BBA

RESEARCH METHODS IN MANAGEMENT

UNIT 1

Research is human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of

matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting and the
development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a
wide variety of scientific matter of our world and the universe.

Business Research
Business research is a field of practical study in which a company obtains data and
analyzes the same to manage the company better. Executives and managers who use
business research methods can better understand their company, the position it holds
in the market, and how to improve that position.
Business research is a systematic and objective inquiry that provides information to
guide managerial decisions, which are arrived at through a process of planning,
acquiring, analyzing, and disseminating relevant data to decision-makers in ways that
mobilize the organization to take appropriate actions to maximize business
performance.

MEANING OF RESEARCH
Research refers to a search for knowledge. Research is an art of scientific
investigation. The Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary of Current English lays down the
meaning of research as, “a careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for
new facts in any branch of knowledge”.

DEFINITIONS :
Redman and Mory define research as a,” Systematized effort to gain new knowledge”.
Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the
unknown. According Clifford woody, research comprises defining and redefining problems,
formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions collecting, organising and evaluating data,
making deductions and reaching conclusions; to determine whether they fit the formulating
hypothesis.
OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH : To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve
new insights into it. (exploratory or formulative research studies)
To describe accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group.
(descriptive research) To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else. (studies with this object known as diagnostic
research). To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables. (such studies are
known as hypothesis testing research)
TYPES OF RESEARCH : It is imperative that a marketer has to have a broad
understanding of the various types of research, in general. There are eleven types of research
depending on whether it is primarily “fundamental” or “applied” in nature.
1. Applied research, also known as decisional research, use existing knowledge as an aid to
the solution of some given problem or set of problems.
2. Fundamental research, frequently called basic or pure research, seeks to extend the
boundaries of knowledge in a given area with no necessary immediate application to
existing problems.
3. Futuristic research: Futures research is the systematic study of possible future conditions.
It includes analysis of how those conditions might change as a result of the implementation
of policies and actions, and the consequences of these policies and actions.
4. Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. It tries
to discover answers to the questions who, what, when and sometimes how. Here the
researcher attempts to describe or define a subject, often by creating a profile of a group of
problems, people, or events. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the
state of affairs as it exists at present
5. Explanatory research: Explanatory research goes beyond description and attempts to
explain the reasons for the phenomenon that the descriptive research only observed. The
research would use theories or at least hypothesis to account for the forces that caused a
certain phenomenon to occur.
6. Predictive research: If we can provide a plausible explanation for an event after it has
occurred, it is desirable to be able to predict when and in what situations the event will
occur. This research is just as rooted in theory as explanation. This research calls for a high
 order of inference making. In business research, prediction is found in studies conducted to
evaluate specific courses of action or to forecast current and future values.
7. Analytical research: The researcher has to use facts or information already available, and
analyse these to make a critical evaluation of the material.
8. Quantitative research: Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or
amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.
9. Qualitative research: It is concerned with qualitative phenomenon (i.e.) phenomena
relating to or involving quality or kind. This type of research aims at discovering the
underlying motives and desires, using in depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques
of such research are word association test, sentence completion test, story completion tests
and similar other projective techniques. Attitude or opinion research i.e., research designed
to find out how people feel or what the think about a particular subject or institution is also
qualitative research.
10. Conceptual research: Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or
theory. It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones.
11. Empirical research: It is appropriate when proof is sought that certain variables affect
other variables in some way. Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies is
today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a give hypothesis.

Phases of Business Research :

The ideation phase is where you have that aha! moment, gaining clarity on not just a problem,
but its solution. This is also the phase where you need to conduct your first round of market
research. Take a company called Pay By Touch. Though that now-defunct organization seemed
to be on to something with its biometric payment technology, market research would have told
its founders that consumers didn’t yet see a need to pay with the touch of a finger.

Avoid Pay By Touch’s fate by identifying the problem you plan to solve. Does a solution
already exist? Can you improve upon it? This will be the raison d’être of your business. But
don’t stop there. To determine the size of the potential market and to capture competitive data,
conduct first-hand research with
Founded in 1996, WebTV's device promised to bring the internet into more homes without the
use of a PC. That was an interesting concept, but one riddled with problems -- chief among
them, need. This was the question the company's leaders failed to ask: Do people want to surf
the web, and read their email, on their televisions?

People didn’t want to use their TVs for web-browsing 20 years ago, and they don’t use their
smart TVs for the same task today. Turns out, only about 10 percent of people who own TVs
use them for web browsing, and even fewer for gaming, shopping or email. And this data was
Market fit is crucial, so you have to determine whether your target audience is truly interested in
your product and willing to pay for it. To make that detrmination, gather both quantitative and
qualitative data through in-person interviews and anonymous surveys. What data points can you
use when talking to product teams? You will need to represent your data in easily digestible,
bite-sized pieces that are both easy to remember and effective.

You’ve made it to the process improvement phase. People have shown genuine interest in your
product, and you’ve started to convert consumers into customers. Back in 1998, boo.com set out
to become the world’s first online global sports retailer. It had a massive $60 billion target
market, $130 million in funding and the first-mover advantage. On its day of launch, the site
brought in roughly 50,000 unique visitors. However, only one in 250 people placed an order -- a
conversion rate of just 0.25 percent.

The company hadn’t done the research to determine whether consumers had the technology
necessary to use the site, so download times were slow, and prices were higher than consumers
were willing to spend, especially given the prolonged shipment time. To overcome problems
like these, you should continue to test reactions post-launch, gathering feedback from users to
improve efficiencies and adjust as needed. Figure out what you lack. Do you have a clear call-
to-action and gated content on your homepage to Analyze their behavior to learn who chose not
to, even after diving into your pricing and other details.

You’ve achieved product-market fit, and you’re scaling web traffic to sizable numbers. Now
you have to decide whether to expand or pivot -- the growth stage. Can you scale? Can you
enter a new market? You must weigh customer acquisition costs against lifetime value.

Premature scaling, illustrating just how tricky it can be to determine scalability. If you find
you’ve built the wrong product, added the wrong features, hired too many people too early or
not raised enough money, you might be trying to scale too quickly. Stay focused on your
business model, and adapt it as necessary to the changing market. It should always be a work in
progress.

To scale in a sustainable way, you need a larger portion of the market. So test your marketing
out in competitors’ key markets too and even in totally different markets, locales or
demographics. Focus on differentiating your product by adjusting your message to outmaneuver
the competition.
 Unit 2

THE RESEARCH PROCESS : Several authors have attempted to enumerate the steps
involved in the research process, however, inconclusive. Nevertheless, the research process
broadly consists of the following steps and predominantly follows a sequential order as
depicted. Development of an approach to the problem , Research Design , Selection of Data
collection techniques , Sampling techniques , Fieldwork or Data Collection , Analysis and
interpretation , Report preparation and presentation
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION : The starting point of any research is to formulate
the problem and mention the objectives before specifying any variables or measures. This
involved defining the problem in clear terms. Problem definition involves stating the general
problem and identifying the specific components of the research problem.
Components of the research problem include the decision maker and the objectives , the
environment of the problem, alternative courses of action , a set of consequences that relate
to courses of action and the occurrence of events not under the control of the decision maker
and , a state of doubt as to which course of action is best. Here, the first two components of
the research problem are discussed whereas others are not well within the scope, though, not
beyond.
Problem formulation is perceived as most important of all the other steps, because of the
fact that a clearly and accurately identified problem would lead to effective conduct of the
other steps involved in the research process. Moreover, this is the most challenging task as
the result yields information that directly addresses the management issue, though, the end
result is for the management to understand the information fully and take action based on it.
From this we understand, that the correctness of the result depends on how well the research
takes on, at the starting point.
Research problem cannot exist in isolation as it is an outcome of management decision
problem. The management decision problem may be, for example, to know whether keeping
Saturday a working day would increase productivity. The associated research problem for
the above example may be the impact of keeping Saturday a working day on employee
morale. The task of the researcher is to investigate on employee morale.
Problem formulation starts with a sound information seeking process by the researcher. The
decision maker is the provider of information pertaining to the problem at the beginning of
the research process (problem formulation) They are:
1. Subjective information termed as those based on the decision maker‟s past experiences,
expertise, assumptions, feelings or judgments without any systematic gathering of facts.
2. Secondary information are those collected and interpreted at least once for some specific
situation other than the current one.
3. Primary information refers to first hand information derived through a formalised
research process for a specific, current problem situation.
RESEARCH DESIGN :
With the completion of the initial phase of the research process, the researcher turns to
designing a research design to formally identify the appropriate sources of data. This is done
in order that any researcher who embarks on a research project should have a blueprint of
how he is going to undertake scientifically the data collection process.
The framework developed to control the collection of data is called research design.
Research design is an absolute essentiality in research irrespective of the type of research
(e.g., exploratory or descriptive),
A sufficiently formulated research design would ensure that the information gathered is
consistent with the study objectives and that the data are collected by accurate procedures.
Two types of research design are established according to the nature of the research
objectives or types of research. They are: Exploratory design; and Conclusive design.
(Descriptive researh and casual research)
Exploratory Research Design It is appropriate when the research objective is to provide
insights into, identifying the problems or opportunities , defining the problem more
precisely, gaining deeper insights into the variables operating in a situation, identifying
relevant courses of action , establishing priorities regarding the potential significance of a
problems or opportunities , gaining additional insights before an approach can be developed
and gathering information on the problems associated with doing conclusive research. Much
research has been of an exploratory nature; emphasising on finding practices or policies that
needed changing and on developing possible alternatives.
 Exploratory research : It is well understood that it could be used at the initial stages of the
decision making process. It allows the marketer to gain a greater understanding of
something that the researcher doesn‟t know enough about. This helps the decision maker
and the researcher in situations when they have inadequate knowledge of the problem
situation and/or alternative courses of action. In short, exploratory research is used in the
absence of tried models and definite concepts. Exploratory research could also be used in
conjunction with other research. As mentioned below, since it is used as a first step in the
research process, defining the problem, other designs will be used later as steps to solve the
problem. For instance, it could be used in situations when a firm finds the going gets tough
in terms of sales volume, the researcher may develop use exploratory research to develop
probable explanations. Analysis of data generated using exploratory research is essentially
abstraction and generalization.
Empirical observations : Measurements etc. into concepts; generalization means arranging
the material so that it focuses on those structures that are common to all or most of the
cases. The exploratory research design is best characterised by its flexibility and versatility.
This is so, because of the absence of the non-imperativeness of a structure in its design. It
predominantly involves imagination, creativity, and ingenuity of the researcher. Examples
of exploratory research are: survey of experts to validate an instrument; pilot studies
conducted to perform reliability check on a questionnaire; use of secondary data in order to
analyse it in a qualitative way; qualitative research.

Conclusive Research Design : It involves providing information on evaluation of

alternative courses of action and selecting one from among a number available to the
researcher. Descriptive research, and Causal research.
Descriptive Research: It is simple to understand as the name itself suggests that it involves
describing something, for example: market conditions; characteristics or functions; estimate the
percentage of customers in a particular group exhibiting the same purchase behaviour;
perceptions of product characteristics; and to predict the pattern of behaviour of characteristic
versus the other Majority of research studies are descriptive studies. As research studies involve
investigating the customers/consumers, collection of data includes interrogating the respondents
in the market and data available from secondary data sources.
Descriptive study deals with the respondents in the market and hence, extreme caution has to be
exercised in developing this study. Much planning should be done, objectives should be clear
than exploratory studies. In descriptive research, the data is collected for a specific and definite
purpose and involves analysis and interpretation by the researcher.

The major difference between exploratory and descriptive research is that descriptive research
is characterised by the formulation of specific objectives. The success of descriptive studies
depends on the degree to which a specific hypothesis acts as a guide. Descriptive studies restrict
flexibility and versatility as compared to exploratory research. It involves a higher degree of
formal design specifying the methods for selecting the sources of information and for collecting
data from those sources. Formal design is required in order to ensure that the description covers
all phases desired. It is also required to restrain collection of unnecessary data.

Causal research: It is used to obtain evidence of cause-and-effect relationships with is

otherwise known as the independent-dependent relationship or the predictive relationships. This
is an important type of research useful for marketers as this allows marketers to base their
decision on assumed causal relationships.

Causal research is done in the following situations: To identify which variables are the cause
and which are the effect. In statistical terms, causal variables are called independent variables
and effectual variables are called dependent variables. To determine the nature of the
relationship between the causal variables and the effect to be predicted. Causal research requires
a strong degree of planning on the design as its success depends on the structure of the design.

Identifying and Defining the Problem/Opportunity The initial step in the research process is
the identification of the problem or opportunity. As businesses today operate in a highly
volatile environment governed by various macro environmental factors, they need to
constantly assess their
➢ Identifying and Defining Problem/Opportunity
➢ Planning the Research Design
➢ Selecting a Research Method
➢ Selecting a Sampling Procedure
➢ Data Collection
Evaluating the Data :
Relative position and identify the various problem areas or opportunities they need to work
upon in order to sustain themselves competitively in the market. The managers need to
analyse the changing dynamics of business and to evolve a strategy to adapt to the changes
taking place in the external environment.
Problem identification precedes the problem definition stage. For instance, a company
producing cell phone wave protectors. May realize that its new product is not selling, but it
may not know the reason for this at the outset.
It is important to define the problem in a precise manner. A well-defined problem gives the
researcher a proper direction for carrying out investigation. It also helps in utilizing the
resources provided for the research effectively.
A researcher can focus his efforts on collecting relevant information, if the problem is
defined properly. Some research problems such as conducting a survey on the newspaper
reading habits of a given set of the population can be clearly defined.
THE IMPORTANCE OF FORMULATING A RESEARCH PROBLEM :
The formulation of a research problem is the first and most important step of the research
process. This is more like identifying a destination prior to beginning a journey. A research
problem is like the foundation of a building. The type and architecture of the building
depends on the foundations.
A research problem can begin with something simple to something very complex,
depending on the nature of the research theme. In ICT, with new emerging technologies,
many research problems may be churned from issues in performance, reliability and daily
user applications. The formulation of a research problem is like the „input‰ for a research
work and the „output‰ refers to quality of contents of the research report and the validity
associated is entirely dependent upon it, as illustrated.
As a student, you must remember that formulating research problem is the most crucial
step. So take time in formulating your research problem because a clearer research problem
means clearer research output and progress.
Research title needs collection of Data availability information (journal, reports,
proceedings) before finalising the title, you need to make sure you have these materials
available and in the relevant format. Always choose a topic that suits your interest
Relevance and profession. Ensure that your study adds to the existing body of knowledge.
Of course, this will help you to sustain interest throughout the research period. In
formulating the research problem, Ethics should consider some ethical issues as well.
Sometimes, during the research period, the study population might be adversly affected by
some questions. Especially research related information security, which might concern
certain authorities. It is always good for you to identify ethics related issues during the
research problem formulation itself.
STEPS IN RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION : In any research task,
the formulation of a research problem is the most important part of the research process. The
process of formulating a research problem consists of a number of steps.
Step 1: Identification of Subject Area Ask yourself what you like to do after your graduation
or what field you would like to specialise in. This will help you to find an interesting topic.
For example, if you are a computer networking student, inclined to work in the area of fiber
optics network troubleshooting, information security, system administration or quality of
services, you can carry out research in these areas.
Step2: Problem Definition and Identification A problem should be identified in the ICT field
that is close to your interest or related to your specialisation. A student should develop vast
knowledge in his/her area of interest that is designed for a long-term accumulative process.
For example, design and development on knowledge management framework for best
practice of your organisation, qualitative analysis of customer and company role in e-
commerce, implementation of service-oriented architecture in supply chain management
Step 3: Literature Review The scope in ICT is huge and it is expanding. Therefore, it is
important to have proper literature review in the area of study. Literature review can reveal
similar investigations and suggest approaches in dealing with similar problems. For
example, if you are interested in exploring web-based database management for specific
application, you could start with textbooks in that area or books that are related to databases
and web-based services. Textbooks could provide fundamental knowledge to start with a
particular area.
Step 4: Research design is crucial as it provides overall structure for the research procedure,
the data that a researcher collects and the data analysis that the researcher conducts.
 Step 5: Data Gathering We understood that research design provides the design of the
particular research and method of data collection to answer the research question we
formulated earlier. For example, say one of your research questions is to measure the
relationship between bandwidth and quality of service in university network. To answer this
question, you have to collect data on the bandwidth capacity of all network infrastructures
within the university area. This can be done using existing instrument or developing a
software-based network analyser and administering it to a sample of network clusters.
RESEARCH PROBLEMS :
While constructing your research problem, you might come across several subproblems.
Sub-problems are sub-parts of the main research problem you designed. As a student, you
must be able to distinguish sub-problems that are an integral part of the main problem from
things that look like problems but are nothing more than procedural issues. The latter is
actually pseudo-subproblems which involve decisions the researcher must make before
he/she can resolve the research problem and its problems.

Research design definition

Research design is the framework of research methods and techniques chosen by a researcher.
The design allows researchers to hone in on research methods that are suitable for the subject
matter and set up their studies up for success.

There are three main types of research design: Data collection, measurement, and analysis.

The type of research problem an organization is facing will determine the research design and
not vice-versa. The design phase of a study determines which tools to use and how they are
used. An impactful research design usually creates a minimum bias in data and increases trust
in the accuracy of collected data. A design that produces the least margin of error in
experimental research is generally considered the desired outcome.

The essential elements of the research design are:

1. Accurate purpose statement
2. Techniques to be implemented for collecting and analyzing research
3. The method applied for analyzing collected details
4. Type of research methodology
5. Probable objections for research
6. Settings for the research study
7. Timeline
8. Measurement of analysis
Neutrality: When you set up your study, you may have to make assumptions about the data
you expect to collect. The results projected in the research design should be free from bias and
neutral. Understand opinions about the final evaluated scores and conclusion from multiple
individuals and consider those who agree with the derived results.

Reliability: With regularly conducted research, the researcher involved expects similar results
every time. Your design should indicate how to form research questions to ensure the standard
of results.

Validity: There are multiple measuring tools available. However, the only correct measuring
tools are those which help a researcher in gauging results according to the objective of the
research.

Generalization: The outcome of your design should apply to a population and not just a
restricted sample. A generalized design implies that your survey can be conducted on any part
of a population with similar accuracy.

A researcher must have a clear understanding of the various types of research design to select
which model to implement for a study. Like research itself, the design of your study can be
broadly classified into quantitative and qualitative.

Qualitative research design: Determines relationships between collected data and

observations based on mathematical calculations. Theories related to a naturally existing
phenomenon can be proved or disproved using statistical methods.

Preparation of Research design :

Four categories: Exploratory; Description; Diagnosis; and Experimentation. For an exploratory

research study, a flexible research design is more appropriate as it provides ample scope for
researching various aspects of a problem (E.g.: Types of vehicles suitable for the Indian market.
This topic provides extensive scope for writing). For a research paper, which requires an
accurate description, the research design should be formulated in such a way that, it is unbiased
and vouches for the reliability of the collected data and analyzed E.g.: Percentage of small car
segment in Indian market.

There are various kinds of research designs, such as, experimental (independent variable is
manipulated) and non-experimental (independent variable is not manipulated) hypothesis-
testing. Experimental designs can be further grouped into informal and formal. Informal
experimental design normally uses a less sophisticated form of analysis. It includes: before and
after without control design; after only with control design; before and after with control design.
Formal experimental design offers relatively more control and uses precise statistical
procedures for analysis. It includes: completely randomized design; randomized block design;
Latin square design; and factorial designs.
Evaluation of the Research design

Also known as program evaluation, evaluation research is a common research design that
entails carrying out a structured assessment of the value of resources committed to a project or
specific goal. It often adopts social research methods to gather and analyze useful information
about organizational processes and products.

Evaluation research typically associated with real-life scenarios within organizational contexts.
This means that the researcher will need to leverage common workplace skills including
interpersonal skills and team play to arrive at objective research findings that will be useful to
stakeholders.

There are four major evaluation research methods, namely; output measurement, input
measurement, impact assessment and service quality.

Output measurement is a method employed in evaluative research that shows the results of an
activity undertaking by an organization. In other words, performance measurement pays
attention to the results achieved by the resources invested in a specific activity or organizational
process.

More than investing resources in a project, organizations must be able to track the extent to
which these resources have yielded results, and this is where performance measurement comes
in. Output measurement allows organizations to pay attention to the effectiveness and impact of
a process rather than just the process itself.

Other key indicators of performance measurement include user-satisfaction, organizational

capacity, market penetration, and facility utilization. In carrying out performance measurement,
organizations must identify the parameters that are relevant to the process in question, their
industry, and the target markets.

It will be in order to begin by defining a research problem. A research problem is not the
same thing as a social problem. A research problem is defined by intellectual curiosity while
a social problem is defined by the values of a group. A situation may be problematic for one
group but it may not be so for another, depending on their differing value systems. Increase
in incidence of crime may be a problem for social workers, but it may not be so for the
underworld of criminals. For a researcher, on the other hand, it is not only the crime but also
the law abiding behaviour which constitutes a problem. It is as important, and from an
intellectual vantage point even more important, to ask why people adhere to law abiding
behaviour. In no sense is law abiding behaviour a social problem. But it may be an
important research problem. Thus a research problem is a cognitive phenomenon while a
problem an evaluative one. This does not imply that a social problem cannot tum into a
research problem.
A social problem may tum into a research problem once it is so formulated by a researcher.
Taking a cue from the existing practices, Research supervisor. Research literature.
Research funding agencies. It is well known that students desirous of pursuing research for a
degree generally leave it to the supervisor to find and suggest a problem for them. This is so
 partly because they do not want to strain their mind and partly because they begin with a
sense of total dependence on the supervisor.
The fact remains that most research students look up to the supervisor to get a research
problem assigned to them. They seem to have hardly any interest of their own in the
problem, let alone a sense of involvement in it. The students who come up with a research
problem on their own are more of an exception than a rule.
Gathering and analyzing a body of information or data and extracting new meaning from it or
developing unique solutions to problems or cases.
A report or review, not designed to create new information or insight but to collate and
synthesize existing information.
A search for individual facts or data. May be part of the search for a solution to a larger problem
Types : There are two types of research which can be done to develop a thesis or dissertation:
Practical Research: The practical approach consists of the empirical study of the topic under
research and chiefly consists of hands on approach. This involves first hand research in the form
of questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observations and discussion groups.
Theoretical Research: A non empirical approach to research, this usually involves perusal of
mostly published works like researching through archives of public libraries, court rooms and
published academic journals.

Descriptive/Qualitative: This type of research methods involve describing in details specific

situation using research tools like interviews, surveys, and Observations. It focuses on gathering
of mainly verbal data rather than measurements.

Descriptive/Quantitative: This type of research methods requires quantifiable data involving

numerical and statistical explanations. Quantitative analysis hinges on researchers
understanding the assumptions inherent within different statistical models. It generates
numerical data or information that can be converted into numbers. The presentation of data is
through tables containing data in the form of numbers and statistics.

➢ Indicates current market trends

➢ Pinpoints deficiencies in marketing policies
➢ Explains customer resistance
➢ Suggests sales promotion techniques
➢ Guidance to marketing executives
There are three types of research designs:

1. Exploratory research,
2. Descriptive Research and
3. Experimental Research.
The researcher must consider the following issues:

1. Whether to use primary data or secondary data or both.

2. The accuracy and reliability of the data.
3. The availability of accurate and reliable data.
4. The cost and time required to collect the data.
Sources:
The fifth step in a research process is to determine the data sources. The researcher decides the
sources of collecting data. The two main sources are secondary data and primary data. The
researcher first collects secondary data. This is because it is easily available and less costly. It is
collected by Desk Research. Desk Research can be internal for e.g. collected from company's
records or external i.e. acquired from libraries, trade journals, government sources, etc

Sampling design: The sixth step in a research process is of sampling design. The Researchers
has limited time and other resources. So he cannot contact the total population. That is, he
cannot collect information from all the people in the market. Therefore, he selects few persons
from the population. These handful persons are called sample respondent. They are considered
to represent the total population. The researcher collects data from the sample respondents.
Sampling helps to save time, efforts and cost. It is used to collect primary data. The researcher
has to decide about method of sampling, the size-of-sample, etc.

Designing questionnaire: The seventh step in a research process is of designing a questionnaire.

In this stage, primary data is collected with the help of a questionnaire. So the researcher has to
prepare a questionnaire. A questionnaire is a list of questions. These questions are asked to the
respondents for collecting data. The questionnaire must be suitable so that the require data is
collected easily, quickly and correctly. It is used for conducting person interview, telephone
interviews and mail survey. The researcher must decide about the type of the information
required, the type of questioned to be asked, the wordings of the questionnaire, its order, etc.
Field staff selection: The eighth step in a research process is of selecting field staff. After
preparing the questionnaire, the researcher selects field interviewers. The field interviewers
collect information from the respondents. They must be property trained. Students of
psychology and statistics are good for this job.

Collection and processing of data: The ninth step in a research process is of collection and
processing of data. In this stage, the data is collected from the respondents. The questionnaire is
used for collecting data. In case of mail surveys, the questionnaire is sent to the respondents by
post. In case of telephone interviews, the data is collected through telephone. In case of personal
interviews, the data is collected by the field interviewers. The researcher can also use
observation method and experimentation method for collecting data. The data collected must be
reliable and complete. It must also be collected quickly. Secondary data is also collected. The
data collected is raw. It cannot be used directly. It has to be processed and organized neatly.
That is, the data must be edited, coded, classified and tabulated. Editing helps to remove the
unwanted data. Coding, classification and tabulation make the data ready for analysis and
interpretation.

Analysis and interpretation of data: The tenth step in a research process is of analysis and
interpretation of data. In this stage, the researcher analyzes and interprets the data. That is, he
studies the data very careful and draws conclusions from it. These conclusions are then used to
solve the marketing problem.

Project reporting: The eleventh step in a research process is to prepare a project report. In this
stage, the researcher prepares the final research report. This report contains a title of the report,
method used, findings, conclusions and suggestions about how to solve the marketing problem.
The language of the report must not be very difficult. The report must be submitted to the
marketing executives for recommendations and implementation.

Follow up: Finally, the last step in a research process is to do a follow up. In this stage, the
marketing executive makes changes in the product, price, marketing policies, etc. as per the
recommendations of the report. Here, the researcher should find out, whether his
recommendations are implemented properly or not. He should also figure-out, whether the
marketing problem is solved or not.
Formulation of Research Problem:

The main steps in identification & formulation of research problem are: Specify the
Research Objectives A clear statement of objectives will help you develop effective research. It
will help the decision makers evaluate your project. It’s critical that you have manageable
objectives. (Two or three clear goals will help to keep your research project focused and
relevant.) Review the Environment or Context of the Research Problem As a marketing
researcher, you must work closely with your team. This will help you determine whether the
findings of your project will produce enough information to be worth the cost. In order to do
this, you have to identify the environmental variables that will affect the research project.
Explore the Nature of the Problem Research problems range from simple to complex,
depending on the number of variables and the nature of their relationship. If you understand the
nature of the problem as a researcher, you will be able to better develop a solution for the
problem. To help you understand all dimensions, you might want to consider focus groups of
consumers, sales people, managers, or professionals to provide what is sometimes much needed
insight.

Define the Variable Relationships Marketing plans often focus on creating a sequence of
behaviors that occur over time, as in the adoption of a new package design, or the introduction
of a new product. Such programs create a commitment to follow some behavioral pattern in the
future. Studying such a process involves: Determining which variables affect the solution to the
problem. Determining the degree to which each variable can be controlled. Determining the
functional relationships between the variables and which variables are critical to the solution of
the problem. During the problem formulation stage, you will want to generate and consider as
many courses of action and variable relationships as possible. The Consequences of Alternative
Courses of Action There are always consequences to any course of action. Anticipating and
communicating the possible outcomes of various courses of action is a primary responsibility in
the research process.
RESEARCH DESIGN

Variables & Types of Variables When it comes to experiments and data analysis, there are two
main types of variables: dependent variables and independent variables. It’s easy to get these
mixed up, but the difference between dependent and independent variables is simple.

Dependent Variable: This is the output variable you are really interested in monitoring to see if
it was affected or not. It can also be called the “measured variable,” the “responding variable,”
the “explained variable,” etc. I think it is easy to remember this one because it is dependent on
the other variables.

Independent Variables: These are the individual variables that you believe may have an effect
on the dependent variable. They are sometimes called “explanatory variables,” “manipulated
variables,” or “controlled variables.” Example 1: Golf Balls Here’s a simple situation: Suppose
you want to test golf ball flight distances, so you set up a simple experiment in which various
golf balls are placed into a mechanical chute and fired into the air. The variable you really care
about, the “output” or dependent variable is golf ball distance.

Example 2: Ice Cubes Here’s another simple example: Imagine that you have a bunch of ice
cubes and you want to test how long it takes them to melt in various situations. You have an
experiment with 1,000 equally shaped ice cubes. Some of them are made of frozen cranberry
juice and some of them are frozen lemonade. You are going to set some of them on a metal
sheet and others are going to be placed on a wooden plank. Air temperature, wind, and every
other condition you can think of will remain constant. So, in this case, your dependent variable
is ice cube melting time. Your two independent variables are: juice type (cranberry or
lemonade) and melting surface (metal or wood). I’m not sure why anyone would care to do such
an experiment, but hopefully the difference between the dependent and independent variables
are clear now.

A MODELS OF DESIGN :

Goals. Why is your study worth doing? What issues do you want it to clarify, and
whatpractices and policies do you want it to influence? Why do you want to conduct this study,
and why should we care about the results?
Conceptual framework. What do you think is going on with the issues, settings, or people
you plan to study? What theories, beliefs, and prior research findings will guide or inform
your research, and what literature, preliminary studies, and personal experiences will you
draw on for understanding the people or issues you are studying?
Research questions. What, specifically, do you want to better understand about the settings
or participants that you are studying? What do you not know about these that you want to
learn? What questions best capture these learnings and understandings, and how are these
questions related to one another?
Methods. What will you actually do in conducting this study? What approaches and techniques
will you use to collect and analyze your data? I identify four parts of this component
of your design: the relationships that you establish with the participants in your study;
your selection of settings, participants, times and places of data collection, and other
data sources such as documents (what is often called “sampling,” although this term can be
misleading for qualitative research, your methods for collecting
your data; and your data analysis strategies and techniques.
Validity. How might your results and conclusions be wrong? What are the plausible alternative
interpretations and validity threats to these results and conclusions, and how will you deal with
these? How can the data that you have, or that you could potentially collect, support or
challenge your ideas about what’s going on? Why should we believe your results?
What is innovative is the way the relationships among the components are conceptualized. In
this model, the different parts of a design form an integrated and interacting whole, with
each component closely tied to several others, rather than being linked in a linear or
cyclic sequence. The relationships among these five components are displayed in
In this model, in contrast to some other views of research design, the research questions
are not the starting point or controlling piece of the design, to which all other
components must conform.