By MC3 Michael Ehrlich

Students in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program prepare samples for a pizza taste test in Reed Hall, June 4. The effort was organized to help the MBA students prepare for their upcoming thesis work through the experience of designing, implementing and analyzing the data from a controlled survey.

“We are going to do a blind test for our defense inquiry class,” explained Army Capt. David Delassus. “We offer four different types [of pizza], the origin is unknown to the population. They will then fill out a worksheet that will rate the pizzas in a variety of different categories.”

With the results of the survey, the class will do a statistical analysis under the direction of GSBPP Lecturer Bryan Hudgens, who teaches a course on basic research methods.

“They are going to do research from start to finish, so when they go to do their thesis project they will know how to collect data appropriately, how to do the background research to understand the whole process, then how to analyze and interpret the data,” explained Hudgens.