NAME

ROLL NO.

1. Research is a sequential method of enquiry, directed towards a clear implicit or

explicit objective. Describe in detail steps to be carried out in a typical research study.
[Meaning of Research-2
Listing the steps-2
Explanation of the steps in a research study-6]

Answer: Fred Kerlinger (1986) stated that ‘Scientific research is a systematic, controlled and
critical investigation of propositions about various phenomena.’ Grinnell (1993) has simplified
the debate and stated ‘The word research is composed of two syllables,‘re’ and ‘search’.
Management research is an unbiased, structured, and sequential method of enquiry, directed
towards a clear implicit or explicit business objective. This enquiry might lead to proving
existing theorems and models or arriving at new theories and models.

Steps
 The management dilemma: Any research starts with the need and desire to know
more. This is essentially the management dilemma. It could be the researcher himself or
herself or it could be a business manager who gets the study by done by a researcher.
The need might be purely academic (basic or fundamental research) or there might be
an immediate business decision that requires an effective and workable solution
(applied research).
 Defining the research problem: This is the first and the most critical step of the
research journey. There has to be complete clarity in the mind of the researcher
regarding the information he must collect.
 Formulating the research hypotheses: In the model, we have drawn broken lines to
link defining the research problem stage to the hypotheses formulation stage. The
reason is that every research study might not always begin with a hypothesis; in fact, the
task of the study might be to collect detailed data that might lead to, at the end of the
study, some indicative hypotheses to be tested in subsequent research.
 Developing the research proposal: Once the management dilemma has been
converted into a defined problem and a working hypothesis, the next step is to develop a
plan of investigation. This is called the research proposal. The reason for its placement
before the other stages is that before you begin the actual research study in order to
answer the research question you need to spell out the research problem, the scope and
the objectives of the study and the operational plan for achieving this. The proposal is a
flexible contract about the proposed methodology and once it is made and accepted, the
research is ready to begin.
 Research design formulation: Based on the orientation of the research, i.e.,
exploratory, descriptive or causal, the researcher has a number of techniques for
addressing the stated objectives. These are termed in research as research designs. The
main task of the design is to explain how the research problem will be investigated.
 Sampling design: It is not always possible to study the entire population. Thus, one
goes about studying a small and representative sub-group of the population. This sub-
group is referred to as the sample of the study. There are different techniques available
for selecting the group based on certain assumptions. The most important criteria for
this selection would be the representativeness of the sample selected from the
population under study.
 Data refining and preparation for analysis: Once the data is collected, it must be
refined and processed in order to answer the research question(s) and test the
formulated hypotheses (if any). This stage requires editing of the data for any omissions
and irregularities. Then it is coded and tabulated in a manner in which it can be
 subjected to statistical testing. In case of data that is subjective and qualitative, the
information collected has to be post coded i.e. after the data has been collected.
 Data analysis and interpretation of findings: This stage requires selecting the
analytical tools for testing obtained information. There are a number of statistical
techniques available to the researcher—frequency analysis, percentages, arithmetic
mean, t-test and chi square analysis.
 The research report and implications for the manager’s dilemma: The report
preparation, from the problem formulation to the interpretation, is the final part of the
research process.

2 What are descriptive research designs? Explain the different kinds of descriptive
research designs.
[Meaning of Descriptive Research designs
Kinds of Descriptive research designs]

Answer:As the name implies, the objective of descriptive research studies is to provide a
comprehensive and detailed explanation of the phenomena under study. The intended objective
might be to give a detailed sketch or profile of the respondent population being studied. For
example, to design an advertising and sales promotion campaign for high-end watches, a
marketer would require a holistic profile of the population that buys such luxury products. Thus
a descriptive study, (which generates data on who, what, when, where, why and how of luxury
accessory brand purchase) would be the design necessary to fulfil the research objectives.
Descriptive research thus are conclusive studies. However, they lack the precision and accuracy
of experimental designs, yet it lends itself to a wide range of situations and is more frequently
used in business research.

Based on the time period of the collection of the research information, descriptive research is
further subdivided into two categories: cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies.

Cross-sectional Studies
As the name suggests, cross-sectional studies involve a slice of the population. Just as in
scientific experiments one takes a cross-section of the leaf or the cheek cells to study the cell
structure under the microscope, similarly one takes a current subdivision of the population and
studies the nature of the relevant variables being investigated.
There are two essential characteristics of cross-sectional studies:
• The cross-sectional study is carried out at a single moment in time and thus the applicability is
most relevant for a specific period.
• Secondly, these studies are carried out on a section of respondents from the population units
under study (e.g., organizational employees, voters, consumers, industry sectors). This sample is
under consideration and under investigation only for the time coordinate of the study. There
are also situations in which the population being studied is not of a homogeneous nature but
composed of different groups.

Longitudinal Studies
A single sample of the identified population that is studied over a longer period of time is
termed as a longitudinal study design. A panel of consumers specifically chosen to study their
grocery purchase pattern is an example of a longitudinal design. There are certain
distinguishing features of the same:
• The study involves the selection of a representative panel, or a group of individuals that
typically represent the population under study.
• The second feature involves the repeated measurement of the group over fixed intervals of
time. This measurement is specifically made for the variables under study.
• A distinguishing and mandatory feature of the design is that once the sample is selected, it
needs to stay constant over the period of the study. That means the number of panel members
has to be the same. Thus, in case a panel member due to some reason leaves the panel, it is
critical to replace him/her with a representative member from the population understudy.

Longitudinal study using the same section of respondents thus provides more accurate data
than one using a series of different samples. These kinds of panels are defined as true panels
and the ones using a different group every time are called omnibus panels. The advantages of a
true panel are that it has a more committed sample group that is likely to tolerate extended or
long data collecting sessions. Secondly, the profile information is a one-time task and need not
be collected every time. Thus, a useful respondent time can be spent on collecting some
research-specific information.

3 The procedure of testing hypothesis requires a researcher to adopt several steps.

Describe in brief all such steps.
[Meaning of hypothesis
Steps in testing hypothesis]

Answer:Hypothesis is a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or
empirical consequences; the assumptions about the expected results of a research.

Steps in Hypothesis testing

 Setting up of a hypothesis: The first step is to establish the hypothesis to be tested. As
it is known, these statistical hypotheses are generally assumptions about the value of
the population parameter; the hypothesis specifies a single value or a range of values for
two different hypotheses rather than constructing a single hypothesis. These two
hypotheses are generally referred to as (1) the null hypotheses denoted by H0 and (2)
alternative hypothesis denoted by H1. The null hypothesis is the hypothesis of the
population parameter taking a specified value. In case of two populations, the null
hypothesis is of no difference or the difference taking a specified value. The hypothesis
that is different from the null hypothesis is the alternative hypothesis. Therefore, the
two hypotheses are constructed in such a way that if one is true, the other one is false
and vice versa.
 Setting up of a suitable significance level: The next step is to choose a suitable level of
significance. The level of significance denoted by α is chosen before drawing any sample.
The level of significance denotes the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it
is true. The value of α varies from problem to problem, but usually it is taken as either 5
per cent or 1 per cent. A 5 per cent level of significance means that there are 5 chances
out of hundred that a null hypothesis will get rejected when it should be accepted. When
the null hypothesis is rejected at any level of significance, the test result is said to be
significant. Further, if a hypothesis is rejected at 1 per cent level, it must also be rejected
at 5 per cent significance level.
 Determination of a test statistic: The next step is to determine a suitable test statistic
and its distribution. As would be seen later, the test statistic could be t, Z, χ2 or F,
depending upon various assumptions.
 Determination of critical region: Before a sample is drawn from the population, it is
very important to specify the values of test statistic that will lead to rejection or
acceptance of the null hypothesis. The one that leads to the rejection of null hypothesis
is called the critical region. Given a level of significance, α, the optimal critical region for
a two-tailed test consists of that α/2 per cent area in the right hand tail of the
distribution plus that α/2 per cent in the left hand tail of the distribution where that null
hypothesis is rejected.
  Computing the value of test-statistic: The next step is to compute the value of the test
statistic based upon a random sample of size n. Once the value of test statistic is
computed, one needs to examine whether the sample results fall in the critical region or
in the acceptance region.
 Making decision: The hypothesis may be rejected or accepted depending upon whether
the value of the test statistic falls in the rejection or the acceptance region. Management
decisions are based upon the statistical decision of either rejecting or accepting the null
hypothesis. In case a hypothesis is rejected, the difference between the sample statistic
and the hypothesized population parameter is considered to be significant. On the other
hand, if the hypothesis is accepted, the difference between the sample statistic and the
hypothesized population parameter is not regarded as significant and can be attributed
to chance.

4 a. Distinguish between:
i. Schedules and Questionnaires
ii. Open ended and closed ended questions
b. Explain the questionnaire design process.

Answer: a) i) If the objective of the research study is to uncover socially unacceptable desires
and subconscious and unconscious motivations, the investigator makes use of questions of low
structure and disguised purpose. However, these require interpretation that is highly skilled.
Cost, time and effort are also much higher than others. Another useful way of categorizing
questionnaires is on the method of administration. Thus, the questionnaire that has been
prepared would necessitate a face-to-face interaction. In this case, the interviewer reads out
each question and makes a note of the respondent’s answers. This administration is called a
schedule. It might have a mix of the questionnaire type as described in the section above and
might have some structured and some unstructured questions. The other kind is the self-
administered questionnaire, where the respondent reads all the instructions and questions on
his own and records his own statements or responses. Thus, all the questions and instructions
need to be explicit and self-explanatory.

ii) Open-ended questions

In open-ended questions, the openness refers to the option of answering I one’s own words.
They are also referred to as unstructured questions or free response or free-answer questions.
Some illustrations of this type are listed below:
• What is your age?
• Which is your favourite TV serial?
• I like Nescafe because ________________________
• My career goal is to ________________________

Closed-ended questions
In closed-ended questions, both the question and response formats are structured and defined.
There are three kinds of formats as we observed earlier— dichotomous questions and multiple–
choice questions. response.
i. Dichotomous questions: These are restrictive alternatives and provide the respondents only
with two answers. These could be ‘yes’ or ‘no’, like or dislike, similar or different, married or
unmarried, etc.
ii. Multiple-choice questions: Unlike dichotomous questions, the person is given a number of
response alternatives here. He might be asked to choose the one that is most applicable. For
example, this question was given to a retailer who is currently not selling organic food products:
Will you consider selling organic food products in your store?
 Definitely not in the next one year  Probably not in the next one year
 Undecided
  Probably in the next one year
 Definitely in the next one year

b) Questionnaire design process

1. Convert the research objectives into information areas
This is the first step of the design process. By this time the researcher is clear about the research
questions; research objectives; variables to be studied; research information required and the
characteristics of the population being studied.
2. Method of administration
Once the researcher has identified his information area; he needs to specify how the
information should be collected.
3. Content of the questionnaire
The next step is to determine the matter to be included as questions in the measure. The
researcher needs to do an objective quality check in order to see what research
objective/information need the question would be covering before using any of the framed
questions.
4. Motivating the respondent to answer
The questionnaire should be designed in a manner that it involves the respondent and
motivates him/her to give information. There are different situations which might lead to this.
5. Determining the type of questions
Available to the researcher are different kinds of question-response options.
6. Criteria for question designing
Step six of the questionnaire involves translating the questions identified into meaningful
questions.There are certain designing criteria that a researcher should keep in mind when
writing the research questions.
7. Determine the questionnaire structure
The questions now have to be put together in a proper sequence.
8. Physical characteristics of the questionnaire
The researcher must pay special attention to the look of the questionnaire. The first thing is the
quality of the paper on which the questionnaire is printed which should be of good quality. The
font style and spacing used in the entire document should be uniform. One must ensure that
every question and its response optionsare printed on the same page. Surveys for different
groups could be on different coloured paper.
9. Pilot testing of the questionnaire
Pilot testing refers to testing and administering the designed instrument on a small group of
people from the population under study. This is to essentially cover any errors that might have
still remained even after the earlier eight steps.
10. Administering the questionnaire
Once all the nine steps have been completed, the final instrument is ready for conduction and
the questionnaire needs to be administered according to the sampling plan.

5 a. What is the analysis of variance? What are the assumptions of the technique? Give a
few examples where the techniques could be used.
b. The following data represents the number of units produced by four operators during
three different shifts:
Shifts Operator
A B C D
I 10 8 12 13
II 10 12 14 15
III 12 10 11 14
Perform a two-way analysis of variance and interpret the result.
a. Meaning, Assumptions and examples
b. Formulas, Calculation, Solution and Interpretation to the problem

Answer: Meaning
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique helps in performing this test in one go and, therefore,
is considered to be important technique of analysis for the researcher. Through this technique it
is possible to draw inferences whether the samples have been drawn from populations having
the same mean. The technique has found applications in the fields of economics, psychology,
sociology, business and industry. It becomes handy in situations where we want to compare the
means of more than two populations.

R A Fisher developed the theory concerning ANOVA. The basic principle underlying the
technique is that the total variation in the dependent variable is broken into two parts—one
which can be attributed to some specific causes and the other that may be attributed to chance.
The one which is attributed to the specific causes is called the variation between samples and
the one which is attributed to chance is termed as the variation within samples. Therefore, in
ANOVA, the total variance may be decomposed into various components corresponding to the
sources of the variation.

Assumptions
In ANOVA, the dependent variable in question is metric (interval or ratio scale), whereas the
independent variables are categorical (nominal scale). If there is one independent variable (one
factor) divided into various categories, we have one-way or one-factor analysis of variance. In
the two-way or two-factor analysis of variance, two factors each divided into the various
categories are involved.

In ANOVA, it is assumed that each of the samples is drawn from a normal population and each of
these populations has an equal variance. Another assumption that is made is that all the factors
except the one being tested are controlled (kept constant). Basically, two estimates of the
population variances are made. One estimate is based upon between the samples and the other
one is based upon within the samples. The two estimates of variances can be compared for their
equality using F statistic.

Examples
Some examples could be to compare:
 the mean cholesterol content of various diet foods
 the average mileage of, say, five automobiles the average telephone bill of households
belonging to four different income groups and so on

Shifts Operator Total

A B C D
I 10 8 12 13 43
II 10 12 14 15 51
III 12 10 11 14 47
Total 32 30 37 42 141

N =16, t= sum of all values = 141

Correction factor = T^2/ N = (141)^2/ 16 = 19881/ 16 = 1242.56
SST = sum of squares of all values – T2 / N
= 100+100+144+64+144+100+144+196+121+169+225+196- 1243 = 460
For columns, SSC is calculated as:
= 32^2 + 30^2 +37^2 +42^2 - 1243
3 3 3 3
= 1024+900+1369+ 1764/3 – 1243 = 443
SSC/ (c-1) = 443/3 = 148

For rows, SSR is calculated as:

= 43^2+ 51^2 +47^2 - 1243
4 4

= 1849+ 2601+ 2209 /4 – 1243 = 422

SSR = 422

MSR = SSR/ (r-1) = 422/2 = 211

SSE = SST – SSC – SSR = 460- 148- 422 = -110
MSE = SSE/(r-1) (c-1)-110/ 6 = -18.33

Source of Sum of DF Mean F.Ratio

Variation Squares Square
Between SSC = 148 c-1 =3 MSC= 6 Fc= 6/-18.33
Columns SSR = 422 r-1 = 2 MSR= 4 = -0.33
Within Rows SSE= -110 (c-1) x (r -1) = 6 MSE= -18.33 Fr= 4/-18.33
Residual = -0.22
Total SST = 460 N-1 = 11

6. Explain the Structure of the Research Report. What are the guidelines for effective
report writing?
[Explanation of the Structure of the Research Report-5
Guidelines for effective report writing-5]

Answer: Whatever the type of report, the reporting requires a structured format and by and
large, the process is standardized. As stated above, the major difference amongst the types of
reports is that all the elements that make a research report would be present only in a detailed
technical report. Usage of theoretical and technical jargon would be higher in the technical
report and visual presentation of data would be higher in the management report. As can be
observed, the preliminary section includes the title page, followed by the letter of authorization,
acknowledgements, executive summary and the table of contents. Then come the background
section, which includes the problem statement, introduction, study background, scope and
objectives of the study and the review of literature (depends on the purpose). This is followed
by the methodology section, which, as stated earlier, is again specific to the technical report.
This is followed by the findings section and then come the conclusions. The technical report
would have a detailed bibliography at the end. In the management report, the sequencing of the
report might be reversed to suit the needs of the decision-maker, as here the reader needs to
review and absorb the findings. Thus, the last section on interpretation of findings would be
presented immediately after the study objectives and a short reporting on methodology could
be presented in the appendix.

Guidelines for effective report writing

 Clear report mandate: While writing the research problem statement and study
background, the writer needs to be absolutely clear in terms of why and how the
problem was formulated.
 Clearly designed methodology: Any research study has its unique orientation and
scope and thus has a specific and customized research design, sampling and data
 collection plan. In researches, that are not completely transparent on the set of
procedures, one cannot be absolutely confident of the findings and resulting
conclusions.
 Clear representation of findings: Complete honesty and transparency in stating the
treatment of data and editing of missing or contrary data is extremely critical.
Representativeness of study finding: A good research report is also explicit in terms of
extent and scope of the results obtained, and in terms of the applicability of findings.
Thus, some guidelines should be kept in mind while writing the report.
 Command over the medium: A correct and effective language of communication is
critical in putting ideas and objectives in the vernacular of the reader/decision-maker.
 Phrasing protocol: There is a debate about whether or not one makes use of personal
pronoun while reporting. The use of personal pronoun such as ‘I think…..’ or ‘in my
opinion…..’ lends a subjectivity and personalization of judgement. Thus, the tone of the
reporting should be neutral.
 Simplicity of approach: Along with grammatically and structurally correct language,
care must be taken to avoid technical jargon as far as possible. In case it is important to
use certain terminology, then, definition of these terms can be provided in the glossary
of terms at the end of the report.
 Report formatting and presentation: In terms of paper quality, page margins and font
style and size, a professional standard should be maintained. The font style must be
uniform throughout the report. The topics, subtopics, headings and subheadings must
be construed in the same manner throughout the report. The researcher can provide
data relief and variation by adequately supplementing the text with graphs and figures.