Business Research Methods .ppt by Anindya

Meaning of Research • Instinct of inquisitiveness • Search for knowledge • Scientific and Systematic • Method which a person search for pertinent employs for obtaining the information on a specific knowledge of whatever the topic unknown, can be termed as • It is an art of scientific research investigation • It is a careful investigation or enquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge

Definitions : Clifford Woody – Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data ; making deductions and reaching conclusions ; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulated hypothesis. Research is thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement

Objectives of Research • To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it - Exploratory research • To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or group -Descriptive research • To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else – Diagnostic research • To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables – Hypothesis-testing research

Characteristics of Research 1. It is directed toward the solution of a problem 2. It emphasises the development of generalisations, principles, or theories that will be helpful in predicting future occurrences. 3. Research demands accurate observation and description. 4. Research involves gathering new data from primary sources or using secondary data for a new purpose. 5. Research requires expertise. 6. Research strives o be objective and logical 7. Research is characterised by patient and unhurried activity 8. It is carefully recorded and reported. 9. Research requires a strong determination to know the

Steps in conducting Research 1. Formulating the research problem.

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2. Survey and review of literature. 3. Developing hypothesis and clarifying the concepts. 4. Deciding on the research design 5. Defining the population and selecting the sample. 6. Collecting data. .(the sample must b true representation of the population) 7. Analysis and interpretation of data. 8. Testing the hypothesis. 9. Conclusions, Implication and recommendations 10.Preparation and submission of report.

Types of Research Descriptive Research : -Is one which describes, records, analyses and interprets the conditions that exist. -It basically describes ‘what is’. -It describes the state of affairs as it exists at present. – The researcher has no control over the variables, he/she can only report what has happened or is happening. 2. Analytical research : - The researcher has to use facts or information already available and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

3. Applied (Action ) research : - Aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organisation. - Leads to a deeper understanding of the situation by the local people and by the research team. -Examples are – research to identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution – marketing research – evaluation research etc. 4. Fundamental ( Basic) research : - Is mainly concerned with generalisations and with the formulation of a theory – Gathering knowledge for the sake of

Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics are fundamental research Research studies aimed at certain conclusions facing a concrete social or business problem is an example of applied research. 5. Quantitative Research : based on measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomenon that can be expressed in terms of quantity 6. Qualitative research : Is concerned with qualitative phenomenon ie. the phenomenon relating to or involving quality or kind. Ex. Motivation research ; Attitude or opinion research – Specially important in behavioral sciences.

7. Conceptual Research : It is related to some abstract ideas or theory – generally used by philosophers or thinkers to develop new concepts or to interpret existing ones – 8. Empirical research : it relies on experience or observation alone – without due regard for system and theory – it is data based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment Significance of research: Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and organization It provides the basis for nearly all govt. policies in our economic system

- It has its special significance in solving various operational and planning problems of business and industry -It is important for social scientists in studying social relationships and in seeking answers to various social problems. TESTING HYPOTHESIS

RESEARCH DESIGN : “Research Design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure” - It is the detailed plan of an investigation - It is the conceptual structure within which the research is conducted - It constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement and analysis of data What – Why – Where – When etc

The Research design decisions happen to be in respect of : 1. What is the study about? 2. Why is the study being made? Page: 23 3. Where will the study be carried out? 4. What type of data is required? 5. Where can the required data be found? 6. What periods of time will the study include? 7. What will be the sample design? 8. What techniques of data collection will be applied? 9. How will the data be analysed? 10. In what style will the report be prepared?

One can split the research design into the following parts : a) The sampling design : which deals with the method of selecting items to be observed for the given study. b) The Observational Design : Which relates to the conditions under which the observations are to be made. c) The statistical design : which concerns with the question of how many items are to be observed and how the information and data gathered are to be analysed d) The operational design : which deals with the techniques by which the procedures specified in the above three can be carried out.

Important Concepts relating to Research Design : 1. Dependent and independent variables :A concept which can take on different quantitative values is called a variable. E.g.. height, weight, income etc. If one variable depends upon or is a consequence of the other variable, it is dependent variable The variable that is antecedent to the dependent variable is termed as independent variable Example : Height depends upon on age, hence height is a dependent variable and age is independent. Height is also depends on sex, then height is dependent and age and sex are independent.

2. Extraneous variable : Independent variables that are not related to the purpose of the study, but may affect the dependent variable are termed as extraneous variable Eg. Children’s gain in social studies achievement and their self-concepts – intelligence. Extraneous variable 3.Experimental Group : A group of elements which is administered some form of experimental treatment is known as the experimental group. 4.Control group : When a group is exposed to usual conditions and which does not receive any experimental treatment are called control group. Eg. Special coaching ; farmers exposed to TV program

5.Treatment : The different conditions under which the experimental groups are put are usually referred to as treatment. Eg. Comparative impact of three varieties of fertilizers on the yield of wheat. 6.Experiment : The process of examining the truth of a statistical hypothesis relating to some research problem. Eg experiemnt to examine the usefulness of a certain newly developed drug. 7.Experimental units: The pre determined plots or the blocks where different treatments are used is known as experimental units.

Page:26 Different Research Designs : 1. Research Design in the case of exploratory research studies ( Formulative Research Studies ) : The main purpose of this study is that of formulating a problem for more precise investigation or for developing the working hypothesis – discovery of ideas and insight. In such cases the design must be flexible E.g.. Pilot Study - Survey of concerning literature – experience survey ,secondary data, focus group 2. Research Design in case of descriptive and diagnostic research :Research design is: - Formulating the objective of the study - Designing the method for data collection -Selecting the sample – Collecting the data – processing and analyzing the data – reporting the findings

3. Research Design for Hypothesis Testing Research Studies ( Experimental Research Studies) : Such studies require procedures that will not only reduce bias and increase reliability, but permit inferences abut causality. Usually experiments meet these requirements. – Prof. R.A.Fisher – agricultural research – He has enumerated three principles of experimental design, they are – a. The principle of replication :– experiment will be repeated more than once – each treatment is applied in many experimental units instead of one ( repetition and duplication) b. The principle of randomization:-is a technique in which each member of the population has an equal and independent chance of being selected – this is a method of controlling extraneous variables.

c. The principle of local control :- through this principle we can eliminate the variability due to extraneous factors from the experimental error – grouping (of homogenous units) – blocking – balancing Assignment – IMPORTANT TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Page:150 Sampling Design: What is a sample – sampling technique is the selection process – The survey so conducted is the sample survey Sample design: is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population – is the technique or the procedure adopted by the researcher in selecting samples Page:62 Steps – 1. Type of Universe

b. Sampling unit c. Source list d. Size of sample e. Parameter of interest f. Budgetary constraint g. Sampling procedure Sampling Methods : 1. Probability Sampling methods : Simple random sampling – Stratified random sampling(proportionate and disproportionate) - Cluster sampling 2. Non-probability Sampling methods : Quota sampling – Purposive sampling ( judgement sampling ) – Systematic sampling ( every nth element is chosen) MULTI STAGE RANDOM SAMPLING Sample Size – optimum is desirable – optimum is one which fulfils efficiency, representativeness, reliability & flexibility

Scales and Measurements : A scale is a technique to measure some thing. Scaling is used in ordering a series of items along sort of continuum. – they are methods of turning a series of qualitative facts into a quatitative series Measurements are yardsticks – Measurement in research consists of assigning numbers to empirical events in compliance with a set of rules – Hence, measurement is a three part process (1) Selecting observable empirical events (2) Developing a set of mapping rules ie a scheme for assigning numbers (3) Applying mappimg rule to each observation of that event. Example of studying people who attend a auto show

Different Scales :( page 36 of ur book) 1. Nominal Scale : It is simply a system of assigning number symbols to events in order to label them – example: assigning numbers to football players in order to identify them – just for convenience – no quantitative value – can not come out with a meaningful value – We use Mode as the measure of Central Tendency – eg. classifying the residents of a city according to religious preferences. 2. Ordinal Scale : The lowest level of the ordered scale that is commonly used is the ordinal scale – This scale places events in order – Eg. Rank orders represent ordinal scales – a student’s rank in his graduation class involves the use of ordinal scale – these scales have no absolute values – all that we can say is that one person is higher or lower in rank on the scale –

Ram’s rank is 10 and Mohan’s is 40 – what do you conclude? – If a is greater than b and b is greater than c, then a is greater than c – just mentions greater than or less than , without stating how much greater or less - the appropriate method of central tendency is median 3. Interval Scale: It has the power of nominal and ordinal scale plus one additional strength, the concept of equality of intervals – eg. the interval between 1 and 2 equals the difference between 2 and 3. In this case the intervals are adjusted in terms of some rule that has been established as a basis for making the units equal – these scales can have an arbitrary zero – it lacks a true zero – The Fahrenheit scale is an example of an interval scale – Mean is the appropriate measure of central tendency

4.Ratio Scale : It incorporates all the powers of previous three Scales-They have an absolute or true zero of measurement – Eg measurement of physical dimentions like height, weight, distance and area- geometric mean or harmonic mean are the measures of central tendency Page:41 Sources of error in measurement : 1. Respondent:nonresponce, response bias 2. Situation –third party present, location of the interview, 3. Measurer – behavior, style and looks of investigator may encourage or discourage certain replies from the respondent, gesture of the measurer, 4. Failing to record full responce 5. Instrument – e.g. use of complex words, ambiguous meaning etc.

Characteristics of Sound Measurement : Sound measurement must meet the tests of Validity, Reliability and Practicality Test of Validity : It refers to the extent to which a test measures what we actually wish to measure – it can also be thought of as Utility – validity is the extent to which differences found with a measuring instrument reflect true differences among those being tested. Test of Reliability : A measuring instrument is reliable if it provides consistent results – eg. if a scale is consistently overweighs objects by 5 kgs is a reliable scale but is not a valid scale – Reliability is concerned with estimates of degree to which measurement is free of random or unstable error. Page:38

Test of Practicality :This can be judged in terms of economy, convience and interpretability Scaling : It is defined as ‘ the procedure for the assignment of numbers ( or symbols) to a property of objects in order to impart some of the characteristics of numbers to the properties in question’. It describes the procedure of assigning numbers to various degrees of opinion, attitudes and other concepts – a scale is a continnum, consisting of the highest point and the lowest point

Important Scaling Techniques : Rating Scales : It involves qualitative description of a limited number of aspects of a thing or of traits of a person – we judge properties of objects without reference to other similar objects – these ratings are in the form of “like – dislike”, “excellent-good-averagebelow average-poor”. In practice three to seven point scales are generally used There are two types of Rating scale- (1) The Graphic Rating Scale : various points are usually put along the line to form a continuum and the rater indicates his rating. Eg. How do you like the product excellent

Very good

good

average

poor

2) The Itemized rating scale ( Numerical Scale) : It presents a series of statements from which a respondent Selects one as best reflecting his evaluation. Eg. suppose we want to enquire as to how well does a worker get along with his fellow workers: a. He is almost always involved in some friction with fellow worker b. He is often at odds with one or more of his fellow workers c. He some times gets involved in friction d. He frequently becomes involved in friction with others e. He almost never gets involved in friction with fellow workers

Attitude Scales : Thurstone defined ‘Attitude’ as “the degree of positive or negative feeling associated with some psychological object like symbol, phrase, slogan, person, institution, ideal or ideas towards which people can differ in varying degrees.” While measuring the attitudes of the people, we generally follow the technique of preparing the opinionnaire ( attitude scale) in such a way that the score of the individual responses assigns him a place on a scale. People may conceal their attitudes and express socially acceptable opinions – They may not really know how they feel about a social issue – People may be unaware of their attitude about an abstract situation until confronted with real situation – even behaviour itself is at times not a true indication of attitude. Eg- Politicians kissing babies Is this bevaviour a true expression of affection towards infants? No Hence there is no sure method of measuring attitude.

With all these limitations, several attitude scales were developed, they are : 1. Arbitrary scales: Are developed on ad hoc basis and are designed largely on researcher’s own subjective selection of items – researcher himself first collects few statements or items which he believes are unambiguous and appropriate to a given topic – some of these instruments are selected for inclusion in the measuring instrument. Eg. consider a company image study – How do you regard company’s reputation : 1. As a place to work : Bad -- -- -- Good 2. As a institution of social responsibility : Bad -- -- -- Good These scales are easy to develop and relatively less expensive Demerits are – no objective evidence and we have to rely on researcher’s insight and competence

2. Thurstone Scale ( Differential scale ) : This has been developed using consensus scale approach – In this approach the selection of items is made by a panel of judges who evaluate the items in terms of whether they are relevant to the topic of area. Detailed procedure : 1) The researcher gather a large number of statements, usually 20 or more ; 2) These statements are submitted to a panel of judges ( 50 to 300 judges ), requesting them to classify these statements into eleven groups. Those statements which he/she considers most favourable to the object are put in the first group; those considered next most in the second group ……… those consider most unfavourable in the last group.

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It may be noted here that only the neutral and the two extreme categories ( most favoured and most unfavoured) on which the statements are to be judged are defined. The remaining eight are unlabelled to create the impression of equal appearing intervals between the three labels. 3) The scale value of a statement is computed as the median position to which it is assigned by the group of judges. 4) A final selection is made taking items or statements that are spread out evenly along the scale from one extreme position to the other and for which there are more judges’ agreement.

3) Summated Scales ( Likert Scale ) This scale consists of a set of items ( statements) to which the subject is asked to react. The respondents are asked to respond to each item in terms of several degrees of agreement or disagreement and the scores may be, for eg. strongly agree - 5 ; agree-4; undecided-3; disagree – 2; and strongly disagree – 1. Total score is obtained when all the weights are summated 4)Semantic Differential (S D) Scale: This is developed by Charles E.Osgood and others in 1957. The word Semantic means relating to meaning in language. SD scaling is an attempt to measure the psychological meanings of an object. This scaling technique is used rather easily in decisional survey research. Its main use has been in connection with comparison of brand and company images, determination of attitudinal characteristics of consumers and analysis of the effectiveness of promotional activities.

“The S D scale is a technique for psychological measuring of things, usually concepts or objects of people. It consists of a series or set of descriptive adjectives or phrases which are polar opposite”. They are generally classified into three categories 1.Evaluative : Good – Bad ; Beautiful – Ugly; Clean – Dirty; Fair-Unfair 2.Potency : Large – Small; Strong – Weak; Thick – Thin; Loud-Soft; Deep – Shallow. 3.Activity : Fast – Slow; Active – Passive; Sharp-Dull. The respondents are asked to describe the concept under investigation according to the set of scales using the method of rating. Thus, the technique enables an investigator to examine both the context and intensity of people’s attitudes.

SURVEY RESEARCH : DATA COLLECTION : Primary Data : are collected afresh and for the first time – original in character – we collect primary data during the course of doing experiment in an Experimental Research, but for Descriptive Research, we can obtain primary data either through observation or through direct communication with the respondents. Methods : Observation method : Commonly used in studies relating to behavioural sciences – we all observe many things, but it is not a scientific observation – it will become scientific when it serves a formulated research purpose, is systematically planned and recorded and is subjected to checks and controls on validity and reliability – eg. investigator himself looking at the wrist watch the respondent is using instead of asking with him the brand of wrist watch, child behaviour

Advantages : Subjective bias may be eliminated – it gives information relating to current state of affairs – Independent of respondent’s willingness or capability to respond Disadvantages : time consuming and expensive – limited amount of information is available – extraneous factors may interfere. Types of observation : a. Structured and unstructured observation :Structured observation is characterised by a careful definition of the units to be observed – there should be standardised conditions of observation – proper method of recording. b. Participant and non-participant observation :In participant observation, the investigator observes by making himself a member of the group he is observing so that he can experience what the the members of the group experience. Eg. study on the lifestyle of fishermen community. c.

Controlled and uncontrolled observation : if the observation is taking place in a natural setting, it is uncontrolled – when observation is taking place according to prearranged plans, it is controlled.

Interview Method : a) Personal Interviews : Face to face – Interviewee may also ask Questions – direct personal investigation – on the spot and meet the people – Govt committees and Commissions – usually carried out in a structured way ( known as Structured interviews) – with structured questions – rigid procedure – Unstructured interviews are flexible – do not follow a predetermined set of questions – interviewer has much freedom to ask questions – it lacks comparability of one interview with another – it requires greater skill and knowledge – exploratory or formulative research, go for unstructured and descriptive research, go for structured interview Focussed interview :meant to focus on the given experience of the respondent – interviewer has the freedom to decide the manner and sequence of questions to be asked – confine the respondent to a discussion on issues to which he is conversant- generally used in the development of hypotheses and constitute a major type of unstructured interview

Clinical Interview : is concerned with broad underlying feelings or motivations or with the course of individual’s life experience – generally left to the interviewer’s discretion Non-directive interview: the interviewer’s function is just to encourage the respondent to talk about the given topic with a bare minimum of direct questioning – interviewer is acting as a catalyst Telephone Interview : Questionnaires Collection of data through Schedules :

Some other methods of data collection : 1. Warranty Cards : Usually postal sized card used by dealers of consumer durables to collect information regarding their products. It is printed form of questions on the ‘warranty cards’ which is placed inside the package along the products with a request to fill in the card and send it back to the dealer. 2. Distributor or Store Audits : These are performed by distributors as well as manufacturers through their salesmen at regular intervals – Retail stores are audited through salesmen and use such information to estimate market size, market share, seasonal purchasing pattern and so on – either by observation or by copying from shop records – for compilation of sales trend – most effective way of evaluating the effect on sales of variations of different techniques of in-store promotion.

3. Pantry Audits : It is used to estimate consumption of the basket of goods at the consumer level – the investigator collects an inventory of types, quantities and prices of commodities consumed – data are recorded from the examination of consumer’s pantry – objective is to find out what type of consumers buy certain products and certain brands – this method may be supplemented by direct questioning relating to reasons and circumstances under which particular products were purchased – to know the purchase habits

4. Consumer Panels : An extension of the pantry audit approach on a regular basis is known as ‘Consumer Panels’ – a set of consumers are arranged to maintain detailed daily records of their consumption and it is made available to the investigator on demand – same consumers are interviewed repeatedly over a period of time – are of two types:

a) Transitory consumer panel : Is set up to measure the effect of a particular phenomenon – conducted on a before-and-after basis – to study consumer behaviour and attitude

b) Continuing consumer pattern : Is often set up for an indefinite period with a view to collect data on a particular aspect of consumer behaviour over time – radio listening and watching TV. 5. Use of Mechanical devises : Eye camera ( to record the focus the eyes of respondent) Pupilometric camera ( to record dilation of the pupil as a result of a visual stimulus) Psychologalvanometer ( used for measuring the extent of body exitement as result of the visual stimulus Motion picture camera ( to record movement of body of a buyer while deciding to buy consumer goods from a shop – influence of packaging or information given on the label would stimulate a buyer ) Audio meters ( used by TV concerns to find out the type of programmes preferred by the people)

6. Projective Techniques : It is develop by the Psychologists to use projections of respondents for inferring about underlying motives, urges or intentions which are such that the respondents either resists to reveal them or is unable to figure out himself – important in motivational research – use of this technique require training Important projective techniques are : a) Word association techniques: b) Sentence completion tests: c) Story completion tests d) Verbal projection tests

ANALYSIS OF DATA : The data, after collection, has to be processed and analysed in accordance with the outline laid down for the purpose at the time of developing the research plan. The analysis planning should be done earlier at the research design stage itself. Processing involves editing, coding, classification and tabulation of data. 1. Editing : First step in the analysis of raw data – editing detects errors and omissions and corrects them when possible – it involves a careful scrutiny of the completed questionnaire. The purpose of editing is to ensure that the data areAccurate, consistent with other facts collected, uniformly entered, complete and arranged to simplify coding and tabulation. Field editing and Central editing 2. Coding : Coding refers to the process of assigning numerals or other symbols to answers so that responses can be put into a

limited number of categories or classes. Eg. 1 for male and 2 for female or M for male and F for female. The first one is numeric coding and the second one is alphanumeric coding. Coding helps the researcher to reduce several thousand replies to a few categories containing the critical information needed for analysis. Coding can either be done on the margin of questionnaire or transcribe the data from the questionnaire to a coding sheet. 3. Classification : Reducing raw data into homogenous groups – it is the process of arranging data in groups or classes on the basis of common characteristics a. Classification according to attributes :They are descriptive in nature (qualitative), like literacy, sex, honesty etc. – these can not be measured qualitatively – only their presence or absence in an individual item can be noticed.

b.Classification according to class intervals : These refer to quantitative phenomenon which can be measured through some statistical units – eg. data relating to income, production, age, height & weigh etc. 4. Tabulation : It is a concise, logical and orderly arrangement of data in columns and rows – summarising raw data and display them in compact form – it provides a basis for starting statistical comparisons – it could be one way , which furnishes answers to questions about one characteristic of the data only – Two-way, three-way and manifold tables deal with two, three or several interrelated characteristics of the data. These are known as cross-tabulation. Charts and Graphs :

REPORT WRITING : Report helps to know what has been done, why it was done, how it was done, what results were obtained and what conclusions and recommendations have been arrived at. It should be written in a clear and unambiguous language so that the readers can objectively judge the adequacy and validity of the research Steps in Report Writing : 1.Logical analysis of the subject matter 2.Preparation of the final outline 3.Preparation of the rough draft 4.Rewriting and polishing of the rough draft 5.Preparation of the final bibliography 6. Wring the final draft

Cluster Analysis It is a set of techniques for grouping similar objects or people – originally applied in taxonomy but later extended to economics, marketing etc. – This analysis starts with an undifferentiated group of people, events or objects and attempts to recognise them into homogenous subgroups. - Cluster analysis is used to classify persons or objects into a small number of mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups or clusters. - There should be high internal (Within cluster) homogeneity and high external (between cluster) heterogeneity. - One of the important uses of cluster analysis in marketing is market segmantation. - The main task involved in segmentation is to classify people, materials etc. into groups based on certain common characteristics.

- This analysis also provides a better understanding of buyer behaviour – to identify homogenous groups of buyers. - This is used in the development of potential new products. Steps in Cluster analysis : 1. Selection of the sample to be clustered 2. Definition of the variable on which to measure the objects. Events or people. 3. Computation of similarities among the entities through correlation 4. Selection of mutually exclusive clusters 5. Cluster comparison and validation.

Path Analysis : The objective of this analysis is to get a clear picture of the direct and indirect effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable