NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROURKELA

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
End-term Examination, 2022
Session: 2022-23 (Autumn)
Subject code: SM-6611 Subject Name: Business Research Methodology
Dept. Code: SM No. of pages: 2 Full Marks: 50 Duration: 3 Hours

Answer all parts of a question at one place

Instructions: Attempt any 7 questions out of first 8 questions. Question No. 9 is compulsory
QN Questions Marks
(6*7=42)
1 What is the difference between a symptom and a problem? How does a skilful researcher 6
differentiate between the two and identify a genuine problem?
2 Differentiate between exploratory, descriptive, and causal research. Explain with relevant 6
examples
3 What do you understand by sampling? List out various types of sampling techniques with 6
examples.
4 What do you understand by a business report? If you are a project manager, list the critical steps 6
to furnish a final project report.
5 The frequency distribution below represents the weights in pounds of a sample of packages 6
carried last month by a small airfreight company.
Class (Rupee in hundreds) Frequency
10-10.9 1
11-11.9 4
12-12.9 6
13-13.9 8
14-14.9 12
15-15.9 11
16-16.9 8
17-17.9 7
18-18.9 6
19-19.9 2

Compute mean, median, and mode weight.

6 A professor is trying to show his students the importance of quizzes even though 90 percent of 6
the final grades is determined by exams. He believes that higher the quiz grade, the higher the
final grade. A random sample of 15 students in his class was selected with the data given below.
Calculate the following based on the data given below
a) Correlation coefficient
b) Regression y on x.
c) The most likely final average when the quiz average is 70.

1
 Quiz
Average
(x) 59 92 72 90 95 87 89 77 76 65 97 42 94 62 91
Final
Average
(y) 65 84 77 80 77 81 80 84 80 69 83 40 78 65 90
7 A manufacturer claims that its rechargeable batteries are good for an average of more than 1,000 6
charges. A random sample of 100 batteries has a mean life of 1002 charges and a standard
deviation of 14. Is there enough evidence to support this claim at  = 0.01? The tabulated value
of z test at 1 percent level of significance is 2.33.

8 Genetic theory states that children having one parent of blood type A and the other of blood type 6
B will always be of one of three types, A, AB, B and that the proportion of three types will on an
average be as 1: 2: 1. A report states that out of 300 children having one A parent and B parent,
30 per cent were found to be types A, 45 per cent per cent type AB and remainder type B. Test
the hypothesis by χ2 test. The tabulated value of χ2 for 2 degrees of freedom at 5 percent level of
significance is 5.991.

9 Write short notes on any four of the following 2*4=8

a) Survey vs Observation
b) Quota sampling
c) Discriminant validity
d) Systematic sampling
e) Test-Retest Reliability.

2
 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROURKELA

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
End-term Examination, 2021
Session: 2021-22 (Autumn)

Subject code: SM-6611 Subject Name: Business Research Methodology

Dept. Code: SM No. of pages: 3 Full Marks: 50 Duration: 2 Hours

All parts of a question should be answered at one place.

Read the instructions carefully

1. The online examination will be conducted via MSForms.

2. The online examination timing is second sitting (03:00 PM TO 05:00 PM)

3. Please enter your name and roll number (in full), for example. 117CExxxx

4. Please enter your subject teacher's name carefully as this subject is taken by 3 different
faculties.

5. This examination contains 150 multiple-choice questions.

6. The question paper is of 150 marks and 2hours duration.

7. There will be a negative marking of 0.25marks for every wrong answer.

8. The webcam should be continuously open throughout the exam duration.

9. Please ensure good internet connectivity throughout the examination.

10. To ensure timely submission of the exam, try to finish your exam 5-10 minutes before the
allotted time that is 05:05 PM

Sample questions from the examination

1. Which of the tasks below might be conducted by the researcher during the "problem
definition" and the "development of an approach to the problem" steps of the
marketing research process?
A) analysis of secondary data
B) interviews with industry experts
C) qualitative research
D) all of the above
Answer: D
2. Analysis of available secondary data is a non-essential step in the problem definition
1
 process.
Answer: FALSE
3. ________ is an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small
samples intended to provide insight and understanding of the problem setting.
A) Primary research
B) Qualitative research
C) Secondary research
D) Quantitative research
4. ________ is not a qualitative research technique.
A) Depth interview
B) Word association
C) Focus group
D) Conclusive research
Answer: D
5. ________ consists of the factors that have an impact on the definition of the
marketing research problem, including past information and forecasts, resources and
constraints of the firm, objectives of the decision maker, buyer behavior, legal
environment, economic environment, and marketing and technological skills of the
firm.
A) The approach to the problem
B) Research design
C) The environmental context of the problem
D) Problem definition
Answer: C
6. The management decision problem focuses on ________, while the marketing
research problem focuses on ________.
A) symptoms; solutions
B) symptoms; underlying causes
C) solutions; underlying causes
D) none of the above
Answer: B
7. The researcher should rely on ________ to determine which variables should be
investigated.
A) objective evidence
B) theory
C) an analytical model
D) all of the above
Answer: D
8. ________ are refined statements of the specific components of the problem.
A) Hypotheses
B) Research questions
C) Marketing research problems
D) Analytical models
Answer: B

2
 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROURKELA
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
End-term examination, for final years students and students on extended semester 2021
Session: 2020-21 (Autumn)

Subject code: SM-6611 Subject Name: Business Research Methodology

Dept. Code: SM No. of pages: NA Full Marks: 50 Duration: 2 Hours

INSTRUCTIONS

Read the instructions carefully

The online examination will be conducted via MS Forms with a link shared on MS Teams
examination portal.

The online MCQ examination timing is two hours first sitting (09:30 AM TO 11:30 AM).

This examination contains 150 multiple-choice objective-type questions of 1 mark each.

The final score will be calculated out of 50.

The questions will cover all the six units covered in the syllabus

All questions are compulsory.

There is no negative marking.

The link of Online MCQ will be shared 10 minutes before the scheduled time of the
examination on MS Teams, and the link will get activated at the scheduled time (09:30
AM) and will get deactivated at the scheduled timing.

Only one response per student will be accepted so, please click on the submit button only
when you have attempted all the questions and are sure about to submit them.

To ensure timely submission of the exam, try to finish your exam 5 minutes before the
allotted time that is 11:30 AM

Please enter your name and roll number (in full), for example. 117CExxxx

Please enter your subject teacher's name carefully

The webcam should be continuously open throughout the exam duration.

Please ensure good internet connectivity throughout the examination.

All the Best!

1
 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROURKELA

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
End-term Examination, 2019
Session: 2019-20 (Autumn)

Subject code: SM-6611 Subject Name: Business Research Methodology

Dept. Code: SM No. of pages: 2 Full Marks: 50 Duration: 3 Hours

All parts of a question should be answered at one place.

Attempt any 7 questions out of first 8.

QN Questions Marks
1. Explain various random and non-random sampling techniques with the help of suitable example 06
under each technique.

2. Define parametric and non-parametric data. What are the different mathematical operations can 06
be performed on each level of measurement?

3. Derive the equation for y-intercept and slope of the regression line using least square method. 06
Also, explain the significance of slope and constant term.

4. A life insurance salesman sells on the average 3 life insurance policies per week. Use Poisson’s 06
law to calculate the probability that in a given week he will sell
a) Some policies
b) 2 or more policies but less than 5 policies.
c) Assuming that there are 5 working days per week, what is the probability that in a given
day he will sell one policy?

5. Steve Cutter sells big blades and he knows that only 15% of all big blades sold nationwide 06
require repairs during the first year only. A sample of 120 customers revealed that exactly 22 of
them required repairs in the first year of ownership. At the 0.02 level of significance , is there
evidence that Steve’s big blades differ in reliability from those sold nationwide.

6. Connie Rodrigues, the Dean of students at Midstate College, is wondering about grade 06
distribution at the school. She has heard grumblings that GPAs in the business school are about
0.25 lower than those in the college of arts and sciences. A quick random sampling produced the
following GPAs;
Business 2.86 2.77 3.18 2.80 3.14 2.87 3.19 3.24 2.91 3 2.83
Arts & 3.35 3.32 3.36 3.63 3.41 3.37 3.45 3.43 3.44 3.17 3.26 3.18 3.41
sciences
Do these data indicate that there is a factual basis for the grumblings? State and test appropriate
hypotheses at significance level of 0.02.

1
7. A large hotel chain is trying to decide whether to convert more of its rooms to non-smoking 06
rooms. In a random sample of 400 guests last year, 166 had requested non-smoking rooms. This
year, 205 guests in a sample of 380 preferred the non-smoking rooms. Would you recommend
that the hotel chain convert more rooms to non-smoking? Support your recommendation by
testing the appropriate hypotheses at a 0.01 level of significance.

8. Two independent samples were collected. For the first sample of 60 elements, the mean was 86 06
and standard deviation 6. The second sample of 75 elements had a mean of 82 and standard
deviation of 9.
a) Compute the estimated standard error of the difference between the two means.
b) Using 99% significance level, test whether the two samples be considered to have come
from the populations with the same mean.

9. Write short notes on any four of following: 4*2=8

i) Continuous versus discrete distribution

ii) Type I and Type II errors
iii) Assumptions of regression line
iv) Chebyshev’s theorem
v) Normality tests