Name – Munendra Singh Chahar

Roll. No. - 511032000

Center Code- 991

MBA Semester - 3

Assignment Set- 1

Research Methodology
Q 1. Give examples of specific situations that would call for the following types of
research, explaining why – a) Exploratory research b) Descriptive research c)
Diagnostic research d) Evaluation research.

Ans.: Research may be classified crudely according to its major intent or the methods. According
to the intent, research may be classified as:

Basic (aka fundamental or pure) research is driven by a scientist's curiosity or interest in a

scientific question. The main motivation is to expand man's knowledge, not to create or invent
something. There is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result from basic
research.

For example, basic science investigations probe for answers to questions such as:
• How did the universe begin?
• What are protons, neutrons, and electrons composed of?
• How do slime molds reproduce?
• What is the specific genetic code of the fruit fly?

Most scientists believe that a basic, fundamental understanding of all branches of science is
needed in order for progress to take place. In other words, basic research lays down the
foundation for the applied science that follows. If basic work is done first, then applied spin-offs
often eventually result from this research. As Dr. George Smoot of LBNL says, "People cannot
foresee the future well enough to predict what's going to develop from basic research. If we only
did applied research, we would still be making better spears."

Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to
acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake. One might say that the goal of the applied scientist is
to improve the human condition.

For example, applied researchers may investigate ways to:

• Improve agricultural crop production
• Treat or cure a specific disease
• Improve the energy efficiency of homes, offices, or modes of transportation

Some scientists feel that the time has come for a shift in emphasis away from purely basic
research and toward applied science. This trend, they feel, is necessitated by the problems
resulting from global overpopulation, pollution, and the overuse of the earth's natural resources.

Exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. It

should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Exploratory research is a type of
research conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined. Exploratory research helps
determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects. Given its
fundamental nature, exploratory research often concludes that a perceived problem does not
actually exist.

Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature
and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumers, employees,
management or competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus
groups, projective methods, case studies or pilot studies. The Internet allows for research
methods that are more interactive in nature: E.g., RSS feeds efficiently supply researchers with
up-to-date information; major search engine search results may be sent by email to researchers
by services such as Google Alerts; comprehensive search results are tracked over lengthy
periods of time by services such as Google Trends; and Web sites may be created to attract
worldwide feedback on any subject.
The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by themselves, but
they can provide significant insight into a given situation. Although the results of qualitative
research can give some indication as to the "why", "how" and "when" something occurs, it
cannot tell us "how often" or "how many."

Exploratory research is not typically generalizable to the population at large.

A defining characteristic of causal research is the random assignment of participants to the

conditions of the experiment; e.g., an Experimental and a Control Condition... Such assignment
results in the groups being comparable at the beginning of the experiment. Any difference
between the groups at the end of the experiment is attributable to the manipulated variable.
Observational research typically looks for difference among "in-tact" defined groups. A common
example compares smokers and non-smokers with regard to health problems. Causal conclusions
can't be drawn from such a study because of other possible differences between the groups; e.g.,
smokers may drink more alcohol than non-smokers. Other unknown differences could exist as
well. Hence, we may see a relation between smoking and health but a conclusion that smoking is
a cause would not be warranted in this situation. (Cp)
Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics
about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions
who, what, where, when and how.
Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe
what caused a situation. Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal
relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said
to have a low requirement for internal validity.

The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations. Often the best
approach, prior to writing descriptive research, is to conduct a survey investigation. Qualitative
research often has the aim of description and researchers may follow-up with examinations of
why the observations exist and what the implications of the findings are.

In short descriptive research deals with everything that can be counted and studied. But there
are always restrictions to that. Your research must have an impact to the life of the people
around you. For example, finding the most frequent disease that affects the children of a town.
The reader of the research will know what to do to prevent that disease thus; more people will
live a healthy life.

Diagnostic study: it is similar to descriptive study but with different focus. It is directed towards
discovering what is happening and what can be done about. It aims at identifying the causes of a
problem and the possible solutions for it. It may also be concerned with discovering and testing
whether certain variables are associated. This type of research requires prior knowledge of the
problem, its thorough formulation, clear-cut definition of the given population, adequate methods
for collecting accurate information, precise measurement of variables, statistical analysis and
test of significance.

Evaluation Studies: it is a type of applied research. It is made for assessing the effectiveness of
social or economic programmes implemented or for assessing the impact of development of the
project area. It is thus directed to assess or appraise the quality and quantity of an activity and
its performance and to specify its attributes and conditions required for its success. It is
concerned with causal relationships and is more actively guided by hypothesis. It is concerned
also with change over time.

Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals

working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they
address issues and solve problems. Action research can also be undertaken by larger
organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of
improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they
practice. As designers and stakeholders, researchers work with others to propose a new course
of action to help their community improve its work practices (Center for Collaborative Action
Research). Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term “action research” in about
1944, and it appears in his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems”. In that paper,
he described action research as “a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various
forms of social action and research leading to social action” that uses “a spiral of steps, each of
which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action”.

Action research is an interactive inquiry process that balances problem solving actions
implemented in a collaborative context with data-driven collaborative analysis or research to
understand underlying causes enabling future predictions about personal and organizational
change (Reason & Bradbury, 2001). After six decades of action research development, many
methodologies have evolved that adjust the balance to focus more on the actions taken or more
on the research that results from the reflective understanding of the actions. This tension exists
between
● Those that are more driven by the researcher’s agenda to those more driven by participants;
• Those that are motivated primarily by instrumental goal attainment to those motivated
primarily by the aim of personal, organizational, or societal transformation; and
• 1st-, to 2nd-, to 3rd-person research, that is, my research on my own action, aimed primarily at
personal change; our research on our group (family/team), aimed primarily at improving the
group; and ‘scholarly’ research aimed primarily at theoretical generalization and/or large scale
change.
Action research challenges traditional social science, by moving beyond reflective knowledge
created by outside experts sampling variables to an active moment-to-moment theorizing, data
collecting, and inquiring occurring in the midst of emergent structure. “Knowledge is always
gained through action and for action. From this starting point, to question the validity of social
knowledge is to question, not how to develop a reflective science about action, but how to
develop genuinely well-informed action — how to conduct an action science” (Tolbert 2001).

Q 2.In the context of hypothesis testing, briefly explain the difference between a) Null
and alternative hypothesis b) Type 1 and type 2 error c) Two tailed and one tailed test
d) Parametric and non-parametric tests.

Ans.: Some basic concepts in the context of testing of hypotheses are explained below –

1) Null Hypotheses and Alternative Hypotheses: In the context of statistical analysis, we

often talk about null and alternative hypotheses. If we are to compare the superiority of method
A with that of method B and we proceed on the assumption that both methods are equally good,
then this assumption is termed as a null hypothesis. On the other hand, if we think that method A
is superior, then it is known as an alternative hypothesis.
These are symbolically represented as:
Null hypothesis = H0 and Alternative hypothesis = Ha
Suppose we want to test the hypothesis that the population mean is equal to the hypothesized
mean (μ H0) = 100. Then we would say that the null hypothesis is that the population mean is
equal to the hypothesized mean 100 and symbolically we can express it as: H0: μ= μ H0=100 If
our sample results do not support this null hypothesis, we should conclude that something else is
true. What we conclude rejecting the null hypothesis is known as an alternative hypothesis. If we
accept H0, then we are rejecting Ha and if we reject H0, then we are accepting Ha. For H0: μ= μ
H0=100, we may consider three possible alternative hypotheses as follows:

Alternative
Hypotheses To be read as follows
Ha: μ≠μ H0 (The alternative hypothesis is that the population mean is not
equal to 100 i.e., it may be more or less 100)

Ha: μ>μ H0 (The alternative hypothesis is that the population mean is

greater than
100)

Ha: μ< μ H0 (The alternative hypothesis is that the population mean is less
than 100)

The null hypotheses and the alternative hypotheses are chosen before the sample is drawn (the
researcher must avoid the error of deriving hypotheses from the data he collects and testing the
hypotheses from the same data). In the choice of null hypothesis, the following considerations
are usually kept in view:

a. The alternative hypothesis is usually the one, which is to be proved, and the null hypothesis is
the one that is to be disproved. Thus a null hypothesis represents the hypothesis we are trying to
reject, while the alternative hypothesis represents all other possibilities.

b. If the rejection of a certain hypothesis when it is actually true involves great risk, it is taken as
null hypothesis, because then the probability of rejecting it when it is true is α (the level of
significance) which is chosen very small.

c. The null hypothesis should always be a specific hypothesis i.e., it should not state an
approximate value.
Generally, in hypothesis testing, we proceed on the basis of the null hypothesis, keeping the
alternative hypothesis in view. Why so? The answer is that on the assumption that the null
hypothesis is true, one can assign the probabilities to different possible sample results, but this
cannot be done if we proceed with alternative hypotheses. Hence the use of null hypotheses (at
times also known as statistical hypotheses) is quite frequent.

2) The Level of Significance: This is a very important concept in the context of hypothesis
testing. It is always some percentage (usually 5%), which should be chosen with great care,
thought and reason. In case we take the significance level at 5%, then this implies that H0 will be
rejected when the sampling result (i.e., observed evidence) has a less than 0.05 probability of
occurring if H0 is true. In other words, the 5% level of significance means that the researcher is
willing to take as much as 5% risk rejecting the null hypothesis when it (H0) happens to be true.
Thus the significance level is the maximum value of the probability of rejecting H0 when it is true
and is usually determined in advance before testing the hypothesis.

3) Decision Rule or Test of Hypotheses: Given a hypothesis Ha and an alternative hypothesis

H0, we make a rule, which is known as a decision rule, according to which we accept H0 (i.e.,
reject Ha) or reject H0 (i.e., accept Ha). For instance, if H0 is that a certain lot is good (there are
very few defective items in it), against Ha, that the lot is not good (there are many defective
items in it), then we must decide the number of items to be tested and the criterion for accepting
or rejecting the hypothesis. We might test 10 items in the lot and plan our decision saying that if
there are none or only 1 defective item among the 10, we will accept H0; otherwise we will reject
H0 (or accept Ha). This sort of basis is known as a decision rule.

4) Type I & II Errors: In the context of testing of hypotheses, there are basically two types of
errors that we can make. We may reject H0 when H0 is true and we may accept H0 when it is not
true. The former is known as Type I and the latter is known as Type II. In other words, Type I error
means rejection of hypotheses, which should have been accepted, and Type II error means
accepting of hypotheses, which should have been rejected. Type I error is denoted by α (alpha),
also called as level of significance of test; and Type II error is denoted by β(beta).
 Decision

Accept H0 Reject H0

H0 (true) correct decision Type I error (α error)

Ho (false) Type II error (β error) correct decision

The probability of Type I error is usually determined in advance and is understood as the level of
significance of testing the hypotheses. If type I error is fixed at 5%, it means there are about 5
chances in 100 that we will reject H0 when H0 is true. We can control type I error just by fixing it
at a lower level. For instance, if we fix it at 1%, we will say that the maximum probability of
committing type I error would only be 0.01.

But with a fixed sample size n, when we try to reduce type I error, the probability of committing
type II error increases. Both types of errors cannot be reduced simultaneously, since there is a
trade-off in business situations. Decision makers decide the appropriate level of type I error by
examining the costs of penalties attached to both types of errors. If type I error involves time and
trouble of reworking a batch of chemicals that should have been accepted, whereas type II error
means taking a chance that an entire group of users of this chemicals compound will be
poisoned, then in such a situation one should prefer a type I error to a type II error. As a result,
one must set a very high level for type I error in one’s testing techniques of a given hypothesis.
Hence, in testing of hypotheses, one must make all possible efforts to strike an adequate balance
between Type I & Type II error.

5) Two Tailed Test & One Tailed Test: In the context of hypothesis testing, these two terms
are quite important and must be clearly understood. A two-tailed test rejects the null hypothesis
if, say, the sample mean is significantly higher or lower than the hypothesized value of the mean
of the population. Such a test is inappropriate when we have H0: μ= μ H0 and Ha: μ≠μ H0 which
may μ>μ H0 or μ<μ H0. If significance level is 5 % and the two-tailed test is to be applied, the
probability of the rejection area will be 0.05 (equally split on both tails of the curve as 0.025) and
that of the acceptance region will be 0.95. If we take μ = 100 and if our sample mean deviates
significantly from μ, in that case we shall accept the null hypothesis. But there are situations
when only a one-tailed test is considered appropriate. A one-tailed test would be used when we
are to test, say, whether the population mean is either lower or higher than some hypothesized
value.

Parametric statistics is a branch of statistics that assumes data come from a type of
probability distribution and makes inferences about the parameters of the distribution most well
known elementary statistical methods are parametric.
Generally speaking parametric methods make more assumptions than non-parametric methods.
If those extra assumptions are correct, parametric methods can produce more accurate and
precise estimates. They are said to have more statistical power. However, if those assumptions
are incorrect, parametric methods can be very misleading. For that reason they are often not
considered robust. On the other hand, parametric formulae are often simpler to write down and
faster to compute. In some, but definitely not all cases, their simplicity makes up for their non-
robustness, especially if care is taken to examine diagnostic statistics.

Because parametric statistics require a probability distribution, they are not distribution-free.
Non-parametric models differ from parametric models in that the model structure is not specified
a priori but is instead determined from data. The term nonparametric is not meant to imply that
such models completely lack parameters but that the number and nature of the parameters are
flexible and not fixed in advance.
Kernel density estimation provides better estimates of the density than histograms.
Nonparametric regression and semi parametric regression methods have been developed based
on kernels, splines, and wavelets.
Data Envelopment Analysis provides efficiency coefficients similar to those obtained by
Multivariate Analysis without any distributional assumption.

Q 3. Explain the difference between a causal relationship and correlation, with an

example of each. What are the possible reasons for a correlation between two
variables?

Ans.: Correlation: The correlation is knowing what the consumer wants, and providing it.
Marketing research looks at trends in sales and studies all of the variables, i.e. price, color,
availability, and styles, and the best way to give the customer what he or she wants. If you can
give the customer what they want, they will buy, and let friends and family know where they got
it. Making them happy makes the money.

Casual relationship Marketing was first defined as a form of marketing developed from direct
response marketing campaigns, which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather
than a dominant focus on sales transactions.
As a practice, Relationship Marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes
the long term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive
advertising and sales promotional messages.
With the growth of the internet and mobile platforms, Relationship Marketing has continued to
evolve and move forward as technology opens more collaborative and social communication
channels. This includes tools for managing relationships with customers that go beyond simple
demographic and customer service data. Relationship Marketing extends to include Inbound
marketing efforts (a combination of search optimization and Strategic Content), PR, Social Media
and Application Development.

Just like Customer relationship management (CRM), Relationship Marketing is a broadly

recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions
with clients and sales prospects. It also involves using technology to, organize, synchronize
business processes (principally sales and marketing activities) and most importantly, automate
those marketing and communication activities on concrete marketing sequences that could run
in autopilot (also known as marketing sequences). The overall goals are to find, attract, and win
new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into
the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. [1] Once simply a label for a
category of software tools, today, it generally denotes a company-wide business strategy
embracing all client facing departments and even beyond. When an implementation is effective,
people, processes, and technology work in synergy to increase profitability, and reduce
operational costs
Reasons for a correlation between two variables: Chance association, (the relationship is
due to chance) or causative association (one variable causes the other).
The information given by a correlation coefficient is not enough to define the dependence
structure between random variables. The correlation coefficient completely defines the
dependence structure only in very particular cases, for example when the distribution is a
multivariate normal distribution. (See diagram above.) In the case of elliptic distributions it
characterizes the (hyper-) ellipses of equal density, however, it does not completely characterize
the dependence structure (for example, a multivariate t-distribution's degrees of freedom
determine the level of tail dependence).

Distance correlation and Brownian covariance / Brownian correlation were introduced to address
the deficiency of Pearson's correlation that it can be zero for dependent random variables; zero
distance correlation and zero Brownian correlation imply independence.

The correlation ratio is able to detect almost any functional dependency, or the entropy-based
mutual information/total correlation which is capable of detecting even more general
dependencies. The latter are sometimes referred to as multi-moment correlation measures, in
comparison to those that consider only 2nd moment (pair wise or quadratic) dependence.
The polychoric correlation is another correlation applied to ordinal data that aims to estimate the
correlation between theorized latent variables.

One way to capture a more complete view of dependence structure is to consider a copula
between them.

Q 4. Briefly explain any two factors that affect the choice of a sampling technique.
What are the characteristics of a good sample?

Ans.: The difference between non-probability and probability sampling is that non-probability
sampling does not involve random selection and probability sampling does. Does that mean that
non-probability samples aren't representative of the population? Not necessarily. But it does
mean that non-probability samples cannot depend upon the rationale of probability theory. At
least with a probabilistic sample, we know the odds or probability that we have represented the
population well. We are able to estimate confidence intervals for the statistic. With non-
probability samples, we may or may not represent the population well, and it will often be hard
for us to know how well we've done so. In general, researchers prefer probabilistic or random
sampling methods over non probabilistic ones, and consider them to be more accurate and
rigorous. However, in applied social research there may be circumstances where it is not
feasible, practical or theoretically sensible to do random sampling. Here, we consider a wide
range of non-probabilistic alternatives.

We can divide non-probability sampling methods into two broad types:

Accidental or purposive.

Most sampling methods are purposive in nature because we usually approach the sampling
problem with a specific plan in mind. The most important distinctions among these types of
sampling methods are the ones between the different types of purposive sampling approaches.

Accidental, Haphazard or Convenience Sampling

One of the most common methods of sampling goes under the various titles listed here. I would
include in this category the traditional "man on the street" (of course, now it's probably the
"person on the street") interviews conducted frequently by television news programs to get a
quick (although non representative) reading of public opinion. I would also argue that the typical
use of college students in much psychological research is primarily a matter of convenience. (You
don't really believe that psychologists use college students because they believe they're
representative of the population at large, do you?). In clinical practice, we might use clients who
are available to us as our sample. In many research contexts, we sample simply by asking for
volunteers. Clearly, the problem with all of these types of samples is that we have no evidence
that they are representative of the populations we're interested in generalizing to -- and in many
cases we would clearly suspect that they are not.
Purposive Sampling
In purposive sampling, we sample with a purpose in mind. We usually would have one or more
specific predefined groups we are seeking. For instance, have you ever run into people in a mall
or on the street who are carrying a clipboard and who are stopping various people and asking if
they could interview them? Most likely they are conducting a purposive sample (and most likely
they are engaged in market research). They might be looking for Caucasian females between 30-
40 years old. They size up the people passing by and anyone who looks to be in that category
they stop to ask if they will participate. One of the first things they're likely to do is verify that the
respondent does in fact meet the criteria for being in the sample. Purposive sampling can be
very useful for situations where you need to reach a targeted sample quickly and where sampling
for proportionality is not the primary concern. With a purposive sample, you are likely to get the
opinions of your target population, but you are also likely to overweight subgroups in your
population that are more readily accessible.
All of the methods that follow can be considered subcategories of purposive sampling methods.
We might sample for specific groups or types of people as in modal instance, expert, or quota
sampling. We might sample for diversity as in heterogeneity sampling. Or, we might capitalize on
informal social networks to identify specific respondents who are hard to locate otherwise, as in
snowball sampling. In all of these methods we know what we want -- we are sampling with a
purpose.

• Modal Instance Sampling

In statistics, the mode is the most frequently occurring value in a distribution. In sampling, when
we do a modal instance sample, we are sampling the most frequent case, or the "typical" case. In
a lot of informal public opinion polls, for instance, they interview a "typical" voter. There are a
number of problems with this sampling approach. First, how do we know what the "typical" or
"modal" case is? We could say that the modal voter is a person who is of average age,
educational level, and income in the population. But, it's not clear that using the averages of
these is the fairest (consider the skewed distribution of income, for instance). And, how do you
know that those three variables -- age, education, income -- are the only or even the most
relevant for classifying the typical voter? What if religion or ethnicity is an important
discriminator? Clearly, modal instance sampling is only sensible for informal sampling contexts
.
• Expert Sampling
Expert sampling involves the assembling of a sample of persons with known or demonstrable
experience and expertise in some area. Often, we convene such a sample under the auspices of
a "panel of experts." There are actually two reasons you might do expert sampling. First,
because it would be the best way to elicit the views of persons who have specific expertise. In
this case, expert sampling is essentially just a specific sub case of purposive sampling. But the
other reason you might use expert sampling is to provide evidence for the validity of another
sampling approach you've chosen. For instance, let's say you do modal instance sampling and
are concerned that the criteria you used for defining the modal instance are subject to criticism.
You might convene an expert panel consisting of persons with acknowledged experience and
insight into that field or topic and ask them to examine your modal definitions and comment on
their appropriateness and validity. The advantage of doing this is that you aren't out on your own
trying to defend your decisions -- you have some acknowledged experts to back you. The
disadvantage is that even the experts can be, and often are, wrong.

• Quota Sampling
In quota sampling, you select people non-randomly according to some fixed quota. There are two
types of quota sampling: proportional and non proportional. In proportional quota sampling
you want to represent the major characteristics of the population by sampling a proportional
amount of each. For instance, if you know the population has 40% women and 60% men, and
that you want a total sample size of 100, you will continue sampling until you get those
percentages and then you will stop. So, if you've already got the 40 women for your sample, but
not the sixty men, you will continue to sample men but even if legitimate women respondents
come along, you will not sample them because you have already "met your quota." The problem
here (as in much purposive sampling) is that you have to decide the specific characteristics on
which you will base the quota. Will it be by gender, age, education race, religion, etc.?

Non-proportional quota sampling is a bit less restrictive. In this method, you specify the
minimum number of sampled units you want in each category. Here, you're not concerned with
having numbers that match the proportions in the population. Instead, you simply want to have
enough to assure that you will be able to talk about even small groups in the population. This
ethod is the non-probabilistic analogue of stratified random sampling in that it is typically used to
assure that smaller groups are adequately represented in your sample.

• Heterogeneity Sampling
We sample for heterogeneity when we want to include all opinions or views, and we aren't
concerned about representing these views proportionately. Another term for this is sampling for
diversity. In many brainstorming or nominal group processes (including concept mapping), we
would use some form of heterogeneity sampling because our primary interest is in getting broad
spectrum of ideas, not identifying the "average" or "modal instance" ones. In effect, what we
would like to be sampling is not people, but ideas. We imagine that there is a universe of all
possible ideas relevant to some topic and that we want to sample this population, not the
population of people who have the ideas. Clearly, in order to get all of the ideas, and especially
the "outlier" or unusual ones, we have to include a broad and diverse range of participants.
Heterogeneity sampling is, in this sense, almost the opposite of modal instance sampling.

• Snowball Sampling
In snowball sampling, you begin by identifying someone who meets the criteria for inclusion in
your study. You then ask them to recommend others who they may know who also meet the
criteria. Although this method would hardly lead to representative samples, there are times when
it may be the best method available. Snowball sampling is especially useful when you are trying
to reach populations that are inaccessible or hard to find. For instance, if you are studying the
homeless, you are not likely to be able to find good lists of homeless people within a specific
geographical area. However, if you go to that area and identify one or two, you may find that
they know very well who the other homeless people in their vicinity are and how you can find
them.
Characteristics of good Sample: The decision process is a 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 are:

1. Purpose of the Survey: What does the researcher aim at? If he intends to generalize the
findings based on the sample survey to the population, then an appropriate probability sampling
method must be selected. The choice of a particular type of probability sampling depends on the
geographical area of the survey and the size and the nature of the population under study.

2. Measurability: The application of statistical inference theory requires computation of the

sampling error from the sample itself. Only probability samples allow such computation. Hence,
where the research objective requires statistical inference, the sample should be drawn by
applying simple random sampling method or stratified random sampling method, depending on
whether the population is homogenous or heterogeneous.

3. Degree of Precision: Should the results of the survey be very precise, or could even rough
results serve the purpose? The desired level of precision is one of the criteria for sampling
method selection. Where a high degree of precision of results is desired, probability sampling
should be used. Where even crude results would serve the purpose (E.g., marketing surveys,
readership surveys etc), any convenient nonrandom sampling like quota sampling would be
enough.

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. Then an exploratory study with non-probability
sampling may be done to gain a better idea of the population. After gaining sufficient knowledge
about the population through the exploratory study, an appropriate probability sampling design
may be adopted.

5. The Nature of the Population: In terms of the variables to be studied, is the population
homogenous or heterogeneous? In the case of a homogenous population, even simple random
sampling will give a representative sample. If the population is heterogeneous, stratified random
sampling is appropriate.
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, multistage cluster sampling
would be appropriate. But if the area and the size of the population are small, single stage
probability sampling methods could be used.

7. Financial Resources: If the available finance is limited, it may become necessary to choose a
less costly sampling plan like multistage cluster sampling, or even quota sampling as a
compromise. However, if the objectives of the study and the desired level of precision cannot be
attained within the stipulated budget, there is no alternative but to give up the proposed survey.
Where the finance is not a constraint, a researcher can choose the most appropriate method of
sampling that fits the research objective and the nature of population.

8. Time Limitation: The time limit within which the research project should be completed
restricts the choice of a sampling method. Then, as a compromise, it may become necessary to
choose less time consuming methods like simple random sampling, instead of stratified
sampling/sampling with probability proportional to size; or multi-stage cluster sampling, instead
of single-stage sampling of elements. Of course, the precision has to be sacrificed to some
extent.

9. Economy: It should be another criterion in choosing the sampling method. It means achieving
the desired level of precision at minimum cost. A sample is economical if the precision per unit
cost is high, or the cost per unit of variance is low. The above criteria frequently conflict with
each other and the researcher must balance and blend them to obtain a good sampling plan. The
chosen plan thus represents an adaptation of the sampling theory to the available facilities and
resources. That is, it represents a compromise between idealism and feasibility. One should use
simple workable methods, instead of unduly elaborate and complicated techniques.

Q 5. Select any topic for research and explain how you will use both secondary and
primary sources to gather the required information.

Ans.: Primary Sources of Data

Primary sources are original sources from which the researcher directly collects data that has not
been previously collected, e.g., collection of data directly by the researcher on brand awareness,
brand preference, and brand loyalty and other aspects of consumer behavior, from a sample of
consumers by interviewing them. Primary data is first hand information collected through various
methods such as surveys, experiments and observation, for the purposes of the project
immediately at hand.

The advantages of primary data are –

1-It is unique to a particular  research study
2-It is recent information, unlike published information that is already available

The disadvantages are –

1- It is expensive to collect, compared to gathering information from available sources
2- Data collection is a time consuming process
3- It requires trained interviewers and investigators

Secondary Sources of Data

These are sources containing data, which has been collected and compiled for another purpose.
Secondary sources may be internal sources, such as annual reports, financial statements, sales
reports, inventory records, minutes of meetings and other information that is available within the
firm, in the form of a marketing information system. They may also be external sources, such as
government agencies (e.g. census reports, reports of government departments), published
sources (annual reports of currency and finance published by the Reserve Bank of India,
publications of international organizations such as the UN, World Bank and International
Monetary Fund, trade and financial journals, etc.), trade associations (e.g. Chambers of
Commerce) and commercial services (outside suppliers of information).

Methods of Data Collection:

The researcher directly collects primary data from its original sources. In this case, the
researcher can collect the required data precisely according to his research needs and he can
collect them when he wants and in the form that he needs it. But the collection of primary data is
costly and time consuming. Yet, for several types of social science research, required data is not
available from secondary sources and it has to be directly gathered from the primary sources.
Primary data has to be gathered in cases where the available data is inappropriate, inadequate
or obsolete. It includes: socio economic surveys, social anthropological studies of rural
communities and tribal communities, sociological studies of social problems and social
institutions, marketing research, leadership studies, opinion polls, attitudinal surveys, radio
listening and T.V. viewing surveys, knowledge-awareness practice (KAP) tudies, farm
management studies, business management studies etc.

There are various methods of primary data collection, including surveys, audits and panels,
observation and experiments.

Survey Research
A survey is a fact-finding study. It is a method of research involving collection of data directly
from a population or a sample at a particular time. A survey has certain characteristics:

1- It is always conducted in a natural setting.  It is a field study.

2- It seeks responses directly from the respondents.
3- It can cover a very large population.
4- It may include an extensive study or an intensive study
5- It covers a definite geographical area.

A survey involves the following steps -

1- Selection of a problem and its formulation
2- Preparation of the research design
3- Operation concepts and construction of measuring indexes and scales
4- Sampling
5- Construction of tools for data collection
6- Field work and collection of data
7- Processing of data and tabulation
8 Analysis of data
9- Reporting

There are four basic survey methods, which include:

1- Personal interview
2- Telephone interview
3- Mail survey and
4- Fax survey

Personal Interview
Personal interviewing is one of the prominent methods of data collection. It may be defined as a
two-way systematic conversation between an investigator and an informant, initiated for
obtaining information relevant to a specific study. It involves not only conversation, but also
learning from the respondent’s gestures, facial expressions and pauses, and his environment.

Interviewing may be used either as a main method or as a supplementary one in studies of

persons. Interviewing is the only suitable method for gathering information from illiterate or less
educated respondents. It is useful for collecting a wide range of data, from factual demographic
data to highly personal and intimate information relating to a person’s opinions, attitudes,
values, beliefs, experiences and future intentions. Interviewing is appropriate when qualitative
information is required, or probing is necessary to draw out the respondent fully. Where the area
covered for the survey is compact, or when a sufficient number of qualified interviewers are
available, personal interview is feasible.

Interview is often superior to other data-gathering methods. People are usually more willing to
talk than to write. Once rapport is established, even confidential information may be obtained. It
permits probing into the context and reasons for answers to questions.

Interview can add flesh to statistical information. It enables the investigator to grasp the
behavioral context of the data furnished by the respondents. It permits the investigator to seek
clarifications and brings to the forefront those questions, which for some reason or the other the
respondents do not want to answer. Interviewing as a method of data collection has certain
characteristics. They are:

1. The participants – the interviewer and the respondent – are strangers; hence, the investigator
has to get himself/herself introduced to the respondent in an appropriate manner.
2. The relationship between the participants is a transitory one. It has a fixed beginning and
termination points. The interview proper is a fleeting, momentary experience for them.
3. The interview is not a mere casual conversational exchange, but a conversation with a specific
purpose, viz., obtaining information relevant to a study.
4. The interview is a mode of obtaining verbal answers to questions put verbally.
5. The interaction between the interviewer and the respondent need not necessarily be on a
face-to-face basis, because the interview can also be conducted over the telephone.
6. Although the interview is usually a conversation between two persons, it need not be limited
to a single respondent. It can also be conducted with a group of persons, such as family
members, or a group of children, or a group of customers, depending on the requirements of the
study.
7. The interview is an interactive process. The interaction between the interviewer and the
respondent depends upon how they perceive each other.
8. The respondent reacts to the interviewer’s appearance, behavior, gestures, facial expression
and intonation, his perception of the thrust of the questions and his own personal needs. As far
as possible, the interviewer should try to be closer to the social-economic level of the
respondents.
9. The investigator records information furnished by the respondent in the interview. This poses a
problem of seeing that recording does not interfere with the tempo of conversation.
10. Interviewing is not a standardized process like that of a chemical technician; it is rather a
flexible, psychological process.

Telephone Interviewing Telephone interviewing is a non-personal method of data collection.

It may be used as a major method or as a supplementary method. It will be useful in the
following situations:
1. When the universe is composed of those persons whose names are listed in telephone
directories, e.g. business houses, business executives, doctors and other professionals.
2. When the study requires responses to five or six simple questions, e.g. a radio or television
program survey.
3. When the survey must be conducted in a very short period of time, provided the units of study
are listed in the telephone directory.
4. When the subject is interesting or important to respondents, e.g. a survey relating to trade
conducted by a trade association or a chamber of commerce, a survey relating to a profession
conducted by the concerned professional association.
5. When the respondents are widely scattered and when there are many call backs to make.

Group Interviews A group interview may be defined as a method of collecting primary data in
which a number of individuals with a common interest interact with each other. In a personal
interview, the flow of information is multi dimensional. The group may consist of about six to
eight individuals with a common interest. The interviewer acts as the discussion leader. Free
discussion is encouraged on some aspect of the subject under study. The discussion leader
stimulates the group members to interact with each other. The desired information may be
obtained through self-administered questionnaire or interview, with the discussion serving as a
guide to ensure consideration of the areas of concern. In particular, the interviewers look for
evidence of common elements of attitudes, beliefs, intentions and opinions among individuals in
the group. At the same time, he must be aware that a single comment by a member can provide
important insight. Samples for group interviews can be obtained through schools, clubs and other
organized groups.

Mail Survey The mail survey is another method of collecting primary data. This method
involves sending questionnaires to the respondents with a request to complete them and return
them by post. This can be used in the case of educated respondents only. The mail
questionnaires should be simple so that the respondents can easily understand the questions
and answer them. It should preferably contain mostly closed-ended and multiple choice
questions, so that it could be completed within a few minutes. The distinctive feature of the mail
survey is that the questionnaire is self-administered by the respondents themselves and the
responses are recorded by them and not by the investigator, as in the case of personal interview
method. It does not involve face-to-face conversation between the investigator and the
respondent. Communication is carried out only in writing and this requires more cooperation
from the respondents than verbal communication. The researcher should prepare a mailing list of
the selected respondents, by collecting the addresses from the telephone directory of the
association or organization to which they belong. The following procedures should be followed -
*a covering letter should accompany a copy of the questionnaire. It must explain to the
respondent the purpose of the study and the importance of his cooperation to the success of the
project. * Anonymity must be assured. * The sponsor’s identity may be revealed. However, when
such information may bias the result, it is not desirable to reveal it. In this case, a disguised
organization name may be used. * A self-addressed stamped envelope should be enclosed in the
covering letter.
* After a few days from the date of mailing the questionnaires to the respondents, the researcher
can expect the return of completed ones from them. The progress in return may be watched and
at the appropriate stage, follow-up efforts can be made.
The response rate in mail surveys is generally very low in developing countries like India. Certain
techniques have to be adopted to increase the response rate. They are:

1. Quality printing: The questionnaire may be neatly printed on quality light colored paper, so
as to attract the attention of the respondent.

2. Covering letter: The covering letter should be couched in a pleasant style, so as to attract
and hold the interest of the respondent. It must anticipate objections and answer them briefly. It
is desirable to address the respondent by name.

3. Advance information: Advance information can be provided to potential respondents by a

telephone call, or advance notice in the newsletter of the concerned organization, or by a letter.
Such preliminary contact with potential respondents is more successful than follow-up efforts.

4. Incentives: Money, stamps for collection and other incentives are also used to induce
respondents to complete and return the mail questionnaire.

5. Follow-up-contacts: In the case of respondents belonging to an organization, they may be

approached through someone in that organization known as the researcher.

6. Larger sample size: A larger sample may be drawn than the estimated sample size. For
example, if the required sample size is 1000, a sample of 1500 may be drawn. This may help the
researcher to secure an effective sample size closer to the required size.
Q 6. Case Study: You are engaged to carry out a market survey on behalf of a leading
Newspaper that is keen to increase its circulation in Bangalore City, in order to
ascertain reader habits and interests. Develop a title for the study; define the
research problem and the objectives or questions to be answered by the study.

Ans.: Title: Newspaper reading choices

Research problem: A research problem is the situation that causes the researcher to feel
apprehensive, confused and ill at ease. It is the demarcation of a problem area within a certain
context involving the WHO or WHAT, the WHERE, the WHEN and the WHY of the problem
situation.

There are many problem situations that may give rise to research. Three sources usually
contribute to problem identification. Own experience or the experience of others may be a
source of problem supply. A second source could be scientific literature. You may read about
certain findings and notice that a certain field was not covered. This could lead to a research
problem. Theories could be a third source. Shortcomings in theories could be researched.
Research can thus be aimed at clarifying or substantiating an existing theory, at clarifying
contradictory findings, at correcting a faulty methodology, at correcting the inadequate or
unsuitable use of statistical techniques, at reconciling conflicting opinions, or at solving existing
practical problems

Types of questions to be asked: For more than 35 years, the news about newspapers and
young readers has been mostly bad for the newspaper industry. Long before any competition
from cable television or Nintendo, American newspaper publishers were worrying about declining
readership among the young.

As early as 1960, at least 20 years prior to Music Television (MTV) or the Internet, media
research scholars1 began to focus their studies on young adult readers' decreasing interest in
newspaper content. The concern over a declining youth market preceded and perhaps
foreshadowed today's fretting over market penetration. Even where circulation has grown or
stayed stable, there is rising concern over penetration, defined as the percentage of occupied
households in a geographic market that are served by a newspaper.2 Simply put, population
growth is occurring more rapidly than newspaper readership in most communities.

This study looks at trends in newspaper readership among the 18-to-34 age group and examines
some of the choices young adults make when reading newspapers.

One of the underlying concerns behind the decline in youth newspaper reading is the question of
how young people view the newspaper. A number of studies explored how young readers
evaluate and use newspaper content.

Comparing reader content preferences over a 10-year period, Gerald Stone and Timothy
Boudreau found differences between readers ages 18-34 and those 35-plus.16 Younger readers
showed increased interest in national news, weather, sports, and classified advertisements over
the decade between 1984 and 1994, while older readers ranked weather, editorials, and food
advertisements higher. Interest in international news and letters to the editor was less among
younger readers, while older readers showed less interest in reports of births, obituaries, and
marriages.

David Atkin explored the influence of telecommunication technology on newspaper readership

among students in undergraduate media courses.17 He reported that computer-related
technologies, including electronic mail and computer networks, were unrelated to newspaper
readership. The study found that newspaper subscribers preferred print formats over electronic.
In a study of younger, school-age children, Brian Brooks and James Kropp found that electronic
newspapers could persuade children to become news consumers, but that young readers would
choose an electronic newspaper over a printed one.18

In an exploration of leisure reading among college students, Leo Jeffres and Atkin assessed
dimensions of interest in newspapers, magazines, and books,19 exploring the influence of media
use, non-media leisure, and academic major on newspaper content preferences. The study
discovered that overall newspaper readership was positively related to students' focus on
entertainment, job / travel information, and public affairs. However, the students' preference for
reading as a leisure-time activity was related only to a public affairs focus. Content preferences
for newspapers and other print media were related. The researchers found no significant
differences in readership among various academic majors, or by gender, though there was a
slight correlation between age and the public affairs readership index, with older readers more
interested in news about public affairs.

Methodology

Sample

Participants in this study (N=267) were students enrolled in 100- and 200-level English courses
at a Midwestern public university. Courses that comprise the framework for this sample were
selected because they could fulfill basic studies requirements for all majors. A basic studies
course is one that is listed within the core curriculum required for all students. The researcher
obtained permission from seven professors to distribute questionnaires in the eight classes
during regularly scheduled class periods. The students' participation was voluntary; two students
declined. The goal of this sampling procedure was to reach a cross-section of students
representing various fields of study. In all, 53 majors were represented.

Of the 267 students who participated in the study, 65 (24.3 percent) were male and 177 (66.3
percent) were female. A total of 25 participants chose not to divulge their genders. Ages ranged
from 17 to 56, with a mean age of 23.6 years. This mean does not include the 32 respondents
who declined to give their ages. A total of 157 participants (58.8 percent) said they were of the
Caucasian race, 59 (22.1 percent) African American, 10 (3.8 percent) Asian, five (1.9 percent)
African/Native American, two (.8 percent) Hispanic, two (.8 percent) Native American, and one (.4
percent) Arabic. Most (214) of the students were enrolled full time, whereas a few (28) were part-
time students. The class rank breakdown was: freshmen, 45 (16.9 percent); sophomores, 15 (5.6
percent); juniors, 33 (12.4 percent); seniors, 133 (49.8 percent); and graduate students, 16 (6
percent).
Procedure
After two pre-tests and revisions, questionnaires were distributed and collected by the
investigator. In each of the eight classes, the researcher introduced herself to the students as a
journalism professor who was conducting a study on students' use of newspapers and other
media. Each questionnaire included a cover letter with the researcher's name, address, and
phone number. The researcher provided pencils and was available to answer questions if anyone
needed further assistance. The average time spent on the questionnaires was 20 minutes, with
some individual students taking as long as an hour. Approximately six students asked to take the
questionnaires home to finish. They returned the questionnaires to the researcher's mailbox
within a couple of day.