Feedback for The Final Year Project Poster Presentation

On 23th May 2012, there were the final year project poster presentation from final year students, Facullty Economics and Business, UNIMAS. This event was held in the main lobby of the faculty. I was given a task from Dr. Rohaya which is my lecturer for Research Methodology for Economics and Business course. The task given is attend for the poster presentation event and find out two presenter to give feedback and asking question about their research topic.

The first presenter that I meet is Siew Kuang Yu which done the research topic as "Examining The Impact of Using Social Networking and ICT Tools Small Business in Sibu, Sarawak". I was asked 2 question toward the presenter about research topic.

Question 1:  

What is the main objective of the research topic? 

Answer: 

The main objective of the research topic is to identify potential business benefits of social media and social networking tools in the context of small and medium enterprise of business owner in Sibu, Sarawak.

Question 2:

What is the method that was used to collect the data about this research topic?

Answer:

The method that used to collect data is survey through distribute questionnaire. The target population for the research is shopping complex in Sibu.

The second presenter that I meet is Ng Mei Fung which done the research topic as "Packaging Design Influence Consumers' and Purchase Tendency". The question that I was asked is:

Question 1:

Why do you choose this topic as your final year project title?

Answer:

This is because packaging design play an important role to influence consumers' behavior towards the food and beverages products. It is important to determine the factors that will influence consumers' attitude toward F&B products.

Question 2:

What are the best ways to write a good and attractive literature review for the research study?

Answer:

The best ways to write a good and attractive literature review for the research study are read more journal article that related to the research topic and always get feedback from the final year project supervisor about the writing in the literature review chapter.

Overall, the task given by Dr. Rohaya is very useful and help me to gain more knowledge about how to conduct the research and hopefully I have a chance to participate in the final year project poster presentation during my final year of the study.

Judging a Research Study

As a researcher, there are important that to judging a research study. There are few criterion in judging a research study which help the researcher in better understanding the general format of such a report and how well the author(s) communicated to the audiences what was done, why it was done, how it was done, and what it all means.

The research study as title "Facebook and Academic Performance" was selected and the criterion to judging the journal article are as follow:

1. The Review of Previous Research - The literature cited in the study is closely related to the previous literature which base on the recent review and journal. The review of the Facebook statistic also base on the recent date.
2. The Problem and the Purpose - The problem statement of the study was clear which state that Facebook will bring negative effect to children in processing  information. The purpose of the study also stated clearly which to find out the relationship between total time spent on Facebook and academic performance by the respondents.
3. The Hypothesis - The hypothesis of the study was not stated clearly about the association between the variables of the study.
4. The Method - The study was clearly conducted through the questionnaire survey which containing five sections (e.g., yes/no and Likert-type scaling) of closed-response and open response that related to the dependent and independent variables.
5. The Sample - The selected sample of this study was represented the population. The study stated clearly where the sample come from and how the sample was selected through the procedure of the survey. 
6. Result and Discussion - The results of the study are related to the review of the literature and hypothesis. The result show that Facebook users which having lower GPAs and spend fewer hours per week studying than nonusers. The discussion of the study provide closure to the objective and hypothesis that author presents.
7. References -  The author was using the current references list for the study. The format of the references are consistent and complete.
8. General Comments About the Report -The report is clearly written and understandable. The primary implication of the study is to encourage Facebook users especially students to manage their time in the optimal way which wont effect to their academic performance. To improve this study, the sample of the study might can focus on others universities to avoid bias for the result.

Reference for the Journal Article:
Kirschner, P. A., & Karpinski, A. C. (2010). Facebook and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 1237-1245.

Ethnography Study in Marketing

What is Ethnography?

Ethnography is one type of qualitative research method that aimed to provide a detailed, in-depth description of everyday life and practice (Brian, 2011). Besides that, ethnography also aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group.

 Video about "What is Ethnography?" by Penny Harvey

Ethnography Study in Marketing 

In the context of marketing, researchers conduct ethnography study to observe the consumers behavior towards the products and services that provided by the organization. They collect data about how the consumers behave and the cultural background of the consumers. This will help the organization to enhance their products or services to meet costumers needs.

Advantages of Ethnography Study in Marketing

• Develop details that help the organization to understand the customers performance and areas for potential improvement and innovation towards their products and services.

• Ensure that the products and services that provided by the organization are fulfill and meet the customers needs.

• Achieve a high level of overview and feedback of the consumer's attitude or behavior towards the products and services that provided by the organization.  

•  Help to build good relationship with customers while conducting the research.

Challenges of Ethnography Study in Marketing

• Different background and cultural of the customers may cause bias which lead to the result of the research not accurate.

• During the data collecting process, it might be take time to collect the data through different types of characteristic of the respondents. 

Differences Between Fact and Theory

Fact

• Fact is something that is empirically true and can be supported by evidence. 

• Fact describe as information that has been objectively verified and cannot be change.

• Fact is something that has really occurred or is actually the case.

• Example of fact is biological differences between males and females are a fact.

Theory

• Theory is a based upon a hypothesis and backed by evidence.

• Theory presents a concept or idea that is testable.

• Theory is a fact-based framework for describing a phenomenon.

• Theory must have four basic criteria/component which are conceptual definitions, domain limitations, relationship-building, and predictions. (Wacker, 1998).

• Example of theory is classical conditioning, Einstein's theory of relativity, etc.

 Differences Between Fact and Theory

            Fact define as what we can readily observe. It can pertain to any objective and real phenomenon.  For example the falling of the ball after being thrown upwards or other simple observable occurrences. In this situation, the fact is that the ball will fall after being thrown upwards.

           Theory define as the explanations to what has been observed. It is relatively greater in weight to what actually is in the research hypothesis. If a research hypothesis is the first base of formulating a scientific law, then theories are placed at the second base. Theory assumed to be true even if there are no hundred percent concrete evidences.

Theoretical Framework for My Reseach Topic

Research Topic: The Healthy Benefits of Playing Online Social Games

The theoretical framework below was developed base on my research topic:

Theoretical Framework (Independent and Dependent Variables)

          The purpose of my research was describe into two variables. The two variables are independent and dependent variables. The dependent variable of the study is online social game. There are three independent variables for my research topic which are improve communication skill, rule-following, and self control.

Theoretical Framework

          Every research need to establish the relationship among different kinds of variables that could operate in a situation. Develop a theoretical framework of the research can help us to determine the relationship between the variables more clearly.

          According to Uma Sekaran (2012), theoretical framework is a conceptual model of how one theorizes or makes logical sense of the relationships among the several factors that have been identified as important to the problem. It is logically developed, described and elaborated network of associations among the variables deemed relevant to the problem situation and identified through such processes as interviews, observations, and literature survey. 

          Besides that, the theoretical framework also logically describes the interconnections among the independent variables, the dependent variable(s), and if applicable, the moderating and intervening variable are elaborated. The elaboration of the variables in the theoretical framework thus addresses the issues of why or how we expect certain relationship to exist, and the nature and direction of the relationships among the variables of interest.

There are five basic features that should be incorporated in theoretical framework: 

1. The variables considered relevant to the study should be clearly identified and labeled in the discussions. 
2. The discussions should state how two or more variables are related to one another. This should be done for the important relationships that are theorized to exist among variables.
3. If the nature and direction of the relationships can be theorized on the basis of the findings of previous research, then there should be an in indication in the discussions as to whether the relationships would be positive or negative.  
4. There should be a clear explanation of why we would expect these relationships to exist. The arguments can be drawn from the previous research findings.
5. A schematic diagram of the theoretical framework should be given so that a reader can see and easily comprehend the theorized relationships.   

 

Tactics To Narrow Down My Research Topic

          Every research topic need to narrow down from the beginning of  the research to make sure that the research can conducted more systematic and the results of the research are valid. Base on my research topic, my research topic idea was generated because of a huge number of people were addicted in playing online social game nowadays including myself. This situation was give me an idea that to find out and determine what are the benefits of playing online social game.

          At the beginning to narrow down my research topic, first i need to choose and set the geographical area that suitable for my research. The geographical area for my research was set at Kota Samarahan. The reason of why I choose Kota Samarahan because at there have a university which is University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). As we know, undergraduate students will always involve in social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. In the mean time, the probability of them to playing online social game are very high.
 

University Malaysia Sarawak

          After setting my research geographical area at UNIMAS, I will narrow down my research topic again by choosing the suitable sample of my study. I will set the sample age group between 20 - 24 years old which is in the young adult category. Then I will focus on undergraduate students from Faculty of Economics and Business which study marketing course. Marketing student might need better social communication skill in the future, they will try to improve their communication skill through different way. One of the way spending their time in playing online social game so that they can learn to communicate with global users. This can help my research to collect more accurate data. The total of 200 samples from undergraduate marketing students will select randomly to collect data about my research data.

          Finally, I will set the suitable social networking site which provide various types of social games. Facebook will become my target because it provided different types of social games compare with other social networking sites and it is famous around the world.

          By using these few types of tactics, I can easily to narrow down my research topic to selecting suitable sample to collect data. So the final results and conclusion will become more accurate and believable.