Descriptive Statistics and Interpretation

The TJF Company is an organization that is beginning to see a real need for Information Technology (IT) support. The unavailability of systems and delayed access to information has made it increasingly difficult for TJF employees to complete their work and support their valued customers. Because of decreased customer satisfaction levels, revenues are down. Our team decided on a plan to support the employees and then determine the research method to address the needs of the customer and subsequently increase revenue. We will determine the data collection process, create the format of the survey, and decide how the survey will be distributed.

Hypothesis Question

Is there a direct correlation between the satisfaction level of IT service the employees receive and the impact to their ability to properly support their customer? To obtain accurate data, we will survey employees to determine what their current experience is with IT support. Because frequency of repeated calls is quantifiable we will be able to look at the Help Desk tickets in order to determine the number of calls over a period of time.

Research Plan

Our team may follow a research plan by dividing the business research project into four phases:

1. Phase 1 – Set Research Plan

2. Phase II – Conduct Survey/Interview

3. Phase III – Perform Data Analysis

4. Phase 1V – Present Results.

Research Questions

Phase 1 sample size population will include 100 employees from different departments and professional levels. We will use the Dichotomous Survey (forced – choice) method for some questions and the Likert (scaling) method for other questions (“Survey Methods”, 1997). Incorporating both techniques will work best as a way to gather and collect data to help ensure we receive a sufficient amount of responses to support our research. After each employee responds to a survey, the answers will be stored in a databank. The file will be password protected and only the members of our team will have accessibility. Because the survey will be stored by a ticket number and not a name; the employees will be anonymous to us. Our team is seeking data that will aid in answering the survey questions found in Appendix A.

Sampling Method

Since our population is not overly large we will be using a sample of the first one hundred non repeated respondents that voluntarily complete the survey. We will be able to calculate a 95% confidence level using the sample in order to get a good idea of how close to the hypothesis we arrive. A sample calculation can be found in Appendix B. Once a survey is returned the corresponding ticket information will be collected allowing us to track all of the required pieces of information. This method uses a simple random sampling method which works best for the size, range, and scope of the population and research question. A sample of the random generator is found in Appendix C.

Data Calculation

Questions will be worded to elicit specific open and close ended responses as well as produce specific responses, with values assigned to each response of Very Dissatisfied – Dissatisfied – Neither Dissatisfied or Satisfied – Satisfied – Very Satisfied. We will add up the values to run our descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, and variance). Assuming the data on the total population gives a mean of 15 and a variance of 4, and given that the sample mean is 20, the calculated Z value is obtained by, Z=(sample mean-population mean)/(standard deviation/square root of the sample size). Thus, Z = (20-15) / (2/sqrt of 40) which yields, Z = 15.8, and significance level of 0.05, the Z value from statistical tables is, Z=1.96.

Conclusion

The observation is that Z test statistics is greater than the critical Z value, 15.8>1.96 hence we reject the null hypothesis (Ho) and conclude that there is a significant correlation between these satisfaction level of IT services received by the employees and their ability to properly support their customers. The correct decision for the management should be use this data point as leverage to drive enhancement of accessibility of information to employees and hence increase the sales volume. At significance level of 0.05, the company is 95% confident that the real populations mean lies between 19.68 and 20.63 for representative sample.

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