ma4125_02.introd to comp aided data analy Autumn 2002.docVIP

UNIVERSITY of LIMERICK OLLSCOIL LUIMNIGH COLLEGE OF INFORMATICS AND ELECTRONICS END OF SEMESTER ASSESSMENT PAPER MODULE CODE: MA4125 SEMESTER: Autumn 2002/2003 MODULE TITLE: Computer Aided Data DURATION: 2.5 hours Analysis LECTURER: Dr. Ailish Hannigan EXTERNAL EXAMINER: Prof. P. J. Boland INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES: Answer any 4 questions (each question is worth 20 marks). Calculators may be used. This exam is worth 60% of your final grade. __________________________________________________________________________  Q1. (a) Briefly indicate some of the practical difficulties with carrying out a survey of companies for business research. (4 marks) (b) A mobile phone company wanted to find out how its customers rated the customer service offered by its call centre operators. A list of all customers was obtained and 500 customers were randomly selected from the list. These 500 customers were posted a questionnaire asking them to rate customer service on a scale of 0 to 10. Customers who responded were given €10 credit on their account. 250 customers responded and gave a mean rating of 5 for customer service. For this example, identify the population, the sampling frame, the sample and the variable measured. What is the main parameter of interest in this example? What is the best estimate of this parameter? Describe the potential bias in this example. (10 marks) (c) Briefly describe three research approaches, one of which must be qualitative. (6 marks) Q2. A survey of small and medium sized firms in Ireland was carried out to investigate the effect of insurance cost increases on the recruitment of new staff. Data on the following variables were collected from a sample of 30 firms: Profit (€’s) for 2001 Insurance: Have your insurance costs increased in the past 12 months? (1=yes, 0=no) Employ: Do you plan on increasing your workforce in the next