Aim of applied research

The aim of applied research is to finding immediate solution to a specific problem facing a community or organization, cure illness, and develop innovative technologies. In order to execute the planning process of the applied research, the researchers would be able to identify the difference between a basic research and an applied research. This would require the researcher to appropriately plan the research, conduct it, and reporting on it. The needs of the target group involved in the research which the research will aim to meet. Generally, a target group comprises of the participants of the research, and recipients of the research.On the other hand, the intended approach to conduct an applied research may vary as per the requirements of the researcher.As opined by Ulin, Robinson and Tolley (2012), most of the applied research undertake a new process for observing the outcome. Applied research can be conducted through different types which includes Evaluation research, Action research, Feasibility studies, and a Needs assessment.

Refer Learner Guide P11.

Aim of the applied research

The needs of the target group

In order to clarify and confirm information regarding systematic applied research, there can be a number of ways. These can be clarified by use of written documents such as agreements, contracts, research briefs and guideline and statements. These written documents help in developing a comprehensive understanding of the research. The information gathered can also be clarified and confirmed by the help of people in the organization. This may include the key people such as the manager or work supervisor, representatives of the target group representatives of the group commissioning the research.

P10

• Written documents such as agreements, research briefs, contracts, guidelines and statements
• Speaking to key stakeholders like the organisation’s manager, supervisor, group representatives, target group. 

In order to collect and maintain the data in the systematic manner, the researchers would require to follow a proper mechanism. In applied research, the quantitative and qualitative data can be collected by use of various methods. It is to be noted the data can be either quantitative or qualitative. The use of questionnaires is one of the most common methods of collecting data in applied research which helps in collecting only the information which is essential to answer the research hypothesis framed. Questionnaires can be either standardized, unstandardized or semi- standardized. Interview method is also one of the most common methods of data collection which may consist of either structured, unstructured, or semi structured questionnaires. Conducting in interview requires a systematic approach and complex skills in interviewing for research. Observation is also a type of data collection which uses a systematic approach. This means that it requires a number of important consideration when using observation as a method of data collection.

Difference between basic research and applied research

P21-Please elaborate on the following

Questionnaire

Interviews

Observations: 

Reliability and validity in the data collection method refers the consistency and stability in the data collection method and rationality of the collected information respectively. As opined by Stamatakis, Weiler and Ioannidis (2013), both the intrinsic factors and the extrinsic factors would affect the reliability and variability of data. It is noted that reliability is directly associated with the length of the test. For instance, if a researcher would take much time for the data interpretation and analysis, then it can be inferred that the data reliability is very high. On the other hand, the intrinsic factors like difficulty value of items; the clarity of the expression affects the data reliability. Reliability would also be higher if the total correlation between the superior and the inferior items is also very high. Again, if the group of members is homogeneous in ability, then it can be predicted that the validity score would be lowered. The data collection tools to be utilized in a research are questionnaires and interview schedules that are tested to their reliability. This ensures that they are sensitive to research conditions. In this context, reliability can either be external or internal, where internal reliability means the consistency of the results and internal reliability means the ability to generalize the findings. Generalizing findings means applying them to any general group and not specifically to the target research group. Apart from, a larger sample is often more reliable and valid as it will be able to resolve the errors occurred in order to generalize the findings.

P37

Sample size

Type of data collection instrument

Capacity to generalise findings2

Six important things, which are needed to be covered in the applied research, are the analysis of the problem that exits and needs addressing, the data collection methods to help in making appropriate decisions and planning, data, facts and information related to policies and practices or any work process developed by organizations. This will also include facts and information required to develop a strategic plan for the organization, develop a campaign, negotiate with employees, formulate strategies or identify solutions to concrete issues. In order to conduct a community campaign or activity, relevant information is also required. The use of relevant and appropriate literature review is also covered in the applied research in order to derive and test the immediate solution to the problem identified.Since, applied research has direct application in the world, therefore, model designing and the development of questions for the data collection method has a strong impact in the process. As a result, the applied researcher would be able to solve the problems based on the data collection process. On the other hand, data interpretation has strong implication of the applied research. Consequently, the most suitable decisions by the organizations can be taken. More specifically, based on these six elements, one can identify the problems of the research and based on it, can understand how to deal with these problems in deriving of effective conclusion.

Target group and its needs

It is known that a hypothesis in applied research can analyze a phenomenon and then perceive the association among the variables. In this context, the researcher needs to clearly explain the dependent and independent variables of the research. As mentioned by Ulin, Robinson and Tolley (2012), it can be stated that for meeting the criteria of developing research hypothesis, an applied researcher would need to follow four strategies. Firstly, the researcher would need to derive the relationship among the dependent and independent variables. Secondly, the collected data is needed to be testable and falsifiable, so that the applied researcher would be capable to determine the relevancy of the hypothesis. Thirdly, the research hypothesis is required to be consistent with the knowledge of the research. After that, the last criteria refers that the research hypothesis is required to be explained in the concise and simpler way, so that the learners would be able to understand (Lal, Jarus and Suto, 2012). It is noted that the references would not be included in the research hypothesis section.

Research strategy shows the lists of doing things, which are followed for accomplishing a paper. In this context, the researcher would outline the approaches of research. More specifically, Toledo, Flikkema and Toledo-Pereyra (2011) cited that based on the step by step actions or the approaches of research strategy, one can reach to the goal as well as can meet the objectives of the research. In order to frame the research strategy, one needs to determine the gap of the study. However, it is noted that the actions of research strategy is varied as per its types. For instance, research strategies are seven types and these are experiments, surveys. Case studies, ethnography, grounded theory, action research and archival research. In order to ensure feasibility of the research, there are certain tools required to frame the research strategy which can comprise of a range of technologies or that are designed for physical or electronic presentation. The resources of the research may include the research design specifications, infrastructure, technical manuals, samples, required components, physical evidence and monetary values.

P43-please discuss:

Tools

Resources 

There are various factors that should be considered related to the tools, data collection techniques and methods used in research. These factors potentially affect the choice of data collection methods and techniques. These factors are cost, availability, data security, ease of use, nature of data collected and validity (O’Cathain, Murphy and Nicholl, 2010). It is very important to analyze the cost of the tools and techniques used for data collection and research. Whether the tools and techniques are cost effective and if their benefits and outcomes outweigh their cost, should be identified. For instance, if 10 people are being surveyed, the cheaper method of data collection would be usage of paper instead of setting up and managing an electronic system like computer. The availability and accessibility of technology to all people affects collection of data. If a digital survey is created for pensioners and is sent to a thousand people, it is important to be assessed if the people can actually use the same. Next, it should be analyzed if storing the data is secure enough. During data collection, if people are asked for personal and sensitive information, it is vital to keep the data at a safe and secure place. The next factor is ease of use. It is important to consider if the selected method of data collection is easy and fast to use. Another factor affecting data collection is the nature of the collected data. It is important to assess the nature and characteristics of the data and how it can affect the research. Finally, validity of data is another important concern. It is necessary to find out how sound and valid the data is.

Data collection methods: questionnaires, interviews, observations

A process of selecting a particular part of a given population is known as sampling. The population here refers to the group of people which is studied in a research.

The type of sampling where every individual member of the population possesses a known probability of getting selected from the sample is called probability sampling (Palinkas, et. al., 2015). Every individual member of a population gets a known chance of being selected from the sample when the population is largely homogeneous. The types of sampling which are included in probability sampling are simple random sampling, systematic sampling, multistage sampling, cluster sampling and stratified random sampling.

A type of sampling where the members of the population do not possess the probability of getting selected from the sample is known as non-probability sampling (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016). The members of the population do not get equal chances of getting selected from the sample. Such a method of sampling is adopted when a researcher decides to choose members selectively. The non-probability sampling method includes purposive sampling, snowball sampling, convenience sampling and quota sampling.

Conducting research with integrity refers to the conduct of research in a manner that allows others to have confidence and trust in the methods, tools and techniques of data collection, publications and findings of a research (Roy, et al., 2010). It is the active adhere to the professional standards and ethical principles which are necessary for the responsible research practice. The two important areas where integrity must be applied are principles and practices of research and data collection and; ethical principles such as trustworthiness and honesty. Research integrity is related to experience and moral character for an individual. Moreover, it involves a commitment to personal responsibility and intellectual honesty for the actions of an individual as well as commitment to a variety of practices which characterize responsible conduct of research. The practices here include fairness and honesty in performing, reporting and proposing research; fairness and accuracy in the presentation of contributions to the research reports and proposals; fairness and proficiency in peer review; collegiality in sharing of resources, communications and scientific interactions; disclosing interest conflicts; protection of human interests in research conduct; and adherence to the mutual responsibilities of the individuals.

It is often unclear where research relevance is a predictor of outcome and impact, an important condition or stage in its achievement, or a different objective of the researcher. Relevance of research and its optimization is becoming highly important in the justification of research investments and guidance in planning strategic research. However, consideration of research relevance has been highly implicit in the community of research, often dependent upon unexplained interpretation of fit, value and potential for impact. Components or a procedure of efforts of making detailed research usable, the relevance of the research stands apart from its impact, while the relevance of research is an important condition for impact. Explicit and careful consideration of the relevance of research is very important for identifying and measuring the overall impact and value of a wide variety of collective and individual research investments and efforts. There are various considerations while optimizing the relevance of the research. These are, comparing capturing research and non-research sources, and orientation of research relevance assessments; consideration of both instrumental as well as non-instrumental research uses; accommodation of dynamic perspectives on research; and alignment with intersubjective relevance understanding. 

Reliability and validity in data collection

After certain rigorous and extensive processes of research, the final step includes stepping back and evaluation of what has been researched and finally reporting the findings. The process in which the research purpose, the methods and methodology used such as data analysis and collection are rated for assessing their value, relevance and their ability of achieving research objectives and aims, and for ascertaining the research significance is known as research evaluation (Gingras, 2016). All the final evaluation of the research is highly important; all the processes of the research including the data analysis and collection should be concurrent with the evaluation of the research. When presenting the findings, it is important to understand the impact of the findings on the researchers learning. The evaluation of the research findings will consider certain things in particular. Firstly, the changes observed during the research will be considered. Secondly, the trends will be considered. In this context trends refers to the direction in which changes occur which is needed for the researchers to analyze. When a researcher is analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, the required changes can be identified at that point of time. Whereas the analysis of quantitative data will derive the trends.

P58-please discuss changes and trends

Raw data review is the process by which the sets of open and raw data related to manuscript are reviewed and assessed. It is a vital procedure as it both increases the likelihood of citation as well as facilitates the transparency of the raw data. Due to the increasing public interest of data reproductions, there is a high responsibility and need among the data researchers for publishing the data sets which are generated during research. The analyzed research findings should also be reviewed. The review of the analyzed data is conducted for figuring out the deeper meaning of what has been found (Ge, Song and Gao, 2013). The importance of reviewing raw data and analyzing the research findings for any legal requirements includes:

• Agreements with the third parties who supply research or data.
• Competency standards
• Copyright and privacy laws
• Licenses
• Plagiarism
• Privacy and security of information
• Relevant commonwealth and state legislation, policy, codes of practice and national standards. 

Collation of data is the process of collecting and combining the data derived. Analyzing the data refers to examining the data with an intention to derive a meaning out of it. The process of extraction of data is the first step in collating and analyzing quantitative data. Data can be extracted from a range of different methods such as paper-based survey tools or use of Survey Monkey.  It is basically the process of bringing together the different pieces of data so as to analyze the differences and similarities (Quinlan, et. al., 2019). The collation process involves mapping the relationship between the data elements from the various sources which are brought together. Once the data has been collated, it needs to be analyzed and later summarized.The analysis of qualitative data involves stages such as specification of data requirements, collection of data, processing of data, data cleaning, exploratory data analysis, algorithms and modeling, data product and finally communication (Grbich, 2012).

Six important elements in applied research

Refer P62

Rossi, Lipsey and Henry (2018) opine that documentation is one of the most important outputs of evaluation of a study and the research can be documented in several sets of organized form which are often stored in files, index cards, and notebooks and specifically in chronological order. This helps in sorting out the relevant information whenever required. The documentation and presenting research findings requires certain strategies that can be presented in form of either verbal or non-verbal format. The verbal format requires strategies such as circulating publications for commenting and critique on the information from the internet. The presentations given in the seminars and conferences are a way of documenting the research findings. The research findings can also be done through creating plans, specifications, relevant data and reports. The internal reports of organizations, publishing papers and articles also document the research findings. The verbal format presentation of research findings can be done through improvising the speech setting and accordingly deliver the ideas. The research findings can be represented by forming an appropriate design of the research report which will include a title page, table of contents, and executive summary, and the methodology to be used, the research findings, a conclusion and the recommendations in the end.

Ferri, et. al (2015) suggest that the need for further research can be identified by the research gap which means that a certain area of research or a research problem has not been explored yet or at all in the given field of study. The future scope of study in the lagging areas provide a direction to identify what more can be done to make the research useful. This helps in providing a deep understanding of the existing research and the knowledge gained and shows that the research conducted fulfills the gap in the literature. Identifying gaps and generating research questions can be regarded as the most important step in conducting and writing a research paper. When identifying the need for further research, adopting the most appropriate research approach is important which can be achieved by use of relevant strategies and tools.The suggestions for future research can be identified from the systematic reviews provided which shows the current trends changes in the specific field of study and helps in improvising the research conducted. In addition to that, acknowledging the limitations of the research is also important to make further suggestions. This helps a researcher to critically analyze the research problem and accordingly provide relevant literature to it. Limitations provides an opportunity to discover knowledge on unexplored topics.

Research hypothesis and strategies

The case study in the research based discourse is focused over the satisfaction of customers with regard to their stay at Crown Hotel Melbourne and the services provided by them. The analysis of the hospitality industry must be conducted in the desired manner with regard to the targeting of the customers so as to ensure the generation of a huge amount of profits and revenues (Camden, et al., 2015). In such aspect, the scenario of Crown Hotel is to be analyzed. The key competitors are to be identified in the hotel industry which could pose a threat to the hotel in terms of various schemes for the purpose of attracting customers. The viability of schemes offered by the competing hotels is also to be taken into account with regard to the satisfaction of the customers in the target market (Patten and Newhart, 2017). The activity pertaining to the research would involve the holding of online surveys with the customers in order to determine the rate of satisfaction at Crown Hotel Melbourne which would be centered upon the overall satisfaction pertaining to the hotel and the recording of responses in a proper and appropriate manner. The customers at the national level who have stayed at Crown Hotel Melbourne would be asked to complete online survey. The selection of five hundred customers on a random basis would be made for the purpose of the furnishing of the final results. These customers are required to belong in the category of twenty to fifty years of age. The analysis of the collected data must be done in an effective and efficient manner.

The research is being conducted in order to deduce the results pertaining to the pros and cons associated with the stay at Crown Hotel Melbourne. The research would help in the defining of the scenario of the hospitality industry. This would imply the modus operandi of the hotels in the market based on customer satisfaction and the competitiveness involved accordingly (Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh, 2016). The business units which are affected include marketing, accounts, customer services and front desk. The constraints involved in the research mainly include time and finances. The specifications in terms of area and population also act as constraints thereby implying a limited and restricted scope for the conducting and undertaking of the research based discourse and deriving the results accordingly. The constraints are also inclusive of the difficulties involved in the procurement and retrieval of data of the customers.  As a result, the scope of conducting the research and analysis would be determined along with the factors which pose as impediments and hindrances with regard to the undertaking of the research (Hill and Brierley, 2017). It would help in the deduction of the outcomes of the research in a proper and appropriate manner.  

The objectives relating to the business implies the overall analysis of the market with regard to the satisfaction of the customers pertaining to the services of Crown Hotel Melbourne. It would help in ensuring that the strategy is implemented accordingly. The modus operandi of the business is also identified and determined accordingly as a result of the conducting of the research and analysis of the market (Zhou, 2017). The business objectives basically imply the attraction and retention of customers by Crown Hotel Melbourne as inferred from the responses of the online questionnaire. 

The attitudes and perceptions of the customers with reference to the services of Crown Hotel would play an extremely vital role in the evaluation of the benefits. The expectation of potential customers associated with the availing of such services would also be taken into account as a result of the online surveys being held with them (Bennett and Raab, 2017). In order to attain the research objectives, the responses of the customers are to be analyzed in a proper and appropriate manner thereby comprehending upon the services provided by Crown Hotel Melbourne.    

The target group would be the people who have stayed at Crown Hotel Melbourne for certain duration of time as inferred from the data base of the hotel.

Is Crown Hotel Melbourne worth staying in?

How is the overall management of the hotel?

As mentioned above, the responses of five hundred customers would be considered who would belong to the age group of twenty to fifty years of age.

The quantitative method would be applied for the collection of data as the responses to survey questions would imply the rate of customer satisfaction.

In order to carry out the research, ethics are to be followed by the researchers and analysts’ thereby maintaining the confidentiality of the customers of Crown Hotel Melbourne in the desired manner pertinent to the disclosure of their identity as far as their privacy is concerned. Failure to comply with the ethics would result in the stringent action being taken against the people involved in the undertaking of the research (Berliner, Ingrams and Piotrowski, 2019). It would help in the conducting of the research in the desired manner. The research reports would be through the responses of the online survey questions. As a result primary data would be involved. The liaison with the staff at the Crown Hotel Melbourne must be done in a manner in order to ensure the feasibility in obtaining the details of the customers for the purpose of conducting the survey.   

The research has to be completed within the given timeframe so as to present a comprehensive report in a timely manner. It would also provide the scope and opportunity to resolve issues and make the required changes as soon as possible in order to meet the aims and objectives accordingly.

Topic 7: Budget

The budgeting must be done in such a manner so that there are no issues relating to the financial investment over the conducting and undertaking of the research. The records of expenditure must be maintained thereby resulting in an incredible accounting with regard to the research.

Topic 8: Conducting research

The activities related to the conduction of the research have to be commenced after the approval of the management and the ethics committee thereby resulting in the adherence to the guidelines and requirements in order to undertake the research based discourse in a proper and appropriate manner. The online survey questions must be framed in such a manner that it is lucid and understandable for the customers. It would help in the reduction and prevention of malpractices during the course of the research.

The data must be supervised and preserved in such a manner so that the privacy of the customers of Crown Hotel Melbourne is not invaded as far as the maintenance of confidentiality is concerned. 

The presentation of the data would involve the compilation of the results of the survey in an appropriate manner and analyzing it to provide a comprehensive solution with regard to customer satisfaction at Crown Hotel Melbourne. 

The research is to be conducted in such a manner that the ethics are followed thereby involving no collusion or fabrication of data. The participants in the survey must not be forced to provide any information. The code of conduct must be strictly followed.  

The findings of the research are to be applied in a proper and appropriate manner. It would facilitate the ease of the analysis of the date in an effective and efficient manner. The findings of the questionnaire survey would be analyzed thereby implying the advantages and disadvantages of the services provided by Crown Hotel. The results would imply whether Crown Hotel offers incredible services related to hospitality and catering based on the responses of the survey thereby implying Customer Relationship Management on part of the hotel.