RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

UNIT III
CLASSIFICATION OF DATA
 The task of data collection begins after a research
problem has been defined and research design/
plan chalked out.
 While deciding about the method of data collection
to be used for the study, the researcher should
keep in mind two types of data viz.,
 Primary Data

 Secondary Data.
 The primary data are those which are collected
afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to
be original in character.
 The secondary data, on the other hand, are those
which have already been collected by someone else
and which have already been passed through the
statistical process.
 The methods of collecting primary and secondary
data differ since primary data are to be originally
collected, while in case of secondary data the
nature of data collection work is merely that of
compilation.
Advantages of primary data:
 The primary data are original and relevant to the
topic of the research study so the degree of accuracy
is very high.
 Primary data is that it can be collected from a
number of ways like interviews, telephone surveys,
focus groups etc. It can be also collected across the
national borders through emails and posts. It can
include a large population and wide geographical
coverage.
 Moreover, primary data is current and it can give a
realistic view to the researcher about the topic under
consideration.
 Reliability of primary data is very high because these
are collected by the concerned and reliable party.
Disadvantages of primary data:
 For collection of primary data where interview is to be
conducted the coverage is limited and for wider
coverage a more number of researchers are required.
 A lot of time and efforts are required for data
collection. By the time the data collected, analyzed and
report is ready the problem of the research becomes
very serious or out dated. So the purpose of the
research may be defeated.
 It has design problems like how to design the surveys.
The questions must be simple to understand and
respond.
 Some respondents do not give timely responses.
Sometimes, the respondents may give fake, socially
acceptable and sweet answers and try to cover up the
realities.
 The data is classified into four categories:
• Nominal data.
• Ordinal data.
• Discrete data.
• Continuous data.
Qualitative or Categorical Data
 Qualitative or Categorical Data is data that can’t
be measured or counted in the form of numbers.
These types of data are sorted by category, not by
number. That’s why it is also known as
Categorical Data. These data consist of audio,
images, symbols, or text. The gender of a person,
i.e., male, female, or others, is qualitative data.

 Qualitative data tells about the perception of

people. The other examples of qualitative data
are :
1. What language do you speak
2. Favorite holiday destination
3. Opinion on something (agree, disagree, or
neutral)
Nominal Data
 Nominal Data is used to label variables without any
order or quantitative value.
 The name “nominal” comes from the Latin name
“nomen,” which means “name.”
 With the help of nominal data, we can’t do any
numerical tasks or can’t give any order to sort the
data. These data don’t have any meaningful order;
their values are distributed into distinct categories.

 Examples of Nominal Data :

1. Colour of hair (Blonde, red, Brown, Black, etc.)
2. Marital status (Single, Widowed, Married)
3. Nationality (Indian, German, American)
4. Gender (Male, Female, Others)
Ordinal Data
 Ordinal data have natural ordering where a number is
present in some kind of order by their position on the
scale. These data are used for observation like
customer satisfaction, happiness, etc., but we can’t do
any arithmetical tasks on them.
 Ordinal data is qualitative data for which their values
have some kind of relative position. The ordinal data
only shows the sequences and cannot use for statistical
analysis.
Examples of Ordinal Data :
1. When companies ask for feedback, experience, or
satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10
2. Ranking of people in a competition (First, Second,
Third, etc.)
3. Education Level (Higher, Secondary, Primary)
Quantitative Data
 Quantitative data can be expressed in numerical
values, making it countable and including statistical
data analysis. These kinds of data are also known as
Numerical data. It answers the questions like “how
much,” “how many,” and “how often.”
 Quantitative data can be used for statistical
manipulation. These data can be represented on a
wide variety of graphs and charts, such as bar
graphs, histograms, scatter plots, boxplots, pie charts,
line graphs, etc.
Examples of Quantitative Data :
1. Height or weight of a person or object
2. Room Temperature
3. Scores and Marks (Ex: 59, 80, 60, etc.)
4. Time
 Discrete Data
 The term discrete means distinct or separate. The
discrete data contain the values that fall under
integers or whole numbers. These data can’t be broken
into decimal or fraction values.
 The discrete data are countable and have finite
values; their subdivision is not possible. These data
are represented mainly by a bar graph, number line,
or frequency table.
Examples of Discrete Data :
1. Total numbers of students present in a class
2. Numbers of employees in a company
3. The total number of players who participated in a
competition
4. Days in a week
Continuous Data
 Continuous data are in the form of fractional
numbers. Continuous data represents information
that can be divided into smaller levels. The
continuous variable can take any value within a
range.
 The key difference between discrete and continuous
data is that discrete data contains the integer or
whole number. Still, continuous data stores the
fractional numbers to record different types of data
such as temperature, height, width, time, speed, etc.
Examples of Continuous Data :
 Height of a person
 Speed of a vehicle
 “Time-taken” to finish the work
 Market share price
SECONDARY DATA
MEANING
 Secondary data means data which are already
available i.e., they refer to the data which have
already been collected and analysed by someone else.
 When the researcher utilizes secondary data he/she
has to look into various sources from where he can
obtain them.
 Secondary data can be either published or
unpublished.
 Published data is available mostly from the following
sources:
1.Different publications of the central, state or local
governments.
2. Different publications of foreign government.
3. Technical and trade journals.
4. Books, magazines and newspapers.
5. Reports developed by the research scholars,
universities and economists and
6. Public records, statistics and historical documents.
 The sources of unpublished data include diaries,
letters, unpublished biographies and autobiographies.
 While making use of the secondary data the
researcher must carefully examine the available data,
to decide whether the data is suitable for the subject
under study or not.
 Following are the characteristics that the researcher
must ensure while utilizing the secondary data:
1. Reliability of the data:
 The secondary data available on a particular subject
must be reliable. The reliability of the data can be
determined by obtaining the answers for the
following questions:
A) Who collected the data?
B) What were the sources of data?
C) Had they collected the data using proper methods?
D) At what time were the data collected?
E) Was there any bias on the part of the compiler?
F) What level of accuracy was desired?
G) Was the desired level of accuracy achieved?
2. Suitability of data-
 The secondary data available on a particular subject
must be suitable for that subject. The data suitable for
one subject may not be suitable for another.
 Therefore, the researcher should properly examine the
available data, verify the definitions of different terms
and the units of data collection before using the data.
 Similarly the object, scope and nature of the original
enquiry must also be studied.
 If the researcher finds difficulty in these the data will
remain unsuitable for the present enquiry and hence
should not be used.
3. Adequacy of data:
 The secondary data available should be adequate in
terms of accuracy.
 If the accuracy level of the available data is lower
than the data is considered to be inaccurate and
therefore, should not be used by the researcher.
 The data will also be considered as inadequate, if
they are related to an area which may be either
narrower or wider than the area of the present
enquiry.
 From the above points it can be stated that it is quite
risky to use secondary data.
 This data is to be used by the researcher only when
he finds them to be reliable, suitable and adequate.
 But he should not blindly discard the use of such data
if they are readily available by the authentic sources.
 At times there may be wealth of usable information
in the already available data which may be used by
an intelligent researcher with due care.
SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT
 In our daily life we are said to measure when we use
some yardstick to determine weight, height, or some
other feature of a physical object.
 We also measure when we judge how well we like a
song, a painting or the personalities of our friends
 We, thus, measure physical objects as well as abstract
concepts.
 Measurement is a relatively complex and demanding
task, specially so when it concerns qualitative or
abstract phenomena.
 By measurement we mean the process of assigning
numbers to objects or observations, the level of
measurement being a function of the rules under
which the numbers are assigned.
 MEASUREMENT:
• It is the assignment of numbers or other symbols to
characteristics of objects according to certain pre-
specified rules.
• What we measure is not the object, but some
characteristics of it.
• Thus, we do not measure consumers – only their
perception, attitudes, preferences or other
characteristics.

 SCALING:
• Scaling is an extension of measurement.
• Scaling involves creating a continuum upon which
measured objects are located.
PRIMARY SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
 There are four primary scales of measurement:
(a) Nominal Scale

(b) Ordinal Scale

(c) Interval Scale

(d) Ratio Scale

1. NOMINAL SCALE:
 A nominal scale is a figurative labeling scheme in
which numbers serve only as labels or tags for
identifying and classifying objects with a strict one-
to-one correspondence between the numbers and the
objects.
 The numbers in a nominal scale do not reflect the
amount of characteristic possessed by the objects.
 The objects in each class are viewed as equivalent
with respect to the characteristic represented by the
nominal number.
 Common example, numbering of football players
 Marketing example, Brand number, store types.
 Nominal Scale

Which of the following media influences your

purchasing decisions the most?
–1 Television
–2 Radio
–3 Newspapers
–4 Magazines
ORDINAL SCALE

A ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to

objects to indicate the relative extent to which
some characteristic is possessed.
 Thus, it is possible to determine whether an
object has more or less of a characteristic than
some other object.
 Thus, an ordinal scale indicates relative position,
not the magnitude of the difference between the
objects.
 E.g. if people were asked to rate the hotness of 3 chili
peppers, a scale of "hot", "hotter" and "hottest" could
be used. Values of "1" for "hot", "2" for "hotter" and
"3" for "hottest" could be assigned

The gap between the items is unspecified.

INTERVAL SCALE
A scale in which the numbers are used to rate
objects such that numerically equal distances on
the scale represent equal distances in the
characteristic being measured.
 An interval scale contains all the details of an
ordinal scale, but it also allows to compare the
differences between objects.
 The difference between any two adjacent scale
values is identical to the difference between any
other two adjacent values of an interval scale.
 e.g. Fahrenheit and Celsius
temperature scales
 An interval scale does not
have to have a true zero. e.g. A
temperature of "zero" does not
mean that there is no
temperature...it is just an
arbitrary zero point.
 Permissible statistics:
count/frequencies, mode,
median, mean, standard
deviation
RATIO SCALE

A ratio scale is a type of measurement scale

which is quantitative in nature.
 A ratio scale possesses all the characteristic of
nominal, ordinal and interval scales and in
addition, an absolute zero point.
 Thus, in ratio scales, we can identify or classify
objects, and compare intervals or differences.
 The ratio scale helps to understand the
ultimate– order, interval, values and the true
zero characteristic is an essential factor in
calculating ratios.
 All statistical techniques useable
 Unlike ratio scale doesn’t have a negative
number, unlike interval scale because of
the absolute zero or zero point
characteristic.
 Example:

1. What is your height in feet and inches?

2. What is your weight in kg?

3. How much time do you spend daily

watching television?
 Examples
height, weight, age,
Length
time
Income
Market share
7

0
 Primary Scales of Measurement
Nominal Numbers
Assigned 4 81 9

to
Runners

Ordinal Rank Order

of Winners

Third Second First

Place Place Place

Interval Performance
Rating on a 0 8.2 9.1 9.6
to 10 Scale

Ratio Time to Finish

in Seconds 15.2 14.1 13.4
 Use of Measurement Scales
• Nominal
– Used to categorize objects
• Ordinal
– Used to define ordered relationships
• Interval
– Used to rank objects such that the magnitude of
the difference between two objects can be
determined
• Ratio
– Same as interval scale but has an absolute zero
point
 A Classification of Scaling Techniques
SCALING
TECHNIQUES

Comparative Scales Non-Comparative

Scales

Paired Rank Constant Continuous Itemized

Comparis Order Sum Rating Rating
on Scales Scales

Semantic
Likert Differenti Stapel
al
 Comparative scale:
 It involves the direct comparison of stimulus objects
with one another.
 For eg. Respondents may be asked whether they like
coke or Pepsi.
 Comparative scale data must be interpreted in
relative terms and have only ordinal or rank order
properties.
 Non-Comparative Scale:
 It is also referred to as monadic or metric scales.
 Each object in this type of scaling is scaled
independently of the other objects in the stimulus
set.
COMPARATIVE SCALING TECHNIQUE
 Paired Comparison Scaling:
 A comparative scaling technique in which a
respondent is presented with two objects at a
time and asked to select one object in the pair
according to some criterion.
 The data obtained are ordinal in nature.
Paired Comparison
• Please indicate which of the following airlines you
prefer by circling your more preferred airline in
each pair:
Air India Vistara
Vistara Spicejet
Jet Airways Indigo
Spicejet Go Air
Indigo Air India
Go Air Jet Airways
Rank order scaling
 A comparative scaling technique in which
respondents are presented with several objects
simultaneously and asked to order or rank them
according to some criterion.
 This scaling is commonly used to measure
preferences for brands as well as attributes.
Rank-Order Scales
Rank the following soft-drinks from 1 (best) to 5
(worst) according to your taste preference:
Coca-Cola _____
7-Up _____
Sprite _____
Pepsi-Cola _____
Mountain Dew _____

–Top and bottom rank choices are ‘easy’

–Middle ranks are usually most ‘difficult’
Constant sum scaling
A comparative scaling technique in which
respondents are required to allocate a constant
sum, such as points, dollars, sheets, stickers or
chips among a set of stimulus objects with
respect to some criterion.
Constant Sum Scales
Allocate a total of 100 points among the following soft-
drinks depending on how favorable you feel toward
each; the more highly you think of each soft-drink, the
more points you should allocate to it. (Please check that
the allocated points add to 100.)
Coca-Cola _____ points
7-Up _____ points
Dr. Pepper _____ points
Tab _____ points
Pepsi-Cola _____ points
100 points
NON COMPARATIVE SCALING
 Continuous rating scales:
 The respondents are asked to give a rating by placing
a mark at the appropriate position on a continuous
line.
 The scale can be written on card and shown to the
respondent during the interview.
How would you rate Research Methodology to
other courses this term

The X X The Best

worst
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 Itemized rating scales
 With an itemized scale, respondents are
provided with a scale having numbers and/or
brief descriptions associated with each category
and are asked to select one of the limited
number of categories, ordered in terms of scale
position, that best describes the product, brand,
company or product attribute being studied.
 Likert Scale
 This scale was developed by Rensis Likert.
 A Likert scale is what is termed as summated
instrument scale.
 This means that the items making up a Likert
scale are summed to produce a total score.
 In fact, a Likert scale is a composite of itemized
scales.
 Typically, each scale item will have 5
categories, with scale values ranging from -2 to
+2 with 0 as neutral response.
 Strongl disagree Neither agree Strongl
y agree y agree
disagre nor
e disagree

Research 1 2 3 4 5
Methodology is the
most interesting
subject known to
man
AGREEMENT

•Agree Strongly
•Strongly •Agree
Agree Moderately
•Agree
•Agree •Agree Slightly
•Disagree •Agree •Undecided
•Undecided
Slightly •Disagree
•Disagree •Disagree •Disagree
•Strongly Moderately
Disagree •Disagree
Strongly

•Completely
Agree •Disagree
•Agree Very •Mostly Agree Strongly
Strongly •Slightly •Disagree
•Agree Strongly Agree •Tend to
•Agree •Yes Disagree
•Slightly
•Disagree •No Disagree
•Tend to
•Disagree Strongly Agree
•Disagree Very •Mostly •Agree
Strongly Disagree •Agree
•Completely Strongly
Disagree
FREQUENCY

•Very •Always
Frequently •Very
•Always
•Frequently Frequently •Almost Always
•Usually
•Occasionall •Occasionall •To a Considerable
•About Half the
y y Degree
Time
•Rarely •Rarely •Occasionally
•Seldom
•Very •Very •Seldom
•Never
Rarely Rarely
•Never •Never

•A Great
•Always
Deal •Often
•Very Often
•Much •Sometimes
•Sometimes
•Somewhat •Seldom
•Rarely
•Little •Never
•Never
•Never
IMPORTANCE

•Very Important
•Important
•Moderately Important •Very Important
•Of Little Importance •Moderately Important
•Unimportant •Unimportant

QUALITY

•Extremely
•Very Good Poor
•Good •Below
•Good
•Barely Average
•Fair
Acceptable •Average
•Poor
•Poor •Above
•Very Poor Average
•Excellent
 Semantic scales:
 This type of scale makes extensive use of words rather
than numbers.
 Respondents describe their feelings about the products
or brands on scales with semantic labels.
 When bipolar adjectives are used at the end points of
the scales, these are termed semantic differential
scales.
Semantic Differential Scale

Here are a number of statements that could be used to describe

K-Mart. For each statement tick ( X ) the box that best
describes your feelings about K-Mart.

Modern Store Old- fashioned store

Low prices High prices
Unfriendly staff Friendly staff
Narrow product Wide product range
range
Sophisticated Unsophisticated
customers customers
STAPEL SCALE
 Jan Stapel developed it and it's presented vertically
with an adjective in the middle and five data points
above and five data points below
 no zero point is offered

 It is similar to semantic differential scale

 simplicity is good for telephone interviewing

Staple Scale
The following questions concern your ratings of several suppliers that provide
products for use in your store.

XYZ
Poor Product -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
Selection

Costly Products -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5

Fast Service -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5

High Quality -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
Products

Innovative -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD MEASUREMENT
SCALES
1. Reliability
• The degree to which a measure accurately captures
an individual’s true outcome without error; Accuracy
• synonymous with repetitive consistency
2. Validity
• The degree to which a measure faithfully represents
the underlying concept;
3. Sensitivity
• The ability to discriminate meaningful differences
between attitudes. The more categories the more
sensitive (but less reliable)
4. Generalizability
• How easy is scale to administer and interpret
 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

 If a measure is valid, then it is reliable

 If it is not reliable, it can not be valid

 If it is reliable, it may or may not be valid

 Reliability can be more easily determined than validity

ERRORS IN SCALING
 Respondent: At times the respondent
may be reluctant to express strong
negative feelings or it is just possible that
he may have very little knowledge but
may not admit his ignorance. All this
reluctance is likely to result in an
interview of ‘guesses.’ Other factors like
fatigue, boredom, anxiety, etc. may limit
the ability of the respondent to respond
accurately and fully.
 Situation: Situational factors may also
come in the way of correct measurement.
Any condition which places a strain on
interview can have serious effects on the
interviewer-respondent rapport. For
instance, if someone else is present, he
can distort responses by joining in or
merely by being present. If the respondent
feels that anonymity is not assured, he
may be reluctant to express certain
feelings.
 Measurer: The interviewer can distort
responses by rewording or reordering
questions. His behaviour, style and looks
may encourage or discourage certain
replies from respondents. Careless
mechanical processing may distort the
findings. Errors may also creep in because
of incorrect coding, faulty tabulation
and/or statistical calculations, particularly
in the data-analysis stage.
 Instrument: Error may arise because of
the defective measuring instrument. The
use of complex words, beyond the
comprehension of the respondent,
ambiguous meanings, poor printing,
inadequate space for replies, response
choice omissions, etc. are a few things that
make the measuring instrument defective
and may result in measurement errors.
 Another type of instrument deficiency is
the poor sampling of the universe of items
of concern.
Researcher must know that correct
measurement depends on successfully
meeting all of the problems listed above.
He must, to the extent possible, try to
eliminate, neutralize or otherwise deal
with all the possible sources of error so
that the final results may not be
contaminated.
SAMPLING
SAMPLE DESIGN
 All items in any field of inquiry constitute a ‘Universe’
or ‘Population.’ A complete enumeration of all items in
the ‘population’ is known as a census inquiry.
 It can be presumed that in such an inquiry, when all
items are covered, no element of chance is left and
highest accuracy is obtained.
 But in practice this may not be true. Even the
slightest element of bias in such an inquiry will get
larger and larger as the number of observation
increases.
 Researcher must prepare a sample design for his
study i.e., he must plan how a sample should be
selected and of what size such a sample would be.
SOME DEFINITION

 POPULATION:
 A population is the aggregate of all elements,
sharing some common set of characteristics and
comprise the universe for the purpose of research.

 CENSUS:
 A census is the complete enumeration of the
elements of a population or study objects.

 SAMPLE:
 A sample is the sub-group of the population selected
for participation in the study.
THE SAMPLING DESIGN PROCESS

Define the target population

Select a sampling frame

Select a sampling technique

Determine sample size

Execute the sampling process

 DEFINING THE TARGET POPULATION

 TARGET POPULATION
 It is the collection of elements or objects that
possess the information sought by the researcher
and about which inferences are to be made.

 ELEMENT
 Objects that possess the information sought by the
researcher and about which inferences are to be
made.

 SAMPLING UNIT
 The basic unit containing the elements of the
population to be sampled.
DETERMINE THE SAMPLING FRAME
 SAMPLING FRAME
 It is the representation of the elements of the target
population. It consists of a list or set of directions
for identifying the target population
 The example of a sampling frame may include the
telephone book, a city directory or a map.
 Often it is possible to compile or obtain a list of
population elements, but the list may omit some
elements of the population or include other
elements which does not belong to it.
SELECT A SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

 The next step in sample design is to select the

sampling technique to determine the sample.
 The approaches that can be used are as follows:

 Sampling with replacement is a sampling technique

in which an element can be included in the sample
more than once.
 Sampling without replacement is a sampling
technique in which an element cannot be included
in the sample more than once.
 The important decision about the choice of sampling
technique is whether to use a probability sampling
or a non-probability sampling method.
DETERMINE THE SAMPLE SIZE
 Sample size refers to the number of elements to be
included in the study.
 Determining the sample size is complex and involves
several qualitative and quantitative considerations.
 Sample size is influenced by the average size of
samples in similar studies.
 The sample size decision should be guided by a
consideration of the resource constraints like money,
time, etc.
 EXECUTE THE SAMPLING PROCESS:
 The final step in sample design is execution of the
sampling process that requires a detailed
specification of how the sampling design decisions
with respect to the population, sampling frame,
sapling unit, sampling unit, sampling technique and
sample size are to be implemented.
SYSTEMATIC BIAS/ERRORS IN SAMPLING
1. Inappropriate sampling frame:
If the sampling frame is inappropriate i.e., a biased
representation of the universe, it will result in a
systematic bias.
2. Defective measuring device:
If the measuring device is constantly in error, it will
result in systematic bias. In survey work, systematic
bias can result if the questionnaire or the interviewer
is biased.
Similarly, if the physical measuring device is defective
there will be systematic bias in the data collected
through such a measuring device.
3. Non-respondents:
If we are unable to sample all the individuals initially
included in the sample, there may arise a systematic
bias. The reason is that in such a situation the
likelihood of establishing contact or receiving a
response from an individual is often correlated with
the measure of what is to be estimated.

4. Indeterminancy principle:
Sometimes we find that individuals act differently
when kept under observation than what they do when
kept in non-observed situations.
5. Natural bias in the reporting of data:
Natural bias of respondents in the reporting of data is
often the cause of a systematic bias in many inquiries.
There is usually a downward bias in the income data
collected by government taxation department,
whereas we find an upward bias in the income data
collected by some social organization.
People in general understate their incomes if asked
about it for tax purposes, but they overstate the same
if asked for social status or their affluence. Generally
in psychological surveys, people tend to give what they
think is the ‘correct’ answer rather than revealing
their true feelings.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD SAMPLE
DESIGN

(a) Sample design must result in a truly representative

sample.
(b) Sample design must be such which results in a small
sampling error.
(c) Sample design must be viable in the context of funds
available for the research study.
(d) Sample design must be such so that systematic bias
can be controlled in a better way.
(e) Sample should be such that the results of the sample
study can be applied, in general, for the universe with
a reasonable level of confidence.
 NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING
 Sampling techniques that do not use chance
selection procedures.
 Rather, they rely on the personal judgment of the
researcher.
 Non-probability sampling is
a sampling technique where the samples are
gathered in a process that does not give all the
individuals in the population equal chances of being
selected.
 The researcher can arbitrarily or consciously decide
what elements to include in the sample.
 CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
 A non probability sampling technique that attempts
to obtain a sample of convenient elements.
 The selection of sampling units is left primarily to
the interviewer.
 Often respondents are selected because they happen
to be in the right place at the right time.
 Examples:
 Using family members or students in a classroom

 Mall shoppers
 Advantages of convenience sampling
1. Simplicity of sampling and the ease of research

2. Helpful for pilot studies and for hypothesis

generation
3. Data collection can be facilitated in short duration of
time
4. Cheapest to implement that alternative sampling
methods
 Disadvantages of convenience sampling

1. Highly vulnerable to selection bias and influences

beyond the control of the researcher
2. High level of sampling error

3. Studies that use convenience sampling have little

credibility due to reasons above
 JUDGEMENTAL SAMPLING
 A form of convenience sampling in which the
population elements are purposely selected based on
the judgment of the researcher.
 The researcher, exercising judgment or expertise,
chooses the elements to be included in the sample,
because he or she believes that they are
representative of the population of interest or
otherwise appropriate.
 It is low cost, convenient and quick, yet it does not
allow generalizations to a specific population,
usually because the population is not defined
explicitly.
 It is subjective and its value depends on the
researchers judgment, expertise and creativity.
 QUOTA SAMPLING
 A non-probability sampling technique that is a two
stage restricted judgmental sampling.
 The first stage consists of developing control
categories or quotas of population elements.
 In the second stage, sample elements are selected
based on convenience or judgment.
 To develop the quota, the researcher lists relevant
control characteristics and determines the
distribution of these characteristics in the target
population.
 The relevant control categories may include Gender,
age, race and are identified on the basis of judgment
of researcher.
 In other words, the quotas ensure that the composition
of the sample is the same as the composition of the
population with respect to the characteristic of
interest.
 In the second stage, sample elements are selected
based on convenience or judgment.
 The only requirement is that the elements selected fit
the control characteristics.
 SNOWBALL SAMPLING:
 It is a non-probability sampling technique in which
an initial group of respondents is selected
randomly.
 Subsequent respondents are selected based on the
referrals or information provided by the initial
respondents.
 This process may be carried out in waves by
obtaining referrals from referrals.
 A major objective of snowball sampling is to
estimate characteristics that are rare in the
population.
 The major advantage of snowball sampling is that it
substantially increases the likelihood of locating the
desired characteristic in the population.
 It also results in low sampling variance and cost.
 PROBABILITY SAMPLING
 A probability sampling method is any method of
sampling that utilizes some form of random
selection.
 In order to have a random selection method, you
must set up some process or procedure that assures
that the different units in your population have
equal probabilities of being chosen.
 In short, it is a sampling procedure in which each
element of the population has a fixed probabilistic
chance of being selected for the sample.
 SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING:
 It is a probabilistic sampling in which each element
in the population has a known and equal probability
of selection.
 Every element is selected independently of every
other element and the sample is drawn by a random
procedure from a sampling frame.
 This method is equivalent to the lottery system.
 It is a method which can easily be understood and
the results can be projected to the target population.
 The limitations are that it is often difficult to
construct a sampling frame that will permit a SRS
to be drawn.
 It may not result in a representative sample.
SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING

List of clients

Random subsample
 Random Sampling
 Selected by using
chance or random
numbers
 Each individual
subject (human or
otherwise) has an
equal chance of
being selected
 Examples:
 Drawing names
from a hat
 Random Numbers
 SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING:
 A probability sampling technique in which the
sample is chosen by selecting a random starting
point and then picking every i th element in
succession from the sampling frame.
 The sampling interval i is determined by dividing
the population size N by the sample size n and
rounding to the nearest integer.
 It is different from SRS in that the permissible
samples of size n that can be drawn have a known
and equal probability of selection
 It is less costly than SRS.
SYSTEMATIC RANDOM SAMPLING 1 26 51 76
2 27 52 77
N = 100 3 28 53 78
4 29 54 79
5 30 55 80
6 31 56 81
Want n = 20 7 32 57 82
8 33 58 83
9 34 59 84
10 35 60 85
11 36 61 86
N/n = 5 12 37 62 87
13 38 63 88
14 39 64 89
15 40 65 90
Select a random number from 1-5: chose 4 16 41 66 91
17 42 67 92
18 43 68 93
19 44 69 94
20 45 70 95
21 46 71 96
Start with #4 and take every 5th unit 22 47 72 97
23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100
 STRATIFIED SAMPLING
 A probability sampling technique that uses a two
step process to divide the population into sub-
populations , or strata.
 Elements are selected from each stratum by a
random procedure.
 The strata should be mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive.
 This means that every population element should be
assigned to one and only one stratum and no
population elements should be omitted.
 Technically, only SRS should be employed in
selecting the elements from each stratum.
 Stratified sampling differs from quota sampling in
that the sampling elements are selected
probabilistically rather than based on convenience or
judgment.
 A major objective of stratified sampling is to increase
precision without increasing cost.
STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING

List of clients

African-American Hispanic-American Others

Strata

Random subsamples of n/N

 CLUSTER SAMPLING
 In cluster sampling, the target population is divided
into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive
sub-populations called clusters.
 Then, a random sample of clusters is selected based
on a probability sampling technique such as simple
random sampling.
 For each selected cluster, either all the elements are
included in the sample, or a sample of elements is
drawn probabilistically.
 The distinction between cluster sampling and
stratified sampling is that in cluster sampling, only a
sub-populations (cluster) is chosen, whereas in
stratified sampling, all the subpopulations (strata) are
selected for further sampling.
 The objective of cluster sampling is to increase
efficiency by decreasing cost.
 The objective of stratified sampling is to increase
precision.
 Cluster Sampling
 Divide the population
into groups (called
clusters), randomly
select some of the
groups, and then
collect data from ALL
members of the
selected groups
 Used extensively by
government and
private research
organizations
 Examples:
 Exit Polls
 Area Sampling:
 It is a common form of cluster sampling in which
the clusters consists of geographic areas such as
countries, housing tracts, blocks or other area
description.

 Two-stage cluster Sampling:

 If two or more levels of sampling takes place before
the basic elements are selected (the researcher
samples blocks and then samples household within
selected blocks), the design is called two-stage
cluster sampling.
OTHER SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
 SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING:
 It is a non-probability sampling technique in which
the sample size, n, is not fixed in advance, nor is
the timeframe of data collection.
 the population elements are sampled sequentially,
data collection and analysis are done at each stage,
and a decision is made as to whether additional
population elements should be sampled.
 Eg, to know the price differential between a
standard model and a deluxe model of a consumer
durable.
 DOUBLE SAMPLING
 It is a sampling technique in which certain
population elements are sampled twice.
 It is also called two phase sampling.
 In the first phase, a sample is selected and some
information is collected from all the elements in
the sample.
 In the second phase, a subsample is drawn from
the original sample and additional information is
obtained from the elements in the sub-sample.
 Eg: If a research is done on how many books a city
dweller read in a week, we can stratify the
population by college graduates and less educated
people.
PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS OF
DATA
 The data, after collection, has to be processed and
analyzed in accordance with the outline laid down
for the purpose at the time of developing the
research plan.
 This is essential for a scientific study and for
ensuring that we have all relevant data for making
contemplated comparisons and analysis.
 Technically speaking, processing implies editing,
coding, classification and tabulation of collected
data so that they are amenable to analysis.
 The term analysis refers to the computation of
certain measures along with searching for
patterns of relationship that exist among data-
groups.
 Thus, “in the process of analysis, relationships or
differences supporting or conflicting with original
or new hypotheses should be subjected to
statistical tests of significance to determine with
what validity data can be said to indicate any
conclusions”
PROCESSING OPERATIONS
1. Editing:
 Editing of data is a process of examining the
collected raw data (specially in surveys) to detect
errors and omissions and to correct these when
possible.
 As a matter of fact, editing involves a careful
scrutiny of the completed questionnaires and/or
schedules.
 Editing is done to assure that the data are accurate,
consistent with other facts gathered, uniformly
entered, as completed as possible and have been well
arranged to facilitate coding and tabulation.
 Field editing consists in the review of the reporting
forms by the investigator for completing (translating
or rewriting) what the latter has written in
abbreviated and/or in illegible form at the time of
recording the respondents’ responses.
 This type of editing is necessary in view of the fact
that individual writing styles often can be difficult for
others to decipher.
 This sort of editing should be done as soon as possible
after the interview, preferably on the very day or on
the next day.
 Central editing should take place when all forms or
schedules have been completed and returned to the
office.
 This type of editing implies that all forms should get a
thorough editing by a single editor in a small study
and by a team of editors in case of a large inquiry.
 Editor(s) may correct the obvious errors such as an
entry in the wrong place, entry recorded in months
when it should have been recorded in weeks, and the
like.
 In case of inappropriate on missing replies, the editor
can sometimes determine the proper answer by
reviewing the other information in the schedule.
2. Coding:
 Coding refers to the process of assigning numerals or
other symbols to answers so that responses can be
put into a limited number of categories or classes.
 Such classes should be appropriate to the research
problem under consideration.
 They must also possess the characteristic of
exhaustiveness (i.e., there must be a class for every
data item) and also that of mutual exclusively which
means that a specific answer can be placed in one and
only one cell in a given category set.
3. Classification:
 Most research studies result in a large volume of raw
data which must be reduced into homogeneous groups
if we are to get meaningful relationships.
 This fact necessitates classification of data which
happens to be the process of arranging data in groups
or classes on the basis of common characteristics.
 Data having a common characteristic are placed in one
class and in this way the entire data get divided into a
number of groups or classes
 Classification according to attributes:
 As stated, data are classified on the basis of common
characteristics which can either be descriptive (such as
literacy, gender, honesty, etc.) or numerical (such as
weight, height, income, etc.).
 Descriptive characteristics refer to qualitative
phenomenon which cannot be measured
quantitatively; only their presence or absence in an
individual item can be noticed.
 Data obtained this way on the basis of certain
attributes are known as statistics of attributes and
their classification is said to be classification according
to attributes.
 Classification according to class-intervals:
 Unlike descriptive characteristics, the numerical
characteristics refer to quantitative phenomenon which
can be measured through some statistical units.
 Data relating to income, production, age, weight, etc.
come under this category.
 Such data are known as statistics of variables and are
classified on the basis of class intervals.
 For instance, persons whose incomes, say, are within Rs
201 to Rs 400 can form one group, those whose incomes
are within Rs 401 to Rs 600 can form another group and
so on.
 In this way the entire data may be divided into a
number of groups or classes or what are usually called,
‘class-intervals.’
4. Tabulation:
 When a mass of data has been assembled, it becomes
necessary for the researcher to arrange the same in
some kind of concise and logical order.
 This procedure is referred to as tabulation.

 Thus, tabulation is the process of summarizing

raw data and displaying the same in compact
form (i.e., in the form of statistical tables) for
further analysis.
 In a broader sense, tabulation is an orderly
arrangement of data in columns and rows.
 Tabulation can be done by hand or by mechanical or
electronic devices. The choice depends on the size and
type of study, cost considerations, time pressures and
the availaibility of tabulating machines or computers.
 Tabulation is essential because of the following
reasons.
1. It conserves space and reduces explanatory and
descriptive statement to a minimum.
2. It facilitates the process of comparison.
3. It facilitates the summation of items and the
detection of errors and omissions.
4. It provides a basis for various statistical
computations.
GENERALLY ACCEPTED PRINCIPLES OF
TABULATION
1. Every table should have a clear, concise and adequate
title so as to make the table lelligible without reference
to the text and this title should always be placed just
above the body of the table.
2. Every table should be given a distinct number to
facilitate easy reference.
3. The column headings (captions) and the row headings
(stubs) of the table should be clear and brief.
4. The units of measurement under each heading or sub-
heading must always be indicated.
5. Explanatory footnotes, if any, concerning the table
should be placed directly beneath the table, along with
the reference symbols used in the table.
6. Source or sources from where the data in the table
have been obtained must be indicated just below the
table.
7. Usually the columns are separated from one another
by lines which make the table more readable and
attractive. Lines are always drawn at the top and
bottom of the table and below the captions.
8. There should be thick lines to separate the data under
one class from the data under another class and the
lines separating the sub-divisions of the classes should
be comparatively thin lines.
9. The columns may be numbered to facilitate reference.
10. Those columns whose data are to be compared
should be kept side by side. Similarly, percentages
and/or averages must also be kept close to the data.
11. It is generally considered better to approximate
figures before tabulation as the same would reduce
unnecessary details in the table itself.
12. In order to emphasize the relative significance of
certain categories, different kinds of type, spacing and
indentations may be used.
13. It is important that all column figures be properly
aligned. Decimal points and (+) or (–) signs should be
in perfect alignment.
14. Abbreviations should be avoided to the extent
possible and ditto marks should not be used in the
table.
15. Miscellaneous and exceptional items, if any, should
be usually placed in the last row of the table
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