INDEX NUMBER: ________________

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

First Semester Examination
Academic Session 2007/2008
October/November 2007
Bachelor of Management (Honours)

ATP201 Business Research Method

Duration : 3 hours

Please ensure that this exam paper consists SEVENTEEN printed pages before
you begin the examination.
Answer ALL questions. Section A answers must be marked in the OMR using a
2B pencil. Ensure all relevant particulars required in the OMR are properly filled
up.
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE THE QUESTION PAPER OUT OF THE
EXAMINATION HALL. MAKE SURE YOU WRITE DOWN YOUR INDEX
NUMBER ON THE QUESTION PAPER.

2/-

[ATP201]
-2Question 1
1.

In a non-symmetrical relationship, the relationship can be classified into:

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

2.

A management problem displays the following situations:

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

3.

Analytical and critical.

Logical and objective.
Conceptual and theoretical.
Empirical and systematic.
All of the above.

In the process of theory development, _____________ is a process which starts

from observation and leads to a conclusion while _____________ is a process
whereby conceptualization is challenged scientifically.
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

5.

there is more than one alternative which has the same chance of
affecting the same objective.
there is an uncertainty in alternative selection.
an objective that exists in the mind of the decision-maker.
all of the above
not even one of the above

Which of the characteristics below can be used to explain the scientific method?
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

4.

stimulus response.
property-disposition.
disposition-behaviour.
property-behaviour.
all of the above.

deduction, induction
induction, reduction
induction, deduction
function, deduction
deduction, generalizability

Secondary data:
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

Data that is collected for a specific purpose from the original source.
Involves observation of elements in a study.
Cross-examining respondents.
Collected by someone else for other purposes
Not even one of the above.

3/-

[ATP201]
-36.

Apart from research, what other sources are there to obtain information?
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

7.

Theory is:
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

8.

what is the concept to be investigated?

how will the concept be measured?
how will the data be collected?
how will it be used?
answers [a], [b] and [c] only.

What kind of experiment is done in natural surroundings and the researcher

interferes by controlling the independent variable as much as he can?
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

11.

a formal representation of theory.

very useful in the testing of the hypotheses formed.
a short phenomenon that is to be investigated.
answers [a] and [c].
all of the above.

The whole business research process includes:

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

10.

constructed completely from concept and construct.

very formal and is used to represent theoretical network.
the basis in the prediction and explanation of phenomenon.
all of the above.
not even one of the above.
Model can be considered as:

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]
9.

Through Gods gift.

Through experiment.
Through intuition.
Through scientific research.
Through books.

Experiment.
Survey.
Field study.
Field experiment.
Lab experiment.

Which of the following is NOT part of the hierarchical process of research

question?
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

Investigative question.
Management question.
Measurement question.
Exploratory question.
Research question.
4/-

[ATP201]
-412.

A researcher wants to investigate how married people decide on buying a

new car. What is the unit of analysis for this study?
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

13.

Which of the following has more of the characteristics of a basic research?

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

14.

Duration of sleep which affects job effectiveness.

Whether the ability to think is impaired by emotional stress.
Relationship between leadership characteristics and corporate success.
Effect of coupon campaign on product sales.
Relationship between job satisfaction and lecturers commitment.

Which of the following factors is not a main consideration for deciding

when business research is needed?
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

15.

Car.
Individual.
Couple.
Gender.
Diode.

Availability of internal research experts.

Time constraint.
Value of research information compared to cost.
Availability of data.
All of the above factors are main considerations.

The method of citing an authors name in literature review.

(If given: Name of author: Muhamad Ali, year of publication is 2001).
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]

16.

(Muhamad Ali, 2001).

(Ali, M., 2001).
(Ali, 2001).
(Ali, Muhamad., 2001).
Answers [b] and [c] only.
Which of the following is NOT a qualitative technique?

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
17.

Video interview
Case study.
Street ethnography.
Measuring an electrical bulbs quality in terms of its life span.
Which of the list of scales below is according to hierarki?

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]

Nominal, interval, ordinal, ratio.

Ordinal, nominal, ratio, interval.
Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio.
Nominal, ordinal, ratio, interval.
...5/-

[ATP201]
-518.

Cross-sectional study:
[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]

19.

Which of the following statement is TRUE?

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]

20.

We seldom use theory.

Construct is only used in explanatory hypotheses.
In induction, we observe facts and form conclusions from them.
Although operational definition is important, there are a lot of researches
that do not utilize them.
Generalizability refers to:

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]
[e]
21.

Is only conducted in a specific place at the same time.

Is only conducted once and represents description at a one point in time.
Is repeated several times in a specific period.
Is repeated on the same individual every month.

Research findings that can be applied to the population in different

environment.
Research findings that can only be applied for the studys sample.
Convenience sampling.
The use of a random numbers table.
Conclusion that is based on the findings of data analysis.

Four rules of mapping in measurement are classification,

order, distance and zero origin.
[a]
[b]

True.
False.

22.

Concept can be measured by one item.

[a]
[b]

True.
False.

23.
study.

The case study is the most popular method in qualitative

[a] True.
[b] False.

24.

Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to

empirical occurrences, object or characteristics, or activities which follow a set of
rules.
[a]
[b]

True.
False.

25.

In lab research, real cause and effect relationship can be

proven.

[ATP201]
-6[a]
[b]
26.

True.
False.

6/Probability sampling is when all members in the

population have a known chance of being selected.
[a]
[b]

True.
False.

27.
ordinal data.
[a]
[b]
28.

Non-parametric tests are often used for nominal and

True.
False.

The degree of uncertainty in research problem does not

affect the research methodology.
[a]
[b]

True.
False.

29.

No depth in the analysis of a studys subject is the main

weakness of a case study.
[a]
[b]

True.
False.

30.
precision.

The number of points in the scale does not affect data

[a] True.
[b] False.
31.
research.
[a]
[b]

Unstructured questions are often used in exploratory

True.
False.

32.

Quota sampling is the best for generalizability process.

[a] True.
[b] False.

33.

One advantage of mail survey is wider geographical

coverage.
[a] True.
[b] False.

[ATP201]
-734.
2 population means.

The ANOVA test only involves the comparison between

[a] True.
[b] False.

35.

7/Correlation is a test to examine the relationship between

two variables regardless whether they are dependent variables or independent
variables.
[a] True.
[b] False.
The R2 value is between the values of +1 and -1.

36.
[a]
[b]

True.
False.

37.
measurement.

Reliability is sufficient to ensure validity of a

[a] True.
[b] False.
38.

Face validity is a measurement of content validity.

[a] True.
[b] False.

39.
same.

Definition and operational definition are almost the

[a]
[b]

True.
False.

40.
autocorrelation among errors.

Durbin

Watson

measures

whether

there

is

[a] True.
[b] False.
[ 40 marks ]

[ATP201]
-8-

8/-

[ATP201]
-9Section B: (COMPULSORY)
Question 2 (10 marks)
Based on the scenario given, please state how the researcher can devise a research design by
looking at each of the criteria listed below. (Please give reason why).
(a)

Purpose of Research.
[ 2 marks ]

(b)

Extent of researcher interference.

[ 2 marks ]

(c)

Research Environment.
[ 2 marks ]

(d)

Time Dimension.
[ 2 marks ]

(e)

Unit of analysis.
[ 2 marks ]
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Causal study the researcher wants to know the impact of sales system on the
total sales.
Experiment, the researcher can control the type of sales system assigned to
the branches.
Field Experiment as it is done in the normal setting but with manipulation.
Longitudinal as data needs to be collected before the implementation and
after the implementation.
Branch, as the comparison is between the 3 branches.

Marks for each section

Mark for the bold answer
1 Mark for the explanation

[ATP201]
- 10 Scenario
ICBC Computers has been in the computer business for 15 years. The company has 14
branches all over Malaysia. The branches have managers but they do not have the
autonomy to determine the price and promotions in their branch. The top management
plays an active role in the daily operations of all branches. Recently the company has been
incurring losses due to fierce competition.
Following this, the company decides to introduce changes in all branches to increase sales.
Before implementing the change in all branches, the management would like to try them in
3 branches first. The Penang branch will try a leasing method, the Kuantan branch will use
a cash only system. The Ipoh branch will use a combination of both. The company would
like to compare the sales of next 3 months for all the three branches before deciding
whther they would implement the change or not. The consecutive sales of three months
will be used to reduce the fluctuations in monthly sales.

9/-

[ATP201]
- 11 Question 3 (10 marks)
Due to the relaxation in permission to let the low cost airlines to operate in Malaysia, the
low cost carriers have been involved in a price war. ABC Airlines is faced with allegations
that they are violating air safety rules which have resulted in several near misses of mid-air
collision between air planes. In one of a recent collision 100 passengers died. Four factors
have been identified as contributing to this phenomenon among them ineffective
communication among flight crew, ineffective coordination between cabin staff and
ground staff, minimum training provided to cabin staff and the management philosophy
that emphasizes decentralization. Reports also show that the failure in getting enough
training leads to anxiety and panic among cabin staff. ABC Airlines would like to know if
these factors results in violation of air safety rules.
Based on the explanation given above, answer the following questions.
(a)

What is the research problem?

[ 2 marks ]

What factors contribute to air safety violation?

(b)

Develop a suitable research framework.

[ 4 marks ]

Anxiety and
Panic

Training

Communications
among crew
members

Air Afety
Violation

Coordination
between cabin and
ground staff
Structure

(c)

Develop 4 hypotheses to be tested.

[ 4 marks ]

H1
H2
H3
H4

Cabin crew training has a positive relation with air safety violation.
Comunications among crew members has a positive relation with air safety
violation.
Coordination between cabin and ground is positively related to air safety violation.
Structure is positively related to air safety violation.

[ATP201]
- 12 -

Question 4 (20 marks)

By giving suitable examples, explain each of the following:
(a)

What are the 4 roles of a hypothesis?

[ 4 marks ]

(b)

Control the direction of research

Identify relevant facts from the irrelevant
Suggest a suitable research design
Give an outline to arrange the conclusion of the research
Explain what you understand about a research proposal and the reasons for preparing
a research proposal.
[ 4 marks ]

(c)

A formal effort to do research, written, stating the problem to be studied.

Presents the question to be studied and the importance
Discuss the efforts of others related to the problem being researched.
To suggest the data that is required to solve the problem.
What is meant by research ethics? Give examples of behavior that are considered not
ethical in research.

(d)

[ 4 marks ]
Ethics is the norm or standard of behavior which guides moral decisions which
relates to behavior and relationship with another person. The reason is to make
sure that nobody is hurt or injured as a result of the research.
Cheating respondets
Falsifying data/findings
Violate Disclosure/Confidentiality
Overcharge the clients

What are the sources of error in measurement?

[ 4 marks ]

Respondent
Situation
Measurer or the researcher
Measurement tool
10/-

(e)

Discuss what a stratified sampling is and when it is suitable to be used.

[ATP201]
- 13 -

[ 4 marks ]
Population is sub-divided into stratas and the random sampling is used to draw
elements from each strata. Proportionate follows the proportion of the strata while
the disproportionate does not.
Researcher controls the sample size and strata
Data will be more representative to do sub-group analysis.
Enables the use of multiple techniques in each strata

[ATP201]
- 14 Question 5 (20 marks)
Pam is a personnel manager in Zaidah Pharmaceuticals. She is interested in whether a
selected applicant will become a successful salesman or not. To do that, she will use the
first months sales (Sales) as the dependent variable and 4 other variables which are
candidates gender (Gender), anxiety score (Score), work experience (Experience) and
aptitude of the candidate (Aptitude) as the independent variables. Pam collects data from
30 candidates. The data was analyzed using the SPSS software and the output is presented
below:
Number

Sales

Aptitude

Score

Experience

Gender

44

10

4.9

47

19

3.0

60

27

1.5

28

61

34

.7

29

39

16

3.1

30

62

32

0.6

Explanation of the variables

Sales
Score
Experience
Aptitude
Gender

First month sales in 000

Anxiety Score
Work experience in years
Score in the aptitude test
Respondents Gender (1 = Male, 0 = Female)

11/-

[ATP201]
- 15 -

Regression
Regression
Variables Entered/Removed b
Model
1

Variables
Entered
Gender,
Experienc
e, Score,a
Aptitude

Variables
Removed

Method
.

Enter

a. All requested variables entered.

b. Dependent Variable: Sales

Model Summary(b)
Adjusted R Std. Error of
Model
R
R Square
Square
the Estimate
1
.863(a)
.744
.703
6.083
a Predictors: (Constant), Gender, Experience, Score, Aptitude
b Dependent Variable: Sales

Durbin-Watson
1.650

ANOVAb
Model
1

Regression
Residual
Total

Sum of
Squares
2691.328
924.972
3616.300

df
4
25
29

Mean Square
672.832
36.999

F
18.185

Sig.
.000a

a. Predictors: (Constant), Gender, Experience, Score, Aptitude

b. Dependent Variable: Sales

Coefficientsa

Model
1

(Constant)
Aptitude
Score
Experience
Gender

Unstandardized
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
36.825
3.773
.102
.049
.695
.822
2.622
1.051
13.150
3.234

a. Dependent Variable: Sales

Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
.266
.097
.279
.565

t
9.761
2.076
.844
2.494
4.066

Sig.
.000
.048
.406
.020
.000

Collinearity Statistics
Tolerance
VIF
.623
.772
.821
.531

1.604
1.295
1.218
1.885

[ATP201]
- 16 12/Collinearity Diagnosticsa

Model
1

Dimension
1
2
3
4
5

Eigenvalue
3.968
.553
.299
.121
.059

Condition
Index
1.000
2.678
3.642
5.734
8.230

(Constant)
.01
.01
.00
.04
.94

Variance Proportions
Aptitude
Score
Experience
.01
.01
.02
.01
.18
.18
.08
.03
.77
.91
.00
.00
.00
.78
.04

Gender
.01
.04
.15
.46
.35

a. Dependent Variable: Sales

Residuals Statisticsa

Predicted Value
Std. Predicted Value
Standard Error of
Predicted Value
Adjusted Predicted Value
Residual
Std. Residual
Stud. Residual
Deleted Residual
Stud. Deleted Residual
Mahal. Distance
Cook's Distance
Centered Leverage
Value

Minimum
39.11
-1.681

Maximum
75.86
2.134

Mean
55.30
.000

Std.
Deviation
9.634
1.000

1.493

4.628

2.402

.642

30

40.65
-10.866
-1.786
-1.921
-12.559
-2.038
.780
.000

72.92
9.583
1.576
1.770
12.096
1.854
15.822
.164

55.02
.000
.000
.020
.283
.016
3.867
.042

9.423
5.648
.928
1.017
6.805
1.038
2.911
.043

30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30

.027

.546

.133

.100

30

N
30
30

a. Dependent Variable: Sales

13/-

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[ATP201]
- 17 -

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[ATP201]
- 18 -

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[ATP201]
- 19 -

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[ATP201]
- 20 -

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Based on the output given, answer the following questions.

(a)

What is your evaluation of the goodness of the model developed?

[ 2 marks ]
R2 = 0.744. So we can conclude that 74.4% of the variastion in Sales can be
explained by the 4 variables, only about 25.9% variastion cannot be explained.

(b)

What can you conclude about the model that was tested?
[ 2 marks ]
As the F value = 18.185 and Signif of F = 0.000 < 0.01 so we can conclude that all
the 4 variables can explain the variation of the dependent variable. An equation can
be formed.

(c)

Test each of the following at the 5% significance level.

[a]
[b]
[c]
[d]

A male salesman will have the same sales volume as a female salesman.
The higher the anxiety score the lower the sales.
The more the experience the higher the sales.
Aptitude has a positive relationship with sales.
[ 8 marks ]

[ATP201]
- 21 -

[ATP201]
- 22 H0
H1
Variable

b1 = 0
b2 0
t value

Gender

4.066
H0
H1

Score

Experience

Aptitude
(d)

0.000

p < 0.05

Reject H0

0.406

p > 0.05

Accept H0

0.020

p < 0.05

Reject H0

0.048

p < 0.05

Accept H0

b3 = 0
b3 > 0
2.494

H0
H1

Decision

b2 = 0
b2 < 0
0.844

H0
H1

p value

b4 = 0
b4 > 0
2.076

What is the difference in the sales of a female salesman compared to a male

salesman?
[ 2 marks ]
Lower by RM 13150

(e)

17/Are all the assumptions of the regression fulfilled (Support your answer by using
the values or charts given in the output)? If not please explain how they can be
tested?
[ 3 marks ]

(f)

No multicollinearity problem as VIF<10 and Tolerance>0.1.

Conditional index less than 30 and VIF shows no problem.
Partial regression plots show linear relationship.
No autocorrelation as the D-W = 1.650.
P-P plot shows the errors are normally distributed
Histogram shows the data is normally distributed
Variance is constant (Plot studentized residual and dependent)

Give suggestions to Pam on how she can increase the sales of her company.
[ 3 marks ]

[ATP201]
- 23 From the analysis gender, aptitude and experience are significant predictors. Pam
should take more salesperson with higher aptitude scores and also with more
number of years experience. The company should not waste time on the anxiety
test as it is not a significant predictor of sales. Male salesperson also has show that
they can do more sales compared to female salespersons.

- ooo O ooo -