Case study:

Multiple customers have launched complaints that searching for and purchasing music from Sonic Selection is confusing and laborious. The management executives recognise this as a major problem, as they pride themselves on putting their customers first. Therefore, they decide that the IT team should update the user interface, and streamline their platforms to make them more user-friendly. Before the IT team can redesign the platform, the company decides to do in-depth research into the problem, in order to guide the web designers.

Question 1

Formulate three specific research questions that the company could propose in order to guide the IT team during the redesign process. Formulate one descriptive, one relational, and one causal question. For each question, clearly state whether it is a descriptive, relational, or causal question. Be sure to apply the research question best practice guidelines highlighted in this units notes to ensure that the questions are well-structured.

Question 2

Choose either the relational or causal research questions posed in Question 1 and identify some of the most relevant variables for that question. Indicate which variables are the dependent, independent, and control variables. Make sure that you clearly indicate which research question you are referring to in your answer. Please answer this question in point form.

Question 3

Once the variables have been identified, it is important to determine how these variables will be measured and how the data will be gathered. Remember that data can be primary- or secondary source data. Write a brief description of how each of the variables mentioned in Question 2 will be measured. Be sure to state whether the variables are examples of primary or secondary source data. Your answer should not exceed 200 words.

Question 4

Justify why the research question referred to in Question 2 could help the IT team with decision-making in this scenario. Be sure to take into consideration the time and resources that will go into answering the research question, and discuss whether you think this research question will be worthwhile for Sonic Selection to pursue. Your answer should not exceed 200 words.

Question 5

Choose two of the business functional areas at Sonic Selection that you were introduced to in the Module 1 part of the ongoing project and list two Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each business area. The KPIs should be clearly defined and provide information on what measures will be tracked and within what time frame.

Business functional area:

• KPI 1:

• KPI 2:

Business functional area:

• KPI 1:

• KPI 2: