Generalization in Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Question: Discuss about the Generalization in Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Answer: Introduction: Visa Inc. is a multinational financial services corporation which was formed in 2007. It was started in the United States and has its headquarters at Foster City in California, United States. Visa Inc. has helped to facilitate the transfer of funds electronically in the whole world. The most commonly used Visa products are the Visa credit cards and the Visa debit cards. These cards have been globally accepted, and are used in transactions to pay for goods or services in different places all over the world (United States Patent No. US7650308 B2, 2010). Since establishment, Visa Inc. has been expanding across the whole world and has managed to enter almost all the countries in the world. In its expansion process, Visa Inc. has encountered various problems. Among the major problems faced by Visa Inc. include problems of fraud, competition from other similar companies like MasterCard, and lack of trust from some members of the general public. Visa Inc. has been faced with other many other problems but the problems stated are the major problems which have been affecting its performance in the global market. In this research, we are going to address some of the major problems faced by Visa Inc. As we stated in the problem definition section, the major problems which have been limiting the performance of Visa Inc. are increased cases fraud, stiff competition from other similar companies like MasterCard, and lack of trust from some members of the general public. In this proposal, we shall analyze these problems in details to determine how they have affected different users of Visa Inc. products in the whole world. We shall use Australia as a case study in our research, and the results of our research can be used to represent the whole world. Our research will be based on different towns located in Australia. The problems which face the users of Visa Inc. products in Australia are the same problems which face the other users in different places of the world. To meet our objectives, we shall do a detailed research in different places within Australia to determine the major problems which face Visa Inc. in Australia. In our research, we shall involve various respondents who use Visa Inc. products for us to know the major problems or challenges faced by these users. Like the other companies, Visa Inc. Corporation has been working very hard to identify the problems faced by its customers for it to do the necessary rectifications to solve these problems for it to offer better services to its customers. Every company desires to offer the best services to its customers for it to satisfy them and make them happy. Satisfied and happy customers will always be loyal to a company, and this will earn the company more profits which will enhance its growth. Research design defines the methods or approaches which should be used in carrying out research. The commonly used research designs are the qualitative research design, quantitative design, and the mixed methods research design (Creswell, 2013). The researcher should determine the research design to be used depending on the type of data to be collected and some determining other factors. An appropriate research design is very necessary for any research to be successful. Qualitative research is the approach which deals with the collection and analysis of the non-numerical data (Silverman, 2016). In qualitative research, the data is collected in forms of images, videos, recordings, texts, and many other non-numerical forms. On the other hand, quantitative research is an approach where data is collected and analyzed in numerical forms (Beck and Polit, 2010, pp.1451-1458). Due to the numerical nature of the data, the analysis of the data requires that some mathematical software such as Excel or SPSS or use of some mathematical devices such as calculators. Mixed methods design combines both numerical and non-numerical types of data. The combination of the different forms of data makes this method better than any of the other two research designs since it overcomes the limitations of the individual methods (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2009, pp.265-275). Most researchers prefer to use mixed methods design in their research since it combines both numerical and n on-numerical types of data which are encountered in many research problems. In our case, we shall use mixed methods design to carry out the research. The mixed methods research design will be the most appropriate design in our research since we shall use both numerical and non-numerical forms of data. Our research objectives are to identify the major problems faced by Visa Inc. To meet our objectives, we shall do extensive research to meet different users of Visa Inc. products in Australia and determine the major problems which are faced by these people. We shall use questionnaire data collection method in our research. Questionnaire method is an appropriate method of collecting data in our research since it will give the respondents the privacy and freedom of expressing their views without any manipulation effects(Gillham, 2008). We have various sampling techniques used in research. Some of the most commonly used sampling techniques include random sampling, stratified sampling, and cluster sampling (Cochran, 2007). The researcher should choose the best sampling technique for him/her to obtain the best results of his or her research. Random sampling is a technique where all the members of the whole population have equal probabilities of being selected. The selection of any member of the population is done randomly, and the selection is not influenced by the other members in any way (Yossef, Technion, and Haifa, 2008). Stratified sampling is a technique where the researcher divides the whole population into different sub-groups referred to as strata. The researcher then selects the samples randomly from each of the different strata. In cluster sampling, the researcher first selects some small groups from the entire population. These small groups are referred to as clusters. After selecting the clusters, the researcher can now select the individual subjects from the clusters by simple or systematic random approaches (Baffetta, Bacaro, and Fattorini, 2007). In our research, we shall use random sampling. The main advantage of random sampling is that all the samples are selected randomly, and this gives all the samples an equal chance of being selected which will represent the whole population fairly without any bias. We shall use a sample size of five thousand (5000) users of Visa Inc. products in Australia. These users will be selected randomly, and we shall select users from different parts of the country to reduce some geographical limitations. This sample size will be good to give fairly accurate results which will represent all the users of Visa Inc. products in Australia. This is the stage which involves collecting and analyzing the data of the most common problems facing the users of the products of Visa Inc. To ease the process of data collection, the researchers will be divided into fifty different groups. Each group will visit a different place within Australia to deliver the questionnaire forms to different users of Visa Inc. products. The researchers should make sure all the questionnaire forms are given to the right respondents. The researchers should also ensure the respondents fill the questionnaire forms accordingly to avoid some errors which may arise during data analysis if the questionnaire forms are not filled as required. After collecting the required data, we shall do the necessary analysis of the data to help us to answer the research questions. Our analysis will mainly involve comparison of the numbers of customers facing various problems. We shall consider the most common problems which have been faced by most of the users of Visa Inc. products in Australia and our results will help us to make the necessary recommendations in our final research report. These common problems are the major problems which face the users of Visa Inc. products in Australia and the whole world in general. Budget and timeline of the research Research Activity Start Date Duration in Weeks End Date Budget in AUD Carrying out a detailed literature review of the major problems facing the users of Visa Inc. products 10TH October 2017 1 week 17TH October 2017 1000 AUD Preparation of the questionnaire forms to be used in the data collection process. 18TH October 2017 1 week 25TH October 2017 2500 AUD Data collection (Travelling to different places for collectinon of the required data) 26TH October 2017 3 weeks 15TH November 2017 7500 AUD Data processing and analysis 16TH November 2017 2 weeks 30TH November 2017 2000 AUD Preparation and documentation of the final research report 1ST December 2017 2 weeks 14TH December 2017 1500 AUD Total budget 14500 AUD A sample dummy table of the hypothetical results Problem faced Number of users who have faced this problem Percentage of the number of users facing this problem compared to the total number of users (5000) Classification of the problem as a major or minor problem Fraud cases 4177 83.54% Major problem High transaction charges 1019 20.38% Minor problem Discouragement from the other people 3355 67.1% Major problem Other problems 807 16.14% Minor problem These are just hypothetical results of our research. Carrying out the actual research will help the researchers to determine the major problems which are faced by the users of Visa Inc. products. Having known the major problems and challenges facing the users of Viser Inc. products, the researchers can make a full report and give the recommendations which can be implemented to address these challenges. References Beck, D. F. (2010). Generalization in quantitative and qualitative research: Myths and strategies. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 47(11), 1451-1458. Cochran, W. (2007). Sampling techniques. John Wiley Sons. Cooper, P. S. (2008). Business Research Methods (10TH ed.). McGraw Hill. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (Fourth ed.). London: Sage Publications. David Richey, M. K. (2008). Method and system for facilitating electronic dispute resolution. California: Visa U.S.A. Inc. Baffetta, G. B. (2007). Multi-stage cluster sampling for estimating average species richness at different spatial grains. Community Ecology, 8(1). Gillham, B. (2008). Developing a Questionnaire. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Indrani Medhi, S. N. (2009). A comparison of mobile money-transfer UIs for non-literate and semi-literate users. ACM, 1741-1750 . John Hamilton Macllwaine, P. S. (2010). The United States Patent No. US9697520 B2. Kahn, J. B. (2016). Research in education. Pearson Education. Loc Nguyen, S. P. (2010). United States Patent No. US7650308 B2. Onwuegbuzie, N. L. (2009). A typology of mixed methods research designs. Quality Quantity, 43(2), 265275. Porter, M. E. (2008). On Competition. Cambridge: Harvard Business Press. Robert W. Taylor, E. J. (2014). Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism (3rd ed.). New York: Prentice Hall Press. Silverman, D. (2016). Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications. Ziv Bar-Yossef, T. a. (2008). Random sampling from a search engine's index. Journal of the ACM, 55(5).