Meaning of Research

• Search for knowledge • Instinct of inquisitiveness

• Scientific and Systematic • Method which a person
search for pertinent employs for obtaining the
information on a specific knowledge of whatever the
topic unknown, can be termed as
• It is an art of scientific research
investigation
• It is a careful investigation or
enquiry specially through
search for new facts in any
branch of knowledge
Definitions :

Clifford Woody – Research comprises defining and

redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested
solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data ;
making deductions and reaching conclusions ; and at last
carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they
fit the formulated hypothesis.

Research is thus, an original contribution to the

existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement
 Objectives of Research

• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve

new insights into it - Exploratory research
• To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or group -Descriptive research
• To determine the frequency with which something
occurs or with which it is associated with something
else – Diagnostic research
• To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables – Hypothesis-testing research
Characteristics of Research
1. It is directed toward the solution of a problem
2. It emphasises the development of generalisations,
principles, or theories that will be helpful in
predicting future occurrences.
3. Research demands accurate observation and
description.
4. Research involves gathering new data from primary
sources or using secondary data for a new purpose.
5. Research requires expertise.
6. Research strives o be objective and logical
7. Research is characterised by patient and unhurried
activity
8. It is carefully recorded and reported.
9. Research requires a strong determination to know the
Steps in conducting Research
Page:12
1. Formulating the research problem.
2. Survey and review of literature.
3. Developing hypothesis and clarifying the concepts.
4. Deciding on the research design
5. Defining the population and selecting the sample.
6. Collecting data. .(the sample must b true
representation of the population)
7. Analysis and interpretation of data.
8. Testing the hypothesis.
9. Conclusions, Implication and recommendations
10.Preparation and submission of report.
Types of Research
Descriptive Research :
-Is one which describes, records, analyses and interprets the
conditions that exist.
-It basically describes ‘what is’.
-It describes the state of affairs as it exists at present.
– The researcher has no control over the variables, he/she can
only report what has happened or is happening.
2. Analytical research :
- The researcher has to use facts or information already
available and analyze these to make a critical evaluation
of the material.
3. Applied (Action ) research :
- Aims at finding a solution for an
immediate problem facing a society or an
industrial/business organisation.
- Leads to a deeper understanding of the
situation by the local people and by the
research team.
-Examples are – research to identify social,
economic or political trends that may affect a
particular institution – marketing research –
evaluation research etc.
4. Fundamental ( Basic) research :
- Is mainly concerned with generalisations
and with the formulation of a theory –
Gathering knowledge for the sake of
Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating
to pure mathematics are fundamental research
Research studies aimed at certain conclusions facing a
concrete social or business problem is an example of applied
research.

5. Quantitative Research :
based on measurement of quantity or amount. It is
applicable to phenomenon that can be expressed in terms of
quantity

6. Qualitative research :
Is concerned with qualitative phenomenon ie. the
phenomenon relating to or involving quality or kind.
Ex. Motivation research ; Attitude or opinion research –
Specially important in behavioral sciences.
7. Conceptual Research :
It is related to some abstract ideas or theory – generally used
by philosophers or thinkers to develop new concepts or to
interpret existing ones –

8. Empirical research :
it relies on experience or observation alone – without
due regard for system and theory – it is data based research,
coming up with conclusions which are capable of being
verified by observation or experiment
Significance of research:
Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking
and it promotes the development of logical habits of thinking
and organization
It provides the basis for nearly all govt. policies in our
economic system
 - It has its special significance in solving various
operational and planning problems of business and
industry
-It is important for social scientists in studying social
relationships and in seeking answers to various social
problems.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS
RESEARCH DESIGN :
“Research Design is the arrangement of
conditions for collection and analysis of data
in a manner that aims to combine relevance
to the research purpose with economy in
procedure”

- It is the detailed plan of an investigation

- It is the conceptual structure within which
the research is conducted
- It constitutes the blue print for the
collection, measurement and analysis of data

What – Why – Where – When etc

The Research design decisions happen to be in respect of :
1. What is the study about?
2. Why is the study being made? Page: 23
3. Where will the study be carried out?
4. What type of data is required?
5. Where can the required data be found?
6. What periods of time will the study include?
7. What will be the sample design?
8. What techniques of data collection will be applied?
9. How will the data be analysed?
10. In what style will the report be prepared?
One can split the research design into the following parts :
a) The sampling design : which deals with the method of
selecting items to be observed for the given study.
b) The Observational Design : Which relates to the
conditions under which the observations are to be made.
c) The statistical design : which concerns with the question
of how many items are to be observed and how the
information and data gathered are to be analysed
d) The operational design : which deals with the techniques
by which the procedures specified in the above three can
be carried out.
Important Concepts relating to Research Design :
1. Dependent and independent variables :A concept
which can take on different quantitative values is
called a variable. E.g.. height, weight, income etc.
If one variable depends upon or is a consequence of the
other variable, it is dependent variable
The variable that is antecedent to the dependent
variable is termed as independent variable
Example : Height depends upon on age, hence height is a
dependent variable and age is independent.
Height is also depends on sex, then height is
dependent and age and sex are independent.
2. Extraneous variable :
Independent variables that are not related to the
purpose of the study, but may affect the dependent
variable are termed as extraneous variable
Eg. Children’s gain in social studies achievement and
their self-concepts – intelligence. Extraneous variable

3.Experimental Group :
A group of elements which is administered some
form of experimental treatment is known as the
experimental group.
4.Control group :
When a group is exposed to usual conditions and
which does not receive any experimental treatment are
called control group.
Eg. Special coaching ; farmers exposed to TV program
5.Treatment :
The different conditions under which the experimental
groups are put are usually referred to as treatment.
Eg. Comparative impact of three varieties of fertilizers on
the yield of wheat.
6.Experiment :
The process of examining the truth of a statistical
hypothesis relating to some research problem. Eg
experiemnt to examine the usefulness of a certain newly
developed drug.
7.Experimental units: The pre determined plots or the blocks
where different treatments are used is known as
experimental units.
Different Research Designs : Page:26

1. Research Design in the case of exploratory research

studies ( Formulative Research Studies ) :
The main purpose of this study is that of formulating a
problem for more precise investigation or for developing
the working hypothesis – discovery of ideas and insight.
In such cases the design must be flexible
E.g.. Pilot Study - Survey of concerning literature –
experience survey ,secondary data, focus group
2. Research Design in case of descriptive and diagnostic
research :Research design is: - Formulating the
objective of the study - Designing the method for data
collection -Selecting the sample – Collecting the
data – processing and analyzing the data – reporting the
findings
3. Research Design for Hypothesis Testing Research
Studies ( Experimental Research Studies) :
Such studies require procedures that will not only reduce
bias and increase reliability, but permit inferences abut
causality. Usually experiments meet these requirements.
– Prof. R.A.Fisher – agricultural research – He has
enumerated three principles of experimental design, they
are –
a. The principle of replication :– experiment will be
repeated more than once – each treatment is applied in
many experimental units instead of one ( repetition and
duplication)
b. The principle of randomization:-is a technique in which
each member of the population has an equal and
independent chance of being selected – this is a method
of controlling extraneous variables.
c. The principle of local control :- through this principle we
can eliminate the variability due to extraneous factors from
the experimental error – grouping (of homogenous units) –
blocking – balancing
Assignment – IMPORTANT TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Sampling Design: Page:150

What is a sample – sampling technique is the
selection process – The survey so conducted is the sample
survey
Sample design: is a definite plan for obtaining a sample
from a given population – is the technique or the procedure
adopted by the researcher in selecting samples
Page:62
Steps –
1. Type of Universe
b. Sampling unit
c. Source list
d. Size of sample
e. Parameter of interest
f. Budgetary constraint
g. Sampling procedure
Sampling Methods :
1. Probability Sampling methods : Simple random sampling – Stratified
random sampling(proportionate and disproportionate) - Cluster
sampling
2. Non-probability Sampling methods : Quota sampling – Purposive
sampling ( judgement sampling ) – Systematic sampling ( every nth
element is chosen)
MULTI STAGE RANDOM SAMPLING
Sample Size – optimum is desirable – optimum is one which fulfils
efficiency, representativeness, reliability & flexibility
Scales and Measurements :
A scale is a technique to measure some thing. Scaling is
used in ordering a series of items along sort of continuum. –
they are methods of turning a series of qualitative facts into a
quatitative series

Measurements are yardsticks – Measurement in research

consists of assigning numbers to empirical events in
compliance with a set of rules – Hence, measurement is a three
part process (1) Selecting observable empirical events (2)
Developing a set of mapping rules ie a scheme for assigning
numbers (3) Applying mappimg rule to each observation of
that event. Example of studying people who attend a auto
show
Different Scales :( page 36 of ur book)
1. Nominal Scale : It is simply a system of assigning
number symbols to events in order to label them – example:
assigning numbers to football players in order to identify
them – just for convenience – no quantitative value – can not
come out with a meaningful value – We use Mode as the
measure of Central Tendency – eg. classifying the residents
of a city according to religious preferences.
2. Ordinal Scale : The lowest level of the ordered scale
that is commonly used is the ordinal scale – This scale places
events in order – Eg. Rank orders represent ordinal scales – a
student’s rank in his graduation class involves the use of
ordinal scale – these scales have no absolute values – all that
we can say is that one person is higher or lower in rank on the
scale –
Ram’s rank is 10 and Mohan’s is 40 – what do you
conclude? – If a is greater than b and b is greater than c, then
a is greater than c – just mentions greater than or less than ,
without stating how much greater or less - the appropriate
method of central tendency is median

3. Interval Scale: It has the power of nominal and ordinal

scale plus one additional strength, the concept of equality of
intervals – eg. the interval between 1 and 2 equals the
difference between 2 and 3. In this case the intervals are
adjusted in terms of some rule that has been established as a
basis for making the units equal – these scales can have an
arbitrary zero – it lacks a true zero – The Fahrenheit scale is
an example of an interval scale – Mean is the appropriate
measure of central tendency
4.Ratio Scale : It incorporates all the powers of previous
three Scales-They have an absolute or true zero of
measurement – Eg measurement of physical dimentions
like height, weight, distance and area- geometric mean or
harmonic mean are the measures of central tendency

Sources of error in measurement : Page:41

1. Respondent:nonresponce, response bias
2. Situation –third party present, location of the interview,
3. Measurer – behavior, style and looks of investigator may
encourage or discourage certain replies from the
respondent, gesture of the measurer,
4. Failing to record full responce
5. Instrument – e.g. use of complex words, ambiguous
meaning etc.
Characteristics of Sound Measurement :
Sound measurement must meet the tests of Validity,
Reliability and Practicality
Test of Validity : It refers to the extent to which a test
measures what we actually wish to measure – it can also be
thought of as Utility – validity is the extent to which
differences found with a measuring instrument reflect true
differences among those being tested.
Test of Reliability : A measuring instrument is reliable if it
provides consistent results – eg. if a scale is consistently
overweighs objects by 5 kgs is a reliable scale but is not a
valid scale – Reliability is concerned with estimates of
degree to which measurement is free of random or unstable
error.
Page:38
Test of Practicality :This can be judged in terms of
economy, convience and interpretability

Scaling : It is defined as ‘ the procedure for the

assignment of numbers ( or symbols) to a property of
objects in order to impart some of the characteristics of
numbers to the properties in question’.
It describes the procedure of assigning numbers to
various degrees of opinion, attitudes and other concepts –
a scale is a continnum, consisting of the highest point and
the lowest point
Important Scaling Techniques :
Rating Scales : It involves qualitative description of a
limited number of aspects of a thing or of traits of a
person – we judge properties of objects without
reference to other similar objects – these ratings are in
the form of “like – dislike”, “excellent-good-average-
below average-poor”. In practice three to seven point
scales are generally used
There are two types of Rating scale- (1) The Graphic
Rating Scale : various points are usually put along the
line to form a continuum and the rater indicates his
rating.
Eg. How do you like the product

excellent Very good good average poor

2) The Itemized rating scale ( Numerical Scale) :
It presents a series of statements from which a respondent
Selects one as best reflecting his evaluation.
Eg. suppose we want to enquire as to how well does a worker get
along with his fellow workers:
a. He is almost always involved in some friction with fellow worker
b. He is often at odds with one or more of his fellow workers
c. He some times gets involved in friction
d. He frequently becomes involved in friction with others
e. He almost never gets involved in friction with fellow workers
Attitude Scales :
Thurstone defined ‘Attitude’ as “the degree of positive or
negative feeling associated with some psychological object like
symbol, phrase, slogan, person, institution, ideal or ideas towards
which people can differ in varying degrees.”
While measuring the attitudes of the people, we generally
follow the technique of preparing the opinionnaire ( attitude scale)
in such a way that the score of the individual responses assigns him
a place on a scale.
People may conceal their attitudes and express socially
acceptable opinions – They may not really know how they feel
about a social issue – People may be unaware of their attitude
about an abstract situation until confronted with real situation –
even behaviour itself is at times not a true indication of attitude.
Eg- Politicians kissing babies
Is this bevaviour a true expression of affection towards
infants? No
Hence there is no sure method of measuring attitude.
With all these limitations, several attitude scales were developed,
they are :
1. Arbitrary scales:
Are developed on ad hoc basis and are designed largely on
researcher’s own subjective selection of items – researcher
himself first collects few statements or items which he believes
are unambiguous and appropriate to a given topic – some of
these instruments are selected for inclusion in the measuring
instrument.
Eg. consider a company image study –
How do you regard company’s reputation :
1. As a place to work : Bad -- -- -- Good
2. As a institution of social responsibility : Bad -- -- -- Good

These scales are easy to develop and relatively less expensive

Demerits are – no objective evidence and we have to rely on
researcher’s insight and competence
2. Thurstone Scale ( Differential scale ) :
This has been developed using consensus scale approach – In
this approach the selection of items is made by a panel of judges who
evaluate the items in terms of whether they are relevant to the topic
of area.
Detailed procedure : 1) The researcher gather a large number of
statements, usually 20 or more ; 2) These statements are submitted
to a panel of judges ( 50 to 300 judges ), requesting them to classify
these statements into eleven groups. Those statements which he/she
considers most favourable to the object are put in the first group;
those considered next most in the second group ……… those
consider most unfavourable in the last group.

Page:57
It may be noted here that only the neutral and the two extreme
categories ( most favoured and most unfavoured) on which the
statements are to be judged are defined. The remaining eight are
unlabelled to create the impression of equal appearing intervals
between the three labels.
3) The scale value of a statement is computed as the median position
to which it is assigned by the group of judges.
4) A final selection is made taking items or statements that are
spread out evenly along the scale from one extreme position to the
other and for which there are more judges’ agreement.
3) Summated Scales ( Likert Scale )
This scale consists of a set of items ( statements) to which
the subject is asked to react. The respondents are asked to respond
to each item in terms of several degrees of agreement or
disagreement and the scores may be, for eg. strongly agree - 5 ;
agree-4; undecided-3; disagree – 2; and strongly disagree – 1.
Total score is obtained when all the weights are summated
4)Semantic Differential (S D) Scale:
This is developed by Charles E.Osgood and others in 1957.
The word Semantic means relating to meaning in language. SD
scaling is an attempt to measure the psychological meanings of an
object. This scaling technique is used rather easily in decisional
survey research. Its main use has been in connection with
comparison of brand and company images, determination of
attitudinal characteristics of consumers and analysis of the
effectiveness of promotional activities.
“The S D scale is a technique for psychological measuring of
things, usually concepts or objects of people. It consists of a series
or set of descriptive adjectives or phrases which are polar
opposite”. They are generally classified into three categories
1.Evaluative : Good – Bad ; Beautiful – Ugly; Clean – Dirty;
Fair-Unfair
2.Potency : Large – Small; Strong – Weak; Thick – Thin;
Loud-Soft; Deep – Shallow.
3.Activity : Fast – Slow; Active – Passive; Sharp-Dull.
The respondents are asked to describe the concept under
investigation according to the set of scales using the method of
rating. Thus, the technique enables an investigator to examine
both the context and intensity of people’s attitudes.
 SURVEY RESEARCH :
DATA COLLECTION :
Primary Data : are collected afresh and for the first time –
original in character – we collect primary data during the course
of doing experiment in an Experimental Research, but for
Descriptive Research, we can obtain primary data either through
observation or through direct communication with the
respondents.
Methods :
Observation method : Commonly used in studies relating to
behavioural sciences – we all observe many things, but it is not a
scientific observation – it will become scientific when it serves a
formulated research purpose, is systematically planned and
recorded and is subjected to checks and controls on validity and
reliability – eg. investigator himself looking at the wrist watch the
respondent is using instead of asking with him the brand of wrist
watch, child behaviour
Advantages : Subjective bias may be eliminated – it gives
information relating to current state of affairs – Independent
of respondent’s willingness or capability to respond
Disadvantages : time consuming and expensive – limited amount
of information is available – extraneous factors may interfere.
Types of observation :
a. Structured and unstructured observation :Structured
observation is characterised by a careful definition of the units
to be observed – there should be standardised conditions of
observation – proper method of recording.
b. Participant and non-participant observation :In participant
observation, the investigator observes by making himself a
member of the group he is observing so that he can experience
what the the members of the group experience. Eg. study on
the lifestyle of fishermen community.
c. Controlled and uncontrolled observation : if the observation is taking place
in a natural setting, it is uncontrolled – when observation is taking place
according to prearranged plans, it is controlled.
Interview Method :
a) Personal Interviews : Face to face – Interviewee may also ask
Questions – direct personal investigation – on the spot and meet
the people – Govt committees and Commissions – usually
carried out in a structured way ( known as Structured
interviews) – with structured questions – rigid procedure –
Unstructured interviews are flexible – do not follow a
predetermined set of questions – interviewer has much
freedom to ask questions – it lacks comparability of one
interview with another – it requires greater skill and
knowledge – exploratory or formulative research, go for
unstructured and descriptive research, go for structured
interview
Focussed interview :meant to focus on the given experience of the respondent
– interviewer has the freedom to decide the manner and sequence of
questions to be asked – confine the respondent to a discussion on issues to
which he is conversant- generally used in the development of hypotheses
and constitute a major type of unstructured interview
Clinical Interview : is concerned with broad underlying feelings
or motivations or with the course of individual’s life experience –
generally left to the interviewer’s discretion
Non-directive interview: the interviewer’s function is just to
encourage the respondent to talk about the given topic with a
bare minimum of direct questioning – interviewer is acting as a
catalyst
Telephone Interview :
Questionnaires
Collection of data through Schedules :
Some other methods of data collection :
1. Warranty Cards : Usually postal sized card used by dealers
of consumer durables to collect information regarding their
products. It is printed form of questions on the ‘warranty
cards’ which is placed inside the package along the products
with a request to fill in the card and send it back to the
dealer.

2. Distributor or Store Audits : These are performed by

distributors as well as manufacturers through their salesmen
at regular intervals – Retail stores are audited through
salesmen and use such information to estimate market size,
market share, seasonal purchasing pattern and so on – either
by observation or by copying from shop records – for
compilation of sales trend – most effective way of evaluating
the effect on sales of variations of different techniques of
in-store promotion.
3. Pantry Audits :
It is used to estimate consumption of the basket of goods at the
consumer level – the investigator collects an inventory of types,
quantities and prices of commodities consumed – data are recorded
from the examination of consumer’s pantry – objective is to find out
what type of consumers buy certain products and certain brands – this
method may be supplemented by direct questioning relating to reasons
and circumstances under which particular products were purchased –
to know the purchase habits
4. Consumer Panels :
An extension of the pantry audit approach on a regular basis is known
as ‘Consumer Panels’ – a set of consumers are arranged to maintain
detailed daily records of their consumption and it is made available to
the investigator on demand – same consumers are interviewed
repeatedly over a period of time – are of two types:
a) Transitory consumer panel :
Is set up to measure the effect of a particular
phenomenon – conducted on a before-and-after basis – to study
consumer behaviour and attitude
 b) Continuing consumer pattern :
Is often set up for an indefinite period with a
view to collect data on a particular aspect of consumer
behaviour over time – radio listening and watching TV.

5. Use of Mechanical devises :

Eye camera ( to record the focus the eyes of respondent)
Pupilometric camera ( to record dilation of the pupil as
a result of a visual stimulus)
Psychologalvanometer ( used for measuring the extent
of body exitement as result of the visual stimulus
Motion picture camera ( to record movement of body of
a buyer while deciding to buy consumer goods from a shop –
influence of packaging or information given on the label would
stimulate a buyer )
Audio meters ( used by TV concerns to find out the type
of programmes preferred by the people)
6. Projective Techniques :
It is develop by the Psychologists to use projections of
respondents for inferring about underlying motives, urges or
intentions which are such that the respondents either resists to
reveal them or is unable to figure out himself – important in
motivational research – use of this technique require training
Important projective techniques are :
a) Word association techniques:
b) Sentence completion tests:
c) Story completion tests
d) Verbal projection tests
ANALYSIS OF DATA :
The data, after collection, has to be processed and analysed in
accordance with the outline laid down for the purpose at the
time of developing the research plan. The analysis planning
should be done earlier at the research design stage itself.
Processing involves editing, coding, classification and
tabulation of data.
1. Editing : First step in the analysis of raw data – editing detects
errors and omissions and corrects them when possible – it
involves a careful scrutiny of the completed questionnaire. The
purpose of editing is to ensure that the data are-
Accurate, consistent with other facts collected,
uniformly entered, complete and arranged to simplify coding and
tabulation.
Field editing and Central editing

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. Eg. 1 for male and 2 for
female or M for male and F for female. The first one is numeric
coding and the second one is alphanumeric coding.
Coding helps the researcher to reduce several thousand
replies to a few categories containing the critical information
needed for analysis.
Coding can either be done on the margin of
questionnaire or transcribe the data from the questionnaire to a
coding sheet.

3. Classification : Reducing raw data into homogenous groups –

it is the process of arranging data in groups or classes on the
basis of common characteristics
a. Classification according to attributes :They are descriptive in
nature (qualitative), like literacy, sex, honesty etc. – these can not be
measured qualitatively – only their presence or absence in an
individual item can be noticed.
 b.Classification according to class intervals : These refer
to quantitative phenomenon which can be measured through
some statistical units – eg. data relating to income, production,
age, height & weigh etc.

4. Tabulation : It is a concise, logical and orderly arrangement of

data in columns and rows – summarising raw data and display
them in compact form – it provides a basis for starting statistical
comparisons – it could be one way , which furnishes answers to
questions about one characteristic of the data only – Two-way,
three-way and manifold tables deal with two, three or several
interrelated characteristics of the data. These are known as
cross-tabulation.

Charts and Graphs :

REPORT WRITING :
Report helps to know what has been done, why it was
done, how it was done, what results were obtained and what
conclusions and recommendations have been arrived at.
It should be written in a clear and unambiguous
language so that the readers can objectively judge the adequacy
and validity of the research
Steps in Report Writing :
1.Logical analysis of the subject matter
2.Preparation of the final outline
3.Preparation of the rough draft
4.Rewriting and polishing of the rough draft
5.Preparation of the final bibliography
6. Wring the final draft
Cluster Analysis
It is a set of techniques for grouping similar objects or
people – originally applied in taxonomy but later extended to
economics, marketing etc.
– This analysis starts with an undifferentiated group of
people, events or objects and attempts to recognise them into
homogenous subgroups.
- Cluster analysis is used to classify persons or objects into
a small number of mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups or
clusters.
- There should be high internal (Within cluster)
homogeneity and high external (between cluster) heterogeneity.
- One of the important uses of cluster analysis in
marketing is market segmantation.
- The main task involved in segmentation is to classify
people, materials etc. into groups based on certain common
characteristics.
 - This analysis also provides a better understanding of
buyer behaviour – to identify homogenous groups of buyers.
- This is used in the development of potential new products.

Steps in Cluster analysis :

1. Selection of the sample to be clustered
2. Definition of the variable on which to measure the objects.
Events or people.
3. Computation of similarities among the entities through
correlation
4. Selection of mutually exclusive clusters
5. Cluster comparison and validation.
Path Analysis :
The objective of this analysis is to get a clear picture of
the direct and indirect effects of the independent variables on
the dependent variable