RESEARCH PROPOSAL TITLE: THE INFLUENCE AND IMPACT OF EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT AGENCIES IN THE UK BANKING INDUSTRY.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.1 .1

ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................3 BACKGROUND................................................................................................................3 OBJECTIVE AND PURPOSE..........................................................................................4 JUSTIFICATION..4 RESEARCH QUESTION..................................................................................................4 LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................4 RESEARCH DESIGN METHODS...................................................................................6 DATA COLLECTION..6

7.1.2 DATA ANALYSIS.7 8.0 9.0 ETHICAL ISSUES..............................................................................................................8 PROJECT MANGEMENT/TIMEFRAME......................................................................8

9.1.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT8 10.0 CONCLUSION..9 11.0 REFERENCES LIST.........................................................................................................10 12.0 APPENDIX..11

1.0

ABSTRACT

The proposed study will critically evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment provided by external recruitment agencies to banks in the United Kingdom. It was seen that cost savings; improvement in quality, time pressure etc, are the key drivers behind the key themes. The work will analyse this key drivers to see the measures of recruitment carried out by the external service providers and the level of employee retention and turnover. The work involves the use of existing literature which has been

obtained from electronic articles and journals where research was carried in similar topic. Inductive approach alongside qualitative research will be carried out in the proposed study, were as well built semi structured interview will be used to obtain data from experience professionals, in other to have a clear understanding of the influence and impact of the external recruitment service providers in both local and multinational Banks in the UK. The data collected will also be critically analysed, where as the responses will be studied categories the findings for accurate interpretation. The ethical issue also is also considered in the data collection and confidentiality will be in place. The time frame of the overall research process is also given in the following research proposal. 2.0 BACKGROUND

Recruitment is one and part of the fundamental tool in Human Resource Management. (HRMID, 2005). Most Banks in the United Kingdom transfer part of their recruitment activities to external service providers that serves as agencies which does the recruitment and selection for the industry. In the mid 1990s this external agencies began to gain momentum in both the private and public sector, which saw banks also incorporating such practices as a critical strategy in business planning. The main reasons why private organisations have external recruitment service providers comes from cost savings, improvement in quality, availability of manpower, time pressure and also lack of internal staffs. (UmeAmen 2010)

3.0

OBJECTIVE AND PURPOSE

The objective of the research is to improve the way in which external recruitment service providers recruit and select employees for banks in the UK. And to also examine measures of employee retention and turnover in the banking sector and how it links to the services provided by the external recruitment agencies, and to also propose appropriate suggestions or solution to remedy the situation. And again to begin to explore the strategic future of HR professionals in the banking industry since part of the policies of HR is done by external agencies.

4.0

JUSTIFICATION

The proposed research is important in business context, as it will investigate and produce result that would help in measuring the level of retention and turnover, and to see how it links with employees recruited by external service providers and the outcome of these for organisations in remaining competitive. It will also help business to look into where the future of HR managers is, since part of the key strategic practices of HR which is recruitment is done external provider. 5.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The proposed research questions to investigate are as follows:

1. How do the recruitment methods of External service providers defer from that of private organisations/banking industry internal in-house recruitment? 2. Do the Key drivers of hiring External recruitment agency really enhance effective and efficient recruitment and selection and does it have impact on employee retention and turnover in banking industry? 3. What are the main implications of these external recruitment agencies to the future of HR professionals in banking industry?

6.0

LITERATURE REVIEW

Research shows that Findings from the 2006 Work Place Employment Relations Survey (WERS) in the UK shows the proportion of 86 percent of public sectors and 85 percent of private sectors have external recruitment service providers (Woodall et al., 2009) which comes as a result of certain key drivers such as cost savings; improvement in quality, time pressure, increased capacity, lack of internal staff, availability of manpower. (Ume-Amen 2010) According to research, privates organisations hire external recruitment agencies for the purpose of time management which comes from handling unexpected large numbers of responses, and the HR manager would be able to concentrate on daily business activities rather than arranging for recruitment and selection in the organisation, and would only have to meet with the candidates that has been chosen by the external service provider after the recruitment and selection. Another debate in this research is that the inability of external recruiters to portray the culture and values of the organisation will require time to brief the external recruitment firm, which means the time spent in this brief can be spent on recruiting in-house. (HRMID, 2005)

Again recent research (Woodall et al, 2009) argues that it would also seem that cost saving is the major reason behind outsourcing recruitment but they are not, moreover the desire to achieve best practice, improve in quality of service and enabling organisations to focus on Core competences are also prominent reasons organisations hire external recruitment (Woodall et al., 2009). Ume-Amen 2010 also supported this point of view that external recruitment allows companies to concentrate on core competencies in their business context. (Ume-Amen 2010)

A study carried out in 2010 in the UK private organisation / banking sector by the use of questionnaire to determine some factors of using external recruitment shows that 43% of the respondents agree that retention ratio becomes higher when recruitment is done through external agency firms and 29%respondents strongly agree. Again 43% agree that improvement in quality is also another reason, and only 14% respondents agree that lack of internal staff capabilities is a factor. (Ume-Amen 2010)

In the private organisations, some basic features of HR practices carried out by HR administrators would be done by external service provider in the future, which has lead to the reduction of staff within the HR team, mainly drawn by the external recruitment firms. (Woodall et al., 2009)

The above argument leads to the research questions in examining if the Key drivers of hiring External recruitment agency really enhance effective and efficient recruitment and selection and does it have impact on employee retention in private organisations? And the main implications of this external recruitment agencies to the strategic future of HR professionals in private organisations?

7.0

RESEARCH DESIGN METHODS

The design method will be base on Inductive approach which would enable proper understanding of the complex nature of the obtained data, and by categorising and condensing large amount of raw information into a summary and brief format. The inductive approach in this research will provide and establish a direct connection between the data that would be obtained and the main research objectives. And regarding the issue of preconception in gathering data, the use of deductive approach might leave some key themes hidden, so the inductive approach will be used to allow the results obtained to materialise from regular and significant themes which would be derived from not only limiting to the structured methodologies. (Thomas, 2003) 7.1.1 DATA COLLECTION

Qualitative data will be created to carry out the research, and this will be collected by using interview methods, and the inductive approach will enhance efficiency in the way of analysing qualitative data for the research and interview. But however, there are 3 types of interviews; the structured, semi structured and unstructured interviews, in this research, semi structured interviews will be used. A comprehensive list of semi structured interview themes and questions would be prepared, and will ensure that the interview is in context to the research questions so as to gather the right and required data. Emphasis on this interview would be placed on not only understanding the what, how and when but it will also reveal the concept of why, and this would provide a means of conducting a qualitative interview. In addition to this, recorded tapes will be used and knowledgeable and experience HR employees in UK Banks such as HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Tsb etc, would be interviewed so as to obtain a reliable and feasible data. (Saunders et al. 2009)

The main objectives of the research would be clear and the interview would be carried out in a successful and professional way. The basic idea is collecting information regarding the effectiveness of external recruitment agencies in effective recruitment and selection, and also the impact of such services on employee retention/turnover etc. Clear and specific questions will be set in other to get the information needed to avoid irrelevant information. And also, secondary data will be obtained from textbooks and electronic journal articles. 7.1.2 DATA ANALYSIS

Upon the completion of each interview, time and effort will be investing to study the data, the recorded tapes will be transcribed into a written format, to help in thinking of how the interviews were carried out, and the data will be read several times to ensure accuracy, better understanding and analysing what the interviewee said which will also help in coming up with more questions for subsequent interviews in areas that needs more investigation. (David, 2000) The themes of each interview would be compared to see the responses of each questions, there commonalities, differences and how they are interrelated, and to also identify the main themes that best describe the research questions. The information will be categorised and organised into logical classification which will summarise and provide meaning to the overall text. And by organising the obtained data into categories, patterns and connection between such categories will be identified within category description, in creating larger categories and also showing the categories that appears more important to the research objectives. And finally, bringing it all together for interpretation. (Taylor-Powell et al. 2003) 8.0 ETHICAL ISSUES

The issue of confidentiality may emerge as a result of the data collection, although consent will be obtain from the respondents, and ensuring confidentiality. And also the interviewee names would be kept anonymous as information can to a large extent be misled involving ethical concerns in the environment. And upon the completion of the research, a copy of the research will be given to both the interviewee and the Bank at large. 9.0 PROJECT MANAGEMENT/TIME FRAME

The timetable below is developed for the full research activities that will be carried out for the successful completion of the research. This will begin on the 18th July 2011 and end on 19th December 2011. TASK | START DATE | END DATE Literature Review | 25/07/2011 | Days | | 08/08/2011 | 14 | | 31 |

Finalised Research Proposal

| 18/07/2011

| 19/09/2011

Preparing Interview Questions | 26/09/2011 Conducting Interview | 10/10/2011 Structuring the Data From Interview. Data Analysis & Writing| 11/11/2011 Finalizing the Draft | 9/12/2011

| 08/10/2011 | 21

| 12 |

| 31/10/2011 | 31/10/2011 | 9/12/2011 | 18/12/2011

| 11/11/2011 | 30 |9 | | |1

| 10

Final Draft Sub- mission

| 19/12/2011

| 19/12/2011

9.1.1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The time table shows the proposed time frame on how the project will be carried out and when it will be completed. However, there are quite number of risk involved in obtaining the interview data from the selected interviewee at the prescribed time, mostly if the interviewee is very busy with official work or even out of town or on leave at the stated period, can slow or have impact on the speed of data collection. And another risk will emerge from the willingness not to participate in the interview by the chosen respondents which will also have a major impact in the data collection process.

10.0

CONCLUSION

The research proposal has highlighted some of the key areas to investigate and also research design and methods in to carry out the research, which comes from the collection of Qualitative data in form of semi structured interview. Existing knowledge on the proposed topic were also provided in the literature review, which looked into how surveys and studies were carried out in the UK private organisations to analyse the impact of External service providers. And finally ethical issues and how the project will be managed were also taking into consideration.

11.0

REFERENCES LIST

David, T. (2000), Collecting and Analyzing Qualitative Data [online] available from <http://www.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/soph/centres/hrmas/_docs/collecting_and_analysing_qualitative_da ta.pdf> [25 August 2011] Human Resource Management International Digest, (2005) To outsource or not to outsource? Which is the bigger risk? [online] available from <http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=09670734&volume=13&issue=3&articleid=1463648&show=html> [22 July 2011]

Saunders MNK, Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2009), Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Ed., Harlow, FT Prentice Hall. Taylor-Powell, E., Renner, M. (2003), Program Development & Evaluation: Analyzing Qualitative Data, [online] available from <http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/g3658-12.pdf> [26 August 2011] Thomas, D. (2003), A General Inductive Approach for Qualitative Data Analysis [online] available from <http://frankumstein.com/PDF/Psychology/Inductive%20Content%20Analysis.pdf> [25 August 2011] Ume-Amen, (2010), Outsourcing of Recruitment and Selection is Beneficial for an Organisation: Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research Business: September 2010, [online] VOL 2, NO 5 available from <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=21&sid=7070d3d5-9517-431c8e719dd7d0e02b73%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=58737276> [5 August 2011] Woodall J., Scott-Jackson W., Newham T., Gurney M,. (2009), Making the decision to outsource Human Resources: [online] Vol.38 No. 2, 2009, 236-252 available from <http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=00483486&volume=38&issue=3&articleid=1784688&show=html> [5 August 2011]

12.0

APPENDIX

LOW RISK RESEARCH ETHICS CHECKLIST Will the project involve human patients/clients, health professionals, and/or patient (client) data and/or health professional data? | | No | Will any invasive physical procedure, including collecting tissue or other samples, be used in the research? | | No | Is there a risk of physical discomfort to those taking part? | | No | | | | No | No | |

Is there a risk of psychological or emotional distress to those taking part? Is there a risk of challenging the deeply held beliefs of those taking part?

Is there a risk that previous, current or proposed criminal or illegal acts will be revealed by those taking part? | | No | Will the project involve giving any form of professional, medical or legal advice, either directly or indirectly to those taking part? | | No | RISK TO RESEARCHER

Will this project put you or others at risk of physical harm, injury or death?

| No |

| | No

Will project put you or others at risk of abduction, physical, mental or sexual abuse? |

Will this project involve participating in acts that may cause psychological or emotional distress to you or to others? | | No | Will this project involve observing acts which may cause psychological or emotional distress to you or to others? | | No | Will this project involve reading about, listening to or viewing materials that may cause psychological or emotional distress to you or to others? | | No | Will this project involve you disclosing personal data to the participants other than your name and the University as your contact and e-mail address? | | No | Will this project involve you in unsupervised private discussion with people who are not already known to you? | | No | Will this project potentially place you in the situation where you may receive unwelcome media attention? | | No | Could the topic or results of this project be seen as illegal or attract the attention of the security services or other agencies? | | No | Could the topic or results of this project be viewed as controversial by anyone? | | No |

INFORMED CONSENT OF THE PARTICIPANT Are any of the participants under the age of 18? | | No | | | No |

Are any of the participants unable mentally or physically to give consent?

Do you intend to observe the activities of individuals or groups without their knowledge and/or informed consent from each participant (or from his or her parent or guardian)? | | No | OTHER ETHICAL ISSUES Is there any other risk or issue not covered above that may pose a risk to you or any of the participants? | | No | Will any activity associated with this project put you or the participants at an ethical, moral or legal risk? | Yes | |

PARTICIPANT CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION Will the project involve collecting data and information from human participants who will be identifiable in the final report? | | No | Will information not already in the public domain about specific individuals or institutions be identifiable through data published or otherwise made available? | | No | Do you intend to record, photograph or film individuals or groups without their knowledge or informed consent? | Yes | | Do you intend to use the confidential information, knowledge or trade secrets gathered for any purpose other than this research project? | | No | GATEKEEPER RISK Will this project involve collecting data outside University buildings? | Yes | | | No | No | | No | | |

Do you intend to collect data in shopping centres or other public places? Do you intend to gather data within nurseries, schools or colleges? |

Do you intend to gather data within National Health Service premises? |

Introduction Alcohol misuse is a major public health problem, placing a heavy burden on society, and affecting a large number of individuals of all ages.(Drinkaware,2011) Either on its own or in conjunction with other factors, alcohol is estimated to be responsible for at least 33,000 deaths in the UK each year(Academy of Medical Sciences) This is a proposal for research to explore alcohol misuse by school age children in a Manchester: external influences and childrens awareness on consequences of drinking. Alcohol consumption by under-18s remains a significant problem for the UK. Underage drinkers consume approximately the equivalent of 6.9 million pints of beer or 1.7 million bottles of wine each week with an estimated 630,00011- to 17-year-lds drinking twice or more per week.(Drinkaware,2011) There has been a lot of different research on teenagers drinking and some of them suggest the slow decrease in consumption trends. However, this is still important subject as in last decade there was very high level of in the harms that are associated with alcohol use by school age children.(Telegraph,2012) Whilst government policy has often focused on how to tackle alcohol as a public problem in general, there isnt enough of research and information on health problems that young people face after consuming alcohol. At such of young age their bodies are less able to deal with alcohol aftereffects. Alcohol contributes to 5% of young peoples deaths 1.4% more than in the adult population and in the UK we have the highest rates in Europe of teenage alcohol-related injuries.(BBC, 2010) Many kids have their first drink at an early age, as young as 10 or 11 or even younger.(Kidshealth,2011) Children are often influenced by others and external factors, might see their parents drink or watch TV commercials that make drinking look like a lot of fun. Alcohol is a drug, and it is the drug most abused by teens and this is a problem to be investigated in schools in Manchester area. More should be done to help young people who struggle with drinking problems. Alcohol is a drug, and it is the drug most abused by teens and this is a problem to be investigated in schools in Manchester area. Research Aim The aim of this research is to explore alcohol misuse by school children in Manchester. The research proposal will identify external factors that are influencing children to drink and also test childrens awareness on consequences of their drinking. Key Research Objectives Identify actual, current factors there are influencing children to drink alcohol- what influences these days. Check if there is an understanding of children on awareness of consequences of drinking alcohol- to assess level of knowledge and identify gaps in education. To explore views on drinking in young age- this will help to identify reasons behind childrens drinking.

 Monitoring trends in alcohol harms with young people health- there has been a lot of information on alcohol harms in general, but young bodies react differently. This research will give information from point of view of the child. Planning The research will be carried in Manchester high schools. It is very important to plan how many schools is going to participate. We need to get acceptance form Senior Leadership Team at school and parents approval, therefore we need to start this process months in advance. Possibly we can attend cluster meeting of schools in Manchester and talk to few SLT members about the research on one occasion. After organising permissions, time and place we will conduct quick questioner. The questions are going to be agreed with SLT months before. Next, basing on questioner results we will send survey monkey with more specific questions. Also we will organise small interviews out of school hours during workshops or in the community centre. Literature Review The key aspect of this proposal is looking at alcohol misuse by children, what are external influences relating to childrens drinking and also to find out if young people know of consequences. In general childrens drinking is a big issue in the UK, therefore there has been already research under this subject. Literature review demonstrates what impact has childrens drinking on their health and could be the influences and consequences. Alcohol affects every organ in the drinker's body and can damage a developing bodies. Intoxication can impact brain function and motor skills; heavy use can increase risk of certain cancers, stroke, and liver disease. Alcoholism or alcohol dependence is a diagnosable disease characterized by a strong raving for alcohol, and/or continued use despite harm or personal injury. Alcohol abuse, which can lead to alcoholism, is a pattern of drinking that results in harm to one's health, interpersonal relationships, or ability to work. (NIDA) The British Medical Association (BMA) published a reports 2009 and 2010 where there has been highlighted an issue and concerns about underage drinking. Report named 'Under the Influence' advised on rise in the proportion of childrens who drink alcohol regularly. Also, but also that there is an increase in the amount of units they are drinking on each occasion. Alcohol Concern also suggested that more teenagers are drinking regularly.(Alcohol Concern ). BMA report reviles alcohol consumption in the UK has increased rapidly in recent years, not just among young people, but across society. The population is drinking in increasingly harmful ways and the result is a range of avoidable medical, psychological and social harm, damaged lives and early deaths. As consumption has increased, the market for alcohol has grown substantially. This has been driven by vast promotional and marketing campaigns with the UK alcohol industry spending approximately 800m annually.(BMA)

Studies on under 18 drinking has been tackled by an independent UK charity Drinkaware. This charity aims to change the UKs drinking habits for the better. The Drinkaware states that children will be drinking more alcohol in the summer holidays and given 20 per week to spend they would be more likely to spend the money on alcohol and partying than shopping, entertainment or transport. Their research showed that teenagers drink when they are bored. During the summer holidays numbers are likely to increase. (Drinkaware) NHS Information Centre published report Smoking, Drinking and Drug use among Young People in England where they stated the proportion of pupils who had never drunk alcohol rose from 39% in 2003 to 55% in 2010. Less than half (45%) of pupils aged between 11 and 15 said that they had drunk alcohol at least once in their lifetimes. Most pupils who drank in the last week had done so on one or two days (56% and 29% respectively). On the days they did drink, more than half (59%) drank more than four units on average. 68% of 11 and 12 year olds who drank alcohol usually drank with their parents, and a similar proportion (65%) said they usually drank at home. By the age of 15, pupils were most likely to drink with friends of both sexes (74% of 15 year old drinkers). (NHS,2010) The report Right time, right place launched in October 2010 by Alcohol Concerns also shows that trends in young peoples alcohol consumption increased and this have broadly mirrored the numbers of children and young people seeking alcohol-related medical treatment. The number of under-18 alcohol related hospital admissions increased 32% between 2002 and 2007. In the last five years the London Ambulance Service has responded to 11,780 incidents involving underage drinkers. ( Alcohol Concerns). Alcohol consumption results in children and young people, like adults, attending emergency departments both as a result of the primary effects (i.e. intoxication, poisoning etc) and the secondary effects (increased likelihood of accidents, assaults etc). The latest European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs reported that in the UK 26% of 11- to 15-year-olds reported suffering an accident or injury because of their drinking, the highest percentage in Europe. Within this group 3% reported that they had been hospitalised or admitted to an emergency room during the last 12 months, due to alcohol consumption. The Isle of Man reports the highest percentage of young people being hospitalised or attending an emergency department due to alcohol use, double the European average. For most children and young people, alcohol related emergency departments attendances are one-off incidents from which lessons are learnt and, although extremely concerning, are not necessarily indicative of an extended pattern of alcohol misuse or dependency. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the national health statistics data source, is only able to provide data on ED attendances with a primary diagnosis of poisoning (including overdose) of substances that include alcohol. Between 2007 and 2009, 25,767 children and young people under the age of 18 attended with this primary diagnosis. In 2009/10, the West Midlands Ambulance Service attended 1,296 alcohol-related call-outs for under-18s at an estimated cost of 247,536. Almost 70% of call-outs were then transported to hospital for further treatment. Between 2005/6 and 2009/10 the London Ambulance Service responded to over 11,780 alcohol-related call-outs for 10-17-year-olds at an estimated cost in excess of 2,592,600. Based on information provided by the three ambulance services the estimated mean cost nationally of each ambulance call-out is 198. The three services cover 14.9million people, 27.6% of the estimated population of England and Wales, and responded to 4,527 incidents involving alcohol and younger

people in 2009/10. A basic extrapolation of the figures to a national scale suggests that last year ambulance services in England and Wales would have responded to 16,387 such incidents, at a cost of 3,244,462. ( Alcohol Concerns).

The Independent article finds that people blame the drinks industry for promoting alcohol as "sexy" to the young. Mr Soodeen said: "The drinks industry plays a big part in the whole issue. We really need to be cutting off the supply to young people. Unfortunately, the drinks industry has been very effective in persuading the Government that a 'voluntary health' approach is the way forward. We find it odd that so much of the packaging on Alco pops seems juvenile and the alcohol industry has yet to come up with a credible explanation." As for Hayley, she is all too well aware of the lure alcohol can provide without being aware of its destructive consequences. Not only did the drink cause her to suffer from high blood pressure, vitamin deficiency and a severe liver problem, but she has also been out of school for two years. "I think alcohol is too easy for children to get hold of," she said, "and it's just as addictive as heroin or crack."(Independent,2011) Doctors are worried about an apparent increase in the number of young teenagers who are drinking heavily. While many of the more serious health effects of drinking affect those who have been drinking for many years, it is feared that alcohol abuse during the formative years sets a pattern for later life.(BBC) In BBC report there are a statements form doctors who think that drinking effect could be far more pronounced in the young, as alcohol will tend to have more effect on their developing bodies. The increase in the availability of 'designer drinks', the so-called "alcopops" has been accused of making alcohol far more attractive to younger people(idea of alcopops.)(BBC,2011) Deputy Health Minister Lewis Macdonald, launching the campaign in Aberdeen, thinks there is a lot of peer pressure ant this I a rearon for more and more young people drink, he said: "Many of us will have been in social situations where we want to miss out on a round or have a soft drink rather than an alcoholic one. We may not want to drink alcohol at all, or to stop before we drink too much. But peer pressure from friends and colleagues can often make that a difficult choice." (BBC,2011) National institute of Drug Abuse claims that underage drinking is a factor in nearly half of all teen car crashes, which are the leading cause of death among teenagers. They also confirm studies on the brain does not finish developing until a person is around 21. Alcohol use at an early age can affect one's memory, ability to learn, and to make good judgements and Conditions linked to early age of first drink include drug abuse, delinquency, and decline in academic achievement. (Drug Abuse). Survey carried on parents of school aged children reviled that two-thirds of parents say that seeing and hearing alcohol adverts make teenagers more likely to drink alcohol, and almost three-quarters of parents say that alcohol companies are not doing enough to limit the amount of alcohol advertising that children see. (CAMY). Parents are concerned on effect that alcohol is having on their children and believe that colour adverts encourage to start drinking or drink more. In this research we will be asking children to specify what influence them to drink and that include video games and other features that

appeal to youth under the legal drinking age ie. Vodka, Alco pops, beer companies adverts on banners in TV and Cinem, advertising to new media such as social network sites and viral campaigns. The report created by BMA examines the damaging effect of alcohol marketing on young people. The research we are going to carry will examine and test knowledge on childrens health and aims to identify effective ways of protecting young people from the influence of alcohol promotion and marketing. Research Design Research is at times mistaken for gathering information, documenting facts, and rummaging for information (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001). Research is the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data in order to understand a phenomenon (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001). Two common approaches to conducting research are quantitative and qualitative. Creswell (2002) noted that quantitative research is the process of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and writing the results of a study, while qualitative research is the approach to data collection, analysis, and report writing differing from the traditional, quantitative approaches. Qualitative research is empirical research where the data are not in the form of numbers. (Punch, 1998) Quantitative research is specific in its surveying and experimentation, as it builds upon existing theories. (Leedy and Ormrod (2001) While conducting quantitative research we will be asking about asking people for their opinions in a structured way to find facts and statistics to guide.. To get reliable statistical results, its important to survey people in fairly large numbers and to make sure they are a representative sample of target market. Questioners As mentioned above this process will be quantitative method of obtaining information and will aim to understand internal motivations and test knowledge. First and most important will be getting approval from the school to conduct questioner. The school might have objections to release these information but the benefit for them would be identification of the problem in issues around young drinking and will help them to find ways to prevent that happening in the future. We will need to design specific questions, not more than 10, that are constructed using language that young people understand and can relate to. If the questions would be unsuitable and we use complicated language, it may confuse them and we will not get accurate results and correct information for survey. Specific Research Questions will be around subject: Why they started to drink ? What influences them ? What are the decision factors that influence choice when they are offered a drink? What are the negatives drinking? What effect on their behaviour have alcohol? What effect on their health have alcohol?

Positives: This will be designed to be short and quick to complete within max 10min. This will be addressed to young audience group and give a possibility to answer during school break or within lesson time(for example towards end) This method is very effective in organizational settings and its east to organise groups to complete questioner. Every student is going to be handed an piece of paper and asked to complete it while in the room. The advantage of the questioner would be structured questions and this method could provide a high response rate. Also if they would be unclear about the meaning of a question they could ask for clarification. Negatives: There can be restriction from schools to conduct questioner and also possibly we would be a need obtaining consent for research from parents. Survey Monkey Web surveys are rapidly gaining popularity for data collection. These surveys targets on segments of the Internet user population and young people are very active users, therefore its suitable for desired target population. Due to sending these surveys to underage children there need to be option for parent to approve this survey before participation. There will be created Survey Mokey with specific questions around topics below: 1. To get an understanding what motivates and influences them and explain: Why they started to drink? What makes drinking alcohol so appealing?

What influences are particularly strong (is it their parents habits, peer pressure, school, siblings, media and films, promotion in gaming or strong advertising)? How important is place and occasion when they drink? How finances impact encouragement to drink

2. To get an understanding of knowledge of aftereffects: What are the positives of drinking ? What are the negatives of their drinking ? How you think alcohol has impact on your future life? What is current awareness of the impact of alcohol?

The survey will be distributed online using emails addresses obtained from school. Positives: Key advantages include faster speed of responses than getting responses from postal survey at reduced cost(survey monkey design is free), this will also give responders flexibility to complete survey in their own time. We will be targeting specific population and this way of getting to right people. Negatives: Conducting online survey risking that people are not always honest, this can create inaccuracy in the data. Also sometimes technical problems can affect participants. Interviews: This method of data collection is going to be more personal than using questionnaires or survey monkey. The interviewer will work directly with the young people. The interviews will be carried during organised Children and Young People workshops, the interviewer would be able to find out in depth what could influence then to drink alcohol and also ask follow-up questions and create scenario, for example: Do you want to come with us on Friday to get drunk? (if you dont come youll not be our mate). We will be able to assess if teenagers drinking behaviour is influenced by the attitudes and behaviour of their families and friends. Also will be able to assess current level awareness and consequences of drinking. These interviews will be done in small groups. Group sizes will be about 5-7 people. To make sure the interviews will achieve wanted results there will give assurance of answers being kept confidential. We will need consent from parent so Children and Young people can attend workshops. There will be minutes taken during interviews to be analysed afterwards. Positives: This process will allow getting a true picture on childrens influences and assessing knowledge on drinking effects. Interviews will be face to face it will allow everyone to speak up how they feel about subject. Negatives: The key disadvantages are that these interviews can be very time consuming and are resource intensive. Also careful coding of the information collected is necessary to produce quantitative data. , in the group interview we will need to facilitate the session. Also students are going to listen to each other's comments and answering the questions, which some people might be uncomfortable with. Risks As reviewed in literature underage drinking is affecting teenagers in UK. There might be a problem of obtaining the correct data and school might refuse to participate or parents could not agree for interviews as they will worry the results will be public. It would be important to work with headteachers and parents for few months before to explain purpose of research and assure of confidentiality.

Ethics It is going to be very important to keep all answers secured and confidential. Also the questioner and survey cannot include names of students. Everyone taking part in this research need to know this is an official research and we need to obtain written confirmation form headteachers and parents allowing for surveys, questioner and interviews. Due to sensibility of the research project is crucial that there will be organised support in case of finding serious issues.

Research Proposal Low customer service scores are more than numbers on a sheet of paper being passed around to management. In the end, the customer is unhappy with the way they are being treated. Management has been made aware of the fact that customers are dissatisfied with their over the phone interactions with Macys representatives. Are customers willing to shop at a location that has good products if the customer service is below average? The Null Hypothesis to this question would be that customers are willing to shop at a location with better than average products and below average customer service. Adversely, the Alternative Hypothesis would be that customers are not willing to shop with a company that has below average customer service, even when the products are above average. Variables There are a few variables to consider when asking the above question, both dependent and independent. The independent variables would be whether or not the call was handled properly, the friendliness of the staff, and also whether or not the customers issue was resolved. The dependent variables would be the customers likelihood to recommend our company and also their likelihood to return to shop for themselves. Significance The significance of making sure that customers are satisfied with the level of service that they receive on a phone call is that if our customers are happy with the service that they receive, they will continue to come into our store and spend money on our products. If we do not satisfy our customers, there is a good chance that our competitors will. The scope of our study is the customers that call into our store and also the customer service representatives that speak with them on the phone. The magnitude is very large. This will encompass all of the customers that call in and the representatives that they deal with. It is our goal to make sure that each and every customer is given great customer service on their experience, and also that we monitor every call that comes into our store. Discovering how customers rate the various aspects of their customer service experience will give some insight into where improvements can be made; it will show what changes to policy can be put into place to effectively change the minds of Macys most important part of the company, the customer. We also must take ethics into consideration when compiling any questions for feedback. We should not ask questions, such as gender, race, or handicap status. Company must also be diligent in not divulging information for customer or employee. Research Design Week one, we came up with our problem. We also had to devise a hypothesis to figure out how to test our problem. Week two, our team came up with the dependent variables and independent variables that would affect our problem. Week three, we decided to do formal research and create a survey. We then had to devise some survey questions that could be administered to each of our customers after their calls to find out what they liked and did not like about their experience. Week four, the survey was created and week five our final proposal and presentation is to be given.

Overall Data Analysis Approach and Result Reporting Data Analysis Approach The approach that was taken for the data analysis was the Exploratory Data Analysis approach. In the approach we will be able to see how our survey questions are being answered. If there are questions that are not yielding the responses that we are looking for we then have the ability to change the questions and re-administer the survey. The statistical tests that will be done are parametric tests. These tests will be done by analyzing our survey question results. This is the best way to test our survey in that the observations on each question are independent. One question does not affect the outcome of another question. This test also allows us to distribute the survey to even populations. In this particular case, every caller will receive the same survey. This will help to make sure that the entire call base has the same survey. We will also make some questions on the survey interval questions to make sure that we can use arithmetic operations to calculate the results. The results of our tests will be displayed in a bar graph and also a pie chart. These charts help to make our results easy for people to understand through the use of these visual aids. We will be able to separate each question and show how satisfied or dissatisfied our customers are with our customer service. These charts will show the areas of our strengths as well as our weaknesses. Ethical Considerations When conducting the survey, we must be cognizant of ethical guidelines. Customers must not be asked to give certain responses that will show the company in either a negative or positive light. In order for our data to be reliable, we must allow for participants in the survey to give honest answers, according to their own opinions of the service they were given. Agents must not tell customers that they will give them goods or discounts in exchange for positive marks on the upcoming survey. We should not ask questions pertaining to religious orientation or handicap status.

Sample Population Our team has chosen to use the sampling method of simple random. Simple random is surveying anyone that is willing to participate, instead of selecting participants. Simple random is the method that would be the most efficient with customers calling in. At random the customer will be asked to stay on the line after the call if, he or she wants to participate in a survey. In the survey they will be asked to rate the service that they received. Participants will be asked to answer 10 pre-selected randomized questions. Sampling frame will include customers who call in for a two-month period or until 2000 surveys have been completed. Statistical reliability and point of view was used to help determine sample size. The larger the number that is evaluated, the greater the reliability. Results will be analyzed, at the end of the specified period, at which time we can determine which areas that customer service could improve. In

six-months we will initiate another survey to determine if the changes, we implemented worked or if we need to re-evaluate our customer service department. Accuracy Range+/- Percent Shown Sample Size 100 300 500 1,000 2,000 3,000 8.20% 4.70% 3.70% 2.60% 1.80% 1.50% 90% Confidence

Survey Results 1. Was your call transferred to the correct department to address your problem?

Yes: 84% No: 16%

2.

Was your call answered in a time that was acceptable to you?

Strongly Agree: 20% Agree: 24% Neutral: 16% Disagree: 22% Strongly Disagree: 18%

3. If giving the opportunity to receive a gift certificate, rank the department stores in the order that you would be most interested in shopping at. (1 being the highest, 4 being the lowest). a. Bloomingdale: 21%

b. Nordstrom: 19% c. Macys: 31% d. Dillards: 29%

4.

Associate Friendliness

Very Friendly: 22% Friendly: 18% Neutral: 17% Unfriendly: 26% Very Unfriendly: 17% Happy/Enthusiastic Tone on Voice Yes: 65% No: 35% Apologized for any conveniences experienced on the call Yes: 32% No: 68% Provided other services or suggestions to further assist you Yes: 22% No: 78% 5. How many times have you shopped with us in the past three months?

0: 11% 1-2: 46% 3-4: 20% 5-6: 14%

7+: 9%

6.

What category best describes the household income?

Less than $30,000: 24% $30,001-$60,000: 34% $60,001-$90,000: 26% $90,001 +: 16%

7.

Gender:

Male: 34% Female: 59% Prefer not to disclose: 7%

8.

What was the nature of your call today?

Store Account Billing: 12% Purchase/Order: 28% Customer Service: 38% Other____________________ (Please Specify): 22%

9.

Was your issue resolved to your satisfaction?

Strongly Disagree: 20% Disagree: 23% Neutral: 21% Agree: 18%

Strongly Agree: 18% 10. How happy were you with your overall experience with the representative?

Strongly Disagree: 16% Disagree: 34% Neutral: 13% Agree: 25% Strongly Agree: 12%

Conclusion After conducting the survey, it was found that customers are not willing to shop at a store that offers good products, but has below average customer service. These findings will allow for management to make necessary changes to our customer service procedures. The customers are the number one priority of any business, and they should be treated as such. Moving forward, more focus will be put on how the company handles telephone interaction with customers. Extra effort will be made in regards to politeness and call handling tactics, as well as making sure that calls are answered promptly.

THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL Introduction What is a Research Proposal? According to Frankel & Wallen (2003) a research proposal is plan that indicates the strategy the researcher intends to use in search of answers to the main research questions/problem and specific research questions .The actual format of research proposal, as well as its contents can vary from study to study. A plan is important in everything we do in research we call this plan a proposal. A research proposal is description or plan to be followed in carrying out a proposed study .It provides the landscape of how the study is likely to develop .The purpose of a proposal is threefold: * It helps the researcher to think over important issues about the study such as: why the research is relevant, how to collect the data who has the information and where the information is available, and how the information will be collected and analyzed. * It helps the researcher to evaluate the study by examining the difficulties, which are likely to be involved, and making the necessary modifications. * It provides a guide or plan of general studies to be undertaken. Research Proposal In a research proposal, a researcher proposes to undertake a piece of research on some pertinent issue .A research proposal leading to masters degree or a PhD, The various sectors That got into an academic research proposal are generally the ones most institutions require .This chapter describes them .However, there may be variations in format from institution to institution .The accepted format should be known to the student before embarking on writing a proposal l. Other research proposals may not be academic oriented but are still aimed at undertaking research to solve a problem, I.e., action oriented research. Though most components found in an academic research proposal would be relevant in one which is no t, some sections may not be relevant and could be left out without affecting the quality of proposal .For example, not all action oriented research proposal will require hypotheses or theoretical backgrounds .However, the logical way of ensuring quality in project research proposal is to acquire the right or agreed upon format from the institution or prospective funding agency. Project Proposal This refers to a proposal which is not research - oriented but is action oriented and aimed at undertaking certain activities to solve specific problem .However ,it is common to find a project proposal with a research component .This is may be the case especially .when some baseline and evaluation data are required .The differences between a project proposal and a research focus on expected outcome and implementation process .In a project proposal ,a specific problem will have been solved

.For example some training will have been offered ,a resource provision like water ,will have been provide .In a research project, the outcome will be data which can be used as a basis of proposing a project or data which will contribute to knowledge and forms the basis of recommendations and action .In a research proposal, data collection and analysis is carried out and research report is written .In a project proposal , proposed strategies and activities are implemented and eventually evaluation will be conducted to ensure that the projects objectives were met. Format of a Research Proposal Format refers to the general pattern of the organization and arrangements of the study .It involve sequences, which are basic .However, a research proposal should consist of the following components in the order in which they are listed here:

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the problem 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Research questions, objectives and hypotheses. 1.4 Significance of purpose of the study. 1.5 Scope and the delimitations and limitations of the study 1.6 Conceptual framework 1.7 Operational definitions of the key terms 2.0 Review of the related literature

3.0 Research design and methodology

3.1 Research design 3.2 Target population, sample and sampling procedures 3.3 Measurement designs, i.e. research instruments 3.4 Data collection procedures 3.5 Data analysis procedures

3.6 Work plan and tentative time frame 3.7 Budget - References - Appendices

* Preliminary Pages This Preliminary part of the proposal includes the following: (a) The Title page contains: * Title of the study, for example the effect of alcohol on intelligence. The title page should appear on page (I), which is not usually numbered. Table of contents always appears on the next page which should be numbered (ii) or unnumbered (b) Table of Contents Title of Study Chapter 1: Introduction Background of the study Statement of the problem Purpose of the study Objectives of the study Scope of the study Significance Chapter 2.Literature Review Hypotheses Chapter 3.Methodology EST. References 13 (I) 1 1 4 5 6 7 7 8 8 10 Page

This is just a sample .It is not complete .It indicates the contents and Sections of the chapters of the proposal.

* Part II-Chapter 1: Introduction The introduction normally constitutes chapter one of the study. From this point up to the end of the proposal, expressions should not be personalized. Do not say I am going to .But you should use objects the researcher is going to...or the researcher will

Chapter one contains the following: Background to the study- which attempts to provide information required for understanding the study problem. It provides the context of the study by answering the question why should I study the chosen problem .It should start from broad to specific. The author endeavors to convince readers that there is a problem out there. The purpose of this section is to place the research in its context .The section should be as brief as possible. You Should indicate that you are aware of the related studies on the topic and the of which to which those studies do not address the problem of your study .The section includes a brief review of prep pious research in the field and a statement of the questions that previous research studies leave unanswered.

Statement of the problem- which attempts to focus on the study by providing direction to the research .It can be a declarative statement or in question form. This was discussed in chapter two. A statement of the problem states clearly what you want to study. The question you should ask yourself is; what exactly do I want to investigate? The first part of the statement of the problem points out a knowledge gap. Remember no problem no research .The statement of the problem is followed by specific research questions and hypotheses .However, not all research studies require a formulation of the hypotheses.

Purpose of the study-spells out what the researcher intends to do. It specifies the variables that the e researcher intends to focus on and sometimes by indicating the relationship between the variable. For example: The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of the study hours on memory students.

Objectives of the study and hypotheses- are finer and specific that come from the purpose .They are indicators of what the researcher is going to do. For example, to examine the relationship between gender and job aspiration. Questions can be raised instead of statements, for example is there a relationship between gender and aspirations? Research questions Research questions refer to questions which a researcher would like answered by undertaking the study. The difference between the research questions and objectives is that a research question is stated in a question form while an objective is a statement. If the research questions and objectives are referring to the same phenomenon, then one set becomes redundant. In such a case, only one set should be included in the study in a proposal, that is, either the objectives or research questions. However, it is possible to have objectives and research questions in a proposal but only when the objectives are and the research questions more specific.

Significance of the study- spells out the benefits that will be derived from the study when the findings are reported .It spells out who will benefit and how he will benefit from the study .In this section you should state the objectives and practical significance of your study .Will it contribute to the general understanding of this field? How will the results of the study lead to the improvement of educational programs? The reason why it is worth knowing what the study hopes to find out is discussed in this section.

Scope and delimitations of the study -Indicates the boundaries of the study in terms of content and geographicalspread.A single study cannot cover all the aspects of interest. It can be limited to certain type of school; geographical describes the limits or the scope of the study. Reasons why it is not extending beyond the determined scope are explained.

Limitations o f the study: Limitations refer to constraints that the researcher has no controller over. Some limitations are: lack of adequate time and funds and inability of some respondents to express themselves fluently in the language used during the interview.

Conceptual framework/theoretical framework This section describes the main independent and dependent variables in the study and relationship among them. Literature review

Literature review is another review very important part of a proposal because: 1. It enables the researcher to know what has been done in that particular field of study. 2. Makes one aware what achievements have been made and what challenges remain. 3. Gives good suggestions on the variables and procedures that could be used. The literature review should lead logically to objectives and hypotheses of the study. Chapter II-the literature review is the systematic identification and analysis of the documents containing information related to previous research findings .It should demo0nstrate how the approach of the study is likely to differ from others .It should justify the need for the study ,especially ,if similar studies have been done before. Research Methods in Humanities and Education The argument for the first format is that you must know what you are going to research rch on right from the beginning .While for the second format, is that you can only State your hypotheses after you have gone through other researchers ideas on the Topic to avoid duplication.

Literature review should point our methodological errors and any opposition among various findings. It should start with the broad and narrow down to specific ideas and logically lead to a conclusion. It should not be mere listening of researchers but rather it should stress important points .It should be critical .The literature review should only concern itself with the variables in the study as stated in the purpose. List all the sources cited in the text in alphabetical order .The literature review is immediately followed by the statement of the hypotheses in some researches. A 1. Why is the literature review essential in research? 2. Discuss the value of the sources of literature review.

Chapter III Method of investigation The methodology constitutes chapter three of the proposal and consists of the following:

* Research designs this spells out what type of method to use .It should show where and how the study is going to be done * Subjects- It should describe the population , sample , size and reasons for their choice .Characteristics of their subjects such as sex ,age and class are spelt out * Instruments - these spell out which tools are to be used and the reasons for using them. Authors of such tools are pointed out .Reliability and validity of the instrument should be pointed out. * Procedure- the researcher explains which type of research it is likely to be .For example, survey or experimental research. The researcher also spells out how and who is to collect data, for example, will it be the researcher, or research assistant or teachers -Whether permission is required or not? Chapter IV * Proposed data analysis this should be appropriate techniques to use to analyze the collected data justification for such techniques. Some of these techniques shall be discussed in chapter 11 through to 17. Work plan Activity| Time | Responsibleparty | Expectedoutcome | Criticalassumption |

Developing Research strategy | By January 2006 | Availability of research funds | Developing Research instruments developed | | By Jan 2006

| Researchers | Research topic developed

| Researcher

| Draftinstrument

| Draft

Review of draftinstruments | By Oct 2006 | Researcher and moderators as necessary | Draft instrumentsDeveloped in time | Develop a sampling frame frameIs not available | | By Nov 2006 | Researcher

| Instruments revised

| Sampling frame

| Sampling

Sampling done and subject identified frameAvailable or developed | Training research assistants Research assistantidentified

| By Nov 2006 | Researcher

| Sample

| Sampling

| By Dec 2006 | Researcher |

| Trainedresearch assistant

Pre-testing instruments| By Jan 2007

| Researcher and assistants

Development of dummy table | By Feb 2007 | Researcher and assistants testing data available |

| Dummy table | Pre-

Collect data in the field work | May-Aug2007 | Researcher and research assistants | Absence of majorConstraints inThe field |

| Raw data

Data analysisAndinterruption | Sept-Dec2007 | Researcher and data analysis | Draft report | Data analysisDone on time | Writing of draft research report| Jan-May2008 | Researcher | ReviewWorkshop andList of suggestedRevisions to the research report | Report writing complete | Submit finalReport in hardCopies anddiskettes | By Jun2008 | Review workshop heldAnd revisions Done. | | Researcher | Final research report

* Time frame-this can be done as follows: Jan Feb.,2006 | Proposal writing March-April,2006 | |

| Preparation of instruments |

April-May,2006| Pre-testing instruments June-Aug.,2006 | Data collection Sept-Oct.,2006 | Data analysis | Nov-Dec.,2006 | Report writing| January 2007 | Submission of final report |

* Budget-this may not be very important .But if you are conducting a sponsored research by bodies, such as commonwealth of learning or any Non-governmental organization you may have to provide the budget for funding.

Example of a budget

Stationery

| Quantity

| Amount(kshs) | | 30000 |

Duplicating paper

| 5 reams

Stencils

| 2 packets

| 9000 | | 7000 |

Duplicating ink | 2 tubes Travel | 10 days Subsistence Binding Total |

| 50000 | | 300000 |

| 30 days |

| 10000 | |

| 416000

This is just a guide; you may need to put in more details. * References this is a list of all sources consulted in writing the proposal which does not include any other readings .They must appear somewhere within the text .They should be presented alphabetically by the authors depending on the method you choose .Year and place of publication should be quoted together with the volume where applicable A good reference should indicate name. Initials, years, title, publishers and town, place .Where necessary pages should be cited Study this example: Allport, G.W. (1963), Pattern and growth in personality, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston: London Best, J.W., (1968), The Relationship between Age and Academic Performance in P.L.E.in Kenya a, Unpublished, M .Ed. dissertation. Enon, J. A (1995), Teacher Efficiency: Its Outcomes on Teachers and students .Unpublished Ph .D thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Opolot, J.A (1980), Educational and Occupational Aspirations of primary school leavers In Uganda, an exploratory study, (Unpublished) Square, R.D. (1962),Personality Factors and Academic Performance In British journal Of Educational Psychologiy, pp.322, 2551-253 1. In research references are referred to as bibliography .A as bibliography is a list of materials which are relevant to the study but were not necessarily consulted. 2. Foot-noting .In literature recitation ,foot-noting is now discouraged .The current practice is to cite the authors surname and initials ,the year of publication and the pages used for example :Enon , J.C( 1995,PP-6-15)

3. Where there are more than three writers, the professional way of writing it is Enon J.C (1993-pp.2431). 4. In journals, contributions are by different people .The professional recording of citations is as follows: The author, year of publication: The article in inverted commas, the article (where it is found) and the title of the journal (underlined or bold or italics) and page. This few examples should help in citing references .The example used in referencing are based on American Psychological Association (APA) format, third edition .But researchers are beginning to focus on the fourth edition.