Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 3 MB00 50 Research Methodology - 4 Credits (Book ID: B1206) Assignment Set - 1 (60

0 Marks) Q1 A. Explain the types of research? Ans: Following are the types of research
1. Pure Research a. Also called as fundamental or the theoretical research. b. Is basic and original. c. Can lead to discovery of new theory. 2. Applied Research a. Based on the concept of the pure research. b. Is problem oriented. c. Helps in finding result or solutions of real problems. d. Provide evidence of usefulness to society. e. Helps in testing empirical content of a theory. 3. Exploratory Research a. Involves exploring in a general aspect. b. Includes studying of a problem, about which nothing or very little is known. c. Follow a very formal approach of research. 4. Descriptive Research a. Simplest form of research. b. More specific in nature and working than exploratory research. c. It involves a mutual effort. 5. Diagnostic Study a. Quite similar to the descriptive research. b. Identifies the causes of the problems and the solutions for the problems. c. Related to casual relations. 6. Evolution Study a. Form of applied research. b. Studies the development project. c. Gives access to social or economical programmers. A. What is the significance of research in social and business science? Ans: According to a famous Hudson Maxim, All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention. It brings out the significance of research, increased amounts of which makes progress possible. Research encourages scientific and inductive thinking, besides promoting the development of logical habits of thinking and organization.

The role of research in applied economics in the context of an economy or business is greatly increasing in modern times. The increasingly complex nature of government and business has raised the use of research in solving operational problems. Research assumes significant role in formulation of economic policy, for both the government and business. It provides the basis for almost all government policies of an economic system.

Q2. What is meant by validity? How does it differ from reliability and what are its types?
Ans: Validity is a measurement scale, may be considered to be valid if it effectively measures a specific property or characteristic that it intends to measure. Reliability and validity are closely interlinked. A measuring instrument that is valid is always reliable, but the reverse is not true. That is, an instrument that is reliable is not always valid. However, an instrument that is not valid may or may not be reliable and an instrument that is not reliable is never valid. Validity may be classified into different types, as described belowA. Content validity i) Face Validity ii) Sampling Validity B. Predictive validity: C. Construct validity

Q3. A. Why literature survey is important in research?

Ans: A literature review is a compilation, classification, and evaluation of what other researchers have written on a particular topic. A literature review normally forms part of a research thesis but it can also stand alone as a self-contained review of writings on a subject. Research is made in order to inform people with new knowledge or discovery. However, it is not to be expected that everybody would willingly believe on the research made. Thus, to make the research more credible it should be supported with facts. This is where literature review comes in. Frequently, an exploratory study is concerned with an area of subject matter in which explicit hypothesis have not yet been formulated. The researchers task then is to review the available material with an eye on the possibilities of developing hypothesis from it. In some areas of the subject matter, hypothesis may have been stated by previous research workers. Sociological journals, economic reviews, the bulletin of abstracts of current social sciences research, directory of doctoral dissertation accepted by universities etc afford a rich store of valuable clues. In addition to these general sources, some governmental agencies and voluntary organizations publish listings of summaries of research in their special fields of service. Professional

organizations, research groups and voluntary organizations are a constant source of information about unpublished works in their special fields. There are many reasons why literature review is rendered as a significant part of any research or dissertation paper. Literature review is a part of the researcher as it will give the opportunity to strengthen the research. This will prove that research is not just writing about any random subject but that many others have also poured their thoughts on the topic.

B. What are the criteria of good research problem?

Ans: Because it is very important that you have a good research problem we give you 8 criteria for a good research problem. You will notice that some of the criteria overlap. 1. Question mark ? The research problem can be in a declarative or in a question form (Smith & Spitzer, 2006). We recommend you to formulate your research problem as a question. This gives you (and the reader) something to hold on to during the rest of your thesis because it is simple: there is a question and in the text you look for an answer. 2. Possibility to respond Some questions are impossible to answer in a scientific way, for example: how beautiful is the color yellow. We dont have the scientifically justified instruments to answer this question. It must also be possible to answer the question in a practical way so it must be researchable, meaning you have to be able to collect evidence that will answer the question (NCSALL, 1998). 3. Relevance in connection to the research goals The research problem and the research goals are closely connected to each other. If an answer to the problem doesnt meet the goal of the research, one of them should be adapted. For example: Its wrong to connect a describing problem (ex: Which Vietnamese Universities serve chicken during lunchtime?) to an advising goal (ex: Creating a menu with more diversity in CTU). 4. Attainability The problem must be one that can be solved during the amount of time you have. So it cant be too broad (ex: How can we have world peace?). But it also cant be too narrow (ex: How does my neighbor think about Americans?). 5. Open question The research problem should be an open question. That means it cannot be answered by yes or no. But also with open questions you should watch out for the possibility of a shallow answer. 6. Unmistakability Your research problem must be clear and there has to be only one way to interpret it. For example: The question What do Vietnamese people think about the West? is

un mistakable because it is not clear what is meant by the West, it can be a lot of things. 7. Punctuality The problem must be clearly specified. For example: Dont write How can prejudices against Americans be combated? if you mean: How can prejudices that live among Vietnamese students for American businessmen be combated? 8. Brevity Although your research problem should be as punctual and specific as possible, not all fencings must be placed in your research problem. It must be a brief and fluent sentence. You can specify your terms with definitions in a commentary.

Q4. Explain the procedure for Testing Hypothesis?

1. Ans: A hypothesis is an assumption about relations between variables. It is a tentative explanation of the research problem or a guess about the research outcome. To test a hypothesis means to tell (on the basis of the data researcher has collected) whether or not the hypothesis seems to be valid. The various steps involved in hypothesis testing are stated below: a) Making a Formal Statement The step consists in making a formal statement of the null hypothesis (H) and also of the
alternative hypothesis (H). This means that hypothesis should clearly state, considering the nature of the research problem.

b) Selecting a Significant Level The formulation of hypothesis is an important step which must be accomplished with
due care in accordance with the object and nature of the problem under consideration. It also indicates whether we should use a tailed test or a two tailed test. If H is of the type greater than, we use alone tailed test, but when H is of the type whether greater or smaller then we use a two-tailed test.

The hypothesis is tested on a pre-determined level of significance and such the same
should have specified. Generally, in practice, either 5% level or 1% level is adopted for the purpose.

The factors that affect the level of significance are: In brief, the level of significance must be adequate in the context of the purpose and nature of enquiry. c) Deciding the Distribution to Use After deciding the level of significance, the next step in hypothesis testing is to determine the appropriate sampling distribution. The choice generally remains between distribution and the t distribution. The rules for selecting the correct distribution are similar to those which we have stated earlier in the context of estimation.

Q5. A. Explain components of a research design?

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

B. Briefly explain the different types of research design?

Ans: There are a number of research designs. They are 1. Experimental, historical and inferential designs (American Marketing Association). 2. Exploratory, descriptive and causal designs (Selltiz, Jahoda, Deutsch and Cook). 3. Experimental and expost fact (Kerlinger) 4. Historical method, and case and clinical studies (Goode and Scates) 5. Sample surveys, field studies, experiments in field settings, and laboratory experiments (Festinger and Katz) 6. Exploratory, descriptive and experimental studies (Body and Westfall) 7. Exploratory, descriptive and casual (Green and Tull) 8. Experimental, quasi-experimental designs (Nachmias and Nachmias) 9. True experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental designs (Smith). 10. Experimental, pre-experimental, quasi-experimental designs and Survey Research (Kidder and Judd).

Q 6 A. What are the assumptions of case study method?

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

B. Explain the sampling process?

Ans: Sampling Procedure The decision process of sampling is complicated one. The researcher has to first identify the limiting factor or factors and must judiciously balance the conflicting factors. The various criteria governing the choice of the sampling technique: 1. Purpose of the Survey: What does the researcher aim at? The choice of a particular type of probability sampling 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. 3. Degree of Precision: Should the results of the survey be very precise, or even rough results could serve the purpose? The desired level of precision as one of the criteria of sampling method selection. 4. Information about Population: How much information is available about the population to be studied? Where no list of population and no information about its nature are available, it is difficult to apply a probability sampling method. 5. The Nature of the Population: In terms of the variables to be studied, is the population homogenous or heterogeneous? In the case of a homogenous population, even a 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, multi-stage 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. 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. 9. Economy: It should be another criterion in choosing the sampling method. It means achieving the desired level of precision at minimum cost.