative research method. Extracts from her proposal are given below for your quick reference.

After reviewing the proposal, you find that two essentials aspects of qualitative research are missing from her proposal: (i) ethical considerations and (ii) trustworthiness.

You need to provide detailed feedback to the student to help her correct the two shortcomings of her proposal.

1. What kind of ethical considerations are important in her proposed research? Write down at least 10 steps she can take to avoid ethical issues in the proposed study.
2. How can she ensure trustworthiness in this research study? Write at least 05 techniques/strategies to ensure trustworthiness and explain them briefly justifying their use for this study.

Extracts from an MBA Thesis Proposal

The Purpose of the Study

    The intent of the proposed study is to learn about adult full-time students, their circumstances, experiences, and the nature of their social world. The focus will be on selected adult undergraduates who are enrolled full time at Central University (a pseudonym of a private university) during the academic years of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

    Who are these adult students? Why are they in college? What has been the impact of being a full-time undergraduate upon their lives, and upon their interactions on and off campus with friends and family and with the people they meet on campus? How have their relationships with family and friends affected their decision to go to and stay in college and their experiences as full-time students? What support do they have from family and friends? Finally, what types of groups or social networks have they developed during their time as an adult undergraduate?

These are the central questions of the study. I no doubt will add more questions as I proceed through the research process and obtain more clarity on what it means to be a full-time adult student. The focus will be on the adult students, themselves, and each question or concern I have will be examined from their perspectives.

Methodology

    A qualitative research approach is proposed for this study. The theoretical perspective most often associated with qualitative researchers is phenomenology (Bogdan & Biklen, 2004). Following the phenomenological approach, researchers seek to understand meaning in events and in human interactions. Further, the context is important to the interpretation of data. This approach requires that the researcher "centers on the attempt to achieve a sense of the meaning that others give to their own situations" (Smith, 2005, p. 12).

    The data collected in a qualitative study includes more than words; attitudes, feelings, vocal and facial expressions, and other behaviors are also involved. The data which may consist of interview transcripts, field notes from observations, a wide variety of records and historical documents, and memoranda, are treated to rigorous ongoing analysis. Three processes are blended throughout the study: collection, coding, and analysis of data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967): This approach encourages the kind of flexibility so important to the qualitative researcher who can change a line of inquiry and move in new directions, as more information and a better understanding of what are relevant data are acquired (Blumer, 1999).

Target Population

     Central University has kept its tradition as a business university while preparing students of all ages for a lifetime of careers. The full- time "day" undergraduate program has traditionally served the 22-30 year-old population. In recent years a very small number of students 30 years of age and older have enrolled as full-time students. This is in contrast to the Continuing Education division which offers undergraduate and graduate programs to part-time students of all ages.

    The goal of this project will be to study these full-time undergraduates 22 years of age or older with respect to their social world and the factors which affect the nature of their interactions. A convenience sample of no more than 30 students will be obtained by placing an ad in the school newspaper describing the research and requesting people to participate. Each person who agrees to interview will be asked to read and sign an informed consent form prior to participating and promised their complete anonymity.

Research Design and Procedures

    Following these lines of thinking, a qualitative study of the social world of full-time adult undergraduates is proposed, using semi-structured interviews as the primary research approach.    It is proposed to begin the interviewing process in the fall of 2020. They will begin with unstructured questions such as the following: "What has it been like to be a full-time student at Central University" Often, with only an occasional question from me for clarification, it is anticipated that the adults will talk about a wide variety of topics throughout an extended interview.

    It is anticipated that up to 30 interviews and any necessary follow-up interviews will be conducted during that academic year. In addition, follow-up clarifying interviews will be conducted with at least a dozen of these students during the second academic year after I have completed some data analysis and obtained a beginning understanding of the findings.

    All interviews will be tape-recorded and, based on four pilot interviews already conducted, are expected to vary in length from 45 minutes to one hour and 45 minutes. The interviews will be informal and open-ended, and carried out in a conversational style.

    I will write field notes in conjunction with the interviews, follow-up interviews, observations, and casual encounters with subjects. Memoranda also will be written while listening to taped interviews, typing transcripts, and reflecting upon a particular interview. In addition to the interviews and follow-up interviews, I expect to obtain other data throughout the study, such as comments from administrative and teaching colleagues, papers or other materials subjects care to give to me, and ongoing literature review.

    I anticipate that ongoing data analysis will take place throughout the study. All of the taped interviews, memoranda, and field notes will be entered into computer files. I will use The Nvivo, a software program that uses a coding system organized around different topics and themes found in these files. A scheme of numbers and letters will be used to designate major categories and subcategories. "Hard copies" of all computer files of data also can be coded using colored pens to mark the margins with the appropriate numbers and letters if needed.

    Connections between categories and themes will be used to further my understanding of the adult full-time student’s world and to shape the organization of the data for portrayal in my final document.

Note: Word college is used for both colleges and universities in the literature.

Assessment Rubric:

Part A:  Appropriate steps for ensuring ethical consideration: 0.5 mark for each step

Part B:  Appropriate strategies for ensuring trustworthiness with their justification: 1 mark each.

1. Imagine you want to conduct a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore 10 MBA graduates’ perceptions and experiences of searching for the first job after graduating from a private university in Karachi, Pakistan.
2. Develop an Interview Guide comprising 7 - 10 questions to be used in the study. Remember the Interview Guide must be developed by you, and not copied from any other source.

1. Suppose you have conducted 10 interviews using the interview guide you developed for part A of this question. List down at least 10 steps that you will take to conduct the thematic analysis of the interview data.

Assessment Rubric:

Part A: 

1. Quality and Appropriateness of Interview Questions: 3 marks
2. Coverage of the key aspects of the research topic: 2 marks

Part B: 

Appropriate steps for conducting thematic analysis: 0.5 mark each.

A leading multinational fast food brand introduced its first chain in Karachi, Pakistan. The brand was launched after a successful direct marketing strategy and was a hit since day one with long queues and never-ending orders. Suddenly, in the second month, all sales dropped and by the third month, the franchise was on the verge of bankruptcy. The CEO of the multinational brand became furious and decided to understand the root cause of this failure.

Your company was hired to research and see what went wrong with the main objective of exploring the issue and devising a strategy for the survival of the brand. Therefore, plan a qualitative research study, and:

1. Explain and justify your interpretative framework for this research.  [200 – 300 words]
2. Develop at least two main research questions for this research.
3. Devise and justify your methodology for this research. [200 – 300 words]

Ans1) As we are dealing with a company and need to explore various issues behind the failure of this company, we would require multiple methods to gather most information Assessment Rubric:

1. Appropriate choice of Interpretive Framework and its justification: 04 marks
2. Appropriate choice of qualitative research methodology and its justification: 04 marks
3. Appropriate qualitative research questions: 02 marks

Assume that you are a new analyst hired to evaluate the capital budgeting projects of the company which is considering investing in two CPEC projects, “Expansion Zone North” and “Expansion Zone East”. The initial cost of each project is Rs. 10,000. Company discount all projects based on WACC. Further, all the projects are equally risky projects and the company uses only debt and common equity for financing these projects. It can borrow unlimited amounts at an interest rate of rd 10% as long as it finances at its target capital structure, which calls for 50% debt and 50% common equity. The dividend for next period is $2.0, its expected that they will grow at the constant growth rate of 8%, and the company’s common stock sells for $20. The tax rate is 50%.

The cash flows of both the projects are given in table below:

Carefully analyze the above table and answer the following questions in detail.

2. Calculate the weighted average cost of capital for this firm? (2.5 marks)
3. Compute each project’s IRR, NPV, payback, MIRR, and discounted payback. (2.5 Marks)

• Which project(s) should be accepted if they are mutually exclusive? Explain (1.5 Marks)

1. Which project(s) should be accepted if they are independent? Explain (1.5 Marks)

COVID-19 and Education Revolution: An Innovative Perspective

1. Write down two objectives on the given research topic.
2. Write the research design in considering the above research topic.
3. Describe briefly the relevant paradigm used in conducting the research.
4. You are required to develop a theoretical framework and design a research strategy to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on higher education in Pakistan     kindly solve this being as qualitative resreacher methology student. and please and me correct last one was incorrect.

Ahmed's interest was cricket. When he finished university, he wanted to work in a management job. He wanted to do his research project on some aspect of general management and social sciences, preferably for a sports goods manufacturer but had no research idea. He asked five friends, all taking business education degrees, to help him brainstorm the problem. You are requested to use the following problem-solving techniques to generate and refine the research idea in this business scenario.                                                                                                                     

1. The technique of Brainstorming
2. The Delphi technique

Question # 2                                                                                                                    (10 marks)  

1. Imagine you want to conduct a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore 10 MBA graduates’ perceptions and experiences of searching for the first job after graduating from a private university in Karachi, Pakistan.
2. Develop an Interview Guide comprising 7 - 10 questions to be used in the study. Remember the Interview Guide must be developed by you, and not copied from any other source.
   
   Part B Suppose you have conducted 10 interviews using the interview guide you developed for part A of this question. List down at least 10 steps that you will take to conduct the thematic analysis of the interview data.

3.  

   Assessment Rubric:

   Part A: 

   1. Quality and Appropriateness of Interview Questions:
   2. Coverage of the key aspects of the research topic

   Part B: 

   Appropriate steps for conducting thematic analysis

A leading multinational fast food brand introduced its first chain in Karachi, Pakistan. The brand was launched after a successful direct marketing strategy and was a hit since day one with long queues and never-ending orders. Suddenly, in the second month, all sales dropped and by the third month, the franchise was on the verge of bankruptcy. The CEO of the multinational brand became furious and decided to understand the root cause of this failure.

Your company was hired to research and see what went wrong with the main objective of exploring the issue and devising a strategy for the survival of the brand. Therefore, plan a qualitative research study, and:

1. Explain and justify your interpretative framework for this research.  [200 – 300 words]
2. Develop at least two main research questions for this research.
3. Devise and justify your methodology for this research.                           

Assume you are a portfolio manager at JS Global Capital Ltd. Recently you came across three attractive stocks and want to create a portfolio investment in these three stocks. The details of the stocks are given below:

The expected return on the market portfolio is 8% and its volatility is 10%. The risk-free rate based on central bank’s discount rate is 3%.

1. Calculate each of the stock’s expected return and risk (beta) as compared to the market.
2. What should be the expected return of the portfolio based on values calculated in part a.
   c. Calculate the beta of the portfolio? what does it tells regarding the riskiness of the portfolio?
3. Using the values from part c, can you calculate the expected return of the portfolio? Is it similar to your answer in part b? Why or why not?