Refer to the Scenario Below to Answer the Following Question(s)

question 18

Multiple Choice

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following question(s) .
Jason West, owner of A1 Cleaning, started his enterprise in 2001. Jason's primary focus had been on office cleaning for large corporations. But in recent months, Jason has seen a decline in demand for his office cleaning services. Surprisingly, the competitive environment appeared relatively stable with no new competitors. However, Jason knew that office cleaning was a high-frequency service that is usually performed daily; therefore, competitors must have been doing something to attract his customers. Building a competitive advantage seemed to be the only option to offset competition. But as Jason pondered over his dilemma, he realized that prior to building his competitive advantage he needed to better understand how customers assessed service quality and what they look for in a superior cleaning service.
Jason developed a research plan. First, he gathered information about his competitors, primarily through pamphlets and Web sites, as well as through a few phone calls in order to find out exactly what the competitors offered in their cleaning packages. In addition, Jason obtained from the Chamber of Commerce an updated list of local corporations. He planned on sending written questionnaires to them.
Though the list of corporations contained 141 local company names, Jason chose to survey 75 of them. To better understand customer service expectations between both small and large corporations, Jason divided his surveys into two categories. The survey questions were designed to extract specific data from respondents with regard to service quality expectations in correlation to service frequency and price.
Jason awaited the results. Though his primary focus had been on large corporations, he was flexible and would aim his efforts differently if needed.
-Of the 141 companies on the list, Jason chose to survey only 75 of them. He sent surveys to both small as well as large companies. If Jason selected survey recipients randomly from two mutually exclusive groups comprised of small and large companies respectively, he most likely used a ________.

• A) simple random sample
• B) judgment sample
• C) convenience sample
• D) stratified random sample
• E) quota sample

---

Definitions:

Factorial Designs

Experimental designs used in research that involve multiple factors (independent variables) and their influence on the dependent variable, allowing for the study of interactions among factors.

Experimental Studies

Research methods that involve the manipulation of variables to determine cause-and-effect relationships.

Variables

Elements or factors that can change and potentially affect the outcome of a study or experiment.

Hypothesis

A suggested interpretation put forward with scarce evidence, serving as an initial step for more in-depth exploration.