Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s

Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &

Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs

Question Bank
Course Name: Business Research
Important Questions from Module 1

Module Name: Theory Building and Research Proposal

Q.1. A company in Nagpur engaged in direct sale of footwear to consumers had experienced growth
during its initial five years of launch. But sales have shown a negative growth for the last two years.
Prepare a research proposal for the company incorporating title of research, objectives of research
study, problems to be studied by the researcher, operations, methodology, details of data collection
techniques to be used with justification, sampling plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used,
details of pilot study, time & cost budget in order to find reasons for its negative growth.
Answer:
I. Title of research – An analytical study on factors responsible for negative growth in direct sales of
footwear for last two years of the company.
II. Objectives of the research study – The objectives of the research are as follows:
1. To study the reasons for negative growth in direct sales of footwear for last two years.
2. To find out & suggest the implementable corrective measures to get the sales back to positive
growth trajectory.
III. Problem(s) to be studied by the researcher –
1. This research aims to the adverse causes that are leading to the falling rate of direct sales of the
footwear. Hence an attempt will be made to collect the information that would bring such adverse
causes to light.
2. Further information on customers’ tastes & preferences, direct sales and cross sales strategies,
buying experience, post-sale services, pricing policies, marketing and promotional strategies will be
required to be studied for finding the solution for the problem of negative sales.
IV. Operations - The major concepts to be measured for this research study are defined as under:
1. Average yearly direct sales for footwear of five years since inception
2. Average yearly direct sales for footwear of last two years of negative growth
3. Fall in the direct sales = Average yearly direct sales for footwear of five years since inception -
Average yearly direct sales for footwear of last two years of negative growth
4. Other major concepts like customers’ tastes & preferences, direct sales and cross sales strategies,
buying experience, post-sale services, pricing policies, marketing and promotional strategies will be
measured based on primary data collected from the respondents.
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
V. Methodology –
1. The first step would be to study the past sales figures and on the basis of that figure the gap i.e.
the short fall in growth of direct sales due to negative growth (in terms of number) would be
determined.
2. A questionnaire would be designed in order to study the data to estimate the reasons responsible
for negative growth in direct sales. This questionnaire will be majorly administered on:
a. Existing and past customers
b. Direct sales staff
3. Data obtained through the questionnaire would be processed in more meaningful form in format
of tables, graphs and charts in order to reach to the root cause of the problem, based on the
quantifiable data.
4. Based on the data collected, recommendations and suggestions would be made, implementation
of which would be intended towards corrections in the future sales figures and ultimately lead to
positive direct sales figures again.
VI. Details of data collection techniques to be used with justification – Following would be
techniques used for the collection of the data:
1. Primary source: Survey method will be used to collect the primary data for this research study. A
questionnaire for the past and existing customers will be administered to collect the primary data.
Justification: Since the problem statement persist with reference to the direct sales function; hence
both the major parties involved in this function, i.e. customers and direct sales executives will be
involved in order to collect the primary data to study the reasons responsible for negative growth.
2. Secondary source: Internal source will be used to collect the secondary data. Accounting reports,
direct sales reports etc. will be studied and referred to for the purpose of secondary data collection.
Justification: The secondary sources of the data collection will be used to study and analyze the past
and current sales trajectory that would be helpful in projecting the gap in the direct sales.
VII. Sampling plan – For researching on the above topic following sampling plan has been
proposed:
1. Defining the universe – The entire population of the city, which would be finite in number, will
form the universe of the study for this research.
2. Selecting the sampling frame – The sampling frame for this research study will be the list and
basic details of all approachable past and present customers of the footwear company.
3. Procedure for selecting the sampling unit – Let us assume that the individual sampling unit for
this research study will be the customer who will purchase every ‘xth’ item (footwear). For
example, here, if x = 8, this means that the data from every that customer will be collected who will
purchase every 8th item, till the sufficient data will be gathered in order to reach conclusion.
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
4. Determine the sample size – Since the population is finite in number here the following formulae
is to be used to determine the sample size:

Where, n = size of sample, N = size of population, z = standard variation at a given confidence

level, 𝛔p = standard deviation of the population, e = acceptable error (the precision)
5. Determine the type of sampling design – For this study the probability sampling technique will
be used where all the elements of the universe would have an equal chance of being selected as the
respondents.
VIII. Data processing and analysis methods to be used.
The responses obtained from the respondents will be categorized and represented in the tabular and
graphical formats in order to make the data easier to interpret study and solve the above stated
problem.
Q.2. Prepare a research proposal for identifying the ‘consumer preference’ towards various mobile
handsets brands in Nagpur city incorporating title of research, objectives of research study, problems
to be studied by the researcher, operations, methodology, details of data collection techniques to be
used with justification, sampling plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used, details of pilot
study, time & cost budget.
Answer:
I. Title of research – An analytical research study on the consumer preference towards various mobile
handsets brands in Nagpur city.
II. Objectives of the research study – The objectives of the research are as follows:
1. To study and find out, what features of a mobile handset brand does consumers value more over
other features?
2. To study the reasons behind consumer preference for a particular brand of mobile handset in
Nagpur city.
3. To study the factors affecting the choice of a brand selection for mobile handset by the
consumers in Nagpur city.
III. Problem(s) to be studied by the researcher –
1. This research aims to find the reasons that trigger the choice for a mobile handset brand while the
consumer is in purchasing stage of the product.
2. This research aims to address the problems of the companies manufacturing the mobile handset
brands, while these companies try to understand and have better insights of the consumers’
preferences & tastes while manufacturing and marketing the mobile handset brands.
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
3. This data collected and the conclusions drawn in this research study will help all such companies
while considering the points of consumer preferences for a mobile handset brand.
4. This research study will help the mobile handset manufacturing companies to have a clearer
understanding on likes and dislikes of the consumers for the features in a mobile handset.
IV. Operations - The major concepts to be measured for this research study are defined as under:
1. Primary data will be collected in the form of responses from the respondents to record and
measure the following:
a. Consumers preference towards a particular mobile brand
b. Features of a mobile handset brand that trigger the consumers’ preferences for the purchase
of the mobile brand. A sample list of these factors can be classified as:
i. Price of the mobile brand

ii. Storage capacity

iii. .Screen dimensions
iv. Battery life
v. User friendly interface
vi. Fashionable and trendiness
vii. Resale value
viii. Software and application
ix. Dual SIM facility
x. Quality of camera
xi. And many other such features
c. Parameters on which the consumers prefer a particular mobile brand over the other brand V.
Methodology –
1. A questionnaire would be designed in order to study the data on the features of the mobile
handset brand that consumer prefer while making the purchase decision. This questionnaire
will be majorly administered on the sample of the population of the Nagpur city, who use
mobiles Data obtained through the questionnaire would be processed in more meaningful
form in format of tables, graphs and charts in order to reach to the conclusion, based on the
quantifiable data.
2. Based on the data collected, conclusions and suggestions would be made, implementation
of which would be intended towards finding out the prime features that consumer prefer while
making the purchase of the mobile handset brand.
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
VI. Details of data collection techniques to be used with justification – Following would be
techniques used for the collection of the data:
1. Primary source: Survey method will be used to collect the primary data for this research
study. A questionnaire will be administered on the sample population of the Nagpur city to
collect the primary data. Justification: Since the problem statement persist with reference to
the consumer preferences, the primary source of data collection will serves as an excellent
tool using which the firsthand data will be collected to study the consumer preferences for the
mobile handset brands in Nagpur city.
2. Secondary source: Internal source will be used to collect the secondary data. Past literature
will be reviewed and referred to for the purpose of secondary data collection. Justification: It
is important to collect and study the secondary data since this data will help understand the
past findings and studies already carried for the same topic.
VII. Sampling plan – For researching on the above topic following sampling plan has been proposed:
1. Defining the universe – The entire population of the city, which would be finite in number,
will form the universe of the study for this research.
2. Selecting the sampling frame – The sampling frame for this research study will be the list
and basic details of all approachable consumers who use the mobile phones in Nagpur city.
3. Procedure for selecting the sampling unit – The samples will be selected randomly from the
population.
4. Determine the sample size – Since the population is finite in number here the following
formulae is to be used to determine the sample size:

Where, n = size of sample, N = size of population, z = standard variate at a given confidence

level, 𝛔p = standard deviation of the population, e = acceptable error (the precision).
5. Determine the type of sampling design – For this study the probability sampling technique
will be used where all the elements of the universe would have an equal chance of being
selected as the respondents.
VIII. Data processing and analysis methods to be used.
The responses obtained from the respondents will be categorized and represented in the tabular and
graphical formats in order to make the data easier to interpret study and solve the above stated
problem.
Q.3. The diet drink manufacturer in the study finds that young women are more health conscious and
are looking at low calorie options. Thus, any communication or advertisement of the product has to
emphasize on the health aspect. The purchase decision is also influenced by their educational level,
celebrity endorsement and dietician’s recommendations. Prepare a research proposal for the company
incorporating title of research, objectives of research study, problems to be studied by the researcher,
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
operations, methodology, details of data collection techniques to be used with justification, sampling
plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used, details of pilot study, time & cost budget.
Answer:
I. Title of research – An analytical research study on the factors that affect the purchase decision of
the young women for a low calorie diet drink.
II. Objectives of the research study – The objectives of the research are as follows:
1. To study and find out, the factors that influence the purchase decision of the young women for
a low calorie diet drink.
2. To study the demographical characteristics like age, education level, profession, income level
etc. of the health conscious young women.
3. To find out and implement the results of this study in devising the communication or
advertisement for a low calorie diet drink.
4. To study the influence of celebrity endorsement and dietician’s recommendations on the
purchase decision of the health conscious young women for a low calorie diet drink.
III. Problem(s) to be studied by the researcher –
1. This research aims to solve the problems of the advertisers by providing them with better
insights on the health conscious young women demographics, influence of celebrity endorsement
and dietician’s recommendations for a low calorie diet drink. These insights can be strategically
used in communication and advertisements of the product to have a better emphasize on
projecting the health aspect.
2. This research aims to address the problems of the low calorie diet drink manufacturing
company by providing it detailed insights on the factors that influence the purchase decision of
young health conscious women for the said product. These insights will help the company in
formulating a better sales strategy.
IV. Operations - The major concepts to be measured for this research study is defined as under:
1. Primary data will be collected in the form of responses from the young women to record and
measure the following:
a. quantifiably define the demographical characteristics of the young women.
b. Measure the influence of celebrity endorsement and dietician’s recommendations on the
purchasing decision for a low calorie diet drink by health conscious young women

V. Methodology –
1. A questionnaire would be designed in order to study the factors that influence the purchase
decision of the young women for a low calorie diet drink. An indicative list of those factors is
given below:
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
a. Weight management ability of the drink
b. Sugar levels in the drink
c. The quantity of nutrients and minerals in the drink, etc.
2. Further the questionnaire will also comprise of the questions on the influence of celebrity
endorsement and dietician’s recommendations on the purchase decision of the health conscious
young women for a low calorie diet drink.
3. Data obtained through the questionnaire would be processed in more meaningful form in
format of tables, graphs and charts in order to reach to the conclusion, based on the quantifiable
data.
4. Based on the data collected, conclusions and suggestions would be made, implementation of
which would be intended towards formulating a better communication and advertisement
strategy for the marketers of the product.
VI. Details of data collection techniques to be used with justification – Following would be
techniques used for the collection of the data:
1. Primary source: Survey method will be used to collect the primary data for this research study
A questionnaire will be administered on the sample population of the respondents comprising of
the health conscious young women. Justification: Since the problem statement persist with
reference to the purchase decision by the health conscious young women, the primary source of
data collection will serves as an excellent tool using which the firsthand data will be collected to
study it.
2. Secondary source: Internal source will be used to collect the secondary data. Past literature
will be reviewed and referred to for the purpose of secondary data collection. Justification: It is
important to collect and study the secondary data since this data will help understand the past
findings and studies already carried for the same topic.
VII. Sampling plan – For researching on the above topic following sampling plan has been proposed:
1. Defining the universe – The health conscious young women, who would be finite in number,
will form the universe of the study for this research.
2. Selecting the sampling frame – The sampling frame for this research study will be the list and
basic details of all approachable health conscious young women.
3. Procedure for selecting the sampling unit – The samples will be selected randomly from the
universe.
4. Determine the sample size – Since the population is finite in number here the following
formulae is to be used to determine the sample size:
 Lokmanya Tilak JankalyanShikshan Sanstha’s
Priyadarshini Lokmanya Tilak Institute of Management Studies &
Research, Nagpur
VISION MISSION
To form a center of academic excellence by imparting To promote learning environment that encourages adaptability, creative thinking,
quality education for holistic development of constructive decision making and actions, effective communication and innovation.
individuals to become future managers, leaders and To encourage entrepreneurship and foster the spirit of national development.
entrepreneurs
Where, n = size of sample, N = size of population, z = standard variation at a given confidence
level, 𝛔p = standard deviation of the population, e = acceptable error (the precision).
5. Determine the type of sampling design – For this study the probability sampling technique
will be used where all the elements of the universe would have an equal chance of being selected
as the respondents.
VIII. Data processing and analysis methods to be used.
The responses obtained from the respondents will be categorized and represented in the tabular and
graphical formats in order to make the data easier to interpret study and solve the above stated
problem.
The following questions from 04 to 08 are to be attempted by the students themselves.
Q.4. Prepare a research proposal for Marketing Manager of Maruti Automobile, who want to know
about customer satisfaction level across the Vidarbha who recently purchased newly introduced LMV
car. The proposal shall incorporatetitle of research, objectives of research study, problems to be
studied by the researcher, operations, methodology, details of data collection techniques to be used
with justification, sampling plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used, details of pilot study,
time & cost budget.
Q.5. ABC Tourism Ltd has been experiencing the problem of decline in sales for a year due to
increased level of dissatisfaction amongst its customers. The company wishes to understand the causes
behind customer dissatisfaction. The company is contemplating to carry out a customers’ survey.
Prepare a research proposal incorporating title of research, objectives of research study, problems to be
studied by the researcher, operations, methodology, details of data collection techniques to be used
with justification, sampling plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used, details of pilot study,
time & cost budget.
Q.6. A service industry has been facing the problem of huge employee turnover for last two years.
Prepare a research proposal to understand the causes behind this problem. The proposal shall
incorporate title of research, objectives of research study, problems to be studied by the researcher,
operations, methodology, details of data collection techniques to be used with justification, sampling
plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used, details of pilot study, time & cost budget.
Q.7. A resort in the outskirts of Nagpur wishes to know the extent of their guests’ satisfaction. The
owners wish to carry out their guests’ survey to gather relevant data. Prepare an abbreviated research
proposal incorporating title of research, objectives of research study, problems to be studied by the
researcher, operations, methodology, details of data collection techniques to be used with justification,
sampling plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used, details of pilot study, time & cost budget.
Q.8. You is a brand manager for a shampoo brand in Nagpur. You wish to conduct a research to find
out ‘what is the current perception of consumers about your brand vis a vis other brand competitors?’.
Prepare an abbreviated research proposal incorporating title of research, objectives of research study,
problems to be studied by the researcher, operations, methodology, details of data collection
techniques to be used with justification, sampling plan, data processing & analytical tools to be used,
details of pilot study, time & cost budget.