Reference no: EM131498749

Group Research Report Assignment

Overview

A Qantas manager has funded a study to collect data on Australian and New Zealand passengers' perceptions of the quality of international air travel. Please read the following overview of the study and answer ALL the questions that follow.

B&C Research, a survey management company, have collected information from Australasian passengers on their perceptions of the quality of the international airline service they received on their last flight. Airline customers were randomly selected at a major Australasian international airport and asked to provide data for the survey. 222 customers responded with fully completed questionnaires. Consumers were asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with many statements investigating the service quality they received on their last international flight experience, and overall perceptions of the airline experience. Respondents also provided demographic information on themselves including gender, age, and the number of times they had flown internationally in the last year.

The service quality dimensions specifically covered include perceptions of the convenience of their travel experience (e.g., the airline provides a convenient flight schedule), helpfulness of the airline staff (e.g., airline employees are courteous and kind), knowledge of airline staff (e.g., airline employees are able to assist you with any questions), comfort (e.g., there is adequate seating room on the flight), the safety and security of the airline (e.g., there is clear communication of the security procedures), timeliness of service provision (e.g., the airline service process was fast and efficient) and quality of meals (e.g., the quality of in-flight meals is high). Each of these service quality dimensions were addressed through asking a number of related questions. The dataset provides you with the average of the responses for each dimension. The variables were all measured on 5-point scales ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Respondents were also asked to indicate their overall satisfaction with their airline experience. The intention of respondents to travel again with this airline and recommend it to others was also investigated. These variables were also measured on 5-point scales ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

The Qantas manager has indicated a number of research questions and issues they wish addressed in the final report. The data for this assignment is entitled "Project Data Set.sav", and can be found on LMS. Values and labels for the variables are provided in the data set.

Requirements -

You are to address and answer each of the research questions below. Your answer should be in the format of a written report detailing the main findings of the four research questions, including technical appendices. Details of the specific expectations for this format are outlined in the Appendix. A marking guide is also outlined below.

Research Questions -

1. Qantas wants to know if customers of their airline rate the service quality dimensions differently from customers of Air New Zealand.

2. Qantas is interested in how international air travellers rank the service quality dimensions in terms of their performance evaluation (i.e., which dimensions are rated highest). Conduct a number of related tests to provide a ranking of the dimensions, indicating in the ranking scheme where there are statistically significant differences in performance evaluation between the dimensions.

3. Qantas are interested in whether there are any differences in service quality evaluation among males and females, different age groups and traveller experience (in terms of number of international flights taken in the last year). Note: Only use groups with 20 or more responses in this analysis (you may need to combine or exclude groups). Also, if relevant use the LSD (Least Significant Difference) post-hoc test to check if there are any inter-group differences.

4. Qantas are interested in which service quality dimensions are significant influences on (a) overall satisfaction perceptions, (b) willingness to recommend the airline to others, and (c) repatronage intentions. It is expected that the service quality dimensions will all have a positive influence on satisfaction, recommendations and repatronage intentions.

Appendix - Report Format

Main Body of Report

Your report should be no more than 25 pages long (excluding cover sheet, title page, executive summary and table of contents). The main body of your report should answer each of the research questions in non-technical language that managers, with little knowledge of statistics, can understand. Your written report should follow the structure outlined below.

1. Title page

2. Table of contents

3. Synopsis/executive summary

4. Introduction

5. Findings for research question one

6. Findings for research question two

7. Findings for research question three

8. Findings for research question four

9. Conclusion

10. Managerial/ marketing recommendations

It is acceptable to put some tables or graphs in the main body of the report if they are demonstrating findings. It is not acceptable to put any SPSS output, other than graphs, in the main body of the report (you may also find that graphs produced in Excel look better). All tables, graphs, and appendices should be referred to in the main body of the report.

Appendices -

SPSS output and any technical terms should be put in the appendices of the report. The appendices need to be included in the 25 page limit. Your appendices for each research question will need to provide information pertaining to:

1. The statistical procedure used and an example of SPSS output for that question.

2. The null and alternative hypotheses.

3. The test statistic and p-value used to reach a conclusion

Statistical Analysis and SPSS Issues

1. Always use p < .05 as the critical significance value (95 % confidence) in all tests

2. SPSS generally provides a p-value for a two-tailed difference test. If your hypothesis is directional (e.g., Males are hypothesised to consume more of X than Females, rather than Males and females are hypothesised to have different consumption levels) then you need to divide the given p-value in the SPSS output by half to get a one-tailed p-value

3. The Chi-Square test considers association. One-tailed and two-tailed tests do not apply here.

4. In regression always include the constant in the prediction equation, whether it is significant or not.

Attachment:- Assignment Files.rar