AQA Business Studies Research Diary for Controlled Assessment(1)

Robert May’s School

Controlled Assessment Research Diary

Business StudiesControlled Assessment

Research Diary

NAME:

WHAT IS IT WORTH?

Your business studies controlled assessment is worth 25% of your final mark.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?

You are required to produce one piece of work that is approximately 1500 words long (plus diagrams, graphs, questionnaire, data etc.) within the allotted time.

In order to do this you must collect information from various sources; both primary (e.g. Visits, questionnaires) and secondary data (e.g. Textbooks, census data, published reports, newspaper articles).

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Contents

1. The Task......................................................................................................................31.1 My ideas so far...................................................................................................4

2. Planner........................................................................................................................53. The Local Area: Odiham High Street...........................................................................8

3.1 Map....................................................................................................................83.2 Demographics....................................................................................................83.2 Demographics....................................................................................................93.3 Existing businesses on Odiham High Street....................................................10

4. Research Methods....................................................................................................114.1 Primary research..............................................................................................134.2 Secondary research.........................................................................................13

5. Ideas Page – The gap in the market.........................................................................145. Ideas Page – The gap in the market.........................................................................156. How do I know my idea will be profitable?................................................................156. How do I know my idea will be profitable?................................................................167. How will I market the business..................................................................................188. How to write a business report..................................................................................219. My Report Structure & Final Notes............................................................................2610. The Assessment Criteria.........................................................................................2712. Notes.......................................................................................................................29

Computer number

Username

Password

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1. The Task

Your local educational business partnership is offering £5000 for new business start ups in Odiham. You have been asked to identify a local need and demonstrate how this represents a potentially successful business opportunity. You are required to write a report in which you demonstrate why your recommendation will be successful.

Additional information provided by the AQA exam board:

Research and Planning

You should: Identify a local need Conduct suitable market research to establish how this need can be met though a business Analyse your market research to identify the business opportunity and suitable ways of

marketing the business Identify factors which will be important in ensuring the success of the business.

Report

Your report must be produced under controlled conditions. You will have about three hours to complete this report, which may be split over a number of sessions.

Your report should include: A brief outline of your local area An outline of a local need and how this need represents a business opportunity The results of your market research An analysis of the ways in which you could market the business A recommendation on the best possible strategy to be used in order to ensure the success of the

business. Give reasons for your recommendation.

This information has been incorporated within this research diary and you will meet all of the requirements if you follow the guidance.

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1.1 My ideas so far...

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Use this space to mind map

your ideas so far

Use this space to mind map

your ideas so far



2. Planner

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

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JUNE 2010

JULY 2010



Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

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Date Time What I need to doTeacher check

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

Controlled assessment report writing during lessons

Controlled assessment report writing during lessons

Research task time allocation

Report writing time allocation



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Date Time What I plan to doTeacher check

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

30 mins

During the research task you are allowed up to 8 hours during the lesson times to conduct your research. You must use your controlled assessment username and password during this time.

All research must be saved onto the profile ‘my documents’ or printed out.

During the report writing you are allowed a maximum of 3 hours under full controlled conditions to write up your findings.

Each block of time must be planned & signed off by your teacher.



3. The Local Area: Odiham High Street

3.1 Map

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You should include a map of the local area

within your report. Examples…

You should include a map of the local area

within your report. Examples…



3.2 Demographics

Demographics or demographic data are the characteristics of a human population as used in government, marketing or opinion research,

Commonly used demographics include sex, race, age, income, disabilities, mobility (in terms of travel time to work or number of vehicles available), educational attainment, home ownership, employment status, and even location. Distributions of values within a demographic variable, and across households, are both of interest, as well as trends over time.

Extended (A/A*) theory about demographics can be found at: http://www.businessballs.com/demographicsclassifications.htm

Fact 1)Estimated Population: Odiham Parish in- 2009 = 5456 (Hampshire Small Area Population Forecasts)http://www.hart.gov.uk/index/community_living/communities/discover/places_to_discover-odiham.htm

Fact 2)Men/ women split:http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/24ub.asp

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Write a summary of your findings here +

the websites you used.

Write a summary of your findings here +

the websites you used.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/24ub.asp

http://www.hart.gov.uk/index/community_living/communities/discover/places_to_discover-odiham.htm

http://www.businessballs.com/demographicsclassifications.htm



3.3 Existing businesses on Odiham High Street

It is a good idea to identify the businesses/ shops that already exist on the High Street so that you can come up with an original idea which not only meets a local need but with make a profit also.

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4. Research Methods

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You will need to collect your market research data by using a combination of primary and secondary research. In your report the more understanding you demonstrate of the theory + application to your business idea the better you will do.

There are many good sources of secondary data, and the good news for an entrepreneur is that many of them are free! Here are some examples:

Google A great way of getting quick market research for free

Government departments Provide detailed insights on the economy and on many industry sectors

Trade associations Most industries have an industry association - they are a great source of market analysis

Trade press & magazines Essential reading for an entrepreneur, particularly if he/she has little or no experience of the market

Competitor websites & marketing materials

Valuable information on marketing activities of competitors

Market research reports Mintel and Keynote produce a wide variety of expensive reports that analyse individual markets

By its nature, secondary research will vary in terms of its usefulness to a start-up – after all, it has been created for a different purpose, it may be out-of-date and it might be biased.

There are various methods of primary research:

Method Comments

Observation Watching how consumers behave provides many insights, but can leave questions unanswered. Observation works well in retail markets; sit outside a shop and watch how many people walk by, look at the window display etc

Telephone interviews Not to be confused with “telesales” (which is a method of selling), the telephone interview allow quicker feedback than a postal survey. However, potential customers are often wary of being called and may be reluctant to give anything other than short answers

Online surveys Increasingly popular and relatively low cost, online surveys are widely used by small businesses as a way of capturing the views of existing and potential customers

Face-to-face surveys Personal interviews conducted face-to-face. A costly, but good way to get detailed insights from an individual

Focus groups Groups of potential customers are brought together to discuss their feelings about a product or market. Focus groups are a good way of getting detailed information about customer tastes and preferences

Test marketing This involves selling a new product in a small section of the market in order to assess customer reaction. For example, a start-up could start by selling to a limited local area in order to iron-out product issues. Software firms often test-market their products by offering “beta” versions for testing by a small group of potential customers. Test marketing can be a good predictor of how

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a new product or service will be received by the larger market (provided that it can be kept secret from competitors!)

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4.1 Primary research

Here are some suggested sentence starters that will help you write up the research section:

Primary research is...

I am going to undertake primary research for this task because...

Some general examples of primary research are...

The positive points about me doing primary research for this report are...

The negative points about me doing primary research for this report are...

The primary research methods I WILL use are...

MARKETING questions relating to the 4P’s...

Look on the following page for an example of a questionnaire. Think carefully about the layout, making sure that it is easy to read and complete. You also need to consider the type of responses you want for each question, will you want to collect quantitative or qualitative data?

4.2 Secondary research

Secondary research is...

I am going to undertake secondary research (as well as primary research) for this task because...

Some general examples of secondary research are...

The positive points about me doing secondary research for this report are...

The negative points about me doing secondary research for this report are...

The secondary research methods I WILL use are...

MARKETING questions relating to the 4P’s...

Some secondary research websites to get you going:

Funding available in the local area for various projects:http://www.open4community.info/hart/Default.aspx

Odiham is part of the Heart district & their website is:http://www.hart.gov.uk/index.htm

Wikipedia can be a useful website to start your research, but it shouldn’t be the only secondary research you do:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odiham

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odiham

http://www.hart.gov.uk/index.htm

http://www.open4community.info/hart/Default.aspx



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QuestionnairePlease take a few moments to complete this questionnaire. It will form an important part of my GCSE coursework in Business Studies so your honest opinions will be appreciated.Where ‘other’ has been selected as an option please state your answer.

Question 1: Are you male or female?Male Female

Question 2: How far do you live from Odiham High Street?1 – 5 miles 6 – 10 miles 11 – 20 miles More

Question 3: What is the main reason for your visit to Odiham High Street?Visiting friends Shopping Eating Other

Question 4: What do you like about Odiham?

Question 5: Is there any part of the Odiham High Street that you dislike?

Question 6: Do you think there is a need for a new launderette on the High Street?Yes No Don’t know

Question 7: If there was an internet café in Odiham would you visit it?Yes Probably No

Question 8: Which of the following do you take the most notice of? (Pick top 3)Local newspaper Leaflets delivered to the house Local radioNotices in shop windows Local TV adverts Sales representatives

Question 9: What steps (if any) have you taken to cut back your spending recently?

Question 10: Do special offers/ discounts or money off vouchers help you decide where to do your shopping?

Yes No Sometimes

Thank you very much for taking part in this survey questionnaire. Please hand the completed form back to me, alternatively hand it into the reception at Robert May’s School and mark it for the attention of my teacher ‘Miss Khawaja’.

This is an example of a questionnaire

used previously for primary

research

Primary research example -



5. Ideas Page – The gap in the market

Sometimes it is helpful to look at ideas that other people/ businesses have had. The following website will highlight grants issued by the local area and the projects that people have set up with the money:http://www.hart.gov.uk/community_fund_grant_application_form.pdf

Whenever you are opening a business it is best to have at least 3 possible ideas that you could do with the business – that way if one does not work out then you have something to fall back on. The ideas that you may have could be similar in nature or they could be totally different to each other. You could test all of your ideas out during the primary and secondary marketing research: asking your target market which one they would be interested in.

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Idea 2 =

Idea 3 =

Idea 1 =

http://www.hart.gov.uk/community_fund_grant_application_form.pdf



6. How do I know my idea will be profitable?

The top marks in this controlled assessment will be awarded for being able to back up your ideas with research or data that you have found out. Every time you make a claim you MUST back it up with evidence, for example:

GRADE DMy idea is to open up an internet café in Odiham

GRADE CMy idea is to open up an internet café in Odiham because I found out from my primary research (the questionnaire) that people thought it was a good idea.

GRADE BMy idea is to open up an internet café in Odiham because I found out from my primary research (the questionnaire) that 89% of the people thought it was a good idea. I also did some secondary research looking on the internet and found out that there is currently no internet café on the Odiham High Street.

GRADE A/A*My idea is to open up an internet café in Odiham because I found out from my primary research (the questionnaire) that 89% of the people thought it was a good idea. I also did some secondary research looking on the internet and found out that there is currently no internet café on the Odiham High Street. In addition to this I interviewed some of the local residents (who answered ‘Yes’ to the internet café as being a good idea in the questionnaire) to ask them why they would pay money to go to the proposed internet café, and here are some of their replies:

“At the moment I don’t know how to use the internet but I would like to learn so that I can keep in touch with my Grandchildren who live in the USA”“To be honest I don’t know much about the internet, but I think if there was a place where I could learn about it and use it occasionally then I probably would go there”“If they give lessons at the café about how to use the internet then I would definitely go”

There was an overwhelming desire for my target market to have lessons – so this will be something I will explore.

Now think very carefully about your idea and what evidence you have to back it up?

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Blank page for your notes




7. How will I market the business

Marketing is very important because it will help people in the local area find out about your businesses, and the more people you have interested in your business the more they will visit the business!

You will need to look at the 4 P’s Marketing Mix to decide HOW you will market your business product/ service. Each of the P’s needs to be addressed and should link back to your market research as much as possible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/marketing/

roduct: this looks at the actual information about your business product or service. You need to be able to answer the following questions:P Give a description of your product/ service. Do you have a BRAND name? Who is your target market? How do you know they will like your product/ service? What makes your idea special (the Unique Selling Point)? What verities/ flavours/ sizes will your product be available? Who will be your nearest competitor?

lace: this section will look at where and how you plan on selling your product or service. An understanding of Odiham High Street is very important for this section and you will need to refer to the section 3.1 as much as possible. Answer as many of the following questions as you can:P

Where on Odiham High Street will you open your business? Will you make your products at that location? If not then how will you transport the items? Do you have a rough idea of where you will source the raw materials? What area will you provide your business to? Can you show this on a map? How will you make sure customer service is good within your business?

rice: you will need to demonstrate that you have researched and planned in some detail how much to sell your product/ service for. By answering the following questions you will cover all the factors will determine price:P

Will all of your products be sold for the same price? Consider the different verities you offer. What price is your competitor selling their products for? Roughly how much will your product/ service cost to make (consider all the things you will have to pay

for)? How much profit do you think you can make on each product/ service? Can you justify the price you have set for your products/ services?

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romotion: here you will need to plan how you will make your product well-known in the local area? Consider the following points before deciding on your final promotion strategy:P Most new business has very little money to promote their new products – they have to do the best

they can with as little money as possible! Did your market research suggest what media would be best to use for adverts (e.g. magazines, local

newspapers, internet, leaflets etc)? Will you run any special offers (e.g. by one get one free, money off vouchers etc)? How will you advertise your business? Will you advertise the BRAND or the individual products/

services?

More theory information about the marketing mix can be found out from the following websites:http://tutor2u.net/business/presentations/marketing/marketingmix/default.html http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/mix/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/marketing/ http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/

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Target Market

Product

Place

Price

Promotion

Write your ideas onto

this diagram

Write your ideas onto

this diagram

http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/


http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/mix/

http://tutor2u.net/business/presentations/marketing/marketingmix/default.html



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8. How to write a business report

TITLE

Your local educational business partnership is offering £5000 for new business start up in Odiham. You have been asked to identify a local need and demonstrate how this represents a potentially successful business opportunity.

CONTENTS

A list of all your headings and their page numbers.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

This report has been requested by Miss Khawaja and is an investigation into the investment of £5000 for a new business start up in Odiham, one which meets a local need and has the potential for being a successful business opportunity.

I am a year 10 student at Robert May’s School, Odiham and I am studying Business Studies at GCSE. The submission of the report will be after the 3 hours controlled report writing session.

(Copy the statement above into your final report – an electronic copy of the text will be provided in the ‘my documents’ section of your coursework username)

INTRODUCTION & THE LOCAL AREA (approx 15 mins)

Describe in more detail what the report is about – what was your task and outline the research you did to make your final recommendations.

Include information about the local area that you have been researching. Suggested ideas to explore:

What county is Odiham in? What are the nearest villages to Odiham? What are the tourist attractions in Odiham? A brief outline of the businesses/ shops that are on Odiham High Street. Include a map of Odiham + highlight the high street The demographics of people who live in Odiham/ Hampshire The local amenities (schools, doctor, public toilets, dentist, park and so on)

AIMS/OBJECTIVES (approx 15 mins)

The overall aim of this report is the title.

In order for you to answer the question in the title, you will have to investigate different pieces of information – these are your objectives.

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State clearly what it is you are going to find out in order to answer the question and how that information will help you?

What questions did you need to answer? What data did you need to collect to achieve the aim? Number each of your objectives, give them a title and explain how the data helped

you achieve the overall aim. You must show how you PLANNED to reach the conclusion Briefly describe what your business idea is and state why you think it will be

successful.

For example;

OUTLINE OF PROCEDURES I USED (approx 15 mins)

State clearly HOW you found out the information for the task? Explain what research methods you used to gather the information needed. You should include both desk and field research and your recommendations should be based on your findings:

How will you find out the information? What research methods did you use? Why were they the best methods and how did you ensure the results were accurate? You must show that you understand how accurate information needs to be, how

much of it needs to be recorded and which methods available are best suited to your aims and objectives.

THE GAP IN THE MARKET &HOW I KNOW MY BUSINESS WILL BE SUCCESSFUL (approx 20 mins)

In this section you need to explain, using your market research, HOW you know that the people of Odiham will pay money to go to your business?

You need some general statements which answer the following questions:

What evidence do you have to prove your idea meets a local need? How do you know that the people of Odiham like your idea? How do you know that your business will make money? Have you found any businesses that are similar to the one you want to open? If so

explain how they became successful.

THE RESULTS OF MY MARKET RESEARCH (approx 45 mins)

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Here you must report the things you found out:

Present the information you have collected. Make sure your figures/tables/graphs/maps etc are accurate. Organise them in a logical order – e.g. the same order as your objectives Present your findings effectively by using a mixture of tables, graphs, maps etc. Use

sub-headings so it flows. Present each finding, and then add the analysis saying what it shows etc. Explain what your findings show and how they useful the data is to you e.g. this tells

me, this means, this is valuable because.

You must organise the information so it is easy to read using spreadsheets, tables, graphs etc. Graphs and charts should be drawn to show the results of the research. You COULD draw many, many graphs, but DON'T!! Draw graphs where you need to show some important results, not for every piece of data you come across. More than 10 graphs may well spoil the effect of your work, so be careful.When choosing the style of chart/graph to draw, please be imaginative, but also be CLEAR. Many graphing packages on PCs have some very interesting graph styles, but do they show your work as clearly as you want? (Or as clear as your teacher would want??)Choose carefully.

You must analyse the information so that you can draw conclusions about whether the opening of your business in Odiham would represent a successful business proposition. The results of the research need thorough analysis. This does NOT mean repeating in words the information that a graph has already shown. Why are the results important to your project? Why do you think the results have worked out in a particular way?

Figures should always be used in this section. Avoid using phrases such as 'A lot of people said…' Give the number, or better still percentages of the total number of interviewees.Each objective should have a finding. You must use your business knowledge of the factors which lead to the success of new enterprises to evaluate your findings.

HOW COULD I MARKET THE BUSINESS (approx 30 mins)

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Primary Research Secondary Research



In this section you need to explain HOW you plan on marketing your new business idea. The marketing mix (4 P’s) each need to be addressed and each strategy you have MUST be linked back to your research. You do not need to copy out all your questionnaire graphs/ answers here but you can make some general statements and refer to your appendix for the full set of results.


CONCLUSIONS (approx 20 mins)

The conclusions of the findings SHOULD relate back to the aims and objectives. For each objective, state what you intended to find out, what you did find out and

how this has answered your objective.

What can you conclude? You should have a very clear idea about the new business you will open on the Odiham High Street and describe it in this section.

You should have discovered many things about the possibility of opening the new business in Odiham, but what are the MAIN ones? Why are they important to your project? Remember these may be both strengths and weaknesses in making your decision.

MARKETING RECOMMENDATIONS (approx 20 mins)

A recommendation on the best possible marketing strategy to be used in order to ensure the success of the business. Give reasons for your recommendation.

Answer the question in the title based on what you have found out.

Would you recommend the opening of your new business? Will it be profitable? Does it meet a local need?

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Whatever you decide you MUST support your ideas by using the results of your data analysis. For example, if you think that opening an internet café would be a sound business proposition, what results from your data analysis have led you to that conclusion? Justify your recommendations by summarising conclusions that support it.

Remember, no recommendation is perfect and to go for the top marks, you should consider the implications of your recommendations e.g. if you do recommend opening a restaurant, what sort of restaurant would you recommend and why? What might you need to consider before making a final decision e.g. suitable location, parking, attracting staff etc. If you have decided against the opening of a restaurant, what might change in the future that might change your decision?

MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER THE QUESTION SET.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Write a list of all the books, magazines, newspapers, web sites or other sources of desk/secondary research you have used.Web sites visited.Web address and date visited site.Text books.Title, Name of author, Publisher and year published (usually in the first few pages)

APPENDICES

Items should be put in the appendices if they might be of interest to the reader, but are not crucial to the main part of the report. An example might be a copy of your interview questions or a sample questionnaire but you should not include every single questionnaire.Appendices are numbered using roman numerals e.g. I, II, III, IV, V etc.

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9. My Report Structure & Final Notes

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10. The Assessment Criteria

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11. Resources & websites used

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12. Notes

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Blank pages for your notes

Blank pages for your notes



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Documents

AQA Business Studies Research Diary for Controlled Assessment(1)