Q1.

Explain the process of problem identification with an example.

As Powers et al. (1985) have put it, Potential research questions may occur to us on a regular basis, but the process of formulating them in a meaningful way is not at all an easy task. One needs to narrow down the decision problem and rephrase it into workable research questions. A research problem can be defined as a gap or uncertainty in the decision makers existing body of knowledge which inhibits efficient decision making. Sometimes it may so happen that there might be multiple alternative paths one can take and we will have to select which of these we would like to consider as the problem to be studied. It can be said that a large part of the problem lies in knowing what one is trying to do. The defined research problem might be classified as simple or complex. Simple problems are those that are easy to understand and the components and identified relationships are linear, e.g., the relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Complex problems on the other hand, deal with the interrelationship between multiple variables, e.g., the impact of social networking sites like Facebook and online shopping sites like Flipkart on consumer purchase behaviour in shops and markets. The impact might also further differ in terms of males and females. Other influencing factors on the buying behaviour could be a persons lifestyle, age and education. Complex problems such as these deal with multiple variables. Thus, they require a model or framework to be developed to define the research approach.

Q2. Interview method involves a dialogue between the Interviewee and the Interviewer. Explain the interview method of data collection. What are the uses of this

technique? What are the different types of interviews?

The interview process Interview objective: This step includes a clear definition of the construct/variable(s) to be studied. Interview guidelines: A brief outline to be used by the investigator is formulated depending upon the contours of the interview. Structure: Unstructured: This type of interview has no defined guidelines. The direction the interview will take is not known to the researcher also. The probability of subjectivity is very high.

 Semi-structured: This has a more defined format and usually only the broad areas to be investigated are formulated. After asking the initial question, the direction of the interview is determined by the respondents initial reply, the interviewers probes for elaboration and the respondents answers. Structured: This format has highest reliability and validity. There is considerable structure to the questions and the questioning is also done on the basis of a prescribed sequence. Analysis and interpretation: The information collected is not subjected to any statistical analysis. Mostly the data is in narrative form, in the case of structured interviews it might be summarized in prose form.

Uses of the interview method Problem definition: The interview method can be used right in the beginning of the study to get a better clarity about the topic under study. Exploratory research: Here because the structure is loose this method can be actively used. Primary data collection: There are situations when the method is used as a primary method of data collection; this is generally the case when the area to be investigated is high on emotional responses.

Types of interviews

Personal methods: These are the traditional one-to-one methods that have been used actively in all branches of social sciences. At-home interviews: The interviewer needs to initially contact the respondent to ascertain the interview time at his residence. Mall-intercept interviews: Product testing or product reactions can be carried out through structured methods and followed by 2030 minute interviews to test the reactions. Computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI): The respondent faces an assigned computer terminal and answers a questionnaire on the computer screen by using the keyboard or a mouse. There is usually an interviewer present at the time of respondents computer assisted interview and is available for help and guidance, if required. Telephone method: The advantage of the method is that geographic boundaries are not a constraint and the interview can be conducted at the individual respondents location.

Q3.

A study of different sampling methods is necessary because precision, accuracy,

and efficiency of the sample results depend on the method employed for selecting the sample. Explain the different types of Probability and Non-Probability sampling designs.

Probability Sampling Simple random sampling with replacement (SRSWR) If there are 1,000 elements in the population, we write the identification number or the name of all the 1,000 elements on 1,000 different slips. The first element is chosen with a probability of 1/1,000. The second one is also selected with the same probability and so are all the subsequent elements of the population.

Simple random sampling without replacement (SRSWOR) The first unit would be selected with the probability of 1/1,000, second unit with the probability of 1/999, the third will be selected with a probability of 1/998 and so on, till we select the required number of elements (in this case, 20) in our sample.

Systematic sampling First of all, a sampling interval given by K = N/n is calculated, where N = the size of the population and n = the size of the sample. It is seen that the sampling interval K should be an integer. If it is not, it is rounded off to make it an integer. A random number is selected from 1 to K. Let us call it C. The first element to be selected from the ordered population would be C, the next element would be C + K and the subsequent one would be C + 2K and so on till a sample of size n is selected.

Stratified random sampling The entire population is divided into strata (groups), which are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. The elements are selected using a simple random sampling independently from each group.

Non-probability Sampling Convenience sampling The only criterion for selecting sampling units in this scheme is the convenience of the researcher or the investigator. The purpose of an exploratory research is to gain an insight into the problem and generate a set of hypotheses which could be tested with the help of a conclusive research.
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Judgmental sampling Under judgmental sampling, experts in a particular field choose what they believe to be the best sample for the study in question. The most common application of judgmental sampling is in business-tobusiness (B to B) marketing.

Quota Sampling In quota sampling, the sample includes a minimum number from each specified subgroup in the population.

Snowball sampling Snowball sampling is generally used when it is difficult to identify the members of the desired population, e.g., deep-sea divers, families with triplets, people using walking sticks, doctors specializing in a particular ailment, etc.

Q4.

a. Differentiate between descriptive and inferential analysis of data. b. Explain with examples various measures of Central Tendency.

a). Descriptive Analysis Inferential Analysis

Descriptive analysis refers to transformation Under inferential statistics, inferences are of raw data into a form that will facilitate drawn on population parameters based on easy understanding and interpretation. sample results.

Descriptive analysis deals with summary The researcher tries to generalize the results measures relating to the sample data. to the population based on sample results.

The common ways of summarizing data are The analysis is based on probability theory by calculating average, range, standard and a necessary condition for carrying out deviation, distribution. NominalFrequency table, Proportion frequency and percentage inferential analysis is that the sample should be drawn at random.

percentages, Mode Ordinal- Median, Quartiles, Percentiles, Rank order correlation IntervalArithmetic mean, Correlation

coefficient Ratio- Index numbers, Geometric mean, Harmonic mean

b.) Measures of Central Tendency 1. Mean

The mean represents the arithmetic average of a variable is appropriate for interval and ratio scale data. E.g. The percentage of dividend declared by a company over the last 12 years is 5, 8, 6, 10, 12, 20, 18, 15, 30, 25, 20, 16. The average dividend declared by the company in the last 12 years is 15.417 per cent.

2. Median The median can be computed for ratio, interval or ordinal scale data. The median for the ungrouped data is defined as the middle value when the data is arranged in ascending or descending order of magnitude. E.g. The marks of 21 students in economics are given. By arranging the data in ascending order of magnitude, we obtain: 38, 39, 42, 43, 47, 49, 55, 57, 57, 57, 59, 60, 62, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 72, 73, 81. The median will be the value of the 11th observation arranged as above, the value equals 59. This means 50 per cent of students score marks below 59 and 50 per cent score above 59.

3. Mode

The mode is that measure of central tendency which is appropriate for nominal or higher order scales. It is the point of maximum frequency in a distribution around which other items of the set cluster densely. Mode should not be computed for ordinal or interval data unless these data have been grouped first. E.g. The marks of 20 students of a class in statistics are given as under: 44, 52, 40, 61, 58, 52, 63, 75, 87, 52, 63, 38, 44, 61, 68, 75, 72, 52, 51, 50. It is observed that the maximum number of students (four) have obtained 52 marks. Therefore, the mode of the distribution is 52.

Q5.

The chi-square test is widely used in research. Discuss the various applications of

chi-square test. Under what conditions is this test applicable? Chi-square Test for the Goodness of Fit The data in chi-square tests is often in terms of counts or frequencies. The actual survey data may be on a nominal or higher scale of measurement. If it is on a higher scale of measurement, it can always be converted into categories. A goodness of fit test is a statistical test of how well the observed data supports the assumption about the distribution of a population. The test also examines that how well an assumed distribution fits the data.

Chi-square Test for Independence of Variables The chi-square test can be used to test the independence of two variables each having at least two categories. The test makes use of contingency tables, also referred to as cross-tabs with the cells corresponding to a cross classification of attributes or events.

Chi-square Test for the Equality of More than Two Population Proportions In certain situations, the researchers may be interested to test whether the proportion of a particular characteristic is the same in several populations. The interest may lie in finding out whether the proportion of people liking a movie is the same for the three age groups 25 and under, over 25 and under 50, and 50 and over.

Applications Chi-square test has a variety of applications in research. Chi-square is non-symmetrical distribution taking non-negative values. It can be used to test the goodness of fit of a distribution, independence of variables and equality of more than two population proportions. A necessary condition for the application of chi-square test is that the expected frequency in each cell should be at least 5. The first and foremost thing for the application of chi-square is the computation of expected frequencies. The data in chi-square test is in terms of counts or frequencies. In case the actual data is on a scale higher than that of nominal or ordinal, it can always be converted into categories.

Q6.

What is analysis of variance? What are the assumptions of the technique? Give a

few examples where this technique could be used.

The technique helps in performing this test in one go and, therefore, is considered to be important technique of analysis for the researcher. Through this technique it is possible to draw inferences whether the samples have been drawn from populations having the same mean.

The technique has found applications in the fields of economics, psychology, sociology, business and industry. It becomes handy in situations where we want to compare the means of more than two populations. Some examples could be to compare: The mean cholesterol content of various diet foods The average mileage of, say, five automobiles The average telephone bill of households belonging to four different income groups and so on. The basic principle underlying the technique is that the total variation in the dependent variable is broken into two partsone which can be attributed to some specific causes and the other that may be attributed to chance. The one which is attributed to the specific causes is called the variation between samples and the one which is attributed to chance is termed as the variation within samples. Therefore, in ANOVA, the total variance may be decomposed into various components corresponding to the sources of the variation. The analysis of variance techniques in this unit are illustrated through the completely randomized design, randomized block design and factorial design. In a completely randomized design, there is one dependent and one independent variable. The dependent variable is metric whereas the independent variable is categorical. Random samples are drawn from each category of the independent variable. The sample size from each category could be same or different. In the randomized block design, there is one i ndependent variable and one extraneous factor (block). Both independent variable and extraneous factor (block) are nominal scale variables. The effect of the extraneous factor is removed from the analysis. In factorial design, the dependent variable is metric and there are two or more independent variables which are non-metric. In this design, it is possible to examine the interaction between the variables. If there are two independent variables each having three cells, there would be a total of nine interactions.