Effect of Calorie Information. Jonathan Wilson is a business student at Tilburg University. He has been interested in the overconsumption of food ever since he has read Brian Wansink’s famous study with the “bottomless bowls.” For this study, Wansink brought in 60 people for a free lunch and gave 22 ounce bowls of soup to half, while the other half unknowingly got 22 ounce bowls that automatically refilled as they ate (by an unseen tube under the table). The result: those eating from the bottomless bowls thought they’d eaten the same amount as people with regular bowls. They actually consumed 73% more soup. “The lesson is, don’t rely on your stomach to tell you when you’re full. It can lie,” Wansink reacted to the results of this study. Together with his thesis supervisor, Donald Driver, Jonathan has developed a series of studies on the effects of Nutrition Labels on people’s attitudes toward the product, buying intentions, and the perceived healthiness of food products. The purpose of his latest study was to determine how the provision of objective calorie information on healthy food items influences people’s experience of hunger.
Is the purpose of Jonathan’s study exploratory in nature, descriptive, or is it to test hypotheses? Explain. What is the difference between a causal and a correlational study? Is Jonathan’s study causal or correlational in nature? There are various degrees of interference in research – minimal, moderate, and excessive interference. To what extent does Jonathan interfere with the normal flow of events in his study? Discuss the differences between a field study, a field experiment, and a lab experiment. Effect of Calorie Information. What type of study is Jonathan’s study? Is it a field study, a field experiment, or a lab experiment? Explain. What is the ‘unit of analysis’ of Jonathan’s study? Is Jonathan’s study cross-sectional or longitudinal in nature? Discuss the interrelationships between the purpose of Jonathan’s study, the nature of his study in terms of correlational/causal, Jonathan’s interference with the normal flow of events, and the type of study in terms of field study, field experiment, and lab experiment.
Effect of Calorie Information. You must give quality answers that show mastery of the case and questions asked using clear logic and supporting facts. Also, the answers must directly answer the questions in the case. Case analyses test the understanding of key elements of research methodology, therefore they must be thoroughly addressed. You must use citations with references to document information obtained from sources. The key elements of research methodology, business analytics, and concepts are found in the sources listed in this syllabus (it is your duty to search for them, read, analyze, evaluate, summarize, paraphrase in your answers, and cite the authors who wrote the articles, books, term papers, memoirs, studies, etc. What it means is that you will have not less than 5 references from the listed sources. Grammatically correct paper, no typos, and must have obviously been proofread for logic. Questions must be typed out as headings, with follow up answers in paragraph format, and a summary or conclusion at the end of all answers as in the outline (Sample provided in Course Resources). Case analysis must be in APA format.