I'm interested in learning if there is a connection between the stress of finals during the fall semester coinciding with sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
To study this I would propose a qualitative study, particularly a focus group. I don't think qualitative would be the right way to go, because it would be easy to see how much shopping college students do during finals, but not easy to attach causation to stress.
In the focus group you would want a variety of men and women, although the study would more likely be geared toward the latter. Questions should start out simple, talking about shopping habits and school work load. Each participant could include information about their online shopping and may be more likely to do so if their peers are also participating.
Further into the study you might want to do an exercise to measure their levels of stress, therefore the actually group must meet during finals time. In order to encourage this, an incentive would have to be offered, such as a discount at a store.
Billions of people shop in stores and online, but what impact do college students-- marketers' hardest to reach segment-- have on the sales? Focus group data might help answer this paired with data from companies and creditors, although that may cause legal or ethical issues.
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