A bank manager notices that by the time customers get to the teller, they seem irritated and impatient. The manager wants to investigate the problem further, so she hires you to design a research project to figure out what is bothering the customers. The bank wants three studies? (a) several focus groups of their customers, (b) observation using a hidden camera, and (c) an online survey of 500 customers. Identify which studies are qualitative and which are quantitative. If you were to recommend only one study which of the three would you recommend? Why? Be specific.

(a) several focus groups of their customers - qualitative study

A focus groups consists of a group of five to ten participants, who are allowed to discuss an issue or a product for one or two hours.

(b) observation using a hidden camera - qualitative study

The information obtained from the use of the hidden camera is of qualitative nature. Such information consists in the behaviour displayed by the customers that were recorded.

(c) an online survey of 500 customers. - quantitative study.

The online survey gives quantitative, measurable information that can later be expanded into a statistical study, and also used to establish other quantitative variables like probability distributions, or statistical regressions.

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