PROGRAM

MBA

SEMESTER

THIRD

SUBJECT CODE & NAME

CREDIT

MI0050/MBF206- RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
4

BK ID

B1700

MAX. MARKS

60

NAME

JAYA VERMA

ROLL NO.

1408025058

Q:1) Research is a sequential method of enquiry, directed towards a clear implicit or explicit
objective. Describe in detail the steps to be carried out in a typical research study.
ANS:1):Meaning of Research
Different scholars have interpreted the term research in many ways. For instance, 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.
The dictionary defines the former as a prefix meaning again, anew or over again. Search is defined as
a verb meaning to examine closely and carefully, to test and try, or to probe. Together, they form a
noun describing a careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in some field of knowledge,
undertaken to establish facts or principles.
Thus, drawing from the common threads of the above definitions, we drive that 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. Let us now understand each part of the definition.
Explanation of steps in typical Research study
We propose a broad framework that can be easily be followed in most researchers. The process of
research is interlinked at every stage as shown1. 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

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).
2. Defining the research problem- This is the first and the most critical step of the research
journey. For example, a soft drink manufacturer who is making and selling aerated drinks now
wants to expand his business
3. 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 task of the study might to be
collected detailed data that might lead to, at the end of the study, some indicative hypotheses to be
tested in subsequent research.
4. 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.
5. 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 state
objectives. These are terms in research as research designs. The main task of the design is to
explain how the research problem will be investigated.
6. Sampling design- It is not always possible to study the entire population. Thus, one goes about
studying a small and representatives sub-groups of the population. This sub group is referred to as
the sample of the
Q:2) What are descriptive research design? Explain the different kinds of descriptive research
design.
ANS:2)
Descriptive Research Designs
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 generate data on who, what,
when, where, why and how of luxury accessory brand purchase) would be the design necessary to fulfill
the research objectives.
Descriptive researches 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.
Kinds of Descriptive research designs

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.
1. Cross-sectional Studies- As the name suggests, cross- sectional studies involve a slice of the
population. 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. For example, one cross-sectional study
was conducted in 2002 to study the attitude of America towards Asian-Americans, after
the 9/11 terrorist attack. This revealed the mistrust towards Asians. Another crosssectional study conducted in 2012 to study the attitude of Americans towards AsianAmericans revealed more acceptances and less mistrust. Thus the cross-sectional studies
cannot be used interchangeably.

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.

The technique is especially useful in predicting election results, cohorts of male-females, different
religious sects, urban-rural or region-wise cohorts are studied by leading opinion poll experts like
Nielsen, Gallup and others. Thus, Cross-sectional studies are extremely useful to study current patterns of
behavior or opinion.

2. 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. 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 other reason
leaves the panel, it is critical to replace him/her with a representative member from the
population under study

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.

Q:3) The procedure of testing hypothesis requires a researcher to adopt several steps. Describe in
brief all such steps.
ANS:3)
Meaning of Hypothesis
The statement thus made can then be empirically tested. Kerlinger (1986) defines a hypothesis as a
conjectural statement of the relationship between two or more variables. According to Grinnell (1993),
A hypothesis is written in such a way that it can be proven or disproven by valid and reliable data- it is in
order to obtain these data we perform our study.
While designing any hypothesis, these are a few criteria that the researcher must fulfill. These are:A hypothesis must be formulated in simple, clear and declarative form. A board hypothesis might not be
empirically testable. Thus, it might be advisable to make the hypothesis one-dimensional, and to be
testing only one relationship between two variables at a time.
Steps in testing of Hypothesis Exercise
The following steps are followed in the testing of a hypothesis:1. Setting up of a hypothesis- The first step is to establish the hypothesis to be tested. As it is
known, these statistical hypothesis 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 are generally than constructing a single hypothesis. These two
hypotheses are generally referred to as 1- the null hypotheses denoted by H 0 and 2alternative hypothesis denoted by H1.
2. Setting up of a suitable significance level- The next step is to choose a suitable level of
significance. The level of significance denoted by 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 varies from problem to problem, but usually it is taken as either 5 percent
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 null hypothesis is
rejected any level of significance, the test result is to be significant.
3. 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, 2 or F, depending upon
various assumptions.
4. Determination of critical region- Before a sample is drawn from the population, it is very
important to specify the values of the 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, , the optimal critical region for a two-tailed test
consists of that /2 per cent area in the distribution plus that /2 percent in the left hand tail of
the distribution where that null hypothesis s rejected.

5. 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 the test statistic is
computed, one needs to examine whether the sample results fall in the critical region or in the
acceptance region.
6. 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
Q:4)
a.) Distinguish between:i.
ii.

Schedules and Questionnaires

Open ended and closed ended question

ANS:4)
Distinguish between schedule and Questionnaire
Schedule- Questionnaire with a face-to-face interaction in which the interview reads out each question
and makes a note of the respondents answers.
Questionnaire- A research tool that consists of a series of questions asked to respondents. In order to
obtain statistically useful information about a given topic.
Distinguish between open ended and close ended questions
Open ended questions- In open-ended questions; the openness refers to the option of answering in ones
own words. They are also referred to as unstructured questions or free-response or free-answer questions.
Close ended questions- In close-ended questions, both the question and response formats are structured
and defined. There are kinds of formats as we observed earlier- dichotomous questions, multiple-choice
questions and those that have a scaled response.
b.) Process of Questionnaire Designing
Presented below is a standardized process that a researcher can follow1) Convert the research objectives into information areas- This is the first step of the design process.
By this time the researcher is clear about 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 need to
specify how the information should be collected. The researcher usually has available to him a variety
of methods for administrating the study. The main methods are personal schedule, self administered
questionnaire through mail, fax, e-mail and web based questionnaire.
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 types of questions- Available to the researcher are different kinds of questionresponse option.
Open-ended questions
Closed-ended questions
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.
Clearly specify the issue
Use simple terminology
Avoid ambiguity in questioning
Avoid leading questions
Avoid loaded question
Avoid double-barreled questions
7) Determining the questionnaire structure- The questions now have to be put together in a proper
sequencei) Instruction: The questionnaires always, even the schedules, begin with standardized
instructions. These begins by greeting the respondents and then introducing the researcher
and then the purpose of questionnaire administration.
ii) Opening Questions: After instructions come the opening questions, which lead the reader
into the study topic.
iii) Study Questions: After the opening questions, the bulk of the instrument needs to be devoted
to the main question that are related to the specific information needs of the study. Here also,
the general rule is that the simpler questions, which do not require a lot of thinking or
response time should be asked first as they build the tempo for answering the more
difficult/sensitive questions later on..
iv) Classification information:- This is the information that is related to the basic socioeconomic and demographic traits of the person. These might include name (kept optional in
some cases), address, e-mail address and telephone number.
v) Acknowledgement: The questionnaire ends by acknowledging the inputs of the respondent
and thanking him from his cooperation and valuable contribution.
8) Physical characteristics of the questionnaire- The researcher must pay special attention to
the look of the questionnaire. The first thing is 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 options are printed on the same page. Surveys
for different groups could be on different colored paper.
9) Pilot testing of the questionnaire- Pilot testing refers to testing and administrating 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.

Q:5) What is the analysis of variance? What are the assumptions of the technique? Give a few
examples where this technique could be used?
ANS:5)

Analysis of Variance

A technique used to compare means of two or more samples (using the F distribution). This technique can
be used only for numerical data. 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. 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.
Assumptions and examples- Completely randomized design involves the testing of the equality of
means of two or more groups. In this design, there is one dependent variable and one independent
variable. The dependent variable is metric whereas the independent variable is categorical (nominal
scale). A sample is drawn at random from each category of the independent variable. The size of the
sample from each category could be equal or different.
Suppose we want to compare the cholesterol contents of the four competing diet foods on the basis of the
following data 9in milligrams per package) which were obtained for three randomly taken 6-ounce
packages of each of the diet foods.
Diet Food A

3.6

4.1

4.0

Diet Food B

3.1

3.2

3.9

Diet Food C

3.2

3.5

3.5

Diet Food D

3.5

3.8

3.8

We want to test whether the difference among the sample means can be attributed to chance at the 5 per
cent level of significance.
As explained earlier, the total variation in the data set can be expressed as a sum of the variations that can
be attributed to specific sources plus the one which is attributed to specific sources plus one which is
attributed due to chance. The total variation in the data set is called the total sum of squares (TSS) and is
computed. The variation within the sample, which is attributed to chance, is referred to as the error sum of
squares (SSE) This could be computed by subtracting the treatment sum of squares from the total sum of
squares. This is shown asa. SSE= TSS TrSS
In order to test the null hypothesis,
H0 : A = B = C = D
Against the alternative hypothesis
H0 : At least two means are not equal.
(Treatment means are not equal)
b. The following data represents the number of units produced by four operators during three
different shifts:

Shifts

Operator
A
10
10
12

I
II
III

B
8
12
10

C
12
14
11

D
13
15
14

Perform a two-way analysis of variance and interpret the res

Randomized Block Design in Two way ANOVA- In two way analysis of variance, we remove that
effect of the extraneous factors from the error sum of the squares as obtained from one-way ANOVA.
Therefore, the total sum of square is partitioned into three components- one due to treatment, second due
to block and the third one due to chance. It may be noted that the total sum of squares (TSS) and the
treatment sum of squares (TrSS) would remain the same as computed earlier. In addition, we will have
another component called block sum of squares (SSB) which is due to different laboratories and
computed as:SSB = 1 T2 j 1 T2
k

kn

Where error sum of squares would be computed as:

There will be two hypotheses to be tested:
I (Diet Food)
H0 : A = B = C = D
H1 : At least the two means are not same.
II (Block or Labs)
H0 : V1 = V2 = V3
(Average cholesterol content in the three labs is same.)
H1 : At least two ,means are not same.
Now, we would need to test the equality of TrSS with SEE and SSB with SSE.

Q:6) Explain the Structure of the Research Report. What are the guidelines for effective report
writing?
ANS:6)
Structure of the research Report

Whatever The type of report, the reporting requires a structured format and by and large, the process is
standardized. As stated above, the major, 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.
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 finding would be presented immediately after the study objectives and a reporting on
methodology could be presented in the appendix. The process of report formulation and presentation is
presented in the below figure:-

Preliminary section

Title page

Letter of Authorization

Executive Summary

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

Background Section

Problem Statement

Study Introduction and

Background

Scope and Objectives of

the study

Review of Literature

Methodology Section

Research Design

Sampling Design

Data collection

Finding Section

Results

Interpretation of Results

Conclusions Section

Conclusion and
Recommendations
Limitations of the study

Appendices
Glossary of Terms
Bibliography

Guidelines for effective report writing

Listed below are some features of a good research study that should that should be kept in mind while
documenting and preparing the report.
1. 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.
2. Clear 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 researchers,
that are not completely confident of the findings and resulting conclusions.

3. Clear representation of findings- Complete honesty and transparency in stating the treatment of
data and editing of missing or contrary data is extremely critical.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 judgment. Thus, the tone of the reporting should be neutral.
7. 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.
8. 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 constructed in the same manner
throughout the report. The researcher can provide data relief and variation by adequately
supplementing the text with graphs and figures.