QNT/561 – APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH & STATISTICS

Establish what you think are categories that can be used to code responses similar to the 14 given below.

Try to develop an integrated set of categories that reflects your theory of markdown management.

After developing the set of categories, use it to code the 14 responses below. (Cooper text, Chapter 15, page 421, #3 and the “Content Analysis” handout in this thread)

Develop an APA formatted table to report your results. Refer to the APA Tables & Figures link in the Materials list.

Write a short paragraph interpreting the results shown in your table.

a Have not found the answer. As long as we buy style shoes, we will have markdowns. We use PMs on slow merchandise, but it does not eliminate markdowns. (PM stands for “push-money”—special item bonuses for selling a particular style of shoe.)

b Using PMs before too old. Also reducing price during season. Holding meetings with salespeople indicating which shoes to push.

c By putting PMs on any slow-selling items and promoting same. More careful check of shoes purchased.

d Keep a close watch on your stock, and mark down when you have to—that is, rather than wait, take a small markdown on a shoe that is not moving at the time.

e Using the PM method.

f Less advance buying—more dependence on in-stock shoes.

g Sales—catch bad guys before it’s too late and close out.

h Buy as much good merchandise as you can at special prices to help make up some markdowns

i Reducing opening buys and depending on fill-in service. PMs for salespeople.

j Buy more frequently, better buying, PMs on slow-moving merchandise.

k Careful buying at lowest prices. Cash on the buying line. Buying closeouts, FDs, overstock, “cancellations.” (FDstands for “factory-discontinued” style.)

l By buying less “chanceable” shoes. Buy only what you need, watch sizes, don’t go overboard on new fads.

m Buying more staple merchandise. Buying more from fewer lines. Sticking with better nationally advertised merchandise.

n No successful method with the current style situation. Manufacturers are  experimenting, the retailer takes the markdowns—cuts gross profit by about 3 percent—keep your stock at lowest level without losing sales

(Cooper text, Chapter 15, page 421, #3  (Below)

Closed questions include scaled items and other items for which answers are anticipated. Pre coding of closed items avoids tedious completion of coding sheets for each response. Open-ended questions are more difficult to code since answers are not prepared in advance, but they do encourage disclosure of complete information. A systematic method for analyzing open-ended questions is content analysis. It uses preselected sampling units to produce frequency counts and other insights into data patterns.