Assignment: Using Secondary Research for SunTech

You have just been hired to work for SunTech, a company that is promoting solar energy system installations in homes across the Southwestern United States. You have a meeting with their Consumer Insights and Public Relations manager, Josie Walsh.

"We want you to help us assess consumer trust in solar energy," Ms. Walsh tells you. "We have lots of anecdotal evidence about how consumers do not really trust solar energy. But we currently don't know how to scientifically measure and validate it. Or even what it really means. Here is your assignment: we want you to give us a good, solid, valid scale to help us measure how much our consumers trust solar energy, and to compare that to how much they trust mainstream sources of energy."

During the meeting you are nodding and taking notes. You realize that this topic might be a little bit out of your comfort zone. You look up and ask a question: "So are you asking me to invent the scale for you?"

"No, absolutely not" Ms. Walsh says. "There is no need to reinvent the wheel. What we want you to do is to perform some secondary research on the relevant scales that are out there and then tell us which scale and which scale items we should use for our project. Give us your recommendation in a two-page document next week."

The format for your report is a single page memo with the final scale that you recommend SunTech should useincluded as an appendix. On the first page, (single-spaced, using New Times Roman 12-point font and one inch margins all around) please provide:

1. A one to three paragraph concisely written overview of your research efforts, telling Ms. Walsh what source(s) you examined (cite them in the text), how you found them, which one you used, why you used it, and what decisions/assumptions you had to make in order to reach your decision (Note: although you might mention some of them if you wish, you are not required to explicitly mention which sources you excluded)

2. Any relevant references or source material in APA, Chicago (or other widely accepted) format; you can be judicious about these -about 5-7 references is sufficient

The second page contains the Appendix to your one-page report, which is scale you recommend as valid and useful for SunTech's purposes. A copy, screengrab, or scan of the scale is acceptable.