Q1.

Research is a sequential method of enquiry, directed

towards a clear implicit or explicit objective. Describe in
detail the steps to be carried out in a typical research study.
Ans: Management research is an unbiased, structured, and sequential
method of enquiry, directed towards a clear implicit or explicit business
objective. This enquiry might lead to proving existing theorems and models
or arriving at new theories and models.
The process of
research
Steps carried out in a typical research study
The management dilemma
Any research starts with the need and desire to know more. This is
essentially the management dilemma. It could be the researcher himself or
herself or it could be a business manager who gets the study done by a
researcher. The need might be purely academic (basic or fundamental
research) or there might be an immediate business decision that requires
an effective and workable solution (applied research).
Defining the research problem: This is the first and the most critical step
of the research journey. For example, a soft drink manufacturer who is
making and selling aerated drinks now wants to expand his business. He
wants to know whether moving into bottled water would be a better idea or
he should look at fruit juice based drinks.
Formulating the research hypotheses: In the model, we have drawn
broken lines to link defining the research problem stage to the hypotheses
formulation stage. The reason is that every research study might not
always begin with a hypothesis; in fact, the task of the study might be to
collect detailed data that might lead to, at the end of the study, some
indicative hypotheses to be tested in subsequent research.
Developing the research proposal: After the management dilemma has
been converted into a defined problem and a working hypothesis, the next
step is to develop a plan of investigation.
Research design formulation: On the basis of the orientation of the
research, i.e., exploratory, descriptive or causal, the researcher has a
number of techniques for addressing the stated objectives. These are
termed in research as research designs. The main task of the design is to
explain how the research problem will be investigated. There are different
kinds of designs available to you while doing a research.

Sampling design: Study the entire population is not always possible.

Hence the researcher goes about studying a small and representative subgroup of the population. This sub-group is referred to as the sample of the
study. There are different techniques available for selecting the group
based on certain assumptions. The most important criteria for this selection
would be the representativeness of the sample selected from the
population under study.

Q2. What are descriptive research designs? Explain the

different kinds of descriptive research designs.
Ans: The objective of descriptive research studies is to provide a
comprehensive and detailed explanation of the phenomena under study as
the name itself suggests. The intended objective might be to give a detailed
sketch or profile of the respondent population being studied. For example,
to design an advertising and sales promotion campaign for high-end
watches, a marketer would require a holistic profile of the population that
buys such luxury products. Thus a descriptive study, (which generates data
on who, what, when, where, why and how of luxury accessory brand
purchase) would be the design necessary to fulfill the research objectives.
Cross-sectional Studies: Cross-sectional studies involve a slice of the
population as the name implies. Just as in scientific experiments one takes
a cross-section of the leaf or the cheek cells to study the cell structure
under the microscope, similarly one takes a current subdivision of the
population and studies the nature of the relevant variables being
investigated.
There are two important characteristics of cross-sectional studies:
This study is carried out at a single point in time and thus the applicability
is most relevant for a specific period. For example, one cross-sectional
study was conducted in 2002 to study the attitude of Americans towards
Asian-Americans, after the 9/11 terrorist attack. This revealed the mistrust
towards Asians. Another cross-sectional study conducted in 2012 to study
the attitude of Americans towards Asian- Americans revealed more
acceptance and less mistrust. Thus the cross sectional studies cannot be
used interchangeably.

 Cross-sectional studies are carried out on a section of respondents from

the population units under study (e.g., organizational employees, voters,
consumers, industry sectors). This sample is under consideration and
under investigation only for the time coordinate of the study.
Longitudinal Studies: Only one sample of the identified population that is
under study over a longer period of time is termed as a longitudinal study
design. A panel of consumers specifically chosen to study their grocery
purchase pattern is an example of a longitudinal design. There are certain
distinguishing features of the same:
Longitudinal study involves the selection of a representative panel, or a
group of individuals that typically represent the population under study.
Another feature of this study is it involves the repeated measurement of
the group over fixed intervals of time. This measurement is specifically
made for the variables under study.

Different kinds of descriptive research designs.

One of the goals of science is description (other goals include prediction
and explanation). Descriptive research methods are pretty much as they
sound they describe situations. They do not make accurate predictions,
and they do not determine cause and effect.
There are three main types of descriptive methods: observational methods,
case-study methods and survey methods. This article will briefly describe
each of these methods, their advantages, and their drawbacks. This may
help you better understand research findings, whether reported in the
mainstream media, or when reading a research study on your own.
Observational Method
With the observational method (sometimes referred to as field observation)
animal and human behavior is closely observed. There are two main
categories of the observational method naturalistic observation and
laboratory observation.
The biggest advantage of the naturalistic method of research is that
researchers view participants in their natural environments. This leads to
greater ecological validity than laboratory observation, proponents say.
Ecological validity refers to the extent to which research can be used in
real-life situations.

Proponents of laboratory observation often suggest that due to more

control in the laboratory, the results found when using laboratory
observation are more meaningful than those obtained with naturalistic
observation.
Laboratory observations are usually less time-consuming and cheaper than
naturalistic observations. Of course, both naturalistic and laboratory
observation are important in regard to the advancement of scientific
knowledge.
Case Study Method
Case study research involves an in-depth study of an individual or group of
individuals. Case studies often lead to testable hypotheses and allow us to
study rare phenomena. Case studies should not be used to determine
cause and effect, and they have limited use for making accurate
predictions.
There are two serious problems with case studies expectancy effects
and atypical individuals. Expectancy effects include the experimenters
underlying biases that might affect the actions taken while conducting
research. These biases can lead to misrepresenting participants
descriptions. Describing atypical individuals may lead to poor
generalizations and detract from external validity.
Survey Method
In survey method research, participants answer questions administered
through interviews or questionnaires. After participants answer the
questions, researchers describe the responses given. In order for the
survey to be both reliable and valid it is important that the questions are
constructed properly. Questions should be written so they are clear and
easy to comprehend.
Another consideration when designing questions is whether to include
open-ended, closed-ended, partially open-ended, or rating-scale questions
(for a detailed discussion refer to Jackson, 2009). Advantages and
disadvantages can be found with each type:
Open-ended questions allow for a greater variety of responses from
participants but are difficult to analyze statistically because the data must
be coded or reduced in some manner. Closed-ended questions are easy to
analyze statistically, but they seriously limit the responses that participants

can give. Many researchers prefer to use a Likert-type scale because its
very easy to analyze statistically. (Jackson, 2009, p. 89)
In addition to the methods listed above some individuals also include
qualitative (as a distinct method) and archival methods when discussing
descriptive research methods.
It is important to emphasize that descriptive research methods can
only describe a set of observations or the data collected. It cannot draw
conclusions from that data about which way the relationship goes Does
A cause B, or does B cause A?
Unfortunately, in many studies published today, researchers forget this
fundamental limitation of their research and suggest their data can actually
demonstrate or suggest causal relationships. Nothing could be further
from the truth.

Q3. The procedure of testing hypothesis requires a

researcher to adopt several steps. Describe in brief all such
steps.
Ans:
A hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship
between two or more variables. A hypothesis is a specific,
testable prediction about what you expect to happen in your
study. For example, a study designed to look at the relationship
between sleep deprivation and test performance might have a
hypothesis that states, "This study is designed to assess the
hypothesis that sleep deprived people will perform worse on a test
than individuals who are not sleep deprived."
Steps for procedure of testing hypothesis:
Five Steps in Hypothesis Testing:
1. Specify the Null Hypothesis
2. Specify the Alternative Hypothesis
3. Set the Significance Level (a)
4. Calculate the Test Statistic and Corresponding P-Value
5. Drawing a Conclusion

Step 1: Specify the Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis (H0) is a statement of no effect, relationship, or
difference between two or more groups or factors. In research studies, a
researcher is usually interested in disproving the null hypothesis.
Examples:
There is no difference in intubation rates across ages 0 to 5 years.
The intervention and control groups have the same survival rate (or, the
intervention does not improve survival rate).
There is no association between injury type and whether or not the patient
received an IV in the pre-hospital setting
Step 2: Specify the Alternative Hypothesis
The alternative hypothesis (H1) is the statement that there is an effect or
difference. This is usually the hypothesis the researcher is interested in
proving. The alternative hypothesis can be one-sided (only provides one
direction, e.g., lower) or two-sided. We often use two-sided tests even
when our true hypothesis is one-sided because it requires more evidence
against the null hypothesis to accept the alternative hypothesis.
Step 3: Set the Significance Level (a)
The significance level (denoted by the Greek letter alpha a) is generally
set at 0.05. This means that there is a 5% chance that you will accept your
alternative hypothesis when your null hypothesis is actually true. The
smaller the significance level, the greater the burden of proof needed to
reject the null hypothesis, or in other words, to support the alternative
hypothesis.
Step 4: Calculate the Test Statistic and Corresponding P-Value
In another section we present some basic test statistics to evaluate a
hypothesis. Hypothesis testing generally uses a test statistic that compares
groups or examines associations between variables. When describing a
single sample without establishing relationships between variables, a
confidence interval is commonly used.
Step 5: Drawing a Conclusion

1. P-value <= significance level (a) => Reject your null hypothesis in favor
of your alternative hypothesis. Your result is statistically significant.
2. P-value > significance level (a) => Fail to reject your null hypothesis.
Your result is not statistically significant.
Hypothesis testing is not set up so that you can absolutely prove a null
hypothesis. Therefore, when you do not find evidence against the null
hypothesis, you fail to reject the null hypothesis. When you do find strong
enough evidence against the null hypothesis, you reject the null hypothesis.