Define:

Research
Research : Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner s Dictionary of !"rrent #nglish lays down the meaning of research as $a caref"l investigation or in%"iry specially thro"gh search for new facts in any &ranch of knowledge.' &y means of logical and systematic techni%"es aims to : a. Discover new facts or verify and test old facts &. Analy(e their se%"ences, inter)relationships and ca"sal e*planations c. Develop new scientific tools, concepts and theories which wo"ld facilitate relia&le and valid st"dy of h"man &ehavior. d. +erlinger defines research as a systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions a&o"t the pres"med relations among nat"ral phenomena. The p"rpose of research therefore is to discover and develop an organi(ed &ody of knowledge in any discipline. Research is a ,o"rney of discovery. It is a sol"tion)oriented in%"iry that m"st &e o&,ective and repeata&le. Research will provide practical &enefits if it can provide advanced "nderstanding of a discipline or s"ggest ways to handle some sit"ations that we confront.

Null Hypothesis
In the conte*t of statistical analysis, we often talk a&o"t n"ll hypothesis and alternative hypothesis. If we are to compare method A with method - a&o"t its s"periority and if we proceed on the ass"mption that &oth methods are e%"ally good, then this ass"mption is termed as the n"ll hypothesis. As against this, we may think that the method A is s"perior or the method - is inferior, we are then stating what is termed as alternative hypothesis. The n"ll hypothesis ./01 refers to a hypothesis which the researcher tries to re,ect, disprove, or n"llify. The 2n"ll often refers to the common view of something, while the alternative hypothesis is what the researcher really thinks is the ca"se of a phenomenon. The simplistic definition of the n"ll is as the opposite of the alternative hypothesis ./31. An e*periment concl"sion always refers to the n"ll, re,ecting or accepting /0 rather than /3. /owever, many researchers ignore the n"ll hypothesis when testing hypotheses, which is poor practice and can have adverse effects. #*ample: A social researcher may post"late a hypothesis as follows: /3: 4eople e*hi&it a greater inclination for n"clear family if they have st"died in convent schools rather than in government schools. /e wo"ld post"late a n"ll hypothesis as follows: /0: 4eople do not e*hi&it a higher inclination for n"clear family if they have st"died in convent schools rather than in government schools It is significant to ca"tio"sly choose the wording of the n"ll, and ens"re that it is as specific as possi&le. The researcher might post"late, for e*ample, the n"ll hypothesis: /0: 4eople show no difference in their inclination for n"clear family when ed"cated in convent schools rather than government schools.

Fundamental Research
5"ndamental research foc"ses on finding generali(ations and form"lating theories. $6athering knowledge for knowledge s sake is termed 2p"re or 2&asic research.' Research concerning some nat"ral phenomenon or relating to p"re mathematics are e*amples of f"ndamental research. It is the research done for knowledge enhancement7 the research which does not have immediate commercial potential7 and the research which is done for h"man welfare, animal welfare and plant kingdom welfare. 5or e*ample, research on the instit"tion of marriage came into &eing is an e*ample of &asic or f"ndamental research. /ere the main motivation is to e*pand man s knowledge and not to create or invent something. -asic research lays down the fo"ndation for the applied research.

Review of Literature
A literat"re review is a te*t written &y someone to consider the critical points of c"rrent knowledge incl"ding s"&stantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contri&"tions to a partic"lar topic. Literat"re reviews are secondary so"rces, and as s"ch, do not report any new or original e*perimental work. Also, a literat"re review can &e interpreted as a review of an a&stract accomplishment. 8ost often associated with academic)oriented literat"re, s"ch as a thesis or peer)reviewed article, a literat"re review "s"ally precedes a research proposal and res"lts section. Its main goals are to sit"ate the c"rrent st"dy within the &ody of literat"re and to provide conte*t for the partic"lar reader. Literat"re reviews are a staple for research in nearly every academic field.

Statement of Research Problem

A pro&lem statement is a concise description of the iss"es that need to &e addressed &y a pro&lem solving team and sho"ld &e presented to them .or created &y them1 &efore they try to solve the pro&lem. 9hen &ringing together a team to achieve a partic"lar p"rpose, provide them with a pro&lem statement. A good pro&lem statement sho"ld answer these %"estions: 3. 9hat is the pro&lem: This sho"ld e*plain why the team is needed. ;. 9ho has the pro&lem or who is the client<c"stomer: This sho"ld e*plain who needs the sol"tion and who will decide the pro&lem has &een solved. =. 9hat form can the resol"tion &e: 9hat is the scope and limitations .in time, money, reso"rces, technologies1 that can &e "sed to solve the pro&lem: Does the client want awhite paper: A we&)tool: A new feat"re for a prod"ct: A &rainstorming on a topic: The primary p"rpose of a pro&lem statement is to foc"s the attention of the pro&lem solving team. /owever, if the foc"s of the pro&lem is too narrow or the scope of the sol"tion too limited the creativity and innovation of the sol"tion can &e stifling.

Quartiles
In descriptive statistics, the quartiles of a ranked set of data val"es are the three points that divide the data set into fo"r e%"al gro"ps, each gro"p comprising a %"arter of the data. A %"artile is a type of %"antile. The first %"artile .>31 is defined as the middle n"m&er &etween the smallest n"m&er and the median of the data set. The second %"artile .>;1 is the median of the data. The third %"artile .>=1 is the middle val"e &etween the median and the highest val"e of the data set. first quartile .designated >31 ? lower quartile ? ;@th percentile .splits off the lowest ;@A of data from the highest B@A1 second quartile .designated >;1 ? median ? @0th percentile .c"ts data set in half1 third quartile .designated >=1 ? upper quartile ? B@th percentile .splits off the highest ;@A of data from the lowest B@A1 The difference &etween the "pper and lower %"artiles is called the interquartile range.

Likert Scale

A Likert scale .<lkCrt<D3E1 is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs %"estionnaires. It is the most widely "sed approach to scaling responses in s"rvey research, s"ch that the term is often "sed interchangea&ly with rating scale, or more acc"rately the Likert type scale, even tho"gh the two are not synonymo"s. The scale is named after its inventor, psychologist Rensis Likert.D;E Likert disting"ished &etween a scale proper, which emerges from collective responses to a set of items ."s"ally eight or more1, and the format in which responses are scored along a range. Technically speaking, a Likert scale refers only to the former. The difference &etween these two concepts has to do with the distinction Likert made &etween the "nderlying phenomenon &eing investigated and the means of capt"ring variation that points to the "nderlying phenomenon.D=E9hen responding to a Likert %"estionnaire item, respondents specify their level of agreement or disagreement on a symmetric agree)disagree scale for a series of statements. Th"s, the range capt"res the intensity of their feelings for a given item.DFE A scale can &e created as the simple s"m %"estionnaire responses over the f"ll range of the scale. In so doing, Likert scaling ass"mes that distances on each item are e%"al. Importantly, G All items are assumed to be replications of each other or in other words items are considered to be parallel instrumentsG !uttman Scale In statistical s"rveys cond"cted &y means of str"ct"red interviews or %"estionnaires, a s"&set of the s"rvey items having &inary .e.g., H#I or JO1 answers forms a !uttman scale.named after Lo"is 6"ttman1 if they can &e ranked in some order so that, for a rational respondent, the response pattern can &e capt"red &y a single inde* on that ordered scale. In other words, on a 6"ttman scale, items are arranged in an order so that an individ"al who agrees with a partic"lar item also agrees with items of lower rank)order. 5or e*ample, a series of items co"ld &e .31 GI am willing to &e near ice creamG7 .;1 GI am willing to smell ice creamG7 .=1 GI am willing to eat ice creamG7 and .F1 GI love to eat ice creamG. Agreement with any one item implies agreement with the lower)order items. This contrasts with topics st"died "sing a Likert scale or a Th"rstone scale.

Pilot Survey
5irst of all the pro&lem sho"ld &e stated in a &road general way, keeping in view either some practical concern or some scientific or intellect"al interest. 5or this p"rpose, the researcher m"st immerse himself thoro"ghly in the s"&,ect matter concerning which he wishes to pose a pro&lem. In case of social research, it is considered advisa&le to do some field o&servation and as s"ch the researcher may "ndertake some sort of preliminary s"rvey or what is often called pilot survey.

"ar !raph
A bar chart or bar #raph is a chart with rectang"lar &ars with lengths proportional to the val"es that they represent. The &ars can &e plotted vertically or hori(ontally. A vertical &ar chart is sometimes called a col"mn &ar chart. A &ar graph is a chart that "ses either hori(ontal or vertical &ars to show comparisons among categories. One a*is of the chart shows the specific categories &eing compared, and the other a*is represents a discrete val"e. Iome &ar graphs present &ars cl"stered in gro"ps of more than one .gro"ped &ar graphs1, and others show the &ars divided into s"&parts to show c"m"late effect .stacked &ar graphs1.

$ariable
A varia&le is any "nit that can have different %"antitative val"es, e.g., height, lo"dness etc. >"alitative "nits are attri&"tes, e.g., honest, e*troverted, shy, etc. Largely %"antitative varia&les are contin"o"s, e.g., age is a contin"o"s varia&le while 2st"dents is a non)contin"o"s varia&le. .a1 An antecedent varia&le is an independent varia&le. .&1 A conse%"ent varia&le is a dependent varia&le. .c1 /eight is a varia&le dependent on age where age is an independent varia&le

.d1 /eight is se* related, so height is a dependent varia&le. .e1 Age and se* are independent varia&les. .f1 -ehavior changes as a f"nction of the manip"lation is an independent varia&le. .g1 The independent varia&le .IK1 is the one that is manip"lated. It is "nder the control of the e*perimenter, generally. This varia&le is also called the e*perimental varia&le. The effect of the e*perimental varia&le is reflected

Skewness
In pro&a&ility theory and statistics, skewness is a meas"re of the e*tent to which a pro&a&ility distri&"tion of a real) val"ed random varia&leGleansG to one side of the mean. The skewness val"e can &e positive or negative, or even "ndefined.

!onsider the distri&"tion in the fig"re. The &ars on the right side of the distri&"tion taper differently than the &ars on the left side. These tapering sides are called tails, and they provide a vis"al means for determining which of the two kinds of skewness a distri&"tion has: 3. negative skew: The left tail is longer7 the mass of the distri&"tion is concentrated on the right of the fig"re. It has relatively few low val"es. The distri&"tion is said to &e left-skewed, left-tailed, or skewed to the left.D3E #*ample .o&servations1: 3,3003,300;,300=. ;. positive skew: The right tail is longer7 the mass of the distri&"tion is concentrated on the left of the fig"re. It has relatively few high val"es. The distri&"tion is said to &e right-skewed, right-tailed, or skewed to the right.D3E #*ample .o&servations1: 3,;,=,3000.

Primary %ata vs Secondary %ata

4rimary data refers to the data collected directly from the so"rce. These data has not &een s"&,ected to processing or any other manip"lation and are also referred to as Raw data. 9e can o&tain primary data either thro"gh o&servation or thro"gh direct comm"nication with respondents in one form or another or thro"gh personal interviews. Iome of the important methods for o&taining primary data are as follows: .i1 o&servation method, .ii1 interview method, .iii1 thro"gh %"estionnaires, .iv1 thro"gh sched"les, and .v1 other methods which incl"de .a1 warranty cards7 .&1 distri&"tor a"dits7 .c1 pantry a"dits7 .d1 cons"mer panels7 .e1 "sing mechanical devices7 .f1 thro"gh pro,ective techni%"es7 .g1 depth interviews, and .h1 content analysis. Iecondary Data

Iecondary data, is data collected &y someone other than the "ser. !ommon so"rces of secondary data for social science incl"de cens"ses, organisational records and data collected thro"gh %"alitative methodologies or %"alitative research. 4rimary data, &y contrast, are collected &y the investigator cond"cting the research. Iecondary data analysis saves time that wo"ld otherwise &e spent collecting data and, partic"larly in the case of %"antitative data, provides larger and higher)%"ality data&ases that wo"ld &e "nfeasi&le for any individ"al researcher to collect on their own. In addition, analysts of social and economic change consider secondary data essential, since it is impossi&le to cond"ct a new s"rvey that can ade%"ately capt"re past change and<or developments. Iecondary data may either &e p"&lished data or "np"&lished data. Ls"ally p"&lished data are availa&le in: .a1 vario"s p"&lications of the central, state are local governments7 .&1 vario"s p"&lications of foreign governments or of international &odies and their s"&sidiary organisations7 .c1 technical and trade ,o"rnals7 .d1 &ooks, maga(ines and newspapers7 .e1 reports and p"&lications of vario"s associations connected with &"siness and ind"stry, &anks, stock e*changes, etc.7 .f1 reports prepared &y research scholars, "niversities, economists, etc. in different fields7 and .g1 p"&lic records and statistics, historical doc"ments, and other so"rces of p"&lished information. The so"rces of "np"&lished data are many7 they may &e fo"nd in diaries, letters, "np"&lished &iographies and a"to&iographies and also may &e availa&le with scholars and research workers, trade associations, la&o"r &"rea"s and other p"&lic< private individ"als and organisations.

&ensus method vs Samplin# method

' census is a study of every unit( everyone or everythin#( in a population) It is known as a complete enumeration, which means a complete co"nt. ' sample is a subset of units in a population( selected to represent all units in a population of interest) It is a partial enumeration &eca"se it is a co"nt from part of the pop"lation. Pros of a &*NS+S provides a tr"e meas"re of the pop"lation .no sampling error1 &enchmark data may &e o&tained for f"t"re st"dies detailed information a&o"t small s"&)gro"ps within the pop"lation is more likely to &e availa&le &ons of a &*NS+S may &e diffic"lt to en"merate all "nits of the pop"lation within the availa&le time higher costs, &oth in staff and monetary terms, than for a sample generally takes longer to collect, process, and release data than from a sample data may not &e representative of the total pop"lation, partic"larly where the sample si(e is small often not s"ita&le for prod"cing &enchmark data as data are collected from a s"&set of "nits and inferences made a&o"t the whole pop"lation, the data are s"&,ect to MsamplingM error decreased n"m&er of "nits will red"ce the detailed information availa&le a&o"t s"&)gro"ps within a pop"lation

Pros of a S',PL* costs wo"ld generally &e lower than for a cens"s res"lts may &e availa&le in less time if good sampling techni%"es are "sed, the res"lts can &e very representative of the act"al pop"lation

&ons of a S',PL*

%escriptive statistics vs -nferential statistics

Itatistical proced"res can &e divided into two ma,or categories: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. %escriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics incl"des statistical proced"res that we "se to descri&e the pop"lation we are st"dying. The data co"ld &e collected from either a sample or a pop"lation, &"t the res"lts help "s organi(e and descri&e data. Descriptive statistics can only &e "sed to descri&e the gro"p that is &eing st"dying. That is, the res"lts cannot &e generali(ed to any larger gro"p.

-nferential Statistics Inferential statistics is concerned with making predictions or inferences a&o"t a pop"lation from o&servations and analyses of a sample. That is, we can take the res"lts of an analysis "sing a sample and can generali(e it to the larger pop"lation that the sample represents. In order to do this, however, it is imperative that the sample is representative of the gro"p to which it is &eing generali(ed.

%ifference between Schedule and Questionnaire)

I.Jo 3. ;. =. Questionnaire Schedule

F. @. N. B. O. P.

30. 33. 3;.

>"estionnaire is generally sent thro"gh mail to informants to A sched"le is generally filled &y the research worker or &e answered as specified in a covering letter, &"t otherwise en"merator, who can interpret the %"estions when witho"t f"rther assistance from the sender. necessary. Data collection is cheap and economical as the money is Data collection is more e*pensive as money is spent on spent in preparation of %"estionnaire and in mailing the sameen"merators and in imparting trainings to them. 8oney is to respondents. also spent in preparing sched"les. Jon response is "s"ally high as many people do not respondJon response is very low &eca"se this is filled &y and many ret"rn the %"estionnaire witho"t answering all en"merators who are a&le to get answers to all %"estions. %"estions. -ias d"e to non response often remains -"t even in this their remains the danger of interviewer indeterminate. &ias and cheating. It is not clear that who replies. Identity of respondent is not known. The %"estionnaire method is likely to &e very slow sinceInformation is collected well in time as they are filled &y many respondents do not ret"rn the %"estionnaire. en"merators. Jo personal contact is possi&le in case of %"estionnaire as theDirect personal contact is esta&lished %"estionnaires are sent to respondents &y post who also in t"rn ret"rns the same &y post. This method can &e "sed only when respondents are literate The information can &e gathered even when the and cooperative. respondents happen to &e illiterate. 9ider and more representative distri&"tion of sample is There remains the diffic"lty in sending en"merators over a possi&le. relatively wider area. Risk of collecting incomplete and wrong information is The information collected is generally complete and relatively more "nder the %"estionnaire method, when peopleacc"rate as en"merators can remove diffic"lties if any are "na&le to "nderstand %"estions properly. faced &y respondents in correctly "nderstanding the %"estions. As a res"lt the information collected thro"gh sched"le is relatively more acc"rate than that o&tained thro"gh %"estionnaires. The s"ccess of %"estionnaire methods lies more on the %"alityIt depends "pon the honesty and competence of of the %"estionnaire itself. en"merators The physical appearance of %"estionnaire m"st &e %"ite This may not &e the case as sched"les are to &e filled in &y attractive. en"merators and not &y respondents. This is not possi&le when collecting data thro"gh Along with sched"le o&servation method can also &e "sed. %"estionnaire.

Random Samplin#
One of the &est ways to achieve "n&iased res"lts in a st"dy is thro"gh random sampling. Random sampling incl"des choosing s"&,ects from a pop"lation thro"gh "npredicta&le means. In its simplest form, s"&,ects all have an e%"al chance of &eing selected o"t of the pop"lation &eing researched. ,ethods

In random sampling, three methods are most common when cond"cting s"rveys. Random n"m&er ta&les, more recently known as random n"m&er generators, tell researchers to select s"&,ects at an interval generated randomly. 8athematical algorithms for pse"do)random n"m&er generators may also &e "sed. Another method "sed is physical randomi(ation devices, which co"ld &e as simple as a deck of playing cards or an electronic device called #RJI#. "enefits One of the &iggest &enefits of "sing random sampling in a s"rvey is the fact that, since s"&,ects are o&vio"sly randomi(ed, it is the &est way to ens"re that res"lts are "n&iased. It is also m"ch faster and often less e*pensive to "se random sampling and as a res"lt is a m"ch more efficient way to o&tainres"lts. Additionally, random sampling consistently provides res"lts that are valid, making it easy for researchers to draw concl"sions a&o"t large pop"lations. Risks As with any s"rvey, there is no way to g"arantee that the res"lts that come from a sample in a random s"rvey are 300A acc"rate, altho"gh the res"lts do tend to &e more acc"rate than those o&tained thro"gh other methods. The sample may not &e representative of the larger pop"lation, which can inc"r a sampling error, &"t the chance of this occ"rring can &e determined early in the s"rvey &y mathematical theories. Despite the pro&lems associated with this method, it s important to remem&er that every s"rvey comes with meas"res of "ncertainty. .hen to +se Random Samplin# 9hen s"rveying a large pop"lation it may not make sense to s"rvey everyone in the pop"lation, as this wo"ld &e very time cons"ming and often %"ite e*pensive. Random sampling in this case wo"ld &e proportionate to the si(e of the pop"lation, and the res"lts from s"rveying the samples wo"ld &e later "sed to infer how the pop"lation as a whole may have responded and to draw concl"sions a&o"t the larger gro"p. -nterpretin# %ata Once the random sampling s"rvey has &een cond"cted, the ne*t step is to interpret the data received from the selected gro"p. It s necessary to organi(e the information that has &een gathered &efore analy(ing the data. It s important to determine the confidence and error levels in the s"rvey as well to make s"re the data is as acc"rate as possi&le. Ho" may interpret that data as following a certain distri&"tion, known as 6a"ssian distri&"tion, &y ranking and comparing res"lts. Random sampling is a %"ick and easy way to o&tain "n&iased res"lts a&o"t a pop"lation &eing s"rveyed. -eca"se many other methods of s"rveying can come with a h"ge risk of &ias, random sampling is often a top choice when designing s"rveys. Despite the margin of error that comes with any s"rvey, random sampling is the &est way to get the most acc"rate information.

Ratin# Scale
A ratin# scale is a set of categories designed to elicit information a&o"t a %"antitative or a %"alitative attri&"te. In the social sciences, common e*amples are the Likert scale and 3)30 rating scales in which a person selects the n"m&er which is considered to reflect the perceived %"ality of a prod"ct.

Types of rating scales

All rating scales can &e classified into one of three classifications:) 3. Jominal Icale: this is a system of meas"rement where a n"m&er is given to la&el an event. These are merely convenient la&els and do not have any special meaning or significance. The n"m&ers assigned to not have any %"antitative va"e. 5or e*ample, one player of cricket team is given ,ersey no 30 and another @. This is neither a rank or distance &etween them. It is only a way of categori(ing them as team mem&er. ;. Iome data are meas"red at the ordinal level. J"m&ers indicate the relative position of items, &"t not the magnit"de of difference. One e*ample is a Likert scale: Statement/ e.g. GI co"ld not live witho"t my comp"terG. Response options/ 3. Itrongly disagree

;. =. F.

Disagree Agree Itrongly agree

=. Iome data are meas"red at the interval level. J"m&ers indicate the magnit"de of difference &etween items, &"t there
is no a&sol"te (ero point. #*amples are attit"de scales and opinion scales. F. Iome data are meas"red at the ratio level. J"m&ers indicate magnit"de of difference and there is a fi*ed (ero point. Ratios can &e calc"lated. #*amples incl"de age, income, price, costs, sales reven"e, sales vol"me and market share.

&heck list
A checklist is a type of informational ,o& aid "sed to red"ce fail"re &y compensating for potential limits of h"man memory and attention. It helps to ens"re consistency and completeness in carrying o"t a task. A &asic e*ample is the Gto do list.G A more advanced checklist wo"ld &e a sched"le, which lays o"t tasks to &e done according to time of day or other factors. !hecklists are often presented as lists with small check&o*es down the left hand side of the page. A small tick or checkmark is drawn in the &o* after the item has &een completed. &ase Study In the social sciences and life sciences, a case study .or case report1 is a descriptive, e*ploratory or e*planatory analysis of a person, gro"p or event. An e*planatory case st"dy is "sed to e*plore ca"sation in order to find "nderlying principles. D3ED;E !ase st"dies may &e prospective .in which criteria are esta&lished and cases fitting the criteria are incl"ded as they &ecome availa&le1 or retrospective .in which criteria are esta&lished for selecting cases from historical records for incl"sion in the st"dy1. ThomasD=E offers the following definition of case st"dy: G!ase st"dies are analyses of persons, events, decisions, periods, pro,ects, policies, instit"tions, or other systems that are st"died holistically &y one or more methods. The case that is the subject of the in%"iry will &e an instance of a class of phenomena that provides an analytical frame Q an object Q within which the st"dy is cond"cted and which the case ill"minates and e*plicates.G Another s"ggestion is that case study sho"ld &e defined as a research strategy, an empirical in%"iry that investigates a phenomenon within its real)life conte*t. !ase st"dy research can mean single and m"ltiple case st"dies, can incl"de %"antitative evidence, relies on m"ltiple so"rces of evidence, and &enefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions. !ase st"dies sho"ld not &e conf"sed with %"alitative research and they can &e &ased on any mi* of %"antitative and %"alitative evidence. Iingle)s"&,ect researchprovides the statistical framework for making inferences from %"antitative case)st"dy data.D;E DFE This is also s"pported and well)form"lated in .Lamnek, ;00@1: GThe case st"dy is a research approach, sit"ated &etween concrete data taking techni%"es and methodologic paradigms.G

0b1ectives of Research
The o&,ective of any research is to find answers to %"estions thro"gh the application of scientific proced"res. The main aim of any research is e*ploring the hidden or "ndiscovered tr"th. #ven tho"gh each research st"dy has a specific o&,ective, the research o&,ectives in general can &e categori(ed into the following &road categories: *2ploratory or formulative research studies/ These are aimed at gaining familiarity with a partic"lar phenomenon or at gaining new insights into it. %escriptive research studies/ These are aimed at acc"rately portraying the characteristics of a partic"lar event, phenomenon, individ"al or sit"ation. %ia#nostic research studies/ These st"dies try to determine the fre%"ency with which something occ"rs.

Hypothesis testin# research studies/ These st"dies test a hypothesis and determine a ca"sal relationship &etween the varia&les.

*2tra/ -) R*S*'R&H 0"3*&4-$*S The 0"3*&4-$*S of a research pro,ect s"mmarise what is to &e achieved &y the st"dy. O&,ectives sho"ld &e closely related to the statement of the pro&lem. 5or e*ample, if the pro&lem identified is low "tilisation of child welfare clinics, the general o&,ective of the st"dy co"ld &e to identify the reasons for this low "tilisation, in order to find sol"tions. The #eneral ob1ective of a st"dy states what researchers e*pect to achieve &y the st"dy in general terms. It is possi&le .and advisa&le1 to &reak down a general o&,ective into smaller, logically connected parts. These are normally referred to as specific ob1ectives) Ipecific o&,ectives sho"ld systematically address the vario"s aspects of the pro&lem as defined "nder 2Itatement of the 4ro&lem .,odule 51 and the key factors that are ass"med to infl"ence or ca"se the pro&lem. They sho"ld specifywhat yo" will do in yo"r st"dy, where and for what purpose. A st"dy into the cost and %"ality of home)&ased care for /IK<AIDI patients and their comm"nities in Rim&a&we, developed at an /IR workshop, for e*ample, had as its general o&,ective: To e*plore to what e*tent comm"nity home)&ased care .!/-!1 pro,ects in Rim&a&we provide ade%"ate, afforda&le and s"staina&le care of good %"ality to people with /IK<AIDI, and to identify ways in which these services can &e improved. It was split "p in the following specific o&,ectives: 3. To identify the f"ll range of economic, psychosocial, health<n"rsing care and other needs of patients and their families affected &y AIDI. ;. To determine the e*tent to which formal and informal s"pport systems address these needs from the viewpoint of service providers as well as patients. =. To determine the economic costs of !/-! to the patient and family as well as to the formal !/-! programmes themselves. F. To relate the calc"lated costs to the %"ality of care provided to the patient &y the family and to the family<patient &y the !/-! programme. @. To determine how improved !/-! and informal s"pport networks can contri&"te to the needs of persons with AIDI and other chronically and terminally ill patients. N. To "se the findings to make recommendations on the improvement of !/-! to home care providers, donors and other concerned organisations, incl"ding government. The first specific o&,ective "s"ally foc"ses on %"antifying or specifying the pro&lem. This is necessary in many st"dies, especially when a pro&lem has &een defined .&"t not %"antified1 for which s"&se%"ently the ma,or ca"ses have to &e identified. Often "se can &e made of availa&le statistics or of the health information system. In the st"dy on the high defa"lter rate of T- patients, this rate sho"ld first &e esta&lished, "sing the records, and only then wo"ld the contri&"ting factors to defa"lting &e analysed. In the e*ample given, the needs of AIDI patients and their relatives for care and s"pport have &een defined in the first o&,ective. The o&,ectives which follow concentrate on ade%"acy, cost and %"ality of care provided whereas the last two o&,ectives specify possi&le improvements with respect to !/-!, and to whom the res"lts and recommendations of the st"dy will &e fed &ack.

Formulatin# the Research Hypothesis

The 4ro&lem identification process ends in the hypotheses form"lation stage. Any ass"mption that the researcher makes on the pro&a&le direction of the res"lts that might &e o&tained on completion of the research process is termed as a hypothesis. Lnlike the research pro&lem that generally takes on a %"estion form, the hypothesis are always in a sentence form. The statement th"s made can then &e empirically tested. +erlinger .3PON1 defines a hypothesis as $ S a con,ect"ral statement of the relationship &etween two or more varia&les. 9hile designing any hypothesis there are a few criteria that the researcher m"st f"lfill. These are : A hypothesis m"st &e form"lated in simple, clear, and declarative form. A &road hypothesis might not &e empirically testa&le. Th"s it might &e advisa&le to make the hypothesis "ni)dimensional , and to &e tested only one relationship &etween only two varia&les at a time. o !ons"mers liking for the electronic advertisement for the new diet drink will have positive impact on &rand awareness of the drink. o /igh organi(ational commitment will lead to lower t"rnover intention. A hypothesis m"st &e meas"ra&le and %"antifia&le

A hypothesis is a con,ect"ral statement &ased on the e*isting literat"re and theories a&o"t the topic and not &ased on the g"t feel of the researcher The validation of the hypothesis wo"ld necessarily involve testing the statistical significance of the hypothesi(ed relation.

Qualitative and quantitative research

In social sciences, %"antitative research is the systematic empirical investigation of %"antitative properties and phenomena and their relationships. The process of meas"rement is vital to %"antitative research since it esta&lishes f"ndamental connection &etween empirical o&servation and mathematical e*pression of %"antitative relationships. In %"antitative research, statistics is the most widely "sed &ranch of mathematics. Itatistical methods are "sed e*tensively for social, economic and commercial research. >"antitative research "sing statistical methods &egins with the collection of data, &ased on the hypothesis or theory. The st"dy of the relationship &etween dietary intake and meas"ra&le physiological effects, s"ch as weight loss, is an e2ample of %"antitative research. >"alitative research is a non)%"alitative type of analysis. It refers to the meanings, definitions, characteristics, sym&ols, metaphors and description of things. It is m"ch more s"&,ective and "ses very different methods of collecting information, primarily individ"al, in)depth interviews and foc"s gro"ps. In this type of research, small n"m&ers of people are interviewed in depth and or a relatively small n"m&er of foc"s gro"ps are cond"cted. >"alitative research can &e f"rther classified into many s"&)types. 4henomenology is a type of %"alitative research in which the researcher attempts to "nderstand how one or more individ"als e*perience a phenomenon. 5or e2ample, if the researcher interviews ;@ victims of the -hopal Tragedy a&o"t their e*perience of the tragedy, it is a case of phenomenological research. #thnography is another form of %"alitative research, which foc"ses on descri&ing the c"lt"re of a gro"p of people. 5or e2ample, the researcher might decide to go and live with the tri&al in the north)east region of the co"ntry and st"dy the c"lt"re and the ed"cational practices prevalent in the region. !ase st"dy is also a form of %"alitative research that is foc"sed on providing a detailed acco"nt of one or more cases

Library skills required for thorou#h survey of Literature

4roficient li&rary skills are paramo"nt for any position in the work force. In any type of p"&lished research, a thoro"gh literat"re review is cond"cted first. The literature review appears at the &eginning and introd"ces the st"dy serving several p"rposes: T Reviews thoro"ghly the pertinent research related to the topic T Organi(es the articles yo" have identified as most important T Iets the theoretical fo"ndation for yo"r topic T #*plains why c"rrent st"dy is val"a&le<needed T Itates the specific hypotheses<goals of the c"rrent st"dy Jote: If a thoro"gh literat"re review is not cond"cted, it is a waste of time and effort to cond"ct the research pro,ect. 9hy: T Others may have already investigated the topic in the proposed manner. T Learn from others past mistakes<limitations T 8"st "nderstand the theory well &efore one can make a coherent contri&"tion.

Historical( *2perimental and descriptive methods of Research

/istorical 8ethod The systematic and o&,ective location, eval"ation and synthesis of evidence in order to esta&lish facts and draw concl"sions a&o"t past events it involves7 9here the event took place: 9ho were involved 9hen the event occ"rred 9hat kind of h"man activity was involved

Descriptive research Instead of e*amining records or artifacts, descriptive research relies on o&servation as a means of collecting data Attempts to e*amine sit"ation in order to esta&lish what is the normal ) 9hat can &e predicted to happen again "nder the same circ"mstances O&servation are written down or recorded in some way in order to &e s"&se%"ently analysed Depends on h"man o&servations and responses U distortions in data can occ"r is &iased %"estions in interviews, %"estionnaire, selective o&servation of events #*perimental research Researchers try ot isolate and control every relevant condition which determines the events investigated, so as to o&serve the effects when the conditions are manip"lated. Different types of e*perimental methods are as follows: o 4re)e*perimental : "n relia&le ass"mptions are made despite the lack of control over varia&les o Tr"e #*perimental U rigoro"s check of the identical nat"re of gro"ps &efore testing the infl"ence of a varia&le on a sample of them "nder controlled circ"mstances o >"asi)#*perimental U not all conditions of tr"e e*perimental design can &e f"lfilled &"t the short comings are identified o !o relational and e* post facto: !o) relation looks for the ca"se and effect relationships &etween two sets of data7 e*)post facto reverse e*perimentation U interprets the ca"se of phenomenon &y o&serving its effects

Steps in writin# Research report

Iince research is a demanding and painstaking effort, s"fficient time and attention sho"ld &e devoted to writing the report of the work carried o"t. Iome of the steps involved in the planning of writing a good report are as follows: Itep 3: The entire st"dy sho"ld &e analysed very logically in a thoro"gh manner. Itep ;: A ro"gh or preliminary draft of the o"tline of the proposed research, sho"ld &e prepared with tho"ght and care7 Itep =: The final o"tline sho"ld &e developed. Itep F:This can then &e polished and refined, &efore &eing re)written. Itep @: This can &e followed &y the compiling of the &i&liography. Itep N: Then the final draft can &e written. 4he lo#ical analysis process This can &e carried o"t in one of the following two ways: .i1 -y ens"ring that the topics follow one another in a logical, se%"ential and rational manner .ii1 -y writing a report on the &asis of the se%"ence of happenings .following a chronological se%"ence1 Iometimes, a com&ination of these two strategies is "sef"l. Preparation of the rou#h draft/ This is the step of p"tting down what one did in the st"dy, in the order in which it was carried o"t. This co"ld incl"de the motivations, the insights, the str"ggles and the limitations. Also, the process of designing the st"dy, the method of data collection, the controls and varia&les sho"ld &e "tili(ed and the &road findings and directions of generali(ations possi&le sho"ld &e identified. Preparation of the final outline/ This step involves caref"l reporting of the st"dy along with the theoretical framework for the st"dy. List all the proced"res followed 4he preparation of the biblio#raphy/ This refers to all the &ooks, ,o"rnals, maga(ines, reports and other so"rces that have &een cons"lted for "ndertaking the st"dy. The format for listing these references is to &e written in keeping with the style of the Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Format of Research Report

This is the str"ct"re or format of a research report. There is a standardi(ed convention that has &een "niversally accepted for the p"rpose of writing a research report. It is clearly laid down in the p"&lication, Manual of the American Psychological Association. This man"al also gives s"ggestions on how to present concepts with &revity and clarity. The A4A man"al has divided research report writing into eight parts. 'P' format for writin# reports .a1 4itle pa#e/ This page has three main sections: a. 4itle and runnin# head) The title is the pro&lem investigated &y the st"dy while the r"nning head is a short description of the Title. It can have a ma*im"m of @0 characters7 &. A"thor s name and affiliation: The a"thor.s1 name .s1 to &e presented on this page, starting with the principal investigator and the designation and the instit"tional affiliation .if any1. The other a"thors of the st"dy sho"ld then

&e listed in the order of their importance to the contri&"tion. Their designations and affiliations can &e given s"ita&ly. c. Acknowledgements: This can &e the third part of the title. Any form of s"pport in terms of finances or instit"tional help, comments, secretarial<editorial assistance etc, can &e mentioned here. .&1 'bstract/ This is a synopsis of the research in f"ll detail, &"t in an a&ridged form. The ideal length wo"ld &e a&o"t 3@0 words. It sho"ld incl"de the pro&lem st"died, the methods "sed, the research design adopted .any apparat"s, if "sed1, the statistical treatment, the findings and the concl"sions, as well as its applications<implications. .c1 -ntroduction/ This is the &eginning of the report and thereafter the entire report follows a se%"ence. An introd"ction is not written simply as an introd"ction. It has three divisions: a. The first part is the statement of the pro&lem that was st"died. A part of this section needs to incl"de the motivation for st"dying the partic"lar pro&lem and the theoretical or practical orientations "nderlying the st"dy "ndertaken. &. The second part of this section sho"ld contain a description of the review of the previo"s literat"re availa&le in the field. This sho"ld refer to the st"dies related to the field of the present in%"iry. A good rationale and a logical relationship &etween the earlier st"dies and the present investigation needs to &e developed. c. The third part of this section is devoted to the form"lation of the hypothesis, for the st"dy. This sho"ld incl"de the operational definition of the hypothesis that is proposed. The hypothesis is to &e clearly stated and the scientific proced"res involved in testing it need to &e specified. The independent and dependent varia&les sho"ld &e identified and the design sho"ld &e shown in a diagram, if possi&le. .d1 ,ethod/ This constit"tes the main &ody of the report to &e written. It incl"des a very precise acco"nt of how the st"dy was cond"cted. This is the proced"ral part of the report. It is e*pected that anyone who reads the report and wishes to "ndertake a similar st"dy sho"ld &e a&le to do so, &y following the method s section closely. There are several s"&sections that make "p this section. These help in &ringing to foc"s different parts of the method: i. The sample: This re%"ires that the sample &e clearly specified, along with the type of sampling proced"re "sed. Ipecial characteristics like age, se*, etc., that are relevant to the st"dy need to &e identified precisely. The total n"m&er of s"&,ects incl"ded for the st"dy is very significant. The different treatments sho"ld &e clearly descri&ed. The control conditions sho"ld &e e*plained caref"lly. ii. #%"ipment "sed: If any special apparat"s was "sed for the st"dy, the model, the man"fact"ring company and other details need to &e given. If a photograph of the e%"ipment can &e given, it wo"ld &e helpf"l. iii. The design: #very st"dy has a &l"eprint on the &asis of which any st"dy is proposed to &e carried o"t. This is the design of the st"dy. /ere, the entire proced"re of the cond"ction of the st"dy, along with the e*perimental and control conditions, need to &e ela&orately presented. The steps in the introd"ction of the independent varia&le have to &e dealt with at length and clearly. Io, also the controls that have &een "sed in the st"dy, the nat"re and type of meas"rement of the dependent varia&le sho"ld &e clearly mentioned. In short, the entire proced"ral information has to &e given, so that its replication is possi&le &y another interested researchers. Results/ This refers to providing the data o&tained from the st"dy. If the raw data is significant for &eing presented, it is to &e given in a meaningf"l ta&"lated way. Otherwise, the res"lts are to &e reported in terms of the hypothesis st"died. The statistical significance of the res"lts needs to &e given. 9hether the hypothesis is s"pported or re,ected sho"ld &e clearly mentioned. Ta&les, charts, diagrams, fig"res, etc. are to &e presented in the most s"ita&le manner. The ma,or findings can &e s"mmari(ed and presented. 9herever possi&le, the te*t sho"ld &e s"pported &y vis"al material for greater emphasis. The statistical treatment carried on and the levels of significance for the data sho"ld &e clearly stated. %iscussion of results/ The p"rpose of this section is to interpret the res"lts of the st"dy. It sho"ld have a detailed acco"nt of the st"dy related to other st"dies in the field. The disc"ssion sho"ld state whether the hypothesis is s"pported or re,ected. The s"pported hypothesis, as well as the re,ected one, &oth need to &e e*plained on the &asis of some theoretical ass"mptions. Any new hypothesis can &e s"ggested when the res"lts are not along the predicted lines. Any fa"lts in the form"lated hypothesis can &e modified on the &asis of the res"lts o&tained. These can &e disc"ssed s"ita&ly. Detailed disc"ssion a&o"t the findings can &e presented. 5inally, any s"ggestions regarding the ways in which the pro&lem that has &een st"died, needs to &e resolved, can &e offered. Any implications of the findings can &e indicated. Also, s"ggestions for f"t"re research sho"ld &e mentioned. A small paragraph co"ld &e devoted to the limitations of the st"dy and how some of these limitations can &e overcome can also &e mentioned. References/ This incl"des all &ooks, ,o"rnals, articles, reports, Internet links for references, etc., listed in alpha&etical order. The citations sho"ld &e presented in accordance with the man"al of the American 4sychological Association. 'ppendi2/ This can &e incl"ded where tests, %"estionnaires, any statistical treatment, comp"ter program, etc, were "sed for the st"dy &"t do not fit into the report d"e to length and other considerations.

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,ethods of &ollectin# %ata

The task of data collection &egins after a research pro&lem has &een defined and research design< plan chalked o"t. 9hile deciding a&o"t the method of data collection to &e "sed for the st"dy, the researcher sho"ld keep in mind two types of data vi(., primary and secondary. The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and th"s happen to &e original in character. The secondary data, on the other hand, are those which have already &een collected &y someone else and which have already &een passed thro"gh the statistical process. The researcher wo"ld have to decide which sort of data he wo"ld &e "sing .th"s collecting1 for his st"dy and accordingly he will have to select one or the other method of data collection. The methods of collecting primary and secondary data differ since primary data are to &e originally collected, while in case of secondary data the nat"re of data collection work is merely that of compilation. 9e descri&e the different methods of data collection, with the pros and cons of each method. COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA 9e collect primary data d"ring the co"rse of doing e*periments in an e*perimental research &"t in case we do research of the descriptive type and perform s"rveys, whether sample s"rveys or cens"s s"rveys, then we can o&tain primary data either thro"gh o&servation or thro"gh direct comm"nication with respondents in one form or another or thro"gh personal interviews.V This, in other words, means that there are several methods of collecting primary data, partic"larly in s"rveys and descriptive researches. Important ones are: .i1 o&servation method, .ii1 Interview method, .iii1 thro"gh %"estionnaires, .iv1 thro"gh sched"les, and .v1 other methods which incl"de .a1 warranty cards7 .&1 distri&"tor a"dits7 .c1 pantry a"dits7 .d1 cons"mer panels7 .e1 "sing mechanical devices7 .f1 thro"gh pro,ective techni%"es7 .g1 depth interviews, and .h1 content analysis. COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA Iecondary data means data that are already availa&le i.e., they refer to the data which have already &een collected and analysed &y someone else. 9hen the researcher "tilises secondary data, then he has to look into vario"s so"rces from where he can o&tain them. In this case he is certainly not confronted with the pro&lems that are "s"ally associated with the collection of original data. Iecondary data may either &e p"&lished data or "np"&lished data. Ls"ally p"&lished data are availa&le in: .a1 vario"s p"&lications of the central, state are local governments7 .&1 vario"s p"&lications of foreign governments or of international &odies and their s"&sidiary organisations7 .c1 technical and trade ,o"rnals7 .d1 &ooks, maga(ines and newspapers7 .e1 reports and p"&lications of vario"s associations connected with &"siness and ind"stry, &anks, stock e*changes, etc.7 .f1 reports prepared &y research scholars, "niversities, economists, etc. in different fields7 and .g1 p"&lic records and statistics, historical doc"ments, and other so"rces of p"&lished information. The so"rces of "np"&lished data are many7 they may &e fo"nd in diaries, letters, "np"&lished &iographies and a"to&iographies and also may &e availa&le with scholars and research workers, trade associations, la&o"r &"rea"s and other p"&lic<private individ"als and organisations.

Properties of Normal Probability curve

3. The highest point occ"rs at *?W. ;. It is symmetric a&o"t the mean, W. One half of the c"rve is a mirror image of the other half, i.e., the area "nder the c"rve to the right of W is e%"al to the area "nder the c"rve to the left of W e%"als X. =. It has inflection points at W)Y and WZY. F. The c"rve is asymptotic to the hori(ontal a*is at the e*tremes. @. The total area "nder the c"rve e%"als one.

$alidity( Relaibility and 0b1ectivity

#very good meas"ring tool m"st &e s"&,ected to the tests of validity, relia&ility and practicality. $alidity is the most important of these three criteria. It means that the test m"st meas"re what it p"rports to meas"re. 5or e*ample, if a test is a meas"re of speed, then speed is what that test sho"ld meas"re. Reliability implies the consistency with which a test meas"res what it seeks to meas"re. Practicality refers to the costs involved in administering a test, the time needed, the convenience and the ease of carrying o"t the meas"rements as well as the "sef"lness of the o&tained data, &esides the interpretation. Sub1ectivity/ Disc"sses a s"&,ect and his or her perspective, feelings, &eliefs and desires 0b1ectivity/ Lsed to descri&e h"mans as 2seeing the "niverse e*actly for what it is from a standpoint free from h"man perception and its infl"ences, h"man c"lt"ral interventions, past e*perience and e*pectation of the res"lt