INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, NIRMA UNIVERSITY

BBA-MBA Five Year Integrated Programme [Batch 2017-2022]

Class Test-II [Semester 6 ]
Course : Principles of Research Methodology

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Maximum Marks: 50 Date: 31-03-2020
Open Book Exam

Name of the student: SHIRAZ NAGARIA Roll No.

177149
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Instructions:
1. Read carefully and answer all the questions.
2. There is no negative marking
3. All questions are compulsory.
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Q1. Suppose Jet Airways wants to ascertain the image it has in the minds of its patrons.
Construct a seven-item Likert and semantic differential scale to measure the perceived image of
the airlines. Make sure that the seven items under each format correspond to the same seven
dimensions. (10)

Q.2 Indicate the type of measurement scale you would use for each of the following
characteristics. Why did you choose the scale you did? Develop the appropriate question for each
characteristic and the scale chosen. (10)
(a) Colour of a dishwasher
(b) Age of a TV
(c) Occupation
(d) Brand loyalty
(e) Readership of a newspaper
(f) Intention to purchase a TV

Q3. How do you edit a questionnaire? What are the precautions that a researcher must take while
editing a questionnaire? Give suitable examples (10)

Q4. Max New York Life India decided to conduct an employee survey to find out the motivators
for an effective performance. For this purpose, the following questionnaire was used: (10)
1. Prepare a code book for the questionnaire designed.
2. Which questions require post-coding? Can you prepare your broad categories in advance?
Give reasons for your answer.

Q5. Find a technical and business report from your library or on the internet and examine the
contents of the report against what has been discussed in the chapter. What deviations did you
find from the stated structure? What do you think could have been the reason for this? (5)

Q6. Examine online research reports available and evaluate the process of reporting by them. Do
you think that the structure followed by them is effective and efficient? Comment (5)
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SOLUTIONS

A.1) Likert developed the principle of measuring attitudes by asking people to respond to
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a series of statements about a topic, in terms of the extent to which they agree with them, and
so tapping into the cognitive and affective components of attitudes. Likert-type or frequency
scales use fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or.  These
ordinal scales measure levels of agreement/disagreement.
1. Jet Airways service Quality is better than its competitors. Do you agree with this
statement?
a. Completely Agree
b. Mostly Agree
c. Somewhat Agree
d. Undecided
e. Somewhat Disagree
f. Mostly Disagree
g. Completely Disagree
2. While travelling by Jet airways your flight has been delayed while take-off or
landing.
a. Always
b. Very Frequently
c. Frequently
d. Occasionally
e. Rarely
f. Never
3. How important is the low Jet Airways booking cost, while booking a flight to
you?
a. Very Important
b. Important
c. Moderately Important

d. Of Little Importance
e. Unimportant
f. Neutral
4. The Jet Airways air crew and ground crew looked after all your needs.
a. completely Agree
b. Mostly Agree
c. Somewhat Agree
d. Undecided
e. Somewhat Disagree
f. Mostly Disagree
g. completely Disagree
5. How was your overall in- flight experience while travelling by Jet Airways?
a. completely satisfied
b. Mostly Satisfied
c. Somewhat Satisfied
d. Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied
e. Somewhat Dissatisfied
f. Mostly Dissatisfied
g. completely Dissatisfied
6. While travelling by Jet Airways, your luggage has been delayed/lost/misplaced.
a. Always
b. Very Frequently
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c. Frequently
d. Occasionally
e. Rarely
f. Never

The Semantic Differential Scale is a seven-point rating scale used to derive the respondent’s
attitude towards the given object or event  by asking him to select an appropriate position on
a scale between two bipolar adjectives (such as “warm” or “cold”, “powerful” or “weak”,
etc.)
1. How was your overall in- flight experience while travelling by Jet Airways?

Satisfied ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Dissatisfied

2. Has your luggage been delayed/lost/misplaced while travelling by Jet Airways?

Always ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Never

3. Did the Jet Airways air crew and ground crew look after all your needs?

Agree ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Disagree

4. How important is the low Jet Airways booking cost, while booking a flight to
you?

Important ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Unimportant

5. How often has your flight been delayed while take-off or landing?
Always ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Never
6. Are Jet Airways Service Quality better than its competitors?
Always ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Never

A.2)
(a) Colour of a dishwasher- For this type of study, the researcher would use nominal scale as
this scale is used for labeling, that is, it involves no quantitative value. Colours do not have any
assigned order and therefore they can be unstructured. With this type, the purpose is to only
identify.
Which colour would be preferred by you while buying a dishwasher?
1. white
2. black
3. brown
4. other_______
(b) Age of a TV- For this type of research, the most appropriate scale would be nominal scale as
this type of scale would not indicate that one is better than the other. It is a crude form of data
with limited scope.
How old is the television set you are using now?
1. 2-4 years
2. 5-7 years
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 3. 8-10 years
4. More than 10 years
(c) Occupation- The most appropriate scale for this characteristic would be nominal scale as
occupation would be an indication to their income level, but the options do not indicate which
one is superior.
What do you do for a living?
1. Business
2. Profession
3. Service
4. Unemployed
(d) Brand loyalty- In order to identify this characteristic, a researcher would use ordinal scale as
it is more precise and would rank from highest to lowest the loyalty of the consumers towards
the brand. This type would help the researcher to understand the impact of the brand onto the
consumers.
Which toothpaste brand would you prefer? (1- highest and 5- lowest)
1(highest) 2 3(neutral) 4 5(lowest)
Pepsodent
Colgate
Patanjali

(e) Readership of a newspaper- For this type of study, the researcher can use ordinal scale as this
scale helps the researcher to identify which brand is superior to the other. This type of scale will
let the researcher know which of these newspapers is better and most preferred by the
respondents.
Which of these newspapers do you read?
1. The Hindu
2. Times of India
3. The Economics Times
4. 4. Other__________
(f) Intention to purchase a TV- For this type of characteristic, the researcher can use interval
scale. This would allow the researcher to compare the responses of the respondents. This type of
scale will let the researcher know what factors are important for a consumer while buying a
television.
VERY UNLIKELY NEUTRAL LIKELY VERY
UNLIKELY LIKELY
Need
Social Strata

A.3)
Data editing is the process of editing the raw data obtained by detecting all errors and omissions
and taking necessary course of actions against it. This process is conducted at two levels, which
is field editing and central editing.

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  Field Editing - This is done on a regular bases in which investigators review filled
questionnaires to find any inconsistencies, non response, illegible responses or
incomplete questionnaires. This is done to ensure any mistakes found can be corrected
immediately. Also, it helps the interviewer or surveyor to check if they can handle the
process of instructions and probing correctly or not.
 Central Editing - This is done by the researcher or by a team of researchers and at this
stage mainly two kinds of the problem arises –
1. Detection of incorrect entry
2. Falsified Interview
To solve these problems, there are standardized processes that researcher can use to
carry out editing process-
a. Backtracking – Here researcher can return to the field and go back to the
respondent. This technique is used when respondent can be easily tracked. E.g.
while conducting a survey on market segmentation in wall paint industry one of
the experts didn’t reply to the second question then the research can go back to
the expert and ask him to fill in the answer to that question.
b. Allocating missing values – Researcher assigns missing value to the blanks or the
unsatisfactory responses. This mainly done when it is not possible to go back to
the field. E.g. – Researcher assigned missing values 0 in a questionnaire whose
scale is 1 to 5 while conducting survey about acceptance of LGBTQ+ community
in India.
c. Plug Value – In this case, research inserts plug value (average or neutral value)
while studying key variables. E.g. “Should abortion be made illegal?” here if
respondent doesn’t reply neutral rating can be given out of positive, negative or
neutral responses.
d. Discarding unsatisfactory responses – If the responses sheet have too many
blanks/illegible or multiple responses for a single answer, then the form is
completely discarded.
Precautions that researcher needs to take –
 Data obtained is complete and accurate.
 Responses are correctly translated especially open ended questions.
 Questionnaire is simple to understand for the responder.

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  Response format is in the same form in which it was instructed.
 Structured data so that entering information becomes simple.

A.4)

Question Variable Name Coding Instructions Symbol used

No. for variable
name
1 Employee of Max Life Insurance Yes = 1 X1
No =0
2 Number of years working in current Less than 1 year = 1 X2
organization 1-5 years = 2
5-10 years = 3
10-15 years = 4
More than 15 years = 5
4. 1 Participation in the decision-making process   X4a
2 Clear communication, assistance and support   X4b
by supervisors  
3 Clarity in objectives and performance   X4c
expectations A number from 1 to 5
4 Encouragement provided to be creative, Very unimportant =1 X4d
innovative and to search for better ways to get Unimportant = 2
the job done Indifferent = 3
5 Regard and value attached to its human Important = 4 X4e
resources by the organization Very Important = 5
6 Degree of responsibility, freedom and   X4f
accountability.
7 Extent of rules, regulations, policies and X4g
supervision
5 Organizational factors affect your work Very Low = 1 X5
performance Low = 2
Moderate = 3
High = 4
Very High = 5
6 1 Remuneration/ take-home salary   X6a
  2 Job security   X6b
  3 Rewards and Recognition A number from 1 to 5 X6c
  4 Learning Very unimportant =1 X6d
  5 Work Ambience Unimportant = 2 X6e
  6 Degree of autonomy and decision making in Indifferent = 3 X6f
your job Important = 4
  7 Creativity, meaningfulness and complexity of Very Important = 5 X6g
 
work you perform
  8 Interpersonal relationships X6h

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7 Motivational factors affect your performance Very Low = 1 X7
Low = 2
Moderate = 3
High = 4
Very High = 5
8 1 Being focused and working with the intention   X8a
of creating results that benefit the stakeholders  
in any situation  
  2 Accomplishment of given task measured   X8b
against pre-determined standards Ticks on the box = 1
  3 Clearly and consistently performing all duties Does not tick on the box X8c
above expectations =0
  4 Attainment of specific results required by the X8d
job through specific actions  
  5 Appropriate execution of processes and X8e
procedures
9 Age Below 25 years = 1 X9
25-35 years = 2
35-45 years = 3
45-55 years = 4
Above 55 years = 5
10 Working in the insurance sector Less than 1 year = 1 X10
1-5 years = 2
5-10 years = 3
10-15 years = 4
More than 15 years = 5
11 1 BE   X11a
  2 BA   X11b
  3 MA   X11c
  4 B.Tech Ticks on the box = 1 X11d
  5 MBA Does not tick on the box X11e
  6 MS = 0 X11f
  7 BSc X11g
  8 M.Tech X11h
  9 BBA X11i
  10 MSc X11j
  11 Others Exact value to be written X11k

A.5)
The report selected for the examination of contents is “The effects of stress on business
employees and programs offered by employers to manage employee stress” published on the
website www.wright.edu. The above mentioned report has a title page along with the letter of
transmission, which is basically a formalized version of acknowledging the submission. Then the
report moves on to the table of contents. The letter of authorization, which should come prior to
the table of contents is missing here, but as this report is more of a submission, the letter of
transmission is enough.

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Here, an important point to be noticed is that the table of contents is segregated into parts to help
the reader in finding the tables and figures. Then the acknowledgement is not a part of this
report, but again, as this is a report which has been submitted by a group of people, the
acknowledgement can be left out as the contributions of the members has already been
acknowledged. This concludes the Preliminary Section of the report.

In this report the background and the methodology sections of the report are combined. The
introductory part of the reports includes –

· Introduction

· Problem Statement

· Significance of the Study

· Scope of the Study

· Literature Review

· Study Methodology

· Limitations of the Study

Although the background and methodology sections of the study are combined here, they cannot
be considered wrong as the order of the contents is still the same as has been mentioned in the
book.

Next, as per the book, comes the finding section, which has been followed by the report as well.
This section also includes the data in the chart and tables form which makes it convenient for the
reader and makes the data reading simpler.

The conclusion section, as per the book, must include the conclusions, recommendations and the
limitations of the study. In the report, the conclusions and recommendations are included in this
part, but the limitations are included in the preliminary stage. There is no much significance of
the limitations being included in the introduction, hence, they could’ve been included here.

The final stage of the report includes the bibliography and also the questionnaire that had been
used in the data collection process. Although the inclusion of the questionnaire in the report has
not been specifically mentioned in the book, but it’s a good idea to include that too for the
convenience of the reader. Also, overall the report is aligned with the points mentioned in the

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book, except the limitations part which should be included in the conclusion segment of the
report.

ANS.6)
Report
Executive Summary (Summary or Abstract)
The aim of this report was to investigate UniLab staff attitudes to personal mobile phone use in
staff and team meetings. A staff survey on attitudes towards the use of mobile phones in the staff
/ team meetings was conducted. The results indicate that the majority of staff find mobile phone
use a major issue in staff meetings. The report concludes that personal mobile phones are
disruptive and should be turned off in meetings. It is recommended that UniLab develops a
company policy banning the use of mobile phones except in exceptional circumstances.
Introduction
There has been a massive increase in the use of personal mobile phones over the past five years
and there is every indication that this will continue. According to Black (2002) by 2008 almost
100% of working people in Australia will carry personal mobile phones. Black describes this
phenomenon as ‘serious in the extreme, potentially undermining the foundations of
communication in our society’ (2002, p 167). Currently at UniLab 89% of staff have personal
mobile phones. Recently a number of staff have complained about the use of personal mobile
phones in meetings and asked what the official company policy is. At present there is no official
company policy regarding phone use. This report examines the issue of mobile phone usage in
staff meetings and small team meetings. It does not seek to examine the use of mobile phones in
the workplace at other times, although some concerns were raised. For the purposes of this report
a personal mobile phone is a personally funded phone for private calls as opposed to an employer
funded phone that directly relates to carrying out a particular job.
Methods
This research was conducted by questionnaire and investigated UniLab staff members’ attitudes
to the use of mobile phones in staff / team meetings. A total of 412 questionnaires were
distributed with employees' fortnightly pay slips (see Appendix 1). The questionnaire used
Lekert scales to assess social attitudes (see Smith 2002) to mobile phone usage and provided
open ended responses for additional comments. Survey collection boxes were located in every
branch for a four week period. No personal information was collected; the survey was voluntary
and anonymous.
Results
There was an 85% response rate to the questionnaire. A breakdown of the responses is listed
below in Table 1. It can be clearly seen from the results that mobile phones are considered to be
disruptive and should be turned off in meetings.
Table 1

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 The survey also allowed participants to identify any circumstances where mobile phones should
be allowed in meetings and also assessed staff attitudes towards receiving personal phone calls in
staff meetings in open ended questions. These results showed that staff thought that in some
circumstances, eg medical or emergencies, receiving personal phone calls was acceptable, but
generally receiving personal phone calls was not necessary.
Discussion / Interpretation of Results
It can be seen from the results in Table 1 that personal mobile phone use is considered to a
problem; however it was acknowledged that in some situations it should be permissible. 80% of
recipients considered mobile phones to be highly disruptive and there was strong support for
phones being turned off in meetings (85%). Only 12% thought that mobile phone usage in staff
and team meetings was not a problem, whereas 85% felt it was an issue. The results are
consistent throughout the survey. Many of the respondents (62%) felt that in exceptional
circumstances mobile phones should be allowed, eg medical, but there should be protocols
regarding this. These findings are consistent with other studies. According to Smith (2005) many
companies have identified mobile phones as disruptive and have banned the use of mobile
phones in meetings. Havir (2004) claims that 29% of staff meeting time is wasted through
unnecessary mobile phone interruptions. This affects time management, productivity and team
focus.
Conclusion
The use of mobile phones in staff meetings is clearly disruptive and they should be switched off.
Most staff felt it is not necessary to receive personal phone calls in staff meetings except under
certain circumstances, but permission should first be sought from the team leader, manager or
chair.

The structure followed in the report is not efficient and effective as the preliminary step in any
report is to include acknowledgement, table of contents, executive summary and letter of
authorization whereas this report starts with executive summary and does not have any other
steps. Without table of contents, the readers may find it difficult to search the contents of the
report. This report also does not have problem statement, research objectives literature review.
These steps are included in the report because it is assumed that the researcher would not be
present for the presentation of the report and therefore his report should be clear enough for the
readers. The main purpose of reports is to convey the possible solutions to the identified problem
but such unorganized and inefficient reports makes it difficult for the readers to understand its
purpose and defeat the purpose behind the research. Reports should also contain some graphs to
represent the data efficiently which is not there in this report.

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