Assignment Overview This assignment is meant to serve in place of a -

Assignment Overview

This assignment is meant to serve in place of a final examination. It is an individual assignment. You should not discuss it with your peers. You might think of it as an open-book/open-notes take-home type of exam. The goal is to provide you with an opportunity to be creative and thoughtful while demonstrating what you have learned so far this semester. To do this, you will play the role of a survey research consultant responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) to win a piece of work.

You will be assessed on your ability to think strategically and logically, and how well you support your responses with specific course concepts and content. More detailed responses that are clearly grounded in course content will earn higher scores than more general response that are more vaguely grounded in course content.

Request for Proposal (RFP) for

Survey of American University Undergraduates

[NOTE: Fabricated/fictional RFP for learning purposes]

American University is trying to increase undergraduate student purchases of AU apparel. Most of today’s undergraduate students are Gen Z. The university has not conducted any research about how well the AU apparel line appeals to important factors Gen Z students consider when purchasing university clothing items. AU seeks a research consultant to conduct a 15-to-20-question survey that will be administered to a sample of 1,500 undergraduate students to yield data the University can use to guide future product line development and marketing efforts. The successful consultant for this research contract will be a strategic and creative thinker with the ability to identify and collect meaningful data that can be used to guide and shape future marketing efforts. The survey has 3 major research objectives listed below:

Determine how AU undergraduates currently perceive AU apparel on dimensions that are important to Gen Z consumers (e.g., look, feel, price, ethical manufacturing, etc.).

Understand the types of events, occasions, or sentiments that are more likely to drive AU undergraduates to purchase university apparel (e.g., beginning of the school year, holiday gifts, school pride, etc.).

Identify the most promising communication channels to market AU apparel. Remember that a channel can be a message source (e.g., peer influencers or celebrities), or outlet (e.g., campus radio, social media).

[The items in parentheses above are only hypothetical examples to help you better understand the general nature of each objective. They are not intended to be lists of things that you must measure. You should develop what you think are the most promising survey items based on the university’s purpose for conducting the survey and your secondary research review described in Part 1 of the proposal on the next page.]

Proposal Requirements

Please submit a six-page narrative proposal (double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point font) along with a 15-to-20 question survey questionnaire for consideration (questionnaire is not part of page count).

The narrative portion of the proposal should have two parts:

Part 1: Secondary Research Review (3 pages)

This is a high-level summary of the most pertinent secondary research findings you found that relate to the research objectives. Your goal is to show the client you did your homework to design an effective survey that considers what is already known about the target audience in relevant areas.

Think creatively about the types of sources and data you might review to gain some initial insights on productive avenues of questioning for your survey.

For example, what factors do Gen Z students consider when purchasing university apparel? If no data are available specific to university apparel, understanding how Gen Z makes decisions about similar types of apparel items might be helpful (e.g., leisure/lounge wear, branded apparel for sports teams or other organizations).

You should incorporate data from at least seven distinct outside sources for this section of the proposal. Use MLA or APA format to cite your sources. Include a references sheet with full reference information for all sources cited. [Reference sheet does not count toward total page count.]

Part 2: Survey Methodology (3 pages)

This section describes the steps you will take to conduct the survey and the underlying logic for your choices.

Include an explanation of how you will sample the 1,500 undergraduate students and why you think it is the best approach (e.g., type of sample, sample frame, sampling process, etc.).

Explain how you will collect the data (e.g., phone, mail, online) and why you think it is the best approach. Make sure to discuss strategies for increasing the response rate.

Provide a brief description of the topical areas you will survey participants about. These topical areas should align to AU’s three stated research objectives above. Think about how your questionnaire might be divided into key subtopic areas of questioning that align under each research objective. Explain why you think these are high priority areas for inclusion on the questionnaire.

Briefly discuss any participant demographic or background characteristics you think are particularly important to measure because they might explain important differences in opinions or behaviors across the undergraduate population.

Write a brief description (6-8 sentences is fine for this part) of how you will go about analyzing the data. For example, will you create tables with frequencies and percentages on all questions for the client? Do you see any opportunities to run cross-tabulations or any other analyses that might give the University insights into if and how responses to some items might vary by different student characteristics?

You do not need to provide any citations for research concepts, principles, or terms in Part 2 of the proposal. The only time you need to provide a citation is if you directly quote text verbatim. Verbatim quotes should be used very sparingly if it all in this assignment. Your goal in submitting a proposal is to demonstrate your expertise to win the work. Relying too much on the exact words of others will not inspire confidence when the client makes its hiring decision.

Appendix (Not Part of Page Count):

Create a 15-to-20-question survey instrument complete with any necessary screening questions, main questions, and demographic/background questions.

Survey must be set up in Qualtrics with any special instructions for respondents indicated (e.g., check all that apply) and programming logic properly set up for any skip patterns. Test your questionnaire to make sure it works properly.

The 15-to-20-question limit includes all questions (screening, main questions, and demographic/background questions like race/ethnicity, year in school, disposable income, etc.).

You can only have a maximum of two open-ended questions; the remainder of the questions must be closed-ended.

You will need to think strategically about what to include. You can include matrix items, if appropriate, and those will count as one question.

When you are finished setting up the survey in Qualtrics, export the questionnaire to Word requesting that all skip pattern logic and instructions display. (See brief video on course site on how to do this export.)

Grading Rubric

Points Possible

Points Earned

Proposal text contains a polished, concise summary of the most relevant secondary research findings about the target audience and topic to inform the survey questionnaire.

Proposal text contains a methodology section that demonstrates logical thinking and decision-making that is firmly grounded in specific research concepts, principles, and terminology.

Survey questionnaire demonstrates strategic thinking by including questions that will yield unique and actionable insights for the University’s marketing team.

Survey instrument collects data that is aligned to the three stated research objectives, along with a few useful demographic/background characteristics.

Survey instrument follows best practices related to organization and structure.

Survey instrument follows best practices related to question wording and response options.

Total

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