Research Korner: Data Gathering Procedure

Key Informant Approach

Key Informant Approach Gathering together key informants or experts to provide input for a situation analysis is one method for identifying issues. Key informant data can be used alone or in conjunction with another approach. This approach requires the careful identification of a select group of formal and informal leaders, influential leaders or experts. It provides for structured contact with these informants, usually through direct interviews or a focus group format. Description of the Process 1. Begin by identifying the key informants to be interviewed. These are individuals expected to have particular or “expert” knowledge about the county, its people, environment and issues.Use the Diversity Matrix in Appendix 1 as a basis for identifying key informants. It might be desirable to ensure that you have key informants representing each demographic characteristic and each value orientation as well as any other key groups in the county. Who might the key informants be? • Human Services administrators and/or staff • Public Health staff • School administrators • CESA representatives • 4-H leaders association • Youth group leaders • Clergy • W2 administrators • Agriculture students • Equipment dealers • USDA FmHA County Supervisor • USDA CS District Conservationist • Agricultural loan officers • Veterinarians • AMPI/Morning Glory Farms field manager • Chamber of Commerce representatives • Zoning administrator • Bankers • Law enforcement officers • Head Start staff • Hospital administrators • Towns’ association chairperson • Village presidents • Solid waste department managers 2. Determine how many key informants you will interview. This depends upon the size and diversity of the county and the number of areas/communities/stakeholder interests that are present. The time and energy available for conducting the interviews also determine it. 3. Decide when and how you will interact with the key informants. The core planning committee may decide to conduct a series of individual interviews with 10-15 selected key informants. It is often convenient to meet with key informants at their work or meeting place (as indicated in the example invitation letter). Or, you may choose to bring together several groups of key informants for focus group interviews. 4. Determine the questions that will structure the interviews. [See examples under Focus Group Interviews in Appendix xxxx] Possible questions might include: • What are the key needs and concerns facing youth in ______ County? • What are the key needs and concerns of our families? • What do you see as the number on priority issue affecting agriculture in _____ County during the next four year? • What issues are facing our communities and towns? Our business? Our environment? • What are some of our strengths in this county that we can use as we build our future? 5. Summarize the narrative responses. Record the results and list those who participated in the interviews in the report. Involvement of Oversight Committee The oversight committee helps identify the individuals to interview. Perhaps there are key informants or experts in their district or members of other committees they come in contact with who could provide useful information. Areas of Consideration This approach takes time, but gives staff the opportunity to ask probing follow-up questions to clarify the concerns and needs that are identified. It also gives county staff access to individuals who may be influential in the county and who can be involved in later program development and implementation. This approach has another pay-off for Extension: those who are interviewed perceive UW-Extension as recognizing their exper tise and as being concerned about addressing important issues. Date _________________ _________________ _________________ Dear _______________; Every four years, UW-Extension staff from across the State engages in a comprehensive program planning process. The results help guide our program efforts and direct University resources to meet the needs of Wisconsin citizens. It is that time again when we seek input from people around the county in order to identify concerns and needs so that we can set our programming priorities. This time we have added a “Key Informant Approach” to the process. Key Informants are folks like you who come in contact with the issues and needs of _____ County residents on a daily basis. We want to access your expertise. Your ideas will be shared with the citizen committee as they identify the top priorities for ____ County. We will be joining you at your ________ meeting on _________________ at _________. We will be asking you to identify the major concerns and needs of the county, what you would like the county to look like in five years and what assets we have in ________ County that can help us with building a bright future. We look forward to meeting with you on ________________. Sincerely, County Office Department Head, Chairperson of Oversight Committee

Key Informant Approach

Key Informant Approach Gathering together key informants or experts to provide input for a situation analysis is one method for identif...

Stress in Juvenile Detention Officers

Stress in Juvenile Detention Officers   Research Problem             The research will investigate stress arising in the domain of work and family as reported by juvenile detention officers. The work-family interface has received little attention in workers such as detention officers in stress research, therefore the present study aims to investigate work and family stress among juvenile detention officers.   Statement of the Problem             The study will investigate self-reported stress among juvenile detention officers in the domain of work and family.   Purpose of the Study             The aim of the study is to (1) identify the major work and family stressors among juvenile detention officers; (2) identify the impacts of work and family stress on the job performance of juvenile detention officers; (3) identify the impacts of work and family stress on the family life of juvenile detention officers; and (4) explore the impacts that work and family stress have on each other.   Research Questions             The study aims to investigate on the issue of work and life stress among juvenile detention officers. It aims to answer the following questions: 1. What are the major work and family stressors among juvenile detention officers? 2. What are the impacts of work and family stressors on the job performance of juvenile detention officers? 3. What are the impacts of work and family stress on the family life of juvenile detention officers? 4. What are the impacts that work and family stress have on each other?   Rationale, Relevance and Significance of the Study             Stress is believed to be a part of human life. Adults suffer from stress. There are a plethora of studies that point at the workplace and the home as the primary sources of stress. As stress may arise both in the work and family domains, then it is logical to expect that stressors may have cumulative effect and that stress in the work environment may impact on stress in the home environment, and vice versa.             The present study will be of relevance and significance to detention facility managers and human resource departments as it may provide illumination of the various stressors that impact the performance of detention officers. It will be of considerable contribution to the area of Human Resource Management particularly Health and Safety as the study intends to investigate the impacts of stress on the family-life and work-life of detention officers.     Theoretical Framework             Work-family research have been divided into work-family conflict (work interfering with family) and family-work conflict (family interfering with work). Different types of spillover have been identified across the work and family domains: (a) negative spillover from work to family; (b) positive spillover from work to family; (c) negative spillover from family to work; and (d) positive spillover from family to work (Williams and Alliger 1994). The study will flow in the similar vein with the intention to discuss both work stress and family stress and investigate on spillover.   Research Design             The study will make use of qualitative research design. The qualitative research design often involves a merging together of various data collection strategies. It is flexible and elastic, capable of adjusting to what is being learned during the course of data collection. The qualitative research design tends to be holistic, striving for an understanding of the whole and it requires researchers to become intensely involved.             According to Newman and Benz (1998), a qualitative research involves an interpretative, naturalistic approach of the subject matter. Qualitative research is about studying things in their natural settings. A researcher conducting qualitative research attempts to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them. Qualitative research involves different methods of gathering and collecting of empirical materials such as case study personal experience, introspective, life story, interview, observational, historical, interactions, and visual texts.   Data Collection Procedure             The primary mode of data collection is survey. The sample will be drawn from different juvenile detention facilities. The researchers will coordinate with the management of these detention facilities and will ask for permission to include detention officers in the study. Once the management gives permission, one of the researchers will attend a staff meeting where the purpose of the study will be explained and questionnaires will be distributed.   Analysis Procedure             In order to assess the perceived work and family stress among juvenile detention officers, The 10-item form of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (see appendix) by Cohen et al (1983) will be used. The PSS will be used to measure the degree to which situations in one’s life are perceived as stressful. Participants will be asked to indicate how often they felt or thought a certain way during the last month. Items will e answered using a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (very often).               In order to investigate on the sources of work and family stress, the researchers will device two questions that will require the participants to rate sources of work and family stress on a scale of 0 (not stressful) to 7 (extremely stressful).  To explore specific stressors in the work and family  contexts, two open-ended questions will ask participants to indicate the greatest source of work stress and the greatest source of family stress that they had experiences during the last month.             In order to investigate on stress spillover, the researchers will include to questions asking participant to indicate the extent to which work stress impacted in home and the extent to which home stress impacted on work. These will be answered using a 0 (not at all) to 7 (very much) scale.   Limitations to the Study             One of the researchers’ perceived limitations of the study is the likelihood that the individuals who are experiencing more stress may not complete and return the questionnaire. Therefore, the levels of stress found may not be an accurate reflection of those in the intended population.             Another perceived limitation of the study is the use of self-report measure. Self-report measures are subject to problems of memory and language ambiguity. There is also a possibility of measurement biases, for example a participant may not report his work as being stressful for fear of such comments may affect their relationship with the management.     References Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., and Mermelstein, R. (1983). A Global Measure of Perceived Stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385-396. Newman, I. and Benz, C. R. (1998). Qualitative-Quantitative Research Methodology: Exploring the Interactive Continuum. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Williams, K.J. and Alliger, G.M. (1994). Role Stressors, Mood Spillover, and Perceptions of Work-Family Conflict in Employed Parents. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 837-868.     Appendix

Stress in Juvenile Detention Officers

Stress in Juvenile Detention Officers Research Problem The research will investigate stress arising in the domain of wor...

The Parole and Probation in the United States

Introduction This paper intends to look into the past and present condition of the parole and probation in the United States. A part of the criminal justice system is the possible relapse of rehabilitated offenders after they have been released from custody based on parole. This is a pressing issue in the country considering the increase of those in probation. This issue is going to be discussed in the later part of the study. The discussion in this context is going to be based on parole and probation’s impact on society.   Status of Parole and Probation in the United States   Based on the work of Glaze and Palla (2004) both the population under probation and parole increased significantly in 2003. On the probation population, it had a 1.2% growth in 2003. Although this indicates that there is still an increase in the population under probation, it still have appositive aspect on it considering that the said increase is less than half of the trend of 2.9% increase every year since 1995.     On the other hand, the country’s parole population similarly increased by 3.1%. This denotes that there were a considerable number of individuals under custody who have been able to rehabilitate through the correctional system provided by the government. This figure is considerably especial since, similar to the probation mark; it is almost twice the average growth. Normally, the growth is 1.7% yearly since 1995.     Discussion   Many elected officers in addition to the public, have traditionally been indecisive in their support for conventional probation and parole agendas. (Doble et al, 1991) Similarly, the account of probation and parole is full of debate on the subject of the degree to which it is as important to crime prevention, justice and public safety as are other elements of the criminal justice system. (Dickey and Smith, 1998) Without a doubt, even the probation and parole vocation itself has frequently undergone internal philosophical partitions about its mission and function. (Clear and Rumgay, 1992)   Throughout the 90s, there was a substantial and understandable boost in professional partnerships involving probation and parole agencies and other criminal justice system elements. This significant development in the direction of criminal justice system inclusion and teamwork is, all together, vital to the success of the vocation and a possible foundation for concealing the identity and function. To preserve its professional identity as a practical public security agenda, probation and parole have to cleave to and advertise its involvements to justice, crime deterrence and public protection. These outcomes are appreciated by the public and, if highlighted by means of policies and practices, will guarantee probation and parole's due position in the spectrum of criminal justice services that are financed by both public and private entities. Devoid of the theoretical limitations granted by a results-motivated vision for particular results, the dynamics of governments and politics, instead of scientific proof and strong theory, build the certainty of the performance of probation and parole. Furthermore, in the brand new world of collaborative partnerships, probation and parole is merely as about to acquire the identity of its partners as to preserve its own professional identity as equivalent associates and not an auxiliary or worse considered utility within the criminal justice system.   Furthermore, probation and parole is a substance of severe importance; it interrelates with issues of life, death, damage and charge to the public. (Rhine and Paparozzi, 1999) Eventually, the worth of probation and parole services will have need of the solidification of the connection involving policies, programs and practices, in addition to the operationalization of result variables that are pertinent to public policy. (Rhine and Paparozzi, 1999) For the previous forty years, probation and parole has endured many, and ostensibly complex, frequency of professional practices. Predominantly, the practice has been strengthened by a collection of theoretical models. Ever since the earlier parts of the 60s to the present, there have been several distinguishable philosophies. These include offender rehabilitation which was evident in the later part of the 60s to the middle part of the 70s. Another is offender punishment and justice for the injured parties. This is prevalent in the middle part of the 70s and in the earlier part of the 80s. A third kind is intermediate measures, punishments and treatment involvements. This was practiced during the middle part of the 80s up until the later part of the 90s. A more current theory is community participation, interagency teamwork and offender re-entry.   Despite expansive conformity from professional insiders, in addition to those external the profession on the subject of the weight of generating valued results, there has been strong practitioner clash relating to the actual institution of strategies, programs and practices whose task, objectives and purposes guarantee that necessary assumptions concerning value to be considered before agendas are planned and executed. (Dickey and Smith, 1998)   In reaction to demands for verifiable value, probation and parole organizations have in recent years come to believe a couple of insightful alterations in the manner that they institute programs and confirm policies and practices for offender management. One is to establish best practices in evidence-based outcomes whenever feasible. Another is to create user-friendly information for lawmakers that give emphasis to outcome over process. The acceptance of the terms of best practices and results has positioned the profession at the verge of what can be best characterized as a business paradigm. However, rather than guaranteeing utmost total shareholder value, as is the condition in thriving companies, probation and parole professionals are summoned to guarantee utmost total taxpayer value.   There has been far-reaching research carried out at the domestic and global levels that has recognized correctional agendas that lessen offender recidivism. (Gendreau, 1996) In spite of this far-reaching and mounting organization of knowledge, and it’s tremendously positive public protection connotations, a lot of elected officials and the public continue to be aggravated with probation and parole at the domestic level. Possibly, this frustration is drawn from the letdown of domestic practitioners to offer understandable evaluative information with reference to the agendas. The nonattendance of understandable and believable program assessment information institutes the basis for ideologically determined, as contrasting to the more favored evidence-found courses of action, agendas and practices.   Certainly, a vigorous professional admiration for research confirmation would bring about the formulation of policies and practices that would reiterate offender rehabilitation as the favored plan for acquiring long-standing public protection. Such a confirmation may even serve up to dispel the contentions as to the effectiveness of rehabilitative in opposition to punishment plans for acquiring public safety. The assertion of rehabilitation in this context has need of a continuing expression of the positive connection involving rehabilitation-founded offender management and individual offender recidivism tolls. Devoid of a practical involvement of offender rehabilitation to public security, the issue of utmost total taxpayer value continues to be unrequited.   For the reason that probation and parole is concentrating on best practices and results, the public protection advantages of offender rehabilitation strategies are receiving a re-evaluation. The proof is obvious; if notice is given to the kind and quality of solid, reasonable and responsible rehabilitation services to offenders, there will be a reduction in their re-arrest frequency. (Gendreau, 1996) Firm advocates of a rehabilitation schedule are fast to indicate recent public opinion developments sustaining alternatives to imprisonment. Nevertheless, a more evenhanded understanding of the developments in public opinion in this context points out that even as a preponderance of the American public espouses the employment of alternatives for specific kinds of offenders, they still desire firm and responsible alternatives that bear punishment-founded outcomes for offender disobedience. (Harlow et al., 1995) That is to say, the public desires, to some extent, vengeful justice.      Probation and parole's answer to the punishment schema was to some extent steep. Beginning in the 1980s, the area struggled to spruce up and repackage its laws, programs and practices in means that were considered to be in agreement with the existing punishment program. (Harlow et al, 1995) In brief, it was deemed that amplified employment of disciplinary practices would do what rehabilitation measures could not carry out. This means it could not boost public protection and in so doing make the most of the total taxpayer value. The whole variety of intermediate penalties and punishment agendas is evidence to the profession's shift clear of offender rehabilitation. The central rule features of these programs incorporated such practices as thorough surveillance by means of improved offender contacts; firm offender responsibility; concentration on negative outcomes for disobedience with regulations to the leaving out of positive returns for displaying suitable actions; and dutiful attempts to offer medical services to probationers and parolees.   These ground-breaking and supposed public protection probation and parole schemes appeared to take pleasure in the support from outer and inner stakeholders. Program reputation, nonetheless, was more a purpose of philosophy than empirical detail (Rhine and Paparozzi, 1999) And, at the same time as the program plans mollified the vengeful justice attitudes of much of the people, their program assessment results unquestionably recognized that such programs possesses no influence on individual offender recidivism and it has a unconstructive influence. Moreover, the augmented costs of these focused punishment-motivated measures created no public safety advantage.   Conclusion   All through the recent past, probation and parole has perceived the launch of partnerships with law enforcement agencies, civic organizations, social service providers and similar organizations. These partnerships, dissimilar to the previous iterations of them in the intermediary phase, are proper partnerships in the context that the shared influence of probation and parole professionals is not passive to other criminal justice associates.   In the up-and-coming collaborative diagram, probation and parole is frequently leaned on for management for attending to crime as a community-founded social dilemma. Taking into account the foundational community-founded derivations of probation and parole, it is very fitting that the profession guide and notify discussions in relation to best practices in this context. Probation and parole has provided new connotation to the ideas of assembling human and social capital in high-crime regions.   References   Clear, T.R. and J. Rumgay. (1992) Divided by a common language: British and American probation cultures. Federal Probation. 3(1):3-11. Dickey, W. and M. Smith. (1998) Rethinking probation. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Publication. Doble, J., S. Immerwahr and A. Richardson. (1991) Punishing criminals: The people of Delaware consider the options. New York: The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Gendreau, P. (1996) Offender rehabilitation: What we know and what needs to be done. Criminal Justice and Behavior. 23:144-161. Glaze, L., and Palla, S. (2004) Probation and Parole in the United States, 2003. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Available at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus03.pdf . [Accessed 23/03/06] Harlow, R.E., J.M. Darley and P.H. Robinson. (1995) The severity of intermediate penal sanctions: A psychophysical scaling approach for obtaining community perceptions. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 11(1):71-95. Rhine, E. and M. Paparozzi. (1999) Reinventing probation and parole: A matter of consequence. Corrections Management Quarterly, 3(2):47-52.

The Parole and Probation in the United States

Introduction This paper intends to look into the past and present condition of the parole and probation in the United States. A part of ...

CHOW SANG SANG JEWELRY: THE GROWING ISSUE OF COUNTERFEITING IN THE GLOBAL MARKET RESEARCH PROPOSAL

CHOW SANG SANG JEWELRY: THE GROWING ISSUE OF COUNTERFEITING IN THE GLOBAL MARKET   Table of Contents    TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.. PAGEREF _Toc216865972 \h 2 1.     INTRODUCTION.. PAGEREF _Toc216865973 \h 3 1.1.      Research Background.. PAGEREF _Toc216865974 \h 3 1.2.      Research Question.. PAGEREF _Toc216865975 \h 6 1.3.      Research Objectives. PAGEREF _Toc216865976 \h 7 2.     RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN.. PAGEREF _Toc216865977 \h 7 2.1.      Design.. PAGEREF _Toc216865978 \h 8 2.2.      Data Collection Method.. PAGEREF _Toc216865979 \h 9 2.3.      Sampling Method.. PAGEREF _Toc216865980 \h 9 2.4.      Questionnaire Design.. PAGEREF _Toc216865981 \h 10 2.5.      Timetable. PAGEREF _Toc216865982 \h 11 2.6.      Budget PAGEREF _Toc216865983 \h 12 3.     DATA ANALYSIS.. PAGEREF _Toc216865984 \h 13 4.     LIMITATIONS.. PAGEREF _Toc216865985 \h 16 5.     REFERENCES.. PAGEREF _Toc216865986 \h 17       EXECUTIVE SUMMARY             As of now, all of the global industries and businesses in the world are facing problems regarding the production and introduction of different counterfeited products in the world. The said issue is important due to the fact that it those pirates will not only serve as direct competitors but will also endangered their position in the global market.             Hong Kong is one of the cities, and as the shopping paradise of the world, that is being affected the said issue. Thus, due to the fact that the Chow Sang Sang is operating in the city, there are some customers who are having doubt about the different retail stores in the entire shopping industry in Hong Kong.             This paper uses descriptive method in order to tackle the issue of how the issue of counterfeited products from Hong Kong can affect the perspective of the mainland Chinese tourists and customers towards the products, as well as services of Chow Sang Sang. Using the data from 380 shoppers from 38 stores of the company, by survey questionnaire, the main focus is to analyze and investigate the groups of individuals in terms of age, sex and nationality that are affected by the said issue. It will also tackle the different way of how the customers asses the authenticity of the products.             It will also focus on analyzing the result of the survey and how it can be used in order to create different policies and strategies that can help to ensure satisfaction, trust and loyalty of the customers.     1.    INTRODUCTION 1.1. Research Background Selling an imitation that is intended to defraud others into accepting it as a genuine item is already considered as a criminal offence. As of now, the counterfeit market is developing in different products, categories as well as geographical regions, and it is becoming one of the primary concerns of many multinational enterprises. Brand equity erosion as well as consumer safety are considered as the major issues, and strategies that are needed in order to protect the customers against counterfeiters (Delener 2000). Currently, counterfeiting is considered as a worldwide phenomenon that already exists for many years in majority of the sectors of the markets. In general, the said problem affects the different trademark products that enjoy prestige and acceptance among the vast population of consumers. Thus it is considered as unlawful activity that can cause economic damage and then discredits the commercial image of a given trademark (Delener 2000). It is important to consider that international trade for counterfeit products is already worth $100 billion per year or about 6% of the entire merchandise trade in the world. The International Trade Commission reported that there are about $100 billion counterfeit market that translates into a loss of $200 billion for the global business, showing a great increase compare to the $61 billion during 1986 (Delener 2000). The unconcealed copying of everything from watches and handbags as well as auto parts and other promotional merchandise cuts into profits, thus harms the reputation of the owner of the trademark or brand. Thus, a gullible or even confused consumer may believe that a certain product or brand is authentic and he or she will be upset with the brand owner when the counterfeit was proven defective. That’s why the trademark infringement cannot be ignored. Aside from that, the rights of the trademark become diluted if the owners tolerate the counterfeits (Delener 2000). Above all, the international counterfeiting is considered as financially lucrative with a very little risk, thus as the products shift from high to low margin and high volume, the monetary benefits will become greater. In addition, in different countries with the galloping inflation, currency devaluation as well as low purchasing power, counterfeited products offer an option for the consumer. In addition, it can also be observed that unstable governments with the frequent policy shifts and widespread corruption permit counterfeiters in order to operate successfully (Delener 2000). Hong Kong is considered as the shopping paradise that attracts thousands of travelers from different part of the globe. That is the primary reason why more and more people are visiting the city. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board or HKTB, in May 2008, the visitors’ arrival for the first quarter of 2008 had reached 7,275,521 showing an increase of 10% from the previous year of the same quarter. And again, China was the main source market for the in-bound tourists with some 1,269,673 in March, an increase of 16.8% (2008). Shopping in Hong Kong is one of the most important activities by the tourist, specially those visitors from China, because there has no sales tax in the city, luxury goods can be 10% to 20% cheaper compare to other countries (Chan 2008). In connection, the Air Force News Service or AFNS reported that the Hong Kong retail jewelry, watch and luxury gift sales had reached $450 million in March 2008, showing a great increase of 30.9% compare to the last year of the same month (The Israeli Diamond Industry 2008). On the other hand, the government of the city, started implements different programs that will ensure that their tourists will not be a victim of any case that is related to bogus or fraud products. The said initiative was done in order to maintain the image of the city as the shopping capital of the world. One of the said initiatives is the implementation of Quality Tourism Services Scheme that makes it easy for the tourists to find shops, restaurants and budget visitor’s accommodation that can be trusted. The said standard requires QTS-accredited establishments to pass stringent annual assessments that show that they have met the high standards of product quality as well a service (Hong Kong Tourism Board 2008). The said action is part of the No Fakes Pledge, in order to reinforce the confidence of consumers and tourists while shopping in Hong Kong. The said New Fake Pledge was launched in cooperation of the Intellectual Property Department, Customs and Excise Department, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, Consumer Council and other issuing bodies (Wong 2004). Chow Sang Sang Jewelry is one of the companies that are being benefited by the bloom of the industry. Chow Sang Sang is considered as a leading jewelry retailer and manufacturer in the greater China region. The company is operating to a more than 100 shops in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (Chow Sang Sang 2008). However, the global market now is facing one of the most important problems, both for the companies as well as the consumer. Counterfeit products and the brand pirates who make, distribute and sell them continue to be a challenging aspect for many of the marketers in the world. There are an estimates that shows hundreds of billions of global sales for bogus products in both developed and developing countries (Gentry, Putrevu & Shultz II 2006). That is the reason why, there are some consumers or shoppers in Hong Kong who are having doubt regarding the authenticity of different products that are available in the city. Thus, it can also affect the relationship of Chow Sang Sang to their consumers.   1.2. Research Question The problem that will be addressed in the study is the impact of the issues about counterfeit products in the shopping behavior of the customers, particularly the customers of Chow Sang Sang Jewelry. The study will answer the following questions: a.    What are the common concerns of the customers in their shopping activities? b.    Are the customers educated and informed enough regarding the difference between the real and the fake one? c.    How do customers evaluate the quality or authenticity of the products? d.    What should be done in order to guarantee the customers about the authenticity of the products?   1.3. Research Objectives To carry out the overall aim of the study, the following are the objectives of the study: a.    To examine the perception of the customers towards counterfeited products; b.    To understand how the local and tourist shopper evaluate the authenticity of different products; c.    To identify how the issues of counterfeited products in Hong Kong can affect the buying behavior of the customers; d.    To categorize the customers based on their shopping behavior and their demographic groups; e.    To determine promotional platform that can be used in order to guarantee the customers about the authenticity of the Chow Sang Sang Jewelry; f.     To present report that will disseminate information and awareness for the customers regarding the issue of counterfeited products.   2.    RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN 2.1. Design The research will be descriptive in nature. A descriptive research intends to present the fact that concerns about the nature and status of a given situation, as it exists at the time during the study (Creswell 1994). In addition it also focus on the relationships and practices that currently exists, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt as well as the trends that are currently developing (Best, 1970). Furthermore, it also help to describe the present conditions, events and even the different systems based on the impressions and reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell 1994). Thus, its primary concern is to provide an accurate description for something that is happening.  Fundamentally, a descriptive research makes the most of observations and surveys. It is for this particular reason that this approach was chosen by the researcher, whose purpose is to gather first hand data from consumers from different stores of Chow Sang Sang in Hong Kong. Moreover, this will allow for a flexible approach that when a vital and significant new issues and questions arise at the period of the study, an additional investigation and examination can be conducted. In addition, with this type of approach, the researcher will be permitted to drop unproductive areas and aspects of research from the original plan of the study. Another advantage is that, with this approach, the research will be fast, thus it will help to save time, money and effort.   2.2. Data Collection Method Survey is the chosen means to collect data from the respondents because it is important in understanding the audience, and in the analyzing the existence and magnitude of the problems, and it will also helpful in determining cause and effect relationships between variables (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). Furthermore, the preliminary descriptive survey results can prove to be useful for planning more sophisticated survey studies with a view to identify areas where problems occur or where changes are required, to understand why people behave in a certain manner and what can be done to provide alternate solutions to the problems, where an attempt is made to understand the relationships between different variables, and the purpose of survey to diagnose or analyze the situation rather than just describe the situation (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). The recruitment of respondents and the dissemination of the survey questionnaire will be conducted in the 38 stores of Chong Sang Sang in Hong Kong.   2.3. Sampling Method The study will sample a target number of 380 shoppers from 38 shops or store of Chow Sang Sang. The samples will be chosen through convenience sampling. It was chosen among other types of probability sampling due to the fact that it can make the survey faster and easier. It is important to consider that the number of shopper in Hong Kong, particularly in the jewelry sectors and in the Chow Sang Sang is huge and changing due to the different environmental factors, that’s why the use of non-probability sampling like the convenience is advisable, because 1% of the entire shoppers’ population is too much for the study to cover. The criteria for sampling are that the respondents must be a tourist and a shopper in the store and ages 18 and above.   2.4. Questionnaire Design The entire questionnaire will be constructed in both English and Mandarin, in order to cater for English-speaking tourists and those tourists from mainland China. In addition, due to the fact that the respondents will be chosen in convenience sampling technique and the research will interrupt the activities of the respondents for that day, close format questions will be used to make it easier and faster for them to answer. A survey-questionnaire will be used and will have two sections. The first part will intend to acquire the demographic profile of the respondents, while the other section will contain a set of attitude statements. The purpose of the set of attitude statements is to determine the level of agreement or disagreement using a five-point Likert scale. In the Likert technique, the degree of agreement or disagreement is given a numerical value ranging from one to five, thus a total numerical value can be calculated from all the responses. (Underwood, 2004) The equivalent weights for the answers will be:                             Range                                    Interpretation                         4.50 – 5.00                            Strongly Disagree                         3.50 – 4.00                            Disagree                         2.50 – 3.49                            Uncertain                         1.50 – 2.49                            Agree                           0.00 – 1.49                            Strongly Agree       The questionnaire will have 4 important categories that will focus on analyzing the opinions of the customers regarding the counterfeited products, and how it can affect their buying behavior. The first category will focus on knowing the demographic background of the respondents such as age, sex and nationality. The second will focus on knowing the relationship of the customers to the store or company by knowing the regularity of their visitation and reasons for choosing the said company. The third part will pertains on asking the opinions of the customer regarding the issue of counterfeiting and its impact on their shopping perspective and decision and how it can affect their relationship with the company. The last category will focus on asking the customers regarding what should the Chow Sang Sang must do in order to guarantee them about the authenticity of their products.   2.5. Timetable The timetable below shows the suggested timeframe for the project. When the project is underway, weekly progress reports will be sent every Friday. This will help to summarize the week’s work and give the researchers the opportunity to put into place for any modification. It shows that the store coordination and development of the questionnaire are overlapping, it means that the questionnaire construction can be done even the coordination with the different stores are not yet finished. The next activity pertains on the process of the actual survey, where in the questionnaire will be given to the selective respondents in each and every store. Soon after the said activity finished, the analysis will follow, it will include the handling and examination of the data, and connecting it to the needs of Chow Sang Sang. 	 		 		 		Week 		 		 		Activity 	 	 		 		 		1 -2 		 		 		Store coordination 	 	 		 		 		2 - 3 		 		 		Questionnaire development 	 	 		 		 		4 – 6 		 		 		Dissemination of Questionnaire 	 	 		 		 		7 		 		 		Analysis 	 	 		 		 		8 - 9 		 		 		Documentation 	 	 		 		 		10 		 		 		Presentation 	 	 		 		 		11 		 		 		Final Report Available 	   2.6. Budget The estimated budget for the study is 3000 dollars. It will include the money that will be for the 2 personnel that will serve as the research assistance, aside from that there are also different equipment that must be used such as the printer and other utilities such as bond paper and ballpen.   2 research assistant         200 dollars/day for 15 days                     3000 dollars       Travel expenses                                                                                   75          1 ream bond paper                                                                              20       1 desktop computer set                                                                     400       1 computer printer                                                                               50       4 ball pen                                                                                                2 TOTAL                                                                                                   3547 dollars 3.    DATA ANALYSIS Data gathered using the said instruments will be collated for analysis. Data analysis will primarily be characterized by comparative and statistical approach. In line with the interview method which will be collected from the shoppers of the company. The data that have gathered from 380 respondents from the Chow Sang Sang stores will be analyzed using a coding frame such as the Likert Scale mentioned above.  Herein, a coding frame will be developed to enable all enclosed questions to be coded numerically. The data would then be entered onto SPSS software.  The templates for data entry can be generated from questionnaires, and records can be checked, revised and manipulated.  The weighted mean and percentage of the responses will be calculated. The data results of the study will be analyzed by determining their corresponding frequency, percentage and weighted mean. The following statistical formulas will be used: Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire. n % = -------- x 100;                               n – number of responses                                     N                                             N – total number of respondents Weighted Mean                                     f1x1 + f2x2  + f3x3 + f4x4  + f5x5 x = ---------------------------------------------;                                                             xt                                                                            where: f – weight given to each response                                     x – number of responses                                     xt – total number of responses             Aside from that, the paper will also use cross-tabulation method in order to show the relationship of the group of respondents towards the issue of counterfeited products, and its impact on their perspective on shopping. First is that, it will be important to relate the different demographics aspects such as the age with the issue of how counterfeiting affect the decision of the tourists in shopping activities.   	 		 		 		Nationality 		 		 		Issue of Counterfeiting Affects My 		Decisions in Shopping 	 	 		 		 		  		 		 		Strongly Agree 		 		 		Agree 		 		 		Uncertain 		 		 		Disagree 		 		 		Strongly Disagree 	 	 		 		 		18 – 22 		 		 		25 		 		 		21 		 		 		13 		 		 		29 		 		 		32 	 	 		 		 		23 – 26 		 		 		22 		 		 		35 		 		 		2 		 		 		17 		 		 		16 	 	 		 		 		27 – 30 		 		 		19 		 		 		12 		 		 		1 		 		 		10 		 		 		8 	 	 		 		 		31 - 34 		 		 		35 		 		 		30 		 		 		5 		 		 		15 		 		 		10 	 	 		 		 		34 – above 		 		 		4 		 		 		2 		 		 		6 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 	               The said table will help the researcher to know the relationship between the age groups and their opinions about the said issue of counterfeiting, with their connection to the company.             Thus, it can help the management to be informed who among the groups of visitors are more particular with the issue. This will help the organization to plan, set and implement different policies and strategies that will make sure that the customers are feeling safe and satisfied about their products. It can also be applied in the age bracket or group of the customers, it will be important to know who among the age group are more aware about the issue and who among them are affected by the said aspect in terms of decision about buying.             Aside from that, it can also be used in order to present that data that have been gathered from the fourth category of the questionnaire where in the researcher will need to analyze the different recommendation and reaction of the customers regarding how to make them feel safe or comfortable with the authenticity of the brand. By doing this, it will help the company to plan and implement more programs that will enable them to gain the trust of their recent loyal customers, as well as the possible customers. Such as the connection of the government in terms of making them feel secured about a certain store, such as the influence of QTS towards the reputation or image of a particular store, particularly the company’s stores.   4.    LIMITATIONS There are some limitations or advantages First is that the study will use the convenient sampling, that will cater to the samples that are not considered as a representative of any definable population, and thus, it is not theoretically meaningful to generalize any population from the convenience sample. Thus, it will show that the study will not cater on the opinion or feeling of the majority. Another thing is that the time of the customers as the respondents can also affect the study. Together with that, it will also be important to consider that due to the fact that the research will be done inside the store of Chow Sang Sang, there is a big possibility that some of the respondents will feel a bit uncomfortable, thus it can affect their responses.     5.    REFERENCES   Best, J.W. 1970. Research in Education, 2nd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, Inc, N.J.   Chan, S 2008, Chinese Tourists Spend Big in Hong Kong, BusinessWeek (July 23), viewed 12 December 2008, <http://www.businessweek.com/globalb iz/content/jul2008/gb20080723_568870.htm>   Chow Sang Sang 2008, viewed 12 December 2008, <http://www.chowsa ngsang.com/>   Commonwealth of Learning 2000, Manual for Educational Media Researchers: Knowing your Audience. Vancouver, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), Canada   Customs seizes $5.5 million worth of counterfeit jewellery 2005, Hong Kong SAR Government, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://www.info.gov.hk/g ia/general/200509/27/P200509270276.htm>   Creswell, J W 1994. Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, Sage California   Delener, D 2000, International Counterfeit Marketing: Success without Risk, Review of Business, vol. 21, no. 1   Gentry, J, Putrevu, S & Shultz II, C 2006, The Effects of Counterfeiting on Consumer, Journal of Consumer Behavior, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 245 – 256   Golden week of shopping or complaining 2007, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/131/3/1/522901/1.html>   HKSAR Immigration Autonomy 2003, Individual Visit Scheme, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://www.immd.gov.hk/a_report/ehtml/f_01_main. html>   HKSAR Intellectual Property Department 2004, SARG to promote HK as a shopping paradise for genuine goods, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/pub_press/press_releases/press_release_22032004.pdf>   Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistic 2007 2007; Census and Statistics Department of The HKSAR Government 2007, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/freedownload.jsp?file=publication/gen eral_stat_digest/B10100032007AN07B0700.pdf&title=%ad%bb%b4%e4%b2%ce%adp%a6%7e%a5Z&issue=2007%a6%7e%aa%a9&lang=2&c=1>   Hong Kong Social & Economic Trends 2007 2007, Census and Statistics Department of The HKSAR Government 2007, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/freedownload.jsp?file=publication/ge neral_stat_digest/B10100042007BE07B0400.pdf&title=%ad%bb%b4%e4%aa%c0%b7%7c%a4%ce%b8g%c0%d9%c1%cd%b6%d5&issue=2007%a6%7e%aa%a9&lang=2&c=1>   Hong Kong Tourism Board Around the World 2006/2007, Hong Kong Tourism Board Annual Report , p14, Dec 19, 2007, accessed 12 December 2008, <http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/worldwide/annu/pdf/06_07/pdf0 6.pdf>   Hong Kong Tourism Board 2008, Quality Tourism Services Scheme, viewed 16 December 2008, <http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/mustknow/qts/index.jhtml>   The Israeli Diamond Industry 2008, Hong Kong Jewelry and Watch Sales Rise in March, viewed 12 December 2008, <http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/engli sh/NEWS.aspx?boneID=918&objID=3533&SearchS=Hong+Kong>   Underwood, M 2004, The Likert Scale. In Communication Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies (CMMS) Infobase, viewed 12 December 2008, < www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/index.html >   Wong, J 2004, Hong Kong Intellectual Property Society, Intellectual Property Vista, viewed 16 December 2008, <http://www.ipsociety.com.hk/Vi sta%2013%20-%20Summer%202004.pdf>

CHOW SANG SANG JEWELRY: THE GROWING ISSUE OF COUNTERFEITING IN THE GLOBAL MARKET RESEARCH PROPOSAL

CHOW SANG SANG JEWELRY: THE GROWING ISSUE OF COUNTERFEITING IN THE GLOBAL MARKET Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h ...