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Meaning of research
• Scientific and systematic search for

pertinent information on a specific topic
• A careful investigation and enquiry

specially through search for new facts in
any branch of knowledge
Tuesday 17 August 2010

Your research will take you
on a journey to find out:
• What is already known
• What is still unknown
• What is worth knowing
• What is knowable
• What is the best way of designing a
study in order to find answers to what is:
Unknown, Worth knowing and Knowable

Example:
• P&G announces the launch of Asia’s no.1
shampoo- Rejoice in India.
• Spoke to cross-section of 1500 consumers
across the length and breadth of India.
• Found that smooth and detangled hair is one
of the top unmet needs by ordinary
shampoos.
• Rejoice patented Micro- Silicone conditioning
technology gives twice as smooth, detangled
and easy to comb hair than ordinary shampoo

Contd..
• Given the diversity of Indian consumer

and their varied hair needs, P&G has
launched rejoice in the unique variants,
Rich, Complete & Silky clear
• Quality products at the right price are of
special concern to the discerning
majority of Indian masses

Business Research
• Business research is defined as the
systematic and objective process of
gathering, recording and analyzing data
for aid in making business decisions

Features of good research study
• Objectivity
• Control
• Generalizability
• Free from personal biases
• Systematic
• Reproducible

The Hallmarks of Scientific
Research
The hallmarks or main distinguishing
characteristics of scientific research may
be listed as follows:
1. Purposiveness
2. Rigor
3. Testability
4. Replicability
5. Precision and Confidence
6. Objectivity
7. Generalizability
8. Parsimony

Hallmarks of Scientific Research
1. Purposiveness
 It has to start with a definite aim or

purpose.
 The focus is on increasing employee
commitment.
 Increase employee commitment will
translate into less absenteeism and
increased performance levels.
 Thus it has a purposive focus.

2. Rigor
• A good theoretical base and sound methodological

design would add rigor to the purposive study.
• Rigor adds carefulness, scrupulousness and the
degree of exactitude in research.
Example:
A manager asks 10-12 employees how to increase
the level of commitment. If solely on the basis of
their responses the manager reaches several
conclusions on how employee commitment can be
increased, the whole approach to the investigation
would be unscientific. It would lack rigor for the
following reasons:

1. Based on few employees
2. Bias and incorrectness
3. There might be other influences on commitment
which are ignored and are important for a
researcher to know
Thus, Rigorous involves good theoretical base
and thought out methodology.
• These factors enable the researcher to collect
the right kind of information from an appropriate
sample with the minimum degree of bias and
facilitate suitable analysis of the data gathered.
• This supports the other six too.

3. Testability
After random selection manager and
researcher develops certain hypothesis on
how manager employee commitment can be
enhanced, then these can be tested by
applying certain statistical tests to the data
collected for the purpose.
The researcher might hypothesize that

those employees who perceive greater
opportunities for participation in decision
making would have a higher level of
commitment.

4. Replicability
It means that it can be used again if similar

circumstances prevails.
Example:
The study concludes that participation in
decision making is one of the most important
factors that influences the commitment, we
will place more faith and credence in these
finding and apply in similar situations. To the
extent that this does happen, we will gain

5. Precision and Confidence
Precision
– Precision refers to the closeness of the
findings to “reality” based on a sample.
– It reflects the degree of accuracy and
exactitude of the results of the sample.
Example: If a supervisor estimated the number

of production days lost during the year due to
absenteeism at between 30 and 40, as against
the actual of 35, the precision of his estimation is
more precise than if he had indicated that the
loss of production days was somewhere
between 20 and 50.

Confidence
– Confidence refers to the probability

that our estimations are correct.
– That is, it is not merely enough to be
precise, but it is also important that
we can confidently claim that 95% of
the time our results would be true
and there is only a 5% chance of our
being wrong.
– This is also known as
confidence level.

6. Objectivity
The conclusions drawn through the

interpretation of the results of data analysis
should be objective; that is, they should be
based on the facts of the findings derived
from actual data, and not on our subjective or
emotional values.
Example: If we had a hypothesis that stated that

greater participation in decision making will
increase organizational commitment and this was
not supported by the results, it makes no sense if
the researcher continues to argue that increased
opportunities for employee participation would
still help!

7. Generalizability
It refers to the scope of applicability of the
research findings in one organization setting
to other settings.
Example: If a researcher’s findings that

participation in decision making enhances
organizational commitment are found to be
true in a variety of manufacturing, industrial
and service organizations, and not merely in
the particular organization studied by the
researcher, then the generalizability of the
findings to other organizational settings in
enhanced. The more generalizable the
research, the greater its usefulness and
value.
8. Parsimony
Simplicity in explaining the phenomenon or problems

that occur, and in generating solutions for the
problems, is always preferred to complex research
frameworks that consider an unmanageable number
of factors.
For instance, if 2-3 specific variables in the work

situation are identified, which when changed would
raise the organizational commitment of the
employees by 45%, that would be more useful and
valuable to the manager than if it were recommended
that he should change 10 different variables to
increase organizational commitment by 48%.

Types of research
• Explanatory – Exploratory
• Qualitative – Quantitative
• Survey- Case research
• Conceptual- Empirical

Basic research
(Pure/Fundamental)
• To generate a body of knowledge by trying to
comprehend how certain problems that occur
in organizations can be solved
• This basic knowledge gained by the findings
can later on be applied by some
organizations to solve their own problems

Basic Research Example
• Is executive success correlated with high
need for achievement?
• Are members of highly cohesive work
groups more satisfied than members of
less cohesive work groups?
• Do consumers experience cognitive
dissonance in low-involvement situations?

Applied Research
• Research done with the intention of
applying the results of the findings to solve
specific problems currently being
experienced in the organisation
• To solve a current problem faced by the
manager in the work setting, demanding a
timely solution

Applied Research Examples
• Should McDonalds add Italian pasta

dinners to its menu?
• Business research told McDonald’s it
should not?
• Should Procter & Gamble add a high-
priced home teeth bleaching kit to its
product line?

Determining When to Conduct
Business Research
Availability of Data Benefits
Time Constraints Nature of the Decision vs. Costs
Is the infor- Does the value Yes
Is sufficient time Yes Yes Is the decision Yes Conducting
mation already of the research
available before of considerable
a managerial
on hand
strategic information Business
inadequate exceed the cost
decision for making
or tactical Research
must be made? importance? of conducting
the decision? research?
No No No No
Do Not Conduct Business Research

Scope of research
Research comprises defining and

redefining problems, formulating
hypothesis or suggested solutions,
collecting, organizing and evaluating data,
making deductions and reaching
conclusions and at last carefully testing the
conclusions to determine whether they fit
the formulating hypothesis

Uses of research in managerial
decision making
• Marketing research
• Government policies and economic
system
• Social relationship
• Operational research

Research process in flow chart
Define research Design research
problem FF
Collect data
Review concepts
Theories and
previous research F
findings Analyze data
Formulate
hypothesis Interpret &
report
Examples
• Sc:1: A university professor wanted to analyze in

depth the reasons for absenteeism of employees in
organisations. Fortunately, a company within 20
miles of the campus employed her as a consultant to
study that very issue.
• Sc:2: A research scientist surveys 1000 employees in
different organisational settings to study the efficacy
of several types of nasal sprays in controlling the flu
virus. He subsequently publishes his findings in a
highly respected medical journal.

Problem
• A problem is an interrogative sentence or
statement that asks: what relation exists
between two or more variables?

Criteria of problem statements
• A problem should express a relation
between two or more variables
• The problem should be stated clearly and
unambiguously in question form
• Problem statement should be such as to
imply possibilities of empirical testing

• Why is productivity in Japan so much
higher than in India ?

• What factors were responsible for the
higher labour productivity of Japan’s
manufacturing industries during the
decade 1971 to 1980 relative to India’s
manufacturing industries?

Which of the following statements is phrased as a research
problem?
The purpose of the study is to determine:
a. whether the suspension policy should be changed.
b. how students can overcome test anxiety.
c. if there is a difference in the mean gain scores in reading

achievement between students taught word attack skills and
those taught comprehensive skills.

• Which of the following statements is NOT a
research problem as stated?
• The purpose of this study is to describe and

analyze the effect of new admission standards
on grade point averages during the first year of
study of the 2007 in-coming class of art
education
• This study investigates if there is a relationship

between teacher questioning style and retention
of learning.
• This study investigates faculty morale.

Classifying Research
• Based on the nature of Questions:

– Reporting
• To provide summation of some data or to generate some
statistics
– Descriptive
• Tries to discover answers to the questions, who, what, when
where and how.
– Explanatory
• Attempts to explain the reasons for the “why” that the descriptive
study observed. Researcher uses theories or hypotheses to
account for the “why”
– Predictive
• Rooted in theory as above but often calls for a higher order of
inference making

Classifying Research
• Based on the nature of the Problem:

– Applied
– Pure
– Case Studies

Variable
• Variable is any factor that we are studying
• Three types of classification
• Dependent variable
– Variable of primary interest to the researcher, also
called criterion variable
– The one that is not manipulated
• Independent variable
– One that influences the dependent variable
– One manipulated by the researcher
An independent variable is the presumed cause of
the dependent variable, the presumed effect

Variable
• Active variable
– Any variable that is manipulated
– Eg. different methods of teaching, differently
rewarding the employees for a task etc.
• Attribute variable
– One that cannot be manipulated by the researcher
– Eg. Human characters like intelligence, sex,
socioeconomic status etc.
Active-attribute distinction is general, flexible and
useful

Variable
• Continuous variable
– Variable capable of taking on an ordered set of
values within a certain range
– Eg.rank order, scores obtained etc.
• Categorical variable
– Variables are categorized or assigned numbers/
values
– Individuals are categorised by the defining
property

Variable
• Moderating variable
– Can be a second independent variable that is included
because it is believed to have a significant contributory
effect on the originally stated IV-DV relationship.
– eg.The switch to a commission from a salary
compensation system (IV) will lead to increased sales
productivity (DV) per worker, especially among younger
workers (MV).
– The age difference can influence the relationship
between the compensation system and sales productivity

Variable
• Extraneous variable (Control)
– Many extraneous variables exist that might
conceivably affect a given relation or problem
– Some can be treated as independent or
moderating variables but most can be safely
ignored.
– Eg. With new customers (CV), a switch to a
commission from a salary compensation system
(IV) will lead to increased sales productivity (DV)
per worker, especially among younger workers
(MV).

Variable
• Intervening variable
– The factor which theoretically affects the observed
phenomenon but cannot be seen, measured or
manipulated.
– Its effect must be inferred from the effects of the
independent and moderator variables on the
observed phenomenon
– Eg. The switch to a commission compensation
system (IV) will lead to increased sales
productivity (DV) by increasing overall
compensation (IVV)

Hypotheses
• Assumptions or some supposition to be

proved or disapproved
• It is a predictive statement
• A hypothesis is a conjectural statement

of the relation between two or more
variables

Hypotheses
• When a proposition about an observable

phenomena (concepts) is formulated for
empirical testing, we call it a hypothesis
(preposition is a statement about
observable phenomena (concepts))
• Explain nature of relationship/direction and
magnitude
• Establish differences among group
1. If advertising is increased , then sales will
also go up
Hypotheses
• Assumptions or some supposition to be

proved or disapproved
• It is a predictive statement
• A hypothesis is a conjectural statement

of the relation between two or more
variables

Deduction
• Deduction is the process by which we arrive
at a reasoned conclusion by logical
generalization of a known fact.
Example: we know that all high performers are highly

proficient in their jobs.
If John is a high performer, we then conclude that he
is highly proficient in his job
Induction
• Induction is a process where we observe
certain phenomena and on this basis arrive at
conclusions.
In other words, in induction we logically

establish a general proposition based on
observed facts.

Hypothetico-Deductive
Method
• Deduction
– Process by which we arrive at a reasoned conclusion
by logical generalization of a known fact.
• Induction
– Process where we observe certain phenomena and
on its basis arrive at conclusions.
– Method of starting with a theoretical framework,
formulating hypotheses, and logically deducing from
the results of the study is known as hypothetico-
deductive method.

The Hypothetico-Deductive
Method

7 steps in Hypothetico-
Deductive Method
• Observation
• Preliminary information gathering
• Theory formulation (theoretical framework)
• Hypothesizing
• Further scientific data collection
• Data analysis
• Deduction

Types of investigation: Causal versus
co-relational
• Causal (explanatory) Hypothesis
– Does smoking cause cancer?
– Are smoking and cancer related?
– Does Stress causes sleepless night?
– Are stress and sleeplessness related?

Group differences
• Correlational Hypotheses
– Does training I is more effective than
training II
– Group I is more efficient than group II
– The number of suits sold varies directly
with the level of business cycle

What is a strong Hypothesis?
• Adequate for its purpose
• Testable
• Better than its rivals

Checklists for Developing a
Strong Hypothesis
• 1.Adequate for its purpose
– Does the hypothesis reveal original problem
condition?
– Does it clearly identify the relevant facts?
– Does it clearly state the condition, size or
distribution of some variable in terms of values
meaningful to the research problem (descriptive?)
– Does it suggest the form of research design?
– Does it provide a framework for organising the
resulting conclusions?

Strong Hypothesis
• 2.Testable
– Does the hypothesis use acceptable
techniques?
– Does it reveal consequences of derivatives
that can be deduced for testing purposes?
– Is the hypothesis simple, requiring few
conditions or assumptions?

Strong Hypothesis
• 3.Better than its rivals
– Does the hypothesis explain more facts
than its rivals?
– Does it explain a greater variety of facts
than its rivals?

The Management-Research
Question Hierarchy
• 1.Management Dilemma
– What symptoms cause management concern?
– What environmental stimuli raise mgmt. interest?
• 2.Management Question
– How can mgmt. eliminate the negative symptoms?
– How can it fully capitalize on an opportunity?
• 3.Research Questions
– What plausible courses of action are available to mgmt. to
correct the problem or take advantage of the opportunity
and which should be considered?

The Management-Research
Question Hierarchy
• 4.Investigative Questions
– What does the manager need to know to choose the best
alternative from the available courses of action?
• 5.Mesurement Questions
– What should be asked or observed to obtain the
information the manager needs?
• 6.Management Decision
– What is the recommended course of action, given the
research findings?

Formulating the Research
Question
• Discover management dilemma
• Define mgmt. question
• Define Research Question?

Hypotheses and Research Qtn.
• H: American cities are experiencing

budget difficulties
• Q: Are American cities experiencing
budget difficulties?
• H: Eighty percent of company Z
stockholders favor increasing the
company’s cash dividend
• Q: Do stockholders of company Z favor
an increased cash dividend?

The Research Design
DETAILS OF STUDY MEASUREMENT
Study setting Measurement DATA

Purpose of the Types of Extent of researcher
and ANALYSIS
study investigation interference
measures
Exploration Establishing: Minimal: Studying
Description – Causal relationships events as they normally Contrived
Noncontrived Operational 1. Feel
Hypothesis testing – Correlations occur
definition
PROBLEM STATEMENT
– Group differences, Manipulation and/or for data

Scaling
ranks, etc. control and/or
simulation
2. Goodness
Data-
Unit of analysis Sampling Time of data
collection
(population to be Design horizon
method
studied)
Individuals Observation
Dyads Probability/ One-shot
Interview
Groups nonprobability (crosssectional) 3. Hypothesis
Questionnaire
Organizations Sample size (n) Longitudinal testing
Physical
Machines measurement
etc.

Purpose of research design
• To maximize systematic variance

• To control extraneous variance
• To minimize error variance

SalePro’s Management
Research Question Heirarchy
Declining sales is one of the most common symptoms
serving as a stimulus for a research project, especially a
continuing pattern that is unexplained. SalePro, a large
manufacturer of Industrial goods, faces this situation.
Exploration reveals that sales infact should not be
declining in South and Northeast. Environmental factors
there are as favourable as in the growing regions.
Subsequent exploration leads management to believe that
the problem is in one of the 3 areas: salesperson
compensation, product formulation, or trade advertising.
Further exploration has the management narrowing the
focus of research to alternative ways to alter the sales
compenstaion system, which leads to a survey of all sales
personal in the affected regions

Mindwriter Corporation
CompleteCare Program
MindWriter Corporation has recently created a service and repair
program, CompleteCare, for its portable laptop/notebook
computers. This program promises to provide a rapid response to
customers service problems. It is currently experiencing a
shortage of trained technical operators in its telephone center.
The package courier, contracted to pick up and deliver customers
machines to CompleteCare, has provided irregular execution.
MW has also experienced parts availability problems for some
machine types. Recent phone logs at the call center show
complaints about CompleteCare. Management desires
information on the programs effectiveness and its impact on
customer satisfaction to determine what should be done to
improve the CompleteCare program for MW product repair and
servicing.

Distribute the case under these 7
steps as in Hypothetico-Deductive
Method
• Observation
• Preliminary information gathering
• Theory formulation (theoretical framework)
• Hypothesizing
• Further scientific data collection
• Data analysis
• Deduction

Exercise
• The chief information officer (CIO) of a firm observes that

the newly installed Management Information System (MIS)
is not being used by middle managers as much as was
originally expected. The managers often approach the CIO
or some other “computer expert” for help, or worse still,
make decisions without facts. “There is surely a problem
here” the CIO exclaims.
• Talking to some of the middle-level managers, the CIO finds
that many of them have very little idea as to what MIS is all
about, what kinds of information it could provide, and how
to access it and utilize the information
• The CIO immediately uses the internet to explore further
information on the lack of use of MIS in organisations. The
search indicates that many middle-level-managers,
especially the old-timers are not familiar with operating
personal computers and experience “computer anxiety”.

Exercise: contd…..
• Based on all this information, the CIO develops a theory

incorporating all the relevant factors contributing to the lack of
access to the MIS by managers in the organisation
• From such a theory, the CIO generates various hypotheses
for testing, one among them being; knowledge of the
usefulness of MIS would help managers to put it to greater
use.
• The CIO then develops a short questionnaire on the various
factors theorized to influence the use of the MIS by managers,
such as the extent of knowledge of what MIS is, what kinds of
information MIS provides, how to gain access to the
information, and the level of comfort felt by managers in using
computers in general, and finally how often managers have
used the MIS in the preceding 3 months.

Exercise: contd…
• The CIO then analyses the data obtained

through the questionnaire to see what factors
prevent the managers from using the system
• Based on the results, the manager deduces
or concludes that managers do not use MIS
owing to certain factors. These deductions
help the CIO to take necessary action to
rectify the situation, which might include,
among other things, organizing seminars for
training managers on the use of computers,
and MIS and its usefulness.

Exploratory research
• An exploratory study is undertaken when

not much is known about the situation at
hand or no information is available on how
similar issues have been solved in the past
– Women in workplace in India
– New product and market
Provides preliminary information for full-
fledged study

Descriptive research
1. Understands the characteristics (of variables) of

group in a given situation
2. Offer ideas for further probe and research
3. Help make certain simple decision
A bank manager wants to have a profile of the

individuals who have loan payments outstanding
for 6 months and more. It would include details of
their average age, earnings, nature of occupation,
fill-time/ part-time employment status, and the like.
This might help him to elicit further information or
decide right away on the types of individuals who
should be made ineligible for loan in the future.

Case Exercise
• CHILDCO You work for CHILDCO, a corporation that is

considering the acquisition of a toy manufacturer. The senior
vice president for development asks you to head a task force
to investigate six companies that are potential candidates. You
assemble a team composed of representatives from the
relevant functional areas. Pertinent data are collected from
public sources because of the sensitive nature of the project.
You examine all of the following: company annual reports;
articles in business journals, trade magazines, and
newspapers; financial analysts’ assessments; and company
advertisements. The team members then develop summary
profiles of the candidate firms based on the characteristics
gleaned from the sources. The final report highlights the
opportunities and problems that acquisition of the target firm
would bring to all areas of the business.

What is the managers
dilemma?
• In CHILDCO the senior vice president
for development must make a proposal
to the president or possibly the board of
directors about whether to acquire a toy
manufacturer and, if one is to be
acquired, which one of the six under
consideration is the best candidate.

What must the research
accomplish?
• the researcher needs to know what information should
be evaluated in order to value a company
• Knowing the type of information needed, the
researcher in CHILDCO identifies sources of
information, like trade press articles and annual
reports.
• Because of the possible effect of the toy manufacturer
evaluation on the stock prices of the conglomerate
instigating the study and each toy company, only
public sources are used.
• Other reporting studies of a less sensitive nature might
have the researcher interviewing sources
Example
• Propose one or more hypotheses for each of
the following variable pairs, specifying which
is the IV and which is the DV. Then develop
the basic hypothesis.
• The index of consumer confidence and the
business cycle
• Level of worker output and closeness of
worker supervision
• Student GPA and the level of effort in a class
required by student’s major

Sources of Primary Data
• Direct Personal Interview (investigation)
• Indirect Personal Interview (investigation)
• Information from correspondents
• Mailed Questionnaires
• Questionnaires filled by enumerators

Sources of Secondary Data
• Published sources
– Government publications
– Publications of international organizations
– Semi-official publications
– Reports of committees and commissions
– Private publications
– Journals & newspapers
– Research institutions
– Professional trade bodies
– Annual reports of companies
– Articles, market reviews and reports
• Unpublished sources
• Unpublished data collected by research institutions, trade associations,
universities etc.

Sampling
• It is a process of obtaining information

about an entire population by examining
only part of it
• If a banker is interested in investigating the
saving habits of blue collar workers in the
IT industry in India

Characteristics of good
sampling
• Truly representative sample
• Small sampling error
• Funds available for the research study
• Controlled systematic bias
• Reasonable level of confidence

Essentials of a Good Sample
• Representativeness
• sample should possess the same characteristics as the original
population from which it has been drawn
• Independence
• Items should be independent of each other. In other words, selection of
any one item should not affect the selection of any other item of the
population for the same sample.
• Homogeneity
• There should not be any basic difference in the nature of units of the
population and that of the sample. If two samples from the same
population are taken they should be similar
• Adequacy
• Ie. The sample should be fairly large. The no. of units in the sample
should be adequate so as to make the results more accurate and
reliable.

Advantages of sampling
• Advantages of sampling over complete enumeration
are
• Reduced cost
• Greater speed
• Greater scope (sometimes a complete census become
impossible/impracticable)
• Detailed enquiry and greater accuracy
• Administrative convenience
• Disadvantages
• Specialized knowledge required
• Representativeness

Methods of Sampling
Probability Sampling Non-prob. Sampling
Simple or
Restricted Judgment or
Unrestricted Quota S
Purposive S
Convenience S
Stratified Cluster Systematic

Types of sampling
• Non- probability sampling

- Convenience sampling
- Purposive sampling (quota & judgement
sampling, snowball sampling)
• Probability sampling
- Simple random sampling
- Complex random sampling {cluster
(heterogeneity within group), systematic,
stratified sampling (homogeneity within group)}

Fundamental definitions
• Universe /Population
• Sampling frame
• Sampling design
• Statistics and parameters
• Sampling error
• Confidence level and significance level

4 Sampling
• Random Samples
• Selected using chance method or random methods
• Simple or Unrestricted Random Sampling
– A sample is considered a random sample if its members are
drawn in such a way that each observation of the population
has an equal chance of being included in the sample, and
every possible combination of observations in the population
has the same chance of being included.
– Lottery method (a slip is made for every item in the population
and someone who is neutral is asked to select the required no.
of slips)
– Tippet’s method (Standard tables of random nos. like Tippets
random no. tables, Fisher and Yates tables and Random
Corporation tables are used and the population units are
numbered from 1 to 100 and selected using these tables)

4 Sampling
• Random Sampling
• Restricted Random Sampling
– Special type of random sampling
– Mainly used
» when the data is not homogenous; in this case stratified
sampling or cluster sampling is used.
» When a short-cut method of obtaining a random sample is
required; in this case a systematic sampling is used.
– Stratified Sampling
» Used when population is heterogeneous and consists of
different homogenous groups with different characteristics,
hence popultn. is divided into different strata or groups and are
selected in such a way that the variance of the characteristic
under study is smaller within the group and larger between the
groups. Units are sampled at random from each of these strata.
» Homogeneity within the groups and heterogeneity between the
groups
» Eg. Two income group people of low income and high income

4 Sampling
• Random Sampling
– Cluster Sampling
» Population is divided into groups called blocks or
clusters which are representative of the population
as a whole.
» There is considerable variation within each group but
no variation between the different groups.
(heterogeneity within the groups & homogeneity
between the groups)
» Eg. A market research team wants to determine the
average no. of TV sets per household in a large
town; they can divide the town into a no. of blocks
and then choose a certain no. of blocks for
interviewing each household.

4 Sampling
• Random Sampling
– Systematic Sampling
» Each sample element in a population has an equal
probability of being selected. (nth element selected)
» Eg. If in a firm there are 100 employees, numbered 0 to 99
and we choose a sample of 10 by picking up every 10th
employee beginning with 1, then those numbered 2,3,4
and 5 have no chance of being selected altogether.
» This type of sampling is used when the complete and upto
date list of sampling units is available and the units of the
population to be sampled are ordered in a specific manner.
» Eg. The arrangement of names in a telephone directory in
an alphabetical order can be used for selecting a sample of
subscribers by the systematic sampling method.

4 Sampling
• Non-Random Sampling
• Can be drawn by 3 methods
• Judgement / Purposive Sampling
– Individual items are selected by the investigator by his
own judgement
• Quota Sampling
– Quotas are fixed for each group and units are chosen
depending on the prescribed quotas
• Convenience Sampling
– Convenient slice of the population is selected
according to the convenience of the investigator

Example
• A department store that wishes to examine whether it is
loosing or gaining customers draws a sample from its list
of credit card holders by selecting every 10th name.
• A motorcycle manufacturer decided to research

consumer characteristics by sending 100 questionnaires
to each of its dealers. The dealers would then use their
sales records to trace buyers of its brand of motorcycle
and distribute the questionnaires to them.
• A citizens group, interested in generating public and

financial support for a new university basket ball arena,
has published a questionnaire in area newspapers.
Readers return the questionnaire by mail.

Sample frame
• List of items from which the sample is to

be drawn

Sampling frame (Text book; pages 176-185)
Population
Sampling frame
Response
Sample
Response error
Chance error
Frame error

Sampling error
• Sampling errors are those errors which
arise on account of sampling
Sampling error = frame error + chance error

+ response error

Sampling design
• A definite plan for obtaining a sample from

the sample frame

Statistics and parameters
• Statistic is the characteristics of sample

and parameter is the characteristics of
population

Exercises
Determine which of the following statements are
reliable. Using your knowledge from sampling,
list the possible problems with each statement.
• The average annual income of Indians’ is Rs.

15,000 according to a survey carried out in
Mumbai.
• A large majority of people from rural areas

support subsidies for failing farm operations.
This is the result of a phone-in poll carried out by
a regional television station.

 Recently, a leading environmental group
claimed that only 3% of India’s land mass
was covered by forest, whereas a leading
business organization claimed the figure
was 6%.
• Statistics reveal that 30% of our nation's

school leavers are below average in
reading and writing.

Confidence level
The confidence level is the expected
percentage of times that the actual value
will fall within the stated precision limits.

The sampling process
• Define the population

• Identify the sampling frame
• Specify the sampling unit
• Specify the sampling method
• Determine the sample size (n)

Sample size
• Nature of universe
• Number of classes proposed
• Nature of study
• Type of sampling
• Standard of accuracy and acceptable
confidence level
• Availability of finance

Exercise
• A survey researchers, studying expenditures
on soft drinks, wishes to have a 95 percent
confidence level (Z) and a range of error (E) of
less than Rs. 2. The estimate of standard
deviation is Rs. 29.00. Determine sample size.
• What would happen to the sampling

distribution of mean if we increase sample
size from 5 to 25?

Sample Size Formula
=  zs 
n  ÷
E

Bias in Sampling
• Selection Bias
• Measurement or response Bias
• Non response bias

Exercise:1
• The finance department in the university
produced 140 graduates in 2004. As a part
of curriculum review, the department
would like to select a simple random
sample of 20, 2004 graduates to obtain
information on how graduates perceived
the value of the curriculum. Describe two
different methods that might be used to
select the sample. Justify

Exercise 2
• A company having chain of restaurants in

Mumbai, wants to start a new one in Navi
Mumbai. Before starting, it wants to conduct
a survey of employees of various institutions
in that area to know about their eating
habits, preferences, etc. Suggest a suitable
sampling scheme for the same.

Exercise 3
• In an article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Kellogg to study
work of salaried staff, setting stage for possible job cutbacks”,
it was stated that Kellogg's earnings remained under heavy
competitive pressure and its cereal market continued to slip. It
was also stated that Kellogg was seeking to regain its lost
momentum through the first three strategies listed below, to
which the last two are added:
• Increasing production efficiencies
• Developing new products
• Increasing product promotion through advertising
effectiveness
• Tapping creative ideas from organisational members at
different levels
• Assessing perceptions of organisational health and vitality
Discuss the sampling design for each of the five strategies
above. Give reasons.

Exercise:4
• A research ascertained the role of motivational
style (extrinsic, intrinsic, amotivational) as
predictors of behaviour persistence in real life
setting. At the beginning of the academic year,
1024 first term students enrolled in compulsory
college course completed a scale assessing
motivation towards academic activities. Results
showed that students who were more intrinsically
motivated persisted more than those who were
extrinsically motivated or amotivated.
• Independent variables
• Levels of independent variables
• Dependent variables
• Objective & results
• Exercise 5
• 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 flag ship – The 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.
Olive 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
did not 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 message did not help consumers to understand the
differences either.
• Oliver thought that he first needed to understand how the different
classification would be important to the several classes of clients and 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.

• Exercise 6
• List and label the variables in the following situation.

Explain the relationships among the variables and
diagram them. What might be the problem statement or
problem definition for the situation?
• The manager of Haines Company observes that the
morale of employees in her company is low. She thinks
that if the working conditions, the pay scales, and the
vacation benefits of the employees are bettered, morale
will improve. She doubts, though, that increasing the pay
scales is going to raise the morale of all employees. Her
guess is that those with good side incomes will just not
be “turned on” by higher pay. However, those without
side incomes will be happy with increased pay and their
morale will improve.

Study settings
• Contrived
– Artificial environment like the lab settings
– Excessive researcher interface
• Noncontrived
– Natural environment where the work proceeds
naturally
– Field studies/experiments
– Field study; Minimal researcher interface
– Field experiment; moderate researcher interface

Measurement
• Measurement is assignment of numbers to
events or objects according to rules that
permit important properties of the objects
or events to be represented by properties
of the number system

Properties of scale
• Difference
• Magnitude
• Equal interval
• Absolute 0

Measurement scales (Types)
• Nominal scales
• Ordinal scales
• Interval scales
• Ratio scales

Nominal scale
• A nominal scale is one that allows the
researcher to assign to certain categories
or groups
• Example: Gender
• Nationality
• Religion

Ordinal Scale
• Ordinal scale categorizes the variables in
such a way, so that we can differentiate
among various categories, it also rank
orders the categories in meaningful way.

Example
• Rank the following five characteristics in a job in terms of how
important they are for you. You should rank the most important item
as 1, and so on until you have ranked each of them 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
Job characteristics Ranking of importance
The opportunity provided by

the job to:
1. Interact with others
2. Use a no. of different
skills
3. Complete a whole task
from beginning to end
4. Serve others
5. Work independently
Rank Order Scales
• Rank the following in order of preference, 1
being the most preferred and 3 the least:
• Brand A _________
• Brand B _________
• Brand C _________

Paired Comparisons:
In paired comparisons the respondents
are presented with two objects at a time
and asked to pick the one they prefer.
Ranking objects with respect to one
attribute is not difficult if only a few
products are compared, but as the
number of items increases, the number
of comparisons increases geometrically.

Interval scale
• The interval scale lets us measure the
distance between any two points on the
scale. In other words, the interval scale not
only groups individuals according to
certain categories and taps the order of
these groups, it also measures the
magnitude of the differences in the
preferences among the individuals.

Ratio scale
• The ratio scale not only measures the
magnitude of differences between points
on the scale but also taps the proportions
in the differences.

Example
• Indicate the no. of children you have in
each of the following categories:
------Below 3 years of age
------Between three and six
------Over six years but under twelve years
------Twelve years and above

Semantic Differential
n A series of seven-point bipolar rating
scales. Bipolar adjectives, such as “good”
and “bad”, anchor both ends (or poles) of
the scale.

n A weight is assigned to each position on
the rating scale. Traditionally, scores are
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2,
-3.

SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALES
FOR MEASURING PERCEPTION
TOWARD TENNIS
Exciting ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : Calm

Interesting ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : Dull
Simple___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ Complex
Passive ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ : ___ Active

EXAMPLE OF CATEGORY
SCALE
How important were the following in your decision to visit
Agra? (check one for each item)
VERY SOMEWHAT NOT TOO
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT
CLIMATE ___________ ___________ ___________

COST OF TRAVEL ___________ ___________ ___________
FAMILY ORIENTED ___________ ___________ ___________
EDUCATIONAL
/HISTORICAL ASPECTS _________ ___________ ___________
FAMILIARITY WITH
AREA ___________ ___________ ___________

Method of Summated Ratings:
The Likert Scale
n An extremely popular means for
measuring Perception. Respondents
indicate their own perception by checking
how strongly they agree or disagree with
statements.
n Response alternatives: “strongly agree”,
“agree”, “uncertain”, “disagree”, and
“strongly disagree”.

LIKERT SCALE FOR MEASURING
PERCEPTION TOWARD TENNIS
It is more fun to play a tough, competitive
tennis match than to play an easy one.
___Strongly Agree
___Agree
___Not Sure
___Disagree
___Strongly Disagree

LIKERT SCALE FOR MEASURING PERCEPTION
TOWARD TENNIS
Cont.
There is really no such thing as a tennis

stroke
that cannot be mastered.
___Strongly Agree
___Agree
___Not Sure
___Disagree
LIKERT SCALE FOR MEASURING
PERCEPTION TOWARD TENNIS
Cont.
Playing tennis is a great way to exercise.

___Strongly Agree
___Agree
___Not Sure
___Disagree

Graphic Rating Scales
n A graphic rating scale presents
respondents with a graphic continuum.

Graphic Rating Scale Stressing
Pictorial Visual Communications
3 2 1
Very Very
Good Poor

Graphic Rating Scales
ò easy to construct and simple to use,
can discern fine distinctions, but not
very reliable, can be treated as
interval data.

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Meaning of research

• Scientific and systematic search for

• A careful investigation and enquiry

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• Given the diversity of Indian consumer

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 It has to start with a definite aim or

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• A good theoretical base and sound methodological

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The researcher might hypothesize that

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It means that it can be used again if similar

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Example: If a supervisor estimated the number

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– Confidence refers to the probability

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The conclusions drawn through the

Example: If we had a hypothesis that stated that

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Example: If a researcher’s findings that

Simplicity in explaining the phenomenon or problems

For instance, if 2-3 specific variables in the work

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• Should McDonalds add Italian pasta

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Do Not Conduct Business Research

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Research comprises defining and

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• Sc:1: A university professor wanted to analyze in

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The purpose of the study is to determine:

a. whether the suspension policy should be changed.

b. how students can overcome test anxiety.

c. if there is a difference in the mean gain scores in reading

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• The purpose of this study is to describe and

• This study investigates if there is a relationship

• This study investigates faculty morale.

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• Based on the nature of Questions:

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• Based on the nature of the Problem:

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