BA5202 - BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

QUESTION BANK
PART- A
Unit I
1. Define Research.
“The application of the scientific method in searching for the truth about business
phenomena. These activities include defining business opportunities and problems,
generating and evaluating ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the
businessprocess.”-Zikmund

2. State the meaning of Research Design.

It is the framework or plan for a study or research, which is used as a guide to collect and
analyze data.

3. What is Research Problem?

The research problem is a general statement of an issue meriting research.

4. What is a research objective?

Description of what is to be achieved by the study,

5. What are the objectives of scientific research?

It extends knowledge,, it aids in planning, it helps in finding solution for problems.

6. State the different types of research.

Exploratory Research, Causal Research, Descriptive Research, Cross Sectional and time
series Research, Theoretical Research, Empirical Research

7. List the Characteristics of scientifice Research.

Empirical, Logical, Cyclical, Analytical, Critical and Methodical

8. List out the importance of business research.

Narrows and focus the study, Guides information to be collected, Facilitate development of
methods to complete research.

9. When exploratory research can be used?

Exploratory research can be used when the basic objective of the study is to explore and obtain
clarity on the problem situation

10. What are the drawbacks of empirical research?

Expensive, Time consuming, issues related to data collection

11. Briefly explain the term ‘quantitative research’

Quantitative research is the systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena via
statistical, mathematical or computational techniques
12. Briefly explain the term ‘qualitative research’
Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines,
traditionally in the social sciences

13. List down the limitation of research.

Sometimes research does not provide actionable results, some problems cannot be researched
and management relies on judgments rather than on research.

14. List the threats relating to Internal Validity.

Ambiguous temporal precedence, Selection bias, Repeated testing (also referred to as testing
effects).

15. Briefly explain the term reliability and validity.

Reliability is concerned with consistency, accuracy and predictability of the scale.
Validity refers "the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring"

16. What is Hypothesis?

A hypothesis (H) is an unproven statement about a factor or phenomenon that is of interest to
the researcher.

17. What is null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis?

Null hypothesis reflects that there will be no observed effect for our experiment.
The alternative or experimental hypothesis reflects that there will be an observed effect for our
experiment.

18. List the purpose of conducting Literature Survey.

To identify the research problems, to avoid mistakes in research, facilitation of interpreting of
study.

19. Write a shot note on time series and cross sectional researches.
Time series: Research conducted in different point of time with same sample.
Cross Sectional: It Studies in different group of people in the same population with One time
survey or observation

20. What are the characteristics of hypothesis?

In simple, declarative statement form, Measurable and quantifiable

Unit II
1. What are the Needs for Research Design?
Accurate results, control on variances, facilitates systematic investigation, forecasts potential
problems.
2. What do you mean by Descriptive research designs?
These are more structured and formal in nature. As the name implies the objective of these
studies is to provide a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the phenomena under study.

3. What is Nominal Scale?

A measurement scale used for categorizing the samples.

4. List out the factors affecting research design.

Secondary data, socio and cultural factors, availability of data, nature of research, resources and
time constrains.

5. Differentiate Interval Scale & Ratio Scale.

In the interval scale the difference of the score on the scale has meaningful interpretation. Ratio
of the measurements on the scale does not have a meaningful interpretation
In the ration scale ratio of the measurements on the scale have a meaningful interpretation

6. Explain Ordinal Scale.

An ordinal scale measurement tells whether an object has more or less of characteristics than
some other objects.

7. What is Exploratory Research?

It explores and obtains clarity on the problem situation.

8. What is causal design?

The investigation into an issue or topic that looks at the effect of one thing or variable on
another.

9. State the Classification of research design

Exploratory, Descriptive and Causal

10. What are the different measurement scales?

Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio.

11. What is Scaling?

Scaling is an extension of measurement. It involves creating a range on which measurements
on objects are located.

12. What are Comparative scaling techniques?

Paired Comparison, Rank order, constant sum scaling.

13. What are Non-comparative scaling techniques?

Graphics rating, Likert, semantic differential, staple

14. What are the objectives of Casual Research?

 To identify the cause and effect relationship between variables in the study.
To determine the impact of independent variables on dependent variable

15. Briefly explain the following terms

Paired Comparison, Rank order, constant sum scaling, Graphics rating scale, Likert type scale,
semantic differential scale, staple scale.

PAIRWISE COMPARISON SCALE - a respondent is presented with two items at a time and
asked to select one

RANK ORDER SCALE - a respondent is presented with several items simultaneously and
asked to rank them

CONSTANT SUM SCALE - Respondents allocate a constant sum of units, such as 100 points,
to attributes of a product to reflect their importance.

GRAPHICS RATING SCALE - This is a continuous scale and the respondent is asked to tick
his preference on a graph.

SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALE - scale is bounded at each end by bipolar adjectives or

phrases

STAPLE SCALE - This is a unipolar ten-point rating scale. It ranges from +5 to -5 and has no
neutral zero point.

LIKERT TYPE SCALE - The respondents are given a certain number of items (statements) on
which they are asked to express their degree of agreement/disagreement.

16. List out the types of reliability

Test-retest reliability, alternative-forms reliability, split-half reliability, coefficient alpha

17. Write down the types of validity.

Content validity, criterion validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, Nomological
validity.

18. What are the types of research variable?

Dependent variables, independent variables and controlled variables.
 Unit III

1. What do you mean by data?

Collection information is called data.

2. Briefly explain the terms primary and secondary data.

Primary data are originated by a researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the problem
at hand.
Secondary data are data which have already been collected for purposes other than the problem
at hand.

3. What are the several methods of collecting primary data?

Direct Personal observation, Telephone survey, Mail survey, Interview schedule, Survey
through questionnaire and Projective Techniques

4. What are the source collecting secondary data?

Libraries, Vendors, Producers, Books and periodicals, Government sources, Media Sources,
Trade associations.

5. Explain observation in primary data collection.

Observation involves viewing and recording individuals, groups, organizations or events in a
scientific manner in order to collect valuable data related to the topic under study.

6. State the difference between Questionnaire and Interview Schedule.

Questionnaires are filled by the respondents and schedules are filled by the researcher.

7. What is Case Study Method?

A case study is a research method involving an up-close, in-depth, and detailed examination of
a subject of study

8. What is interview schedule?

An interview schedule is the guide an interviewer uses when conducting a structured interview

9. List any two Projective Techniques.

Association Techniques, Completion Techniques

10. Define Population.

Population refers to any group of people or objects that form the subject of study in a particular
survey and are similar in one or more ways.

11. Briefly explain the term Secondary data.

Data which have already been collected for purposes other than the problem at hand. These
data can be located quickly and inexpensively. It is recorded and published in a structured
format.

12. What are the advantages of interview schedule?

Effective way of gathering information, Involves verbal and non-verbal communications
13. What is sampling?
It is a process of selecting an adequate number of elements from the population so that the
study of the sample will not only help in understanding the characteristics of the population
but will also enable us to generalize the results.

14. What is Sampling Frame?

Sampling frame comprises all the elements of a population with proper identification that is
available to us for selection at any stage of sampling.

15. Define Sampling Error?

Sampling Error are the errors due to sample

16. What is Sampling Unit?

A sampling unit is a single member of the sample.

17. What is Probability Sampling?

Each population unit has known chance of being selected in the sample

18. Define Non probability sampling.

Population units are selected in the sample by judgments

19. Name the softwares used for data analysis in business research.
SPSS, MS-Excel, AMOS, TORA, Statistica, Strata.

20. What do you mean by convenience sampling?

Convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling technique, where subjects are selected
because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher.

21. What is Cluster sampling?

Cluster sampling is a sampling technique used when "natural" but relatively homogeneous
groupings are evident in a statistical population.

22. State different types of Sample Design.

Probability and Non Probability sampling design.

23. What is Mail Questioners?

It is a web-based survey as an alternative to traditional mail methods of data collection

24. State the advantages and disadvantages of probability Sampling.

Advantages: Ensures a high degree of representativeness, Degree of generalizability
Disadvantage: Time consuming and tedious

25. State the advantages and disadvantages of nonprobability Sampling

Advantage: Convenience and inexpensive
Disadvantage: Degree of generalizability is questionable

26. What is Area sampling?

 It’s a kind of cluster sampling, where the clusters are counties, townships, city blocks, or other
well-defined geographic sections of the population.

27. Differentiate Stratified random sampling Vs Cluster sampling

The main difference between cluster sampling and stratified sampling is that in cluster sampling
the cluster is treated as the sampling unit so analysis is done on a population of clusters (at least
in the first stage). In stratified sampling, the analysis is done on elements within strata.

Unit IV
1. What is Factor analysis?
It is a data reduction widely used in social science research.

2. What are the processes involved in data preparation?

Questionnaire checking, editing - Field editing and Central office editing / In-house editing
Coding, Data Entry (Transcribing and Data Cleaning), Data Validation

3. Briefly Explain Editing.

Editing - Editing is the process of checking data for errors such as omissions, illegibility and
inconsistency, and correcting data where and when the need arises

4. Explain Field Editing –

It is a preliminary form of data editing which is undertaken by the field supervisor on the day
of the interview with a view to finding omissions, checking the legibility of handwriting, and
clarifying responses by respondents that are logically or conceptually inconsistent

5. What do you mean by In-House Editing?

It is a form of data editing which is more rigorous than field editing in nature, and which is
performed by a centralized office staff

6. Define Coding.
Converting data into a format that enables its processing and statistical analysis by the computer

7. Explain the term ‘Data Validation’

The process of determining if an update to a value in a table’s data cell is within a pre-
established range or is a member of a set of allowable values.

8. Define Multivariate Analysis.

Multivariate analysis (MVA) is based on the statistical principle of multivariate statistics, which
involves observation and analysis of more than one statistical outcome variable at a time.

9. Define Bivariate Analysis.

It involves the analysis of two variables for the purpose of determining the empirical
relationship between them.

10. List out the assumption to go for multivariate techniques.

Multicollinearity – between the independent variable
Outliers – Extreme values
Sample size – Feasible Sample Size
Scale of measurement – Interval Scale
Normality – Distribution

11. What is multiple regression analysis?

Regression analysis is used to predict the nature and closeness of relationships between two or
more variables. It helps to identify the cause and effect relationship between variables.
12. What do you mean by correlation?
Correlation analysis is used for measuring the relationship between two variables measured on
interval or ratio scale.

13. Write a short note on cluster analysis.

It is mainly used for market segmentation. A cluster, by definition, is a group of similar objects

14. What is Multidimensional scaling?

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is a class of procedures for representing perceptions and
preferences of respondents spatially by means of a visual display.

15. List out the popular statistical softwares used in Business Research Methods.
SPSS, SAS, MINITAB, MATLAB, JMP, STATISTICA, R, STRATA, TORA and MS EXCEL

Unit V

1. Explain the characteristics of research.

Systematic, logical and scientific, unbiased, creative and useful.

2. Define research report.

 A research report is a completed study that reports an investigation or exploration of a problem,
identifies questions to be addressed, and includes data collected, analyzed, and interpreted by
the researcher.

3. List out and explain the types of research reports.

Technical report
A technical report is a document that describes the process, progress, or results of technical or
scientific research or the state of a technical or scientific research problem.
Popular report
Focused on more general audience, interested mainly in the research findings as it is non-
technical in nature
Interim report
Reports submitted during the research period.
Summary report
Brief information about the overall study will be taken care in this report

4. List out the Contents of research report.

I. Title page
II. Letter of transmittal
III. Letter of authorization
IV. Table of contents
V. List of tables
VI. List of graphs
VII. List of appendices
VIII. List of exhibit
IX. Executive summary
 Major findings
 Conclusions and Recommendations
X. Problem definition
 Background to the problem
 Statement of the problem
XI. Approach to the problem
XII. Research design
 Type of research design
 Data collection from secondary sources
 Data collection from primary sources
 Scaling techniques
 Questionnaire development and Pilot testing
 Sampling techniques
 Fieldwork
XIII. Data analysis
 Methodology
 Plan of data analysis
XIV. Results
XV. Limitations and caveats
XVI. Conclusions and recommendations
XVII. Exhibits
 Questionnaires and forms
 Statistical output
  List

85. What do you mean by Executive Summary?

An executive summary highlights the report’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations. It
is a condensed version of the report.

86. What is the importance of executive summary?

Crystallizes the thoughts of the research, Sets priorities and provides the foundation of the full
plan.

87. What is readability in business research?

Readability is the ease with which a written text of research report can be understood by
a reader.