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General Research Methodology

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19 views3 pages

General Research Methodology

Uploaded by

Kunal kapoor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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General Research Methodology

1. What is research, and why is it important?


Answer: Research is the systematic and creative process of gathering, analyzing, and
interpreting data to generate new knowledge or insights. It helps solve problems, test
hypotheses, and advance understanding across various fields like science, social sciences,
and technology.

2. What are the steps in the research process?


Answer:

o Identify the Problem or Question: Define a clear research question or hypothesis.

o Conduct a Literature Review: Review existing research to find gaps in knowledge.

o Formulate a Hypothesis: Develop predictions about relationships between variables.

o Design the Research: Choose methods for data collection and analysis.

o Collect Data: Use tools like surveys, experiments, or observations.

o Analyze Data: Use statistical methods or qualitative techniques.

o Interpret Results: Evaluate findings and draw conclusions.

o Draw Conclusions: Summarize findings and their significance.

3. Explain the different scales of measurement.


Answer:

o Nominal Scale: Categorizes data without numerical meaning (e.g., Gender:


Male/Female).

o Ordinal Scale: Ranks data but doesn’t quantify differences (e.g., Satisfaction:
Happy/Neutral/Unhappy).

o Interval Scale: Quantifies differences with no true zero (e.g., Temperature in Celsius).

o Ratio Scale: Has all properties of other scales and a true zero (e.g., Height, Weight).

SPSS Basics and Practical Application

4. How do you launch SPSS and open a dataset?


Answer:

o Start → All Programs → IBM SPSS Statistics → SPSS Statistics.

o Open a sample file (e.g., bankloan.sav) from the SPSS Welcome dialog box.

5. What are the main windows in SPSS, and their functions?


Answer:

o Data Editor: Displays and allows editing of data.

o Output Viewer: Shows results of analyses, tables, and charts.


o Syntax Editor: Contains commands for data manipulation and analysis.

6. How do you define variables in SPSS?


Answer: In the Variable View:

o Name: Start with a letter, avoid blanks or special characters.

o Type: Choose the type of data (e.g., Numeric, String).

o Label: Add a descriptive name for the variable.

o Values: Define labels for coded data (e.g., 1 = Male, 2 = Female).

o Measure: Set the scale (Nominal, Ordinal, or Scale).

7. What are the steps to calculate frequency distribution and central tendency?
Answer:

o Go to Analyze → Descriptive Statistics → Frequencies.

o Select variables (e.g., Age, Gender).

o Choose statistics (Mean, Median, Mode) and charts (Histogram).

o Click OK to generate output.

8. What is Crosstab analysis, and how is it performed in SPSS?


Answer:

o Go to Analyze → Descriptive Statistics → Crosstabs.

o Select row and column variables (e.g., Age and Gender).

o Add statistics (Chi-square, percentages) if needed.

o Click OK to see the table of relationships.

Inferential Statistics

9. Explain the t-test and its types.


Answer:

o One-sample t-test: Compares the sample mean to a known value.

o Paired-sample t-test: Compares means of the same group before and after
treatment.

o Independent-sample t-test: Compares means of two different groups.

10. What is a p-value, and how is it interpreted?


Answer:
A p-value indicates the probability of observing the data if the null hypothesis is true.

o A p-value ≤ 0.05 suggests rejecting the null hypothesis (significant result).

11. What are the differences between one-tailed and two-tailed tests?
Answer:
o One-tailed test: Tests a hypothesis in one direction (e.g., greater or less).

o Two-tailed test: Tests for any significant difference in both directions.

Reliability and Regression

12. How is reliability analysis conducted in SPSS?


Answer:

o Go to Analyze → Scale → Reliability Analysis.

o Add variables (items) and click Statistics → Scale if item deleted.

o Click OK.

o Interpretation: A Cronbach’s Alpha ≥ 0.7 indicates good reliability.

13. What is linear regression, and how do you perform it in SPSS?


Answer:

o Go to Analyze → Regression → Linear.

o Add the dependent variable (e.g., Score in Midterm) and independent variable (e.g.,
Years in School).

o Click OK.

o Interpretation: Look for the significance value (p-value) to assess the relationship.

Example-Based Questions

14. Explain how to create a data file with variables like Age, Gender, and Income.
Answer:

 Open SPSS → Go to Variable View → Add variables and their attributes (name, label, type,
value, measure).

 Switch to Data View and input data.

15. How would you conduct reliability analysis for survey data?
Answer:

 Assign Likert scale responses (e.g., 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree).

 Perform steps in Question 12 above to calculate Cronbach’s Alpha.

16. Interpret the paired sample t-test results for "With Ethanol" vs. "Without Ethanol."
Answer:

 If p-value > 0.05: No significant difference between means.

 If p-value ≤ 0.05: Significant difference between means.

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