Week 7 Discussion

The descriptive statistics such as measures of central tendency, dispersion, skewness and kurtosis
can be used for the purpose of comparison and analysis of Univariate data. But sometimes, we
come across certain series where each item of the series may assume the values of two or more
variables. If we measure height and weight of n individuals, we obtain a series in which each
individual of the series assumes two values- one relating to height and other relating to weight.
Such distribution, in which each unit of the series assumes two values, is called a bivariate
distribution.
Correlation and regression are the most commonly used techniques for studying the relationship
between two quantitative variables. Correlation quantifies the amount of strength of the linear
relationship between two variables, whereas regression indicates the relationship in the form of
an equation. Correlation is a tool which studies the relationship between two variables.
Regression is the tool used measure the average relationship between the two variables.
Correlation need not imply cause and effect relationship between the variables under study,
however, regression clearly indicates the cause and effect relationship between two variables
(Green and Salkind, 2011).
In my study, I will address an applied business problem greenwashing and perceived lack of
credibility and consistency in many corporate sustainability claims. The purpose of this
qualitative doctoral study will be to investigate sustainability claims of two organizations, BP
LLC, an energy company, and Kohl's Corporation, a retail department store chain. A cross-case
analysis (Creswell, 2013, p. 101) using data from interviews and focus groups will be used to
assess the greenwashing problem, as evaluated by public audience reactions to corporate
websites, press releases, television, radio and print advertisements.
The questions used in this study will be as follows.
1. How do you perceive the credibility and authenticity of the pro-environment sustainability
claims of BP, the energy company, and Kohls, the department store chain?
2. How do you rate the credibility and authenticity of the public relations messages of BP in the
period since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident? "
3. How do you rate the credibility and authenticity of Kohl's Greenscene sustainability program
in the same period since 2010?"
I would utilize a 10 point scale. A participant may rate these questions on a scale of 0 to 10
where, 0 indicating poor and 10 indicating excellent.

Reference
Green, S. B., & Salkind, N. J. (2011). Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and
understanding data (6th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.