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Process of Research
The research process is the step-by-step procedure of developing one's research

Management problem
It is the most important step, because only when a problem has been clearly and accurately
identified can a research project be conducted properly. It is a concise description of the issues
that need to be addressed by a problem solving team and should be presented to them (or
created by them) before they try to solve the problem. It asks what the decision maker needs to
do. Mostly action oriented and Focuses on symptoms.

7 Stages or Steps Involved in Research Process

Some of the major steps involved in marketing research process are as follows:
1. Identification and Defining the Problem
2. Review the Literature: Statement of Research Objectives
3. Formulate Hypothesis
4. Planning the Research Design
5. Data Collection
6. Data Processing and Analysis
7. Formulating Conclusion, Preparing and Presenting the Report.

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1. Identification and Defining the Problem: Clear definition of the problem

helps the researcher in all subsequent research efforts including setting of
proper research objectives, the determination of the techniques to be used, and
the extent of information to be collected.
2. Review of Literature: Literature Review is the documentation of a
comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work from secondary
sources of data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher. The main aim
is to find out problems that are already investigated and those that need
further investigation. It is an extensive survey of all available past studies
relevant to the field of investigation. It gives us knowledge about what others
have found out in the related field of study and how they have done so.[
Purpose of review:
a. To gain a background knowledge of the research topic.
b. To identify the concepts relating to it, potential relationships between
them and to formulate researchable hypothesis.
c. To identify appropriate methodology, research design, methods of
measuring concepts and techniques of analysis.
d. To identify data sources used by other

3. Formulation of hypothesis:
A hypothesis is an assumption about relations between variables.
a. Hypothesis can be defined as a logically conjectured relationship between
two or more variables expressed in the form of a testable statement.
Relationships are conjectured on the basis of the network of associations
established in the theoretical framework formulated for the research
study. Research Hypothesis is a predictive statement that relates an
independent variable to a dependant variable. Hypothesis must contain at
least one independent variable and one dependant variable. Hypothesis is
tentative, intelligent guesses as to the solution of the problem.
b. Hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction. It describes in concrete
terms what you expect to happen in the study.
c. Hypothesis is an assumption about the population of the study.
d. It delimits the area of research and keeps the researcher on the right
track.
Functions or role of hypothesis:
1. It gives a definite point to the investigation and provides direction to the
study.
2. It determines the data needs.
3. It specifies the sources of data.
4. It suggests which type of research is likely to be more appropriate.
5. It determines the most appropriate technique of analysis.
6. It contributes to the development of theory.

4. Planning the Research Design: After defining the research problem and
deciding the objectives, the research design must be developed. A research
design is a master plan specifying the procedure for collecting and analysing
the needed information. It represents a framework for the research plan of

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action. The objectives of the study are included in the research design to
ensure that data collected are relevant to the objectives
5. Data Collection: The collection of data relates to the gathering of facts to be
used in solving the problem. Hence, methods of market research are essentially
methods of data collection. Data can be secondary, i.e., collected from
concerned reports, magazines and other periodicals, especially written articles,
government publications, company publications, books, etc.
Data can be primary, i.e., collected from the original base through empirical
research by means of various tools
6. Data Processing and Analysis: Once data have been collected, these have to
be converted into a format that will suggest answers to the initially identified
and defined problem. Data processing begins with the editing of data and its
coding. Editing involves inspecting the data-collection forms for omission,
legibility, and consistency in classification. Analysis of data represents the
application of logic to the understanding of data collected about the subject. In
its simplest form analysis may involve determination of consistent patterns and
summarising of appropriate details.
7. Formulating Conclusion, Preparing and Presenting the Report: The final
stage in the marketing research process is that of interpreting the information
and drawing conclusion for use in managerial decision. The research report
should clearly and effectively communicate the research findings and need not
include complicated statement about the technical aspect of the study and
research methods..

Features of good research study.

Empirical-Research is based on direct experience or observation by the researcher.
Logical- Research is based on valid procedures and principles.
Cyclical- Research is a cyclical process because it starts with a problem and ends with a
problem.
Analytical. -Research utilizes proven analytical procedures in gathering the data, whether
historical, descriptive, experimental and case study.
Critical- Research exhibits careful and precise judgment.
Methodical- Research is conducted in a methodical manner without bias using systematic
method and procedures.
Replicability- The research design and procedures are replicated or repeated to enable the
researcher to arrive at valid and conclusive results.

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VARIABLES AND TYPES OF VARIABLES

Variable is central idea in research. Simply defined, variable is a concept that varies. There are
two types of concepts: those that refer to a fixed phenomenon and those that vary in quantity,
intensity, or amount (e.g. amount of education). The second type of concept and measures of the
concept are variables. A variable is defined as anything that varies or changes in value.
Variables take on two or more values. Because variable represents a quality that can exhibit
differences in value, usually magnitude or strength, it may be said that a variable generally is
anything that may assume different numerical or categorical values. Once you begin to look for
them, you will see variables everywhere. For example gender is a variable; it can take two
values: male or female. Marital status is a variable; it can take on values of never married,
single, married, divorced, or widowed. Family income is a variable; it can take on values from
zero to billions of Rupees. A person's attitude toward women empowerment is variable; it can
range from highly favorable to highly unfavorable. In this way the variation can be in quantity,
intensity, amount, or type; the examples can be production units, absenteeism, gender, religion,
motivation, grade, and age. A variable may be situation specific; for example gender is a
variable but if in a particular situation like a class of Research Methods if there are only female
students, then in this situation gender will not be considered as a variable.

Types of Variable

1. Continuous and Discontinuous variables

Variables have different properties and to these properties we assign numerical values. If the
values of a variable can be divided into fractions then we call it a continuous variable. Such a
variable can take infinite number of values. Income, temperature, age, or a test score are
examples of continuous variables. These variables may take on values within a given range or,
in some cases, an infinite set. Any variable that has a limited number of distinct values and
which cannot be divided into fractions, is a discontinuous variable. Such a variable is also
called as categorical variable or classificatory variable, or discrete variable. Some variables
have only two values, reflecting the presence or absence of a property: employed-unemployed
or male-female have two values. These variables are referred to as dichotomous. There are
others that can take added categories such as the demographic variables of race, religion. All
such variables that produce data that fit into categories are said to be
discrete/categorical/classificatory, since only certain values are possible. An automotive
variable, for example, where "Chevrolet" is assigned a 5 and "Honda" is assigned a 6, provides
no option for a 5.5 (i.e. the values cannot be divided into fractions).

2. Dependent and Independent Variables

Researchers who focus on causal relations usually begin with an effect, and then search for its
causes. The cause variable, or the one that identifies forces or conditions that act on something
else, is the independent variable. The variable that is the effect or is the result or outcome of
another variable is the dependent variable (also referred to as outcome variable or effect
variable). The independent variable is "independent of" prior causes that act on it, whereas the
dependent variable "depends on" the cause. It is not always easy to determine whether a
variable is independent or dependent. Two questions help to identify the independent variable.
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First, does it come before other variable in time? Second, if the variables occur at the same
time, does the researcher suggest that one variable has an impact on another variable?
Independent variables affect or have an impact on other variables. When independent variable is
present, the dependent variable is also present, and with each unit of increase in the
independent variable, there is an increase or decrease in the dependent variable also. In other
words, the variance in dependent variable is accounted for by the independent variable.
Dependent variable is also referred to as criterion variable.

Research studies indicate that successful new product development has an influence on the
stock market price of a company. That is, the more successful the new product turns out to be,
the higher will be the stock market price of that firm.
Therefore, the success of the New product is the independent variable, and stock market
price the dependent variable. The degree of perceived success of the new product developed
will explain the variance in the stock market price of the company.

It is important to remember that there are no preordained variables waiting to be discovered

"out there" that are automatically assigned to be independent or dependent. It is in fact the
product of the researcher's imagination demonstrated convincingly.

3. Moderating Variables
A moderating variable is one that has a strong contingent effect on the independent variable-
dependent variable relationship. That is, the presence of a third variable (the moderating
variable) modifies the original relationship between the independent and the dependent variable.
For example, a strong relationship has been observed between the quality of library facilities
(X) and the performance of the students (Y). Although this relationship is supposed to be true
generally, it is nevertheless contingent on the interest and inclination of the students. It means
that only those students
who have the interest and inclination to use the library will show improved performance in their
studies. In this relationship interest and inclination is moderating variable i.e. which
moderates the strength of the association between X and Y variables.

4. Intervening Variables
A basic causal relationship requires only independent and dependent variable. A third type of
variable, the intervening variable, appears in more complex causal relationships. It comes
between the independent and dependent variables and shows the link or mechanism between
them. Advances in knowledge depend not only on documenting cause and effect relationship
but also on specifying the mechanisms that account for the causal relation. In a sense, the
intervening variable acts as a dependent variable with respect to independent variable and acts
as an independent variable toward the dependent variable. A theory of suicide states that
married people are less likely to commit suicide than single people. The assumption is that
married people have greater social integration (e.g. feelings of belonging to a group or family).
Hence a major cause of one type of suicide was that people lacked a sense of belonging to
group (family). Thus this theory can be restated as a three-variable relationship: marital status
(independent variable) causes the degree of social integration (intervening variable), which
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affects suicide (dependent variable). Specifying the chain of causality makes the linkages in
theory clearer and helps a researcher test complex relationships. Look at another finding that
five-day work week results in higher productivity. What is the process of moving from the
independent variable to the dependent variable? What exactly is that factor which theoretically
affects the observed phenomenon but cannot be seen? Its effects must be inferred from the
effects of independent variable on the dependent variable. In this work-week hypothesis, one
might introduction of five-day work week (IV) will increase job satisfaction (IVV), which will
lead to higher productivity (DV).

5. Extraneous Variables
An almost infinite number of extraneous variables (EV) exist that might conceivably affect a
given relationship. Some can be treated as independent or moderating variables, but most must
either be assumed or excluded from the study. Such variables have to be identified by the
researcher. In order to identify the true relationship between the independent and the dependent
variable, the effect of the extraneous variables may have to be controlled. This is necessary if
we are conducting an experiment where the effect of the confounding factors has to be
controlled. Confounding factors is another name used for extraneous variables.

Relationship among Variables

Once the variables relevant to the topic of research have been identified, then the researcher is
interested in the relationship among them. A statement containing the variable is called a
proposition. It may contain one or more than one variable. The proposition having one variable
in it may be called as univariate proposition, those with two variables as bivariate proposition,
and then of course multivariate containing three or more variables. Prior to the formulation of a
proposition the researcher has to develop strong logical arguments which could help in
establishing the relationship. For example, age at marriage and education are the two variables
that could lead to a proposition: the higher the education, the higher the age at marriage. What
could be the logic to reach this conclusion? All relationships have to be explained with strong
logical arguments. If the relationship refers to an observable reality, then the proposition can be
put to test, and any testable proposition is hypothesis

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Types Of Research: Application Perspective

If you examine a research endeavour from the perspective of its application, there are two broad
categories: PURE RESEARCH AND APPLIED RESEARCH.
In the social sciences, according to Bailey (1978: 17): Pure research involves developing and
testing theories and hypotheses that are intellectually challenging to the researcher but may or
may not have practical application at the present time or in the future. Thus such work often
involves the testing of hypotheses containing very abstract and specialized concepts.
Pure research is also concerned with the development, examination, verification and refinement
of research methods, procedures, techniques and tools that form the body of research
methodology. Examples of pure research include developing a sampling technique that can be
applied to a particular situation; developing a methodology to assess the validity of a procedure;
developing an instrument, say, to measure the stress level in people; and finding the best way of
measuring peoples attitudes. The knowledge produced through pure research is sought in order
to add to the existing body of knowledge of research methods.
Most of the research in the social sciences is applied. In other words, the research techniques,
procedures and methods that form the body of research methodology are applied to the
collection of information about various aspects of a situation, issue, problem or phenomenon so
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that the information gathered can be used in other ways such as for policy formulation,
administration and the enhancement of understanding of a phenomenon.

Types Of Research: OBJECTIVES PERSPECTIVE

If you examine a research study from the perspective of its objectives, broadly a research
endeavour can be classified as descriptive, correlational, explanatory or exploratory. A research
study classified as a descriptive study attempts to describe systematically a situation, problem,
phenomenon, service or programme, or provides information about, say, the living conditions of
a community, or describes attitudes towards an issue. For example, it may attempt to describe
the types of service provided by an organisation, the administrative structure of an organisation,
the living conditions of Aboriginal people in the outback, the needs of a community, what it
means to go through a divorce, how a child feels living in a house with domestic violence, or
the attitudes of employees towards management. The main purpose of such studies is to
describe what is prevalent with respect to the issue/problem under study.
The main emphasis in a correlational study is to discover or establish the existence of a
relationship/association/interdependence between two or more aspects of a situation. What is
the impact of an advertising campaign on the sale of a product? What is the relationship
between stressful living and the incidence of heart attack? What is the relationship between
fertility and mortality? What is the relationship between technology and unemployment? What
is the effect of a health service on the control of a disease, or the home environment on
educational achievement? These studies examine whether there is a relationship between two or
more aspects of a situation or phenomenon and, therefore, are called correlational studies.
Explanatory research attempts to clarify why and how there is a relationship between two
aspects of a situation or phenomenon. This type of research attempts to explain, for example,
why stressful living results in heart attacks; why a decline in mortality is followed by a fertility
decline; or how the home environment affects childrens level of academic achievement.
The fourth type of research, from the viewpoint of the objectives of a study, is called
exploratory research. This is when a study is undertaken with the objective either to explore an
area where little is known or to investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular research
study. When a study is carried out to determine its feasibility it is also called a feasibility study
or a pilot study. It is usually carried out when a researcher wants to explore areas about which
s/he has little or no knowledge. A
small-scale study is undertaken to decide if it is worth carrying out a detailed investigation. On
the basis of the assessment made during the exploratory study, a full study may eventuate.
Exploratory studies are also conducted to develop, refine and/or test measurement tools and
procedures. Table 1.1 shows the types of research study from the viewpoint of objectives.
Although, theoretically, a research study can be classified in one of the above objectives
perspective categories, in practice, most studies are a combination of the first three; that is, they
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contain elements of descriptive, correlational and explanatory research. In this book the
guidelines suggested for writing a research report encourage you to integrate these aspects.

Types Of Research: Mode Of Enquiry Perspective

The third perspective in our typology of research concerns the process you adopt to find
answers to our research questions. Broadly, there are two approaches to enquiry:
1. the structured approach;
2. the unstructured approach.
In the structured approach everything that forms the research process objectives, design,
sample, and the questions that you plan to ask of respondents is predetermined. The
unstructured approach, by contrast, allows flexibility in all these aspects of the process. The
structured approach is more appropriate to determine the extent of a problem, issue or
phenomenon, whereas the unstructured approach is predominantly used to explore its nature, in
other words, variation/diversity per se in a phenomenon, issue, problem or attitude towards an
issue. For example, if you want to research the different perspectives of an issue, the problems
experienced by people living in a community or the different views people hold towards an
issue, then these are better explored using unstructured enquiries. On the other hand, to find out
how many people have a particular perspective, how many people have a particular problem, or
how many people hold a particular view, you need to have a structured approach to enquiry.
Before undertaking a structured enquiry, in the authors opinion, an unstructured enquiry must
be undertaken to ascertain the diversity in a phenomenon which can then be quantified through
the structured enquiry. Both approaches have their place in research. Both have their strengths
and weaknesses. Therefore, you should not lock yourself solely into a structured or
unstructured approach.
There are different types of research. The basic ones are as follows.
1. Descriptive Versus Analytical:
Descriptive research consists of surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different types. The main
objective of descriptive research is describing the state of affairs as it prevails at the time of
study. The term ex post facto research is quite often used for descriptive research studies in
social sciences and business research. The most distinguishing feature of this method is that the
researcher has no control over the variables here. He/she has to only report what is happening or
what has happened. Majority of the ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive
studies in which the researcher attempts to examine phenomena, such as the consumers
preferences, frequency of purchases, shopping, etc. Despite the inability of the researchers to
control the variables, ex post facto studies may also comprise attempts by them to discover the
causes of the selected problem. The methods of research adopted in conducting descriptive
research are survey methods of all kinds, including correlational and comparative
methods.Meanwhile in the Analytical research, the researcher has to use the already available
facts or information, and analyse them to make a critical evaluation of the subject.
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2. Applied Versus Fundamental:

Research can also be applied or fundamental in nature. An attempt to find a solution to an
immediate problem encountered by a firm, an industry, a business organisation, or the society is
known as applied research. Researchers engaged in such researches aim at drawing certain
conclusions confronting a concrete social or business problem.
On the other hand, fundamental research mainly concerns generalizations and formulation of a
theory. In other words, Gathering knowledge for knowledges sake is termed pure or basic
research (Young in Kothari, 1988). Researches relating to pure mathematics or concerning
some natural phenomenon are instances of Fundamental Research. Likewise, studies focusing
on human behaviour also fall under the category of fundamental research.
Thus, while the principal objective of applied research is to find a solution to some pressing
practical problem, the objective of basic research is to find information with a broad base of
application and add to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge.
3. Quantitative Versus Qualitative:
Quantitative research relates to aspects that can be quantified or can be expressed in terms of
quantity. It involves the measurement of quantity or amount. Various available statistical and
econometric methods are adopted for analysis in such research. Which includes correlation,
regressions and time series analysis etc,.
On the other hand, Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena, or more
specifically, the aspects related to or involving quality or kind. For example, an important type
of qualitative research is Motivation Research, which investigates into the reasons for certain
human behaviour. The main aim of this type of research is discovering the underlying motives
and desires of human beings by using in-depth interviews. The other techniques employed in
such research are story completion tests, sentence completion tests, word association tests, and
other similar projective methods. Qualitative research is particularly significant in the context of
behavioural sciences, which aim at discovering the underlying motives of human behaviour.
Such research helps to analyse the various factors that motivate human beings to behave in a
certain manner, besides contributing to an understanding of what makes individuals like or
dislike a particular thing. However, it is worth noting that conducting qualitative research in
practice is considerably a difficult task. Hence, while undertaking such research, seeking
guidance from experienced expert researchers is important.
4. Conceptual Versus Empirical:
The research related to some abstract idea or theory is known as Conceptual Research.
Generally, philosophers and thinkers use it for developing new concepts or for reinterpreting the

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existing ones. Empirical Research, on the other hand, exclusively relies on the observation or
experience with hardly any regard for theory and system. Such research is data based, which
often comes up with conclusions that can be verified through experiments or observation.
Empirical research is also known as experimental type of research, in which it is important to
first collect the facts and their sources, and actively take steps to stimulate the production of
desired information. In this type of research, the researcher first formulates a working
hypothesis, and then gathers sufficient facts to prove or disprove the stated hypothesis. He/she
formulates the experimental design, which according to him/her would manipulate the
variables, so as to obtain the desired information. This type of research is thus characterized by
the researchers control over the variables under study. In simple term, empirical research is
most appropriate when an attempt is made to prove that certain variables influence the other
variables in some way. Therefore, the results obtained by using the experimental or empirical
studies are considered to be the most powerful evidences for a given hypothesis.
5. Other Types Of Research:
The remaining types of research are variations of one or more of the afore-mentioned type of
research. They vary in terms of the purpose of research, or the time required to complete it, or
may be based on some other similar factor. On the basis of time, research may either be in the
nature of one-time or longitudinal time series research. While the research is restricted to a
single time-period in the former case, it is conducted over several time-periods in the latter case.
Depending upon the environment in which the research is to be conducted, it can also be
laboratory research or field-setting research, or simulation research, besides being diagnostic or
clinical in nature. Under such research, in-depth approaches or case study method may be
employed to analyse the basic causal relations. These studies usually undertake a detailed in-
depth analysis of the causes of certain events of interest, and use very small samples and sharp
data collection methods. The research may also be explanatory in nature. Formalized research
studies consist of substantial structure and specific hypotheses to be verified. As regards to
historical research, sources like historical documents, remains, etc. Are utilized to study past
events or ideas. It also includes philosophy of persons and groups of the past or any remote
point of time.
Research has also been classified into decision-oriented and conclusion-oriented categories. The
decision-oriented research is always carried out as per the need of a decision maker and hence,
the researcher has no freedom to conduct the research according to his/her own desires. On the
other hand, in the case of Conclusion-oriented research, the researcher is free to choose the
problem, redesign the enquiry as it progresses and even change conceptualization as he/she
wishes to. Operations research is a kind of decision-oriented research, where in scientific
method is used in providing the departments, a quantitative basis for decision-making with
respect to the activities under their purview.

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On the basis of the fundamental objectives, we can classify into the following major types of
research designs:

Exploratory Research

The aim of exploratory research is to find out ideas and insights. Exploratory research is carried
out to give a better understanding of a situation. It is not made to produce final answers or
decisions. Through exploratory research, researchers wish to generate hypotheses about what is
happening in a situation.

Exploratory research is meant to offer a background, to familiarize and, as the word implies,
just explore the general subject. A part of exploratory research is the investigation of
associations between variables without knowing why theyre studied. It borders on an idle
curiosity approach, differing from it only in that the researcher thinks there may be a payoff in
application somewhere in the forest of questions. Following are the major types of exploratory
research:

Literature survey: One of the fastest and least expensive methods to discover hypotheses
is to conduct a literature survey. Virtually all research projects should start here. It also
familiarizes researcher with past results, data sources, and the type of data available.

Experience survey: It concentrates on individuals who are knowledgeable in the specific

area. Representative samples are not desired. A covering of widely divergent views is
much better. Researchers are not searching for conclusions; they are looking for ideas.

Focus Groups: It is a frequently used approach in research. In a focus group, only a few
individuals are brought together to discuss some topic of interest to the focus group
sponsor. The moderator tries to follow a rough outline of issues while at the same time
having the comments made by each individual considered in group discussion.

Case Analyses: Usually, researchers can understand a lot about a situation by exploring
carefully chosen examples or cases of the phenomenon. This is the essence of case
analysis.

Descriptive Research

Descriptive research is quite common in business and other aspects of life. With a descriptive
research we are generally aiming to describe some group of people or other entities.

For example, the characteristics of consumers of a specified product; the degree to which
product use varies with income, age group, sex or other characteristics; or the number of
individuals who saw a particular tv advertisement.

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Descriptive research enables you to achieve a multitude of research objectives. Having said
that, descriptive data become helpful for solving problems only if the process is guided by one
or more specific research problems, much thought and effort, and quite often exploratory
research to clarify the situation and create hypotheses. It enables both implicit and explicit
hypotheses to be tested based on the research problem.

For instance, a breakfast cereal company may find its sales declining. Based on the market
feedback the company may hypothesise that teens avoid eating its cereal in the morning. A
descriptive study can then be designed to test this hypothesis.

The 3 Basic Types of Descriptive Research Methods

One of the goals of science is description (other goals include prediction and explanation).
Descriptive research methods are pretty much as they sound they describe situations. They
do not make accurate predictions, and they do not determine cause and effect.

There are three main types of descriptive methods: observational methods, case-study methods
and survey methods. This article will briefly describe each of these methods, their advantages,
and their drawbacks. This may help you better understand research findings, whether reported
in the mainstream media, or when reading a research study on your own.

A. Observational Method

With the observational method (sometimes referred to as field observation) animal and human
behavior is closely observed. There are two main categories of the observational method
naturalistic observation and laboratory observation.

The biggest advantage of the naturalistic method of research is that researchers view
participants in their natural environments. This leads to greater ecological validity than
laboratory observation, proponents say.

Ecological validity refers to the extent to which research can be used in real-life situations.

Proponents of laboratory observation often suggest that due to more control in the laboratory,
the results found when using laboratory observation are more meaningful than those obtained
with naturalistic observation.

Laboratory observations are usually less time-consuming and cheaper than naturalistic
observations. Of course, both naturalistic and laboratory observation are important in regard to
the advancement of scientific knowledge.

B. Case Study Method

Case study research involves an in-depth study of an individual or group of indviduals. Case
studies often lead to testable hypotheses and allow us to study rare phenomena. Case studies

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should not be used to determine cause and effect, and they have limited use for making accurate
predictions.

There are two serious problems with case studies expectancy effects and atypical
individuals. Expectancy effects include the experimenters underlying biases that might affect
the actions taken while conducting research. These biases can lead to misrepresenting
participants descriptions. Describing atypical individuals may lead to poor generalizations and
detract from external validity.

C. Survey Method

In survey method research, participants answer questions administered through interviews or

questionnaires. After participants answer the questions, researchers describe the responses
given. In order for the survey to be both reliable and valid it is important that the questions are
constructed properly. Questions should be written so they are clear and easy to comprehend.

Another consideration when designing questions is whether to include open-ended, closed-

ended, partially open-ended, or rating-scale questions (for a detailed discussion refer to Jackson,
2009). Advantages and disadvantages can be found with each type:

Open-ended questions allow for a greater variety of responses from participants but are difficult
to analyze statistically because the data must be coded or reduced in some manner. Closed-
ended questions are easy to analyze statistically, but they seriously limit the responses that
participants can give. Many researchers prefer to use a Likert-type scale because its very easy
to analyze statistically. (Jackson, 2009, p. 89)

In addition to the methods listed above some individuals also include qualitative (as a distinct
method) and archival methods when discussing descriptive research methods.

It is important to emphasize that descriptive research methods can only describe a set of
observations or the data collected. It cannot draw conclusions from that data about which way
the relationship goes Does A cause B, or does B cause A?

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Exploratory Research

Objective of exploratory research is to explore or search through a problem or situation to

provide insights and understanding.

Exploratory research can be used in the following situations:

Exploratory research is meaningful in any situation where the researcher does not have
enough understanding to proceed with the research project.

This type of research rarely involves structured questionnaires, large samples and
probability sampling plans.

Researchers are alert to new ideas and insights as they proceed.

Once a new idea or insight is discovered, they may redirect their exploration in that
direction.

That new direction is perceived until its possibilities are exhausted or another direction is
found.

Hence, the focus of the investigation may shift constantly as new insights are discovered.

Exploratory research can be conducted with the help of:

1. Survey of experts

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2. Pilot surveys

3. Secondary data analyzed in qualitative way

4. Qualitative research

Descriptive Research

Objective of descriptive research is to describe somethingusually mkt. characteristics or

functions.

Different reasons for conducting a descriptive research can be any of the following:

Descriptive research assumes that researcher has much prior knowledge about the
problem situation.

A major difference between exploratory and descriptive research is that descriptive

research is characterized by the prior formulation of specific hypotheses.

Hence the information needed is clearly defined.

Descriptive research is preplanned and structured.

It is based on large representative samples

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Formal research design specifies the methods for selecting the information sources and
for data collection.

Descriptive design requires clear specification of the who, what, when, where, why, and
way (6 Ws) of the research

Cross-sectional designs

It is the most frequently used descriptive design in mktg. research.

It involves the collection of information from any given sample of population elements
only once.

Cross-sectional designs can be classified as:

Longitudinal Designs

In longitudinal designs, a fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is measured

repeatedly on the same variables.

It differs from cross-sectional design in that the sample or samples remain the same over
time.

The same people are studied over time and the same variables are measured.

Sometimes, the term panel is used interchangeably with the term longitudinal design.

A panel consists of a sample of respondents , generally households that have agreed to

provide information at specified intervals over an extended period
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Syndicated firms maintain panels and panel members are compensated for their
participation with gifts, coupons, information or cash.

Relative advantages and disadvantages of Longitudinal and cross-sectional designs

Research Design
Research design is a framework or detailed blueprint used to guide a research study toward its
objective.

It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve
mktg. research problems.

A good research design will ensure that the mktg. research project is conducted effectively and
efficiently.

A research design involves the following components, or tasks:

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Research Design can be classified as given in below chart:

Differences between Exploratory and Conclusive Research

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Causal

Research

Causal research is used to obtain evidence of cause-and-effect (causal) relationships.

Causal research is appropriate for the following purposes:

o To understand which variables are the cause (independent variables) and which
variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon.

o To determine the nature of relationship between the causal variables and the effect
to be predicted.

o Descriptive research can determine the degree of association between variables,

but it is not examining the causal relationships.

o Such an examination requires a causal design, in which the causal or independent

variables are manipulated in a relatively controlled environment (experimentation).

o The main method of causal research is experimentation.

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Comparison of Basic Research Design

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Experimental Research

Experimenting refers to the process of research where one or more variables are altered under
conditions that allow the collection of data which show the effects. Experiments create artificial
situation so the researcher can get the particular data required and can study the data precisely.

In experiments the situations are generally made for testing purposes. This artificiality is the
essence of the experimental technique, because it provides researchers additional control over
the factors they are exploring. If they can control the factors that are found in a provided
situation, they can obtain more definitive proof of cause and effect relationships between any
two of them. Thus the capability to create a situation for the objective of observing and
recording accurately the effect on one factor when another is intentionally modified makes it
possible for researchers to accept or reject hypothesis beyond reasonable doubt.

In case the objective is to validate in a resounding way the cause and effect relationship
between variables, then definitely experiments are far better than descriptive techniques

Key Components of Experimental Research Design

Once the design has been determined, there are four elements of true experimental research that
must be considered:

Manipulation: The researcher will purposefully change or manipulate the independent

variable, which is the treatment or condition that will be applied to the experimental
groups. It is important to establish clear procedural guidelines for application of the
treatment to promote consistency and ensure that the manipulation itself does affect the
dependent variable.

Control: Control is used to prevent the influence of outside factors (extraneous variables)
from influencing the outcome of the study. This ensures that outcome is caused by the
manipulation of the independent variable. Therefore, a critical piece of experimental
design is keeping all other potential variables constant. For example, if testing the effects
of fertilizer on plant height, all other factors such as sunlight, soil type and water would
have to be constant (controlled).

Random Assignment: A key feature of true experimental design is the random

assignment of subjects into groups. Participants should have an equal chance of being
assigned into any group in the experiment. This further ensures that the outcome of the
study is due to the manipulation of the independent variable and is not influenced by the
composition of the test groups. Subjects can be randomly assigned in many ways, some
of which are relatively easy, including flipping a coin, drawing names, using a random
table, or utilizing a computer assisted random sequencing.

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Random selection: In addition to randomly assigning the test subjects in groups, it is

also important to randomly select the test subjects from a larger target audience. For
example, if a researcher wanted to look at the impact of sleep on the test scores of 5th
graders in a particular city, a sample of 5th graders would need to be randomly selected
from the citys population in such a way that any 5th grader would have an equal chance
of being selected for the study. This ensures that the sample population provides an
accurate cross-sectional representation of the larger population including different
socioeconomic backgrounds, races, intelligence levels, and so forth.

Validity of Results
The two types of validity of experiments are internal and external. It is often difficult to achieve
both in social science research experiments.

Internal Validity

When an experiment is internally valid, we are certain that the independent variable (e.g.,
child care subsidies) caused the outcome of the study (e.g., maternal employment)

When subjects are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, we can assume that
the independent variable caused the observed outcomes because the two groups should
not have differed from one another at the start of the experiment

For example, take the child care subsidy example above. Since research subjects were
randomly assigned to the treatment (child care subsidies available) and control (no child
care subsidies available) groups, the two groups should not have differed at the outset of
the study. If, after the intervention, mothers in the treatment group were more likely to be
working, we can assume that the availability of child care subsidies promoted maternal
employment

One potential threat to internal validity in experiments occurs when participants either drop out
of the study or refuse to participate in the study. If particular types of individuals drop out or
refuse to participate more often than individuals with other characteristics, this is called
differential attrition. For example, suppose an experiment was conducted to assess the effects of
a new reading curriculum. If the new curriculum was so tough that many of the slowest readers
dropped out of school, the school with the new curriculum would experience an increase in the
average reading scores. The reason they experienced an increase in reading scores, however, is
because the worst readers left the school, not because the new curriculum improved students'
reading skills.

External Validity

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External validity is also of particular concern in social science experiments

It can be very difficult to generalize experimental results to groups that were not included
in the study

Studies that randomly select participants from the most diverse and representative
populations are more likely to have external validity

The use of random sampling techniques makes it easier to generalize the results of studies
to other groups

For example, a research study shows that a new curriculum improved reading comprehension of
third-grade children in Iowa. To assess the study's external validity, you would ask whether this
new curriculum would also be effective with third graders in New York or with children in other
elementary grades.

Glossary terms related to validity:

internal validity

external validity

differential attrition

Ethics
It is particularly important in experimental research to follow ethical guidelines. Protecting the
health and safety of research subjects is imperative. In order to assure subject safety, all
researchers should have their project reviewed by the Institutional Review Boards (IRBS). The
National Institutes of Health supplies strict guidelines for project approval. Many of these
guidelines are based on the Belmont Report (pdf).

The basic ethical principles:

Respect for persons -- requires that research subjects are not coerced into participating
in a study and requires the protection of research subjects who have diminished
autonomy

Beneficence -- requires that experiments do not harm research subjects, and that
researchers minimize the risks for subjects while maximizing the benefits for them

Justice -- requires that all forms of differential treatment among research subjects be
justified

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Experimental Design

Advantages
The environment in which the research takes place can often be carefully controlled.
Consequently, it is easier to estimate the true effect of the variable of interest on the outcome of
interest.

Disadvantages
It is often difficult to assure the external validity of the experiment, due to the frequently
nonrandom selection processes and the artificial nature of the experimental context.

Pre-Experimental Design

Pre-Experimental Design

Pre-experimental designs are so named because they follow basic experimental steps but fail to
include a control group. In other words, a single group is often studied but no comparison
between an equivalent non-treatment group is made. Examples include the following:

The One-Shot Case Study.

In this arrangement, subjects are presented with some type of treatment, such as a semester of
college work experience, and then the outcome measure is applied, such as college grades. Like
all experimental designs, the goal is to determine if the treatment had any effect on the
outcome. Without a comparison group, it is impossible to determine if the outcome scores are
any higher than they would have been without the treatment. And, without any pre-test scores,
it is impossible to determine if any change within the group itself has taken place.

One Group Pretest Posttest Study.

A benefit of this design over the previously discussed design is the inclusion of a pretest to
determine baseline scores. To use this design in our study of college performance, we could
compare college grades prior to gaining the work experience to the grades after completing a
semester of work experience. We can now at least state whether a change in the outcome or
dependent variable has taken place. What we cannot say is if this change would have occurred
even without the application of the treatment or independent variable. It is possible that mere
maturation caused the change in grades and not the work experience itself.

The Static Group Comparison Study.

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This design attempts to make up for the lack of a control group but falls short in relation to
showing if a change has occurred. In the static group comparison study, two groups are chosen,
one of which receives the treatment and the other does not. A posttest score is then determined
to measure the difference, after treatment, between the two groups. As you can see, this study
does not include any pre-testing and therefore any difference between the two groups prior to
the study are unknown.

Table 5.1: Diagrams of Pre-Experimental Designs

5.4 True Experimental Design

True Experimental Design

True experimental design makes up for the shortcomings of the two designs previously
discussed. They employ both a control group and a means to measure the change that occurs in
both groups. In this sense, we attempt to control for all confounding variables, or at least
consider their impact, while attempting to determine if the treatment is what truly caused the
change. The true experiment is often thought of as the only research method that can
adequately measure the cause and effect relationship. Below are some examples:

Posttest Equivalent Groups Study.

Randomization and the comparison of both a control and an experimental group are utilized in
this type of study. Each group, chosen and assigned at random is presented with either the
treatment or some type of control. Posttests are then given to each subject to determine if a
difference between the two groups exists. While this is approaching the best method, it falls
short in its lack of a pretest measure. It is difficult to determine if the difference apparent at the
end of the study is an actual change from the possible difference at the beginning of the study.
In other words, randomization does well to mix subjects but it does not completely assure us
that this mix is truly creating an equivalency between the two groups.

Pretest Posttest Equivalent Groups Study.

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Of those discussed, this method is the most effective in terms of demonstrating cause and effect
but it is also the most difficult to perform. The pretest posttest equivalent groups design
provides for both a control group and a measure of change but also adds a pretest to assess any
differences between the groups prior to the study taking place. To apply this design to our work
experience study, we would select students from the college at random and then place the
chosen students into one of two groups using random assignment. We would then measure the
previous semesters grades for each group to get a mean grade point average. The treatment, or
work experience would be applied to one group and a control would be applied to the other.

It is important that the two groups be treated in a similar manner to control for variables such as
socialization, so we may allow our control group to participate in some activity such as a
softball league while the other group is participating in the work experience program. At the
end of the semester, the experiment would end and the next semesters grades would be
gathered and compared. If we found that the change in grades for the experimental group was
significantly different than the change in the grades of our control group, we could reasonably
argue that one semester of work experience compared to one semester of non-work related
activity results in a significant difference in grades.

Table 5.3: Diagrams of True Experimental Designs

Quasi-Experimental Design

Quasi-Experimental Design

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Quasi designs fair better than pre-experimental studies in that they employ a means to compare
groups. They fall short, however on one very important aspect of the experiment:
randomization.

With this design, both a control group and an experimental group is compared, however, the
groups are chosen and assigned out of convenience rather than through randomization. This
might be the method of choice for our study on work experience as it would be difficult to
choose students in a college setting at random and place them in specific groups and classes.
We might ask students to participate in a one-semester work experience program. We would
then measure all of the students grades prior to the start of the program and then again after the
program. Those students who participated would be our treatment group; those who did not
would be our control group.

Time Series Designs.

Time series designs refer to the pretesting and posttesting of one group of subjects at different
intervals. The purpose might be to determine long term effect of treatment and therefore the
number of pre- and posttests can vary from one each to many. Sometimes there is an
interruption between tests in order to assess the strength of treatment over an extended time
period. When such a design is employed, the posttest is referred to as follow-up.

Nonequivalent Before-After Design.

This design is used when we want to compare two groups that are likely to be different even
before the study begins. In other words, if we want to see how a new treatment affects people
with different psychological disorders, the disorders themselves would create two or more
nonequivalent groups. Once again, the number of pretests and posttests can vary from one each
to many.

The obvious concern with all of the quasi-experimental designs results from the method of
choosing subjects to participate in the experiment. While we could compare grades and
determine if there was a difference between the two groups before and after the study, we could
not state that this difference is related to the work experience itself or some other confounding
variable. It is certainly possible that those who volunteered for the study were inherently
different in terms of motivation from those who did not participate. Whenever subjects are
chosen for groups based on convenience rather than randomization, the reason for inclusion in
the study itself confounds our results.

Table 5.2: Diagrams of Quasi Experimental Designs

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An Experimental Design Example

Consider the following hypothetical experiment. Acme Medicine is conducting an experiment
to test a new vaccine, developed to immunize people against the common cold. To test the
vaccine, Acme has 1000 volunteers - 500 men and 500 women. The participants range in age
from 21 to 70.

In this lesson, we describe three experimental designs - a completely randomized design, a

randomized block design, and a matched pairs design. And we show how each design might be
applied by Acme Medicine to understand the effect of the vaccine, while ruling out confounding
effects of other factors.

Completely Randomized Design

The completely randomized design is probably the simplest experimental design, in terms of
data analysis and convenience. With this design, participants are randomly assigned to
treatments.

Treatment
Placebo Vaccine
500 500
A completely randomized design layout for the Acme Experiment is shown in the table to the
right. In this design, the experimenter randomly assigned participants to one of two treatment
conditions. They received a placebo or they received the vaccine. The same number of
participants (500) were assigned to each treatment condition (although this is not required). The
dependent variable is the number of colds reported in each treatment condition. If the vaccine is

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effective, participants in the "vaccine" condition should report significantly fewer colds than
participants in the "placebo" condition.

A completely randomized design relies on randomization to control for the effects of extraneous
variables. The experimenter assumes that, on averge, extraneous factors will affect treatment
conditions equally; so any significant differences between conditions can fairly be attributed to
the independent variable.

Randomized Block Design

With a randomized block design, the experimenter divides participants into subgroups called
blocks, such that the variability within blocks is less than the variability between blocks. Then,
participants within each block are randomly assigned to treatment conditions. Because this
design reduces variability and potential confounding, it produces a better estimate of treatment
effects.

Treatment
Gender Placebo Vaccine
Male 250 250
Female 250 250
The table to the right shows a randomized block design for the Acme experiment. Participants
are assigned to blocks, based on gender. Then, within each block, participants are randomly
assigned to treatments. For this design, 250 men get the placebo, 250 men get the vaccine, 250
women get the placebo, and 250 women get the vaccine.

It is known that men and women are physiologically different and react differently to
medication. This design ensures that each treatment condition has an equal proportion of men
and women. As a result, differences between treatment conditions cannot be attributed to
gender. This randomized block design removes gender as a potential source of variability and as
a potential confounding variable.

In this Acme example, the randomized block design is an improvement over the completely
randomized design. Both designs use randomization to implicitly guard against confounding.
But only the randomized block design explicitly controls for gender.

Note 1: In some blocking designs, individual participants may receive multiple treatments. This
is called using the participant as his own control. Using the participant as his own control is
desirable in some experiments (e.g., research on learning or fatigue). But it can also be a
problem (e.g., medical studies where the medicine used in one treatment might interact with the
medicine used in another treatment).

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Note 2: Blocks perform a similar function in experimental design as strata perform in sampling.
Both divide observations into subgroups. However, they are not the same. Blocking is
associated with experimental design, and stratification is associated with survey sampling.

Matched Pairs Design

A matched pairs design is a special case of the randomized block design. It is used when the
experiment has only two treatment conditions; and participants can be grouped into pairs, based
on some blocking variable. Then, within each pair, participants are randomly assigned to
different treatments.

The table to the right shows a matched pairs design for the Acme experiment. The 1000
participants are grouped into 500 matched pairs. Each pair is matched on gender and age. For
example, Pair 1 might be two women, both age 21. Pair 2 might be two women, both age 22,
and so on.

For the Acme example, the matched pairs design is an improvement over the completely
randomized design and the randomized block design. Like the other designs, the matched pairs
design uses randomization to control for confounding. However, unlike the others, this design
explicitly controls for two potential lurking variables - age and gender.

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Basic Principles of Experimental Designs

Three basic principle of experimental designs-

(1)The principle of replication

(2)The principle of randomization

(3)Principle of local control.

(1) The Principle Of Replication. The second principle of an experimental design is replication; which is
a repetition of the basic experiment. In other words, it is a complete run for all the treatments to be tested in the
experiment. In all experiments, some variation is introduced because of the fact that the experimental units such
as individuals or plots of land in agricultural experiments cannot be physically identical. This type of variation
can be removed by using a number of experimental units. We therefore perform the experiment more than once,
i.e., we repeat the basic experiment. An individual repetition is called a replicate. The number, the shape and the
size of replicates depend upon the nature of the experimental material. A replication is used
(i) to secure more accurate estimate of the experimental error, a term which represents the differences that
would be observed if the same treatments were applied several times to the same experimental units;
(ii) to decrease the experimental error and thereby to increase precision, which is a measure of the variability of
the experimental error.

(2) The Principle Of Randomization. The first principle of an experimental design is

randomization, which is a random process of assigning treatments to the experimental units. The random
process implies that every possible allotment of treatments has the same probability. An experimental unit is the
smallest division of the experimental material and a treatment means an experimental condition whose effect is
to be measured and compared. The purpose of randomization is to remove bias and other sources of extraneous
variation, which are not controllable. Another advantage of randomization (accompanied by replication) is that
it forms the basis of any valid statistical test. Hence the treatments must be assigned at random to the
experimental units. Randomization is usually done by drawing numbered cards from a well-shuffled pack of
cards, or by drawing numbered balls from a well-shaken container or by using tables of random numbers.

(3) Local Control. It has been observed that all extraneous sources of variation are not removed by
randomization and replication. This necessitates a refinement in the experimental technique. In other words, we
need to choose a design in such a manner that all extraneous sources of variation are brought under control. For
this purpose, we make use of local control, a term referring to the amount of balancing, blocking and grouping
of the experimental units. Balancing means that the treatments should he assigned to the experimental units in
such a way that the result is a balanced arrangement of the treatments. Blocking means that like experimental
units should be collected together to form a relatively homogeneous group. A block is also a replicate. The main
purpose of the principle of local control is to increase the efficiency of an experimental design by decreasing the
experimental error. The point to remember here is that the term local control should not be confused with the
word control. The word control in experimental design is used for a treatment. Which does not receive any
treatment but we need to find out the effectiveness of other treatments through comparison.

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