Once again, refer to prior assignments associated with our IRS client.  Volunteers of the free tax prep service believe that not enough people are taking advantage of these programs, but they are not sure why.

Our client's budget for this fiscal year was not approved, so travel to visit our class has been cancelled and it is not certain what sorts of research could actually be funded once a budget has been approved.  Focus group interviews are expensive and time consuming, and even TDIs could be more expensive in money and time than our client will be able to invest.  On the chance that primary data collection is not possible, we could at least gain insights from existing secondary data.  One quick and relatively cheap way to gain some initial insights is to assess online customer service comments that people have posted regarding why they recommend using or not using a third-party income tax preparation service.

Visit Epinions.com reviews of H&R Block and do a written content analysis of the comments that are posted.  Your analysis must not be anecdotal, but must be based on an analysis that is substantiated with the spreadsheet method that we used in class.  The objective of this research is to determine why customers recommend using or not using this particular third-party income tax preparation service.  Your report should end with recommendations regarding features that our client should emphasize when promoting the free tax preparation service.

Do not do an analysis of all of the evaluations that are posted; use a quota sample of forty reviews as follows: 

1. Be sure that the list of reviews is sorted by date, starting with the most recent.  Note that the link above should result in a date-sorted list; clicking on "sort by review date" will reverse the sorting.  Be sure that the list is sorted to start with the most recent.
2. Don't use any review that is labeled as "top reviewer"
3. Sample by using the most recent twenty reviewers who end the review with a "yes" recommendation.  and the most recent twenty reviewers who end the review with a "no"recommendation.

Although the report itself is to be an individual effort, you are encouraged to work collaboratively with other class members to develop the grid that is used in your analysis.

Your report must include the following format, not necessarily with any sort of headings:

1. objectives of the research
2. source of the data
3. discussion of the methodology
4. discussion of the findings
5. discussion of the conclusions
   (implications / recommendations)

The report should not include the spreadsheet itself; the spreadsheet is merely a working document that is a tool to assist in your analysis.  That is, the report should be understandable without your spreadsheet.  However, your spreadsheet must be readily available if the client wants to see it.  For the sake of grading your report for this class, you must submit your spreadsheet as a separate (independent) document.