Name Nitin Jain Course MBA-lll Roll No 521107680

MB0050 Research Methodology (Book ID: B1206) Assignment Set-1

Q1. Define Research. What are the features and types of Research? A1. Research simply means a search for facts-answers to questions and solutions to problems. It is purposive investigation. It is an organized inquiry. It seeks to find explanations to unexplained phenomenon to clarify the doubtful facts and to correct the misconceived facts. The general perspective of research is that some scientists taking part in laboratory testing or presenting the results in scientific discovery to the world-actually this was my view of research when I was young. Simply speaking the purpose of research is to find a solution to a particular type of problem or showing the problem a direction towards solution or putting some light in the unknown areas of knowledge for your enlightenment to that particular area of knowledge-thus research actually help us to understand our reality more clearly as well as help us to enjoy better living standard. So, research is kind of a project to find out some answers or solutions for a particular area-research is kind of project because every project has its scope of work, time-line and resources, thats why you may easily interrelate research work with a project-in fact every research work works on based on a welldevised project plan. The search for facts may be made through either: Arbitrary (or unscientific) Method: Its a method of seeking answers to questions consists of imagination, opinion, blind belief or impression. E.g. it was believed that the shape of the earth was flat. It is subjective; the finding will vary from person to person depending on his impression or imagination. It is vague and inaccurate. Or

Scientific Method: This is a systematic rational approach to seeking facts. It eliminates the drawbacks of the arbitrary method. It is objective, precise and arrives at conclusions on the basis of verifiable evidences. Therefore, search of facts should be made by scientific method rather than by arbitrary method. Kerlinger defines research as a systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among natural phenomena.

Features of Research It is a systematic and critical investigation into a phenomenon. It is a purposive investigation aiming at describing, interpreting, and explaining a phenomenon. Should be systematic in nature. Should be logical. Should be empirical and replicable in nature. Should be according to plans. Should be according to the rules and the assumptions should not be based on the false bases or judgments. Should be relevant to what is required. Procedure should be reproducible in nature. Controlled movement of the research procedure.

Types of Research Although any typology of research is inevitably arbitrary, Research may be classified crudely according to its major intent or the methods. According to the intent, research may be classified as: 1. Pure research a. Also called as the fundamental or the theoretical research. b. Is basic and original. c. Can lead to the discovery of a new theory. d. Can result in the development or refinement of a theory that already exists. e. Helps in getting knowledge without thinking formally of implementing it in practice based on the honesty, love and integrity of the researcher for discovering the truth. 2. Applied research a. Based on the concept of the pure research. b. Is problem oriented. c. Helps in finding results or solutions for real life problems.

d. Provides evidence of usefulness to society. e. Helps in testing empirical content of a theory. f. Utilizes and helps in developing the techniques that can be used for basic research. g. Helps in testing the validity of a theory but under some conditions. h. Provides data that can lead to the acceleration of the process of generalization. 3. Exploratory research a. Involves exploring a general aspect. b. Includes studying of a problem, about which nothing or a very little is known. c. Follows a very formal approach of research. d. Helps in exploring new ideas. e. Helps in gathering information to study a specific problem very minutely. f. Helps in knowing the feasibility in attempting a study. 4. Descriptive research a. Simplest form of research. b. More specific in nature and working than exploratory research. c. It involves a mutual effort. d. Helps in identifying various features of a problem. e. Restricted to the problems that are describable and not arguable and the problems in which valid standards can be developed for standards. f. Existing theories can be easily put under test by empirical observations. g. Underlines factors that may lead to experimental research. h. It consumes a lot of time. i. It is not directed by hypothesis. 5. Diagnostic study a. Quite similar to the descriptive research. b. Identifies the causes of the problems and then solutions for these problems. c. Related to causal relations. d. It is directed by hypothesis. e. Can be done only where knowledge is advanced. 6. Evaluation study a. Form of applied research. b. Studies the development project. c. Gives access to social or economical programmes. d. Studies the quality and also the quantity of an activity. 7. Action research a. Type of evaluation study. b. Is a concurrent evaluation study.

Q2. How is a research problem formulated? What are the sources from which one may be able to identify research problems?
A2. The selection of one appropriate researchable problem out of the identified problems requires

evaluation of those alternatives against certain criteria, which may be grouped into: Internal Criteria : 1) Researchers interest: The problem should interest the researcher and be a challenge to him. Without interest and curiosity, he may not develop sustained perseverance. Even a small difficulty may become an excuse for discontinuing the study. Interest in a problem depends upon the researchers educational background, experience, outlook and sensitivity. 2) Researchers competence: A mere interest in a problem will not do. The researcher must be competent to plan and carry out a study of the problem. He must have the ability to grasp and deal with int. he must possess adequate knowledge of the subject-matter, relevant methodology and statistical procedures. 3) Researchers own resource: In the case of a research to be done by a researcher on his won, consideration of his own financial resource is pertinent. If it is beyond his means, he will not be able to complete the work, unless he gets some external financial support. Time resource is more important than finance. Research is a time-consuming process; hence it should be properly utilized. External Criteria 1) Research-ability of the problem: The problem should be researchable, i.e., amendable for finding answers to the questions involved in it through scientific method. To be researchable a question must be one for which observation or other data collection in the real world can provide the answer. 2) Importance and urgency: Problems requiring investigation are unlimited, but available research efforts are very much limited. Therefore, in selecting problems for research, their relative importance and significance should be considered. An important and urgent problem should be given priority over an unimportant one. 3) Novelty of the problem: The problem must have novelty. There is no use of wasting ones time and energy on a problem already studied thoroughly by others. This does not mean that replication is always needless. In social sciences in some cases, it is appropriate to replicate (repeat) a study in order to verify the validity of its findings to a different situation. 4) Feasibility: A problem may be a new one and also important, but if research on it is not feasible, it cannot be selected. Hence feasibility is a very important consideration. 5) Facilities: Research requires certain facilities such as well-equipped library facility, suitable and competent guidance, data analysis facility, etc. Hence the availability of the facilities relevant to the problem must be considered. 6) Usefulness and social relevance: Above all, the study of the problem should make significant contribution to the concerned body of knowledge or to the solution of some significant practical

problem. It should be socially relevant. This consideration is particularly important in the case of higher level academic research and sponsored research. 7) Research personnel: Research undertaken by professors and by research organizations require the services of investigators and research officers. But in India and other developing countries, research has not yet become a prospective profession. Hence talent persons are not attracted to research projects. Each identified problem must be evaluated in terms of the above internal and external criteria and the most appropriate one may be selected by a research scholar. Frequently, an exploratory study is concerned with an area of subject matter in which explicit hypothesis have not yet been formulated. The researchers task then is to review the available material with an eye on the possibilities of developing hypothesis from it. In some areas of the subject matter, hypothesis may have been stated by previous research workers. The researcher has to take stock of these various hypotheses with a view to evaluating their usefulness for further research and to consider whether they suggest any new hypothesis. Sociological journals, economic reviews, the bulletin of abstracts of current social sciences research, directory of doctoral dissertation accepted by universities etc afford a rich store of valuable clues. In addition to these general sources, some governmental agencies and voluntary organizations publish listings of summaries of research in their special fields of service. Professional organizations, research groups and voluntary organizations are a constant source of information about unpublished works in their special field.

Q3. What are the types of Observations? What is the utility of Observation in Business Research? A3. Observations may be classified in different ways. With reference to investigators role, it may be classified into -participant observation. In terms of mode of observation, it may be classified into

With reference to the rigor of the system adopted. Observation is classified into

1. Participant Observation In this observation, the observer is a part of the phenomenon or group which is observed and he acts as both an observer and a participant. For example, a study of tribal customs by an anthropologist by taking part in tribal activities like folk dance. The persons who are observed should not be aware of the researchers purpose. Then only their behaviour will be natural. The concealment of research objective and researchers identity is justified on the ground that it makes it possible to study certain aspects of the groups culture which are not revealed to outsiders. Advantages: The advantages of participant observation are: get a deeper insight of their experiences.

observer will be able to record context which gives meaning to the observed behaviour and heard statements. Disadvantages: Participant observation suffers from some demerits. re is a hierarchy of power in the group/community under study, he comes to occupy one position within in, and thus other avenues of information are closed to him. is lost. Recording can interfere with participation, and participation can interfere with observation. Recording on the spot is not possible and it has to be postponed until the observer is alone. Such time lag results in some inaccuracy in recording. 2. Non-participant observations In this method, the observer stands apart and does not participate in the phenomenon observed. Naturally, there is no emotional involvement on the part of the observer. This method calls for skill in recording observations in an unnoticed manner. 3. Direct observation This means observation of an event personally by the observer when it takes place. This method is flexible and allows the observer to see and record subtle aspects of events and behaviour as they occur. He is also free to shift places, change the focus of the observation. A limitation of this method is that the observers perception circuit may not be able to cover all relevant events when the latter move quickly, resulting in the incompleteness of the observation. 4. Indirect observation This does not involve the physical presence of the observer, and the recording is done by mechanical, photographic or electronic devices, e.g. recording customer and employee movements by a special motion picture camera mounted in a department of a large store. This method is less flexible than direct observations, but it is less biasing and less erratic in recording accuracy. It is also provides a permanent record for an analysis of different aspects of the event. 5. Controlled observation This involves standardization of observational techniques and exercises of maximum control over extrinsic and intrinsic variables by adopting experimental design and systematically recording observations. Controlled observation is carried out either in the laboratory or in the field. It is typified by clear and explicit decisions on what, how and when to observe. 6. Uncontrolled observation This does not involve control over extrinsic and intrinsic variables. It is primary used for descriptive research. Participant observation is a typical uncontrolled one. Observation is suitable for a variety of research purposes. It may be used for studying: (a) The behaviour of human beings in purchasing goods and services.: life style, customs, and manner, interpersonal relations, group dynamics, crowd behaviour, leadership styles, managerial style, other behaviours and actions; (b) The behaviour of other living creatures like birds, animals etc. (c) Physical characteristics of inanimate things like stores, factories, residences etc.

(d) Flow of traffic and parking problems. (e) Movement of materials and products through a plant. Q4. What is Research Design? What are the different types of Research Designs? A4. The research design is a comprehensive master plan of the research study to be undertaken, giving a general statement of the methods to be used. The function of a research design is to ensure that requisite data in accordance with the problem at hand is collected accurately and economically. Simply stated, it is the framework, a blueprint for the research study which guides the collection and analysis of data. The research design, depending upon the needs of the researcher may be a very detailed statement or only furnish the minimum information required for planning the research project. To be effective, a research design should furnish at least the following details. a) A statement of objectives of the study or the research output. b) A statement of the data inputs required on the basis of which the research problem is to be solved. c) The methods of analysis which shall be used to treat and analyse the data inputs. There are four types of research designs which are broadly classified as: 1) Exploratory Designs 2) DescriptiveDesigns 3) Quasi-Experimental Designs 4) Experimental Designs Exploratory Research Design Ideally all marketing research projects must start with an exploratory research as this helps in providing a sharper focus of the situation and a clearer definition of the problem at hand. The exploratory research design, as the name suggests, involves getting a feel of the situation and emphasises a discovery of ideas and possible insights that may help in identifying areas of further rigorous study. For example a food product manufacturer, wanting in introduce a breakfast cereal may be in knowing the desirable attributes of such a product before really defining the product concept. The main objective of the exploratory research is to fine tune the broad problem into specific problem statement and generate possible hypotheses. It therefore, gives useful direction for farther research. The exploratory studies are mainly used for: 1) Providing information to enable a more precise problem definition or hypothesis formulation. 2) Establishing research priorities.

3) Giving the researcher a feel of the problem situation and familiarising him with the problem. 4) Collecting information about possible problems in carrying out research, using specific collection tools and specific techniques for analyses. Descriptive Research Design Primarily in use for preliminary studies, this type of designs are employed to facilitate description and inference building about population parameters and the relationship among two or more variables. Description or inference could be' quantitative or qualitative in nature. Descriptive designs only describe the phenomenon under study attempting to establish a relationship between factors. The data collected may relate to the demographically or the behavioural variables of respondents under study or some situational variables. For example, descriptive research design could be suited to measure the various attributes of successful sales people, or evaluate a training programme or a retailing situation. Descriptive designs are a very frequently used, perhaps the most commonly used category of research design. In short descriptive research can be used for the following purposes. a) To describe the characteristics of certain groups of interest to the marketer e.g. users of the product, potential users, non users, possible receivers of promotional communication by the company and so on. b) To estimate the proportion of people in a given population who behave in a certain way for example the proportion of consumers who are prone to deals. c) To make specific predictions for specified future periods. d) To develop inferences whether certain variables are associated, for example income and shopping place preference. Quasi Experimental Design In these designs the researcher has control over data collection procedures but lacks control over the scheduling of the treatments and also lacks the ability to randomize test units exposure to treatments. There are various designs which fall under the category of quasi-experimental designs. Some of these will be discussed here. These design have inherent weakness as their internal validity is questionable. They lack the control attributes of the truly experimental designs. Following quasi-experimental designs are as follows: 1) After-Only without Control Group 2) Before-After without Control Group 3) The Static-Group Comparison

4) Logitudinal Designs (Time Series Designs) 5) Multiple Time-Series Designs. Experimental Research Design True experimental design provide a stronger and more reliable basis for the existence of casual relationship between variables. Here, the researcher is able to eliminate all extraneous variables from the experimental and the control group through the use of a random selection procedure. One of the advantages of using random selection procedure is that we can use inferential statistical techniques for the analysis of experimental results. One such technique is the analysis of variance. The following experimental designs are as follows: 1) After-only with One Control Group 2) Before-After with One Control Group 3) The Solomon Four Group Design 4) Completely Randomised Design 5) Randondzaed Block Design 6) Latin Square Design. Q5. Explain the Sampling Process and briefly describe the methods of Sampling. A5. Sampling is a part of the total population. It can be an individual element or a group of elements selected from the population. Although it is a subset, it is representative of the population and suitable for research in terms of cost, convenience, and time. The sample group can be selected based on a probability or a non probability approach. Steps in Sampling Process: An operational sampling process can be divided into seven steps as given below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Defining the target population. Specifying the sampling frame. Specifying the sampling unit. Selection of the sampling method. Determination of sample size. Specifying the sampling plan. Selecting the sample. 1. Defining the Target Population:

Defining the population of interest, for business research, is the first step in sampling process. In general, target population is defined in terms of element, sampling unit, extent, and time frame. The definition should be in line with the objectives of the research study. For ex, if a kitchen appliances firm wants to conduct a survey to ascertain the demand for its micro ovens, it may define the population as all women above the age of 20 who cook (assuming that very few men cook). However this definition is too broad and will include every household in the country, in the population that is to be covered by the survey. Therefore the definition can be further refined and defined at the sampling unit level, that, all women above the age 20, who cook and whose monthly household income exceeds Rs.20,000. This reduces the target population size and makes the research more focused. The population definition can be refined further by specifying the area from where the researcher has to draw his sample, that is, households located in Hyderabad. A well defined population reduces the probability of including the respondents who do not fit the research objective of the company. For ex, if the population is defined as all women above the age of 20, the researcher may end up taking the opinions of a large number of women who cannot afford to buy a micro oven. 2. Specifying the Sampling Frame: Once the definition of the population is clear a researcher should decide on the sampling frame. A sampling frame is the list of elements from which the sample may be drawn. Continuing with the micro oven ex, an ideal sampling frame would be a database that contains all the households that have a monthly income above Rs.20,000. However, in practice it is difficult to get an exhaustive sampling frame that exactly fits the requirements of a particular research. In general, researchers use easily available sampling frames like telephone directories and lists of credit card and mobile phone users. Various private players provide databases developed along various demographic and economic variables. Sometimes, maps and aerial pictures are also used as sampling frames. Whatever may be the case, an ideal sampling frame is one that entire population and lists the names of its elements only once. A sampling frame error pops up when the sampling frame does not accurately represent the total population or when some elements of the population are missing another drawback in the sampling frame is over representation. A telephone directory can be over represented by names/household that have two or more connections. 3. Specifying the Sampling Unit: A sampling unit is a basic unit that contains a single element or a group of elements of the population to be sampled. In this case, a household becomes a sampling unit and all women above the age of 20 years living in that particular house become the sampling elements. If it is possible to identify the exact target audience of the business research, every individual element would be a sampling unit. This would present a case of primary sampling unit. However, a convenient and better means of sampling would be to select households as the sampling unit and interview all females above 20 years, who cook. This would present a case of secondary sampling unit. 4. Selection of the Sampling Method:

The sampling method outlines the way in which the sample units are to be selected. The choice of the sampling method is influenced by the objectives of the business research, availability of financial resources, time constraints, and the nature of the problem to be investigated. All sampling methods can be grouped under two distinct heads, that is, probability and non-probability sampling. 5. Determination of Sample Size: The sample size plays a crucial role in the sampling process. There are various ways of classifying the techniques used in determining the sample size. A couple those hold primary importance and are worth mentioning are whether the technique deals with fixed or sequential sampling and whether its logic is based on traditional or Bayesian methods. In non-probability sampling procedures, the allocation of budget, thumb rules and number of sub groups to be analyzed, importance of the decision, number of variables, nature of analysis, incidence rates, and completion rates play a major role in sample size determination. In the case of probability sampling, however, formulas are used to calculate the sample size after the levels of acceptable error and level of confidence are specified. The details of the various techniques used to determine the sample size will be explained at the end of the chapter. 6. Specifying the Sampling Plan: In this step, the specifications and decisions regarding the implementation of the research process are outlined. Suppose, blocks in a city are the sampling units and the households are the sampling elements. This step outlines the modus operandi of the sampling plan in identifying houses based on specified characteristics. It includes issues like how is the interviewer going to take a systematic sample of the houses. What should the interviewer do when a house is vacant? What is the recontact procedure for respondents who were unavailable? All these and many other questions need to be answered for the smooth functioning of the research process. These are guide lines that would help the researcher in every step of the process. As the interviewers and their co-workers will be on field duty of most of the time, a proper specification of the sampling plans would make their work easy and they would not have to revert to their seniors when faced with operational problems. 7. Selecting the Sample: This is the final step in the sampling process, where the actual selection of the sample elements is carried out. At this stage, it is necessary that the interviewers stick to the rules outlined for the smooth implementation of the business research. This step involves implementing the sampling plan to select the sampling plan to select a sample required for the survey.

Q6. What is Research report? What are the contents of research report? A6. A document prepared by an analyst or strategist who is a part of the investment research team in a stock brokerage or investment bank. A research report may focus on a specific stock or industry sector, a currency, commodity or fixed-income instrument, or even on a geographic region or country. Research reports generally, but not always, have "actionable" recommendations (i.e. investment ideas that investors can act upon).
For whatever research you intend to do in your law enforcement profession, always plan to record enough information so that people outside of your agency can understand and interpret what youre researching, why, and how. Title Page (name of the agency, product, program, or service that is being researched; date) Table of Contents Executive Summary (one-page, concise overview of findings and recommendations) Purpose of the Report (what type of research was conducted, what decisions are being aided by the findings of the research, who is making the decision, etc.) Background About Agency/Product/Service/Program that is being researched a) Organization Description/History b) Product/Service/Program Description (that is being researched) i) Problem Statement ii) Overall Goal(s) of Product/Service/Program iii) Outcomes (or client/customer impacts) and Performance Measures (that can be measured as indicators toward the outcomes) iv) Activities/Technologies of the Product/Service/Program (general description of how the product/service/program is developed and delivered) v) Staffing (description of the number of personnel and roles in the organization that are relevant to developing and delivering the product/service/program) Overall Evaluation Goals (what questions are being answered by the research?) Methodology a) Types of data/information that were collected b) How data/information were collected (what instruments were used, etc.) c) How data/information were analyzed d) Limitations of the evaluation (cautions about findings/conclusions and how to use the findings/conclusions, etc.) Interpretations and Conclusions (from analysis of the data/information) Recommendations (regarding the decisions that must be made about the results) Appendices (content of the appendices depends on the goals of the research report) a) Instruments used to collect data/information b) Data (tabular format, etc.) c) Testimonials, comments made by users of the product/service/program d) Case studies of users of the product/service/program e) Any related literature