Faculty of Business Studies (FBS)

Course Title: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Program: Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Batch: BBA-3
Credit Hours: Three
Semester offered: Session-January-June (2014)
Course Objectives:
Specifically, the course objectives are
Plan, carry out, and present the results of a research project
Describe the major characteristics and tools used in qualitative and quantitative
offline and online research
Define meaningful objectives and questionnaire
Develop and administer a research survey and acquire primary data
Select and apply research methodology and data analysis techniques appropriate
for research questions
Analyze the research data and draw conclusions based upon that analysis
To discuss the nature and scope of research and its role in decision support
systems
Help those students who are to write thesis, research may mean careerism or a
way to attain a high position in the social structure.

Text(s): Research Methodology, Methods and Techniques, 2nd Edition

(Revised) , By C.R. Kothari.
Business Research Methods By William G. Zikmund, 7th Edition.
Reference books:
Marketing Research, An applied orientation, 5th Edition, By Naresh K.
Malhotra.
Statistics for Management By Levin & Rubin

Business Research Methods, 9th Edition, Donald R Cooper, Pamela S

Schindler.
Teaching Methodology:
Lecture will be the main method of teaching. Use of visual aids, like Multimedia, will
aid the lecture presentations.
The techniques of experiential learning like classroom exercises role-play and group
discussions will be used to increase participation.
Assignments and case studies will help the students to solve real-life problems and
develop insights into applied organization approaches.
Course Details:
Topics to be discussed
Introductory class relevant to the course and research
Meaning of research, Marketing research, Business research , research methods vs.
research methodology, Importance of knowing how research is done.
Types of research, Criteria of good research, Research suppliers and services,
Steps of the research process
Research Proposal,
Contents of research proposal, How to write a research proposal, M Phil and PhD
research proposal. Concept, Variable and measurement.
Defining of the problem
Problem definition. What is a research problem? Selecting the problem.
Importance of defining the problem,
The process of defining the problem
Literature review
How to write a literature review or research gap
Advantages of literature review.
Developing an approach to the problem or development of working hypotheses
Developing an approach to the problem
Components of the approach: objective/theoretical framework, analytical model,
research questions, Hypotheses and factors influencing the research design.
Research design
Meaning of research design, feature of good research design: Classification of
research design: Exploratory, Descriptive and Causal research designs,
Potential sources of errors
Qualitative vs. quantitative, Dependent variable vs. Independent variables, Census
vs. Sample survey, Primary scale of measurement
Comparative and non-comparative scaling techniques, attitudes measurements by
Fishbein Model
Questionnaire design process,
Types of questionnaire
Pre-testing the questionnaire,
Sampling, Sampling Design Process

Remarks

Classification of sampling techniques

Field work, data collection
Data, Types of data, Sources of data collection, Data collection techniques,
Analysis and preparation of Data
Data preparation. Data preparation process, data management, creating statistical
graphs and tables, Measurement of central tendency, Mean, Median mode, standard
deviation, Univariate analysis, Bivariate data analysis, Multivariate data analysis,
concept of hypothesis testing, Z-test, t-test, F-test, Anova, Correlation and
Regression analysis, Partial correlation, Factor analysis, Chi-square testing,
Conjoint analysis, SPSS data analysis software.
Hypothesis testing
Generalizations and interpretation
Report preparation and Presentations process
Importance of the report and presentation, Report preparation and presentations
process, Contents of a Research Report, How to write a references, Bibliography
and Citation.

Distribution of Marks
The grade in a course will be based on an overall evaluation of a students performance in
assignments, examinations, quizzes, term papers, project works, class attendance, and
class participation. Suggested distribution of marks in a course will be as under:
a. 1st Mid-term examination
: 10%
nd
b. 2 Mid-term examination
: 10%
c. Semester Final Examination
: 50%
d. Quizzes and/ weekly tests
: 10%
e. Assignment and Presentation
: 5%
f. Term paper and group presentation
: 5%
g. Individual oral presentation
: 5%
h. Attendance and Participation
: 5%
Total
: 100%
Grading System
Letter grades will be used to evaluate the performance of a student in a course. The
performance of students in the Programs will be evaluated as per following Grading
System:
Letter
Grades
A+

Grade
Point
4.00

A
A-

3.75
3.50

Marks to be
Obtained
80% and
above
75% to < 80%
70% to < 75%

Letter
Grades
C+

Grade
Point
2.50

Marks to be
Obtained
50% to < 55%

C
D

2.25
2.00

45% to < 50%

40% to < 45%

B+
B
B-

3.25
3.00
2.75

65% to < 70%

60% to < 65%
55% to < 60%

F
I
W

0.00
Incomplete
Withdrawn

< 40%
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