MB 0050 -Research Methodology

Ensure that you answer all questions according to the marks allocated (not more than 400 words for a 10-mark question and not more than 200 words for a five-mark question). The total page limit shall not exceed 8 pages of A-4 size. Question 1- a.Explain the Types of Research b. What is the significance of research in social and business sciences? Answer-(a)-Fundamental Research: Fundamental research or basic research refers to the research conducted with the primary purposes of advancing the knowledge or understanding in the area or subject being researched, without any attempt to produce any knowledge that can be put to any other practical use such as developing a new product or process, or to aid in economic or business decision making. Empirical Research: Empirical research is defined as research that is based on experimentation or observation. Usually such research is conducted to test the validity of a predefined hypothesis. In such research empirical data is produced by experimentation and observation, and this data is then analysed to draw conclusions. Quantitative research: Quantitative research generates numerical data of information that can be converted into numbers. Thus in this type of research primarily primarily only measurable data id gathered and analysed. Qualitative Research: Qualitative research primarily collects and analyzes non-numerical or qualitative data. It relies on verbal descriptions of facts observed. In general there in no numerical measurements involved in the research. The qualitative data so gathered is evaluated and analysed using processes such as interpretation, subjective evaluation, and impressionistic diagnosis Question 1- (b)What is the significance of Research in Social and Business Sciences Answer-(b)The role of research in applied economics in the context of an economy or business is greatly increasing in modern times. The increasingly complex nature of government and business has raised the use of research in solving operational problems. Research assumes significant role in formulation of economic policy, for both the government and business. It provides the basis for almost all government policies of aneconomic system. Government budget formulation, for example, depends particularly on the analysis of needs and desires of the people, and the availability of revenues, which requires research. Research helps to formulate alternative policies, in addition to examining the consequences of these alternatives. Thus, research also facilitates the decision making of policy-makers, although in itself it is not a part of research. In the

process, research also helps in the proper allocation of a countrys scare resources. Research is also necessary for collecting information on the social and economic structure of an economy to understand the process of change occurring in the country. Collection of statistical information though not a routine task, involves various research problems. Therefore, large staff of research technicians or experts is engaged by the government these days to undertake this work. Thus, research as a tool of government economic policy formulation involves three distinct stages of operation which are as follows: Investigation of economic structure through continual compilation of facts Diagnoses of events that are taking place and the analysis of the forces underlying them; and The prognosis, i.e., the prediction of future developments Question 2 - what is meant by validity how does it differ from reliability and what are its types?
Answer-Validity: A measurement scale may be considered to be valid if it effectively measures a

specific property or characteristic that it intends to measure. The question of validity does not arise in the case of measurement of physical characteristics such as length, weight and height. This is because the measurement is direct and can be done through standard measuring devices. Types of Validity 1. Content validity: This type of validity may be of two types a) Face validity and b) Sampling validity. Face validity is determined through a subjective evaluation of a measuring scale. However, the limitation of this type of validity is that it is determined by opinions, rather than through a statistical method. Sampling validity refers to how representative the content of the measuring instrument is. In other words, the measuring instruments content must be representative of the content universe of the characteristic being measured. 2. Predictive validity: This type of validity refers to the extent to which one behavior can be predicted based on another, based on the association between the results yielded by the measuring instrument and the eventual outcome. One limitation of determining predictive validity using this statistical association is that the eventual outcome, in this case, the grade point average of students during the first semester, may be influenced by other extraneous variables or factors. In other words, the grade point average may have been influenced by other factors and may not necessarily be linked to the score on the admission test. Therefore, predicting behavior from one situation to another is not always accurate.
3. Construct validity: A construct is a conceptual equation that is developed by the researcher based on theoretical reasoning. Various kinds of relationships may be perceived by the researcher between a variable under study and other variables. These relationships must be tested in order to determine the construct validity of a measuring instrument. The instrument may be considered to have construct validity only if the expected relationships are found to be true.

Question 3 - (a)Why literature survey is important in research? b. What are the criteria of good research problem Answer-3(a)R e s e a r c h s i m p l y m e a n s a s e a r c h f o r f a c t s a n s w e r s t o q u e s t i o n s a n d s o l u t i o n s t o problems. It is a purposive i n v e s t i g a t i o n . I t i s a n o r g a n i z e d i n q u i r y. I t s e e k s t o f i n d explanations to unexplained phenomenon to clarify the doubtful facts and to correct the misconceived facts. Although any typology of research is inevitably arbitrary, Research may be classified crudely according to its major intent or the methods.It is also known as formulating research. It is preliminary study of an unfamiliar problem about which the researcher has little or no knowledge. It is illstructured and much less f o c u s e d o n p r e - d e t e r m i n e d o b j e c t i v e s . I t u s u a l l y t a k e s t h e f o r m o f a p i l o t s t u d y. T h e purpose of this research may be to generate new ideas, or to increase the researchers familiarity with the problem or to make a precise formulation of the problem or to gather information for clarifying concepts or to determine whether it is feasible to attempt the s t u d y. K a t z c o n c e p t u a l i z e s t w o l e v e l s o f e x p l o r a t o r y s t u d i e s . A t t h e first level is the discovery of the significant variable in the s i t u a t i o n s ; a t t h e s e c o n d , t h e d i s c o v e r y o f relationships between variables. Answer-3(b)Because it is very important that you have a good research
problem we give you 8 criteria for a good research problem. You will notice that some of the criteria overlap. 1. Question mark ? The research problem can be in a declarative or in a question form (Smith & Spitzer, 2006). We recommend you to formulate your research problem as a question.

2. Possibility to respond Some questions are impossible to answer in a scientific way, for example: how beautiful is the color yellow. We dont have the scientifically justified instruments to answer this question.

3. Relevance in connection to the research goals The research problem and the research goals are closely connected to each other. If an answer to the problem doesnt meet the goal of the research, one of them should be adapted.

4. Attainability The problem must be one that can be solved during the amount of time you have. 5. Open question The research problem should be an open question. That means it cannot be answered by yes or no. 6. Unmistakability Your research problem must be clear and there has to be only one way to interpret it. 7. Punctuality The problem must be clearly specified. For example: Dont write How can prejudices against Americans be combated? 8. Brevity Although your research problem should be as punctual and specific as possible, not all fencings must be placed in your research problem. It must be a brief and fluent sentence.

Question 4 Explain the procedure for Testing Hypothesis? Answer-4 A statistical hypothesis test is a method of making decisions using data from a scientific study. In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it has been predicted as unlikely to have occurred by chance alone, according to a pre-determined threshold probability, the significance level. The phrase "test of significance" was coined by statistician Ronald Fisher.[1] These tests are used in determining what outcomes of a study would lead to a rejection of the null hypothesis for a pre-specified level of significance; this can help to decide whether results contain enough information to cast doubt on conventional wisdom, given that conventional wisdom has been used to establish the null hypothesis. The critical region of a hypothesis test is the set of all outcomes which cause the null hypothesis to be rejected in favor of the alternative hypothesis. Statistical hypothesis testing is sometimes called confirmatory data analysis, in contrast to exploratory data analysis, which may not have pre-specified hypotheses. Statistical hypothesis testing is a key technique of frequentist statistical inference. Statistical hypothesis tests define a procedure which controls (fixes) the probability of incorrectly deciding that a default position (null hypothesis) is incorrect based on how likely it would be for a set of observations to occur if the null hypothesis were true. Note

that this probability of making an incorrect decision is not the probability that the null hypothesis is true, nor whether any specific alternative hypothesis is true. This contrasts with other possible techniques of decision theory in which the null and alternative hypothesis are treated on a more equal basis. One naive Bayesianapproach to hypothesis testing is to base decisions on the posterior probability,[2][3] but this fails when comparing point and continuous hypotheses. Other approaches to decision making, such as Bayesian decision theory, attempt to balance the consequences of incorrect decisions across all possibilities, rather than concentrating on a single null hypothesis. A number of other approaches to reaching a decision based on data are available via decision theory and optimal decisions, some of which have desirable properties, yet hypothesis testing is a dominant approach to data analysis in many fields of science. Extensions to the theory of hypothesis testing include the study of the power of tests, which refers to the probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis when a given state of nature exists. Such considerations can be used for the purpose of sample size determination prior to the collection of data.

Q5. a. Explain the components of a research design b. Briefly explain the different types of research designs. Answer-5(a)The components of research design Dependent and Independent variables: A magnitude that varies is known as a variable. When changes in one variable depends upon the changes in one or more other variables, it is known as a dependent or endogenous variable, and the variables that cause the changes in the dependent variable are known as the independent or explanatory or exogenous variables. For example, if demand depends upon price, then demand is a dependent variable, while price is the independent variable. Extraneous variable: The independent variables which are not directly related to the study but affect the dependent variable are known as extraneous variables. For instance, assume that a researcher wants to test the hypothesis that there is relationship between childrens school performance and their self-concepts, in which case the latter is an independent variable and the former, the dependent variable. In this context, intelligence may also influence the school performance. However, since it is not directly related to the purpose of the study undertaken by the researcher, it would be known as an extraneous variable. Control: One of the most important features of a good research design is to minimize the effect of extraneous variable. Confounded relationship: The relationship between dependent and independent variables is said to be confounded by an extraneous variable, when the dependent variable is not free from its effects.

Answer-5(b)
There are a number of research designs. They are 1. Experimental, historical and inferential designs (American Marketing Association). 2. Exploratory, descriptive and causal designs (Selltiz, Jahoda, Deutsch and Cook). 3. Experimental and expost fact (Kerlinger) 4. Historical method, and case and clinical studies (Goode and Scates) 5. Sample surveys, field studies, experiments in field settings, and laboratory experiments (Festinger and Katz) 6. Exploratory, descriptive and experimental studies (Body and Westfall) 7. Exploratory, descriptive and casual (Green and Tull) 8. Experimental, quasi-experimental designs (Nachmias and Nachmias) 9. True experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental designs (Smith). 10. Experimental, pre-experimental, quasi-experimental designs and Survey Research (Kidder and Judd). In fact, there are different perspectives from which any given study can be viewed. They are: 1. The degree of formulation of the problem (the study may be exploratory or formalized) 2. The topical scope-breadth and depth-of the study(a case or a statistical study) 3. The research environment: field setting or laboratory (survey, laboratory experiment) 4. The time dimension (one-time or longitudinal) 5. The mode of data collection (observational or survey) 6. The manipulation of the variables under study (experimental or expost facto) 7. The nature of the relationship among variables (descriptive or causal)

Q6. a. What are the assumptions of Case Study Method? b. Explain the Sampling process. Answer-6(a)Case study is a method of exploring and analyzing the life of a social unit or entity, be it a person, a family, an institution or a community. Assumptions of case study are 1) Case study would depend upon wit, commonsense and imagination of the person doing the case study. The investigator makes up his procedure as he goes along. 2) If the life history has been written in the first person, it must be as complete and coherent as possible. 3) Life histories should have been written for knowledgeable persons. 4) It is advisable to supplement case data by observational, statistical and historical data since these provide standards for assessing the reliability and consistency of the ase material. 5) Efforts should be made to ascertain the reliability of life history data through examining the internal consistency of the material. 6) A judicious combination of techniques of data collection is a prerequisite for securing data that are culturally meaningful and scientifically significant.

Answer-6(b)Sampling Procedure The decision process of sampling is complicated one. The researcher has to first identify

the limiting factor or factors and must judiciously balance the conflicting factors. The various criteria governing the choice of the sampling technique: 1. Purpose of the Survey: What does the researcher aim at? The choice of a particular type of probability sampling. 2. Measurability: The application of statistical inference theory requires computation of the sampling error from the sample itself. 3. Degree of Precision: Should the results of the survey be very precise, or even rough results could serve the purpose? The desired level of precision as one of the criteria of sampling method selection. 4. Information about Population: How much information is available about the population to be studied? Where no list of population and no information about its nature are available, it is difficult to apply a probability sampling method. 5. The Nature of the Population: In terms of the variables to be studied.

6. Geographical Area of the Study and the Size of the Population: If the area covered by a survey is very large and the size of the population is quite large. 7. Financial resources: If the available finance is limited, it may become necessary to choose a less costly sampling plan. 8. Time Limitation: The time limit within which the research project should be completed restricts the choice of a sampling method. 9. Economy: It should be another criterion in choosing the sampling method. It means achieving the desired level of precision at minimum cost.