WRR Questions for Final Exams

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND POINTS TO PONDER (from the Research methods for
Business by Uma Sekaran

1.
2.
3.
4.

How would you describe the research process?

Explain the preliminary data collection methods.
What is the purpose of a literature review?
What is the purpose of conducting a review of the literature in a quantitative
study?
5. What is the purpose of conducting a review of the literature in a qualitative
study?
6. Why is appropriate citation important? What are the consequences of not giving
credit to the source from which materials are extracted?
7. What is the difference between summary and paraphrasing?
8. In text Citation and Referencing by using APA
9. What factors should you consider in determining whether it is possible for you to
conduct a study?
10.How do research problems in qualitative and quantitative research differ?
11.Below is the gist of an article from Business Week. After reading it, (a) identify
the broad problem area, (b) dene the problem, and (c) explain how you would
proceed further.

While Chryslers minivans, pickups, and sport utility vehicles take a big share of the
truck market, its cars trail behind those of GM, Ford, Honda, and Toyota. Quality
problems include, among other things, water leaks and defective parts.
12. What is the problem statement in the following situation?
Employee Loyalty
Companies benet through employee loyalty. Crude downsizing in
organizations during the recession crushed the loyalty of millions. The
economic benets of loyalty embrace lower recruitment and training costs,
higher productivity of workers, customer satisfaction, and the boost to
morale of fresh recruits. In order that these benets are not lost, some
companies while downsizing try various gimmicks. Flex leave, for instance, is
one. This helps employees receive 20% of their salary, plus employer
provided benets, while they take a 6 to 12 month sabbatical, with a call
option on their services. Others try alternatives like more communication,
hand holding, and the like.

13.An applied researcher wants to increase the performance of organizational

members in a particular bank. What would be the dependent variable in this
case?
14.A marketing manager wonders why the recent advertisement strategy does not
work. What would be the dependent variable here?
15.
16.Make up three different situations in which motivation to work would be an
independent variable, an intervening variable, and a moderating variable.
a. List and label the variables in the following situation, explain the
relationships among the variables, and diagram these.
17.There is an advantage in stating the hypothesis both in the null and in the
alternate; it adds clarity to our thinking of what we are testing. Explain.
18. For the following case titled Sleepless Nights at Holiday Inn (published in
Business Week and adapted here):
a. Identify the problem
b. Develop a theoretical framework
c. Develop at least four hypotheses
Sleepless Nights At Holiday Inn
Just a few years ago, Tom Oliver, the Chief Executive of Holiday Hospitality Corp.,
was struggling to differentiate among the variety of facilities offered to clients under
the Holiday agshipthe Holiday Inn Select designed for business travelers, the
Holiday Inn Express used by penny pinchers, and the Crowne Plaza Hotels, the
luxurious hotels meant for the big spenders. Oliver felt that revenues could be
quadrupled if only clients could differentiate among these.
Keen on developing a viable strategy for Holiday Hospitality, which suffered from
brand confusion, Tom Oliver conducted a customer survey of those who had used
each type of facility, and found the following. The consumers didnt have a clue as
to the differences among the three different types. Many complained that the
buildings were old and not properly maintained, and the quality ratings of service
and other factors were also poor. Furthermore, when word spread that one of the
contemplated strategies of Oliver was a name change to differentiate the three
facilities, irate franchises balked. Their mixed messages did not help consumers to
understand the differences, either.
Oliver thought that he rst needed to understand how the different
classications would be important to the several classes of clients, and then he
could market the heck out of them and greatly enhance the revenues.
Simultaneously, he recognized that unless the franchise owners fully cooperated
with him in all his plans, mere face lifting and improvement of customer service
would not bring added revenues.
(Chapter 8 & 9)

19.What is meant by operational denition and why is it necessary?

20.Operationally dene the following terms and develop 10 questions that
measures:
a. Stress
b. Motivation
21.Describe the four types of scales.
22.Schematically depict the operational denition of the concept of enriched job
and develop 12 items to measure it.
23.Develop an ordinal scale for consumer preferences for different brands of Soap.
24.Measure any three variables on an interval scale.
25.Mention one variable for each of the four scales in the context of a market
survey, and explain how or why it would t into the scale.
26.A production manager wants to assess the reactions of the blue-collar workers in
his department (including foremen) to the introduction of computer-integrated
manufacturing (CIM) systems. He is particularly interested to know how they
would perceive the effects of CIM on:
a. their future jobs
b. additional training that they will have to receive
c. future job advancement.
Design a questionnaire for the production manager
27.Write down the components of 1st, and 3rd chapter

28. What principles should you follow when constructing a questionnaire?

29. Construct 4 items for measuring Employee Turnover, Employee Performance, Purchase
intension, Service Quality
30. What is the difference between a questionnaire, an interview schedule, and an interview
guide?
31. Differentiate Population and Sample.
32. What type of sampling produces representative samples?
33. What is a sampling frame?
34. How do you select a simple random sample?
35. What is a representative sample, and when is it important to obtain a representative sample?
36. How do you select a stratified sample?
37. The director of University Womens Professional Advancement (UWPA), appointed by the
president of XYZ University at Karachi to enhance the status of women on campus some 2
years ago, was listening to a speech made by the president of the Women Welfare
Organization. It suddenly occurred to the director that it would be a great idea to get the
opinion of members of this vocal group on how effective they perceived UWPA to be in
enhancing the status of women on campus. She thought she could ask a few quick questions
as the audience left the meeting room. What should be her sampling design and how should
she proceed?
38. Define Hypothesis.
39. Is it advantageous to develop a directional hypothesis whenever we are sure of the predicted
direction? How will you justify this statement?

40. What is the difference between confidentiality and anonymity in research ethics?
41. You are going to collect data in field and you have to make consent form. Discuss what kinds
of information a consent form has to include.