Subject Code: IMT-120

Subject Name : Business

Objective: Globalization & liberalization in 90s widened the scope of research from marketing domain to other areas of business. Accordingly, Research once an academic exercise has become an integral part of any business school curriculum. A curriculum of Business Research Methods provides a comprehensive, stepwise understanding of the research process with a balanced blend of conceptual knowledge of research methods, collection of requisite data, application of statistical tools for processing & analysis ofdata&ultimatelytodrawconclusionsfordecisionmakingonthebasisofresults&analysisofdata. Contents : Business Research : An Overview Research Methods, research problems and Hypothesis Business Research Design Methods and Techniques of Data Collection Sampling and Sampling Distribution Attitude Measurement and scales Questionnaire Design Data Processing and Preliminary Analysis Statistical Analysis and Data Interpretation Multivariate Analysis T-Test and Anova Research Report and Proposal writing

Research Method

Notes:
a. b. c. d. Write answers in your own words as far as possible and refrain from copying from the text books/handouts. Answers of Ist Set (Part-A), IInd Set (Part-B), IIIrd Set (Part C) and Set-IV (Case Study) must be sent together. Mail the answer sheets alongwith the copy of assignments for evaluation & return. Only hand written assignments shall be accepted.

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A. B.

First Set of Assignments: Second Set of Assignments:

5 Questions, each question carries 1 marks. 5 Questions, each question carries 1 marks. 5 Questions, each question carries 1 marks. Confine your answers to 150 to 200 Words. Two Case Studies : 5 Marks. Each case study carries 2.5 marks.

C. Third Set of Assignments: D. Forth Set of Assignments:

ASSIGNMENTS
FIRST SET OF ASSIGNMENTS Assignment-I = 5 Marks

PART A
1. What is Business Research? Which are its two broad categories? 2. Distinguish between : (i) Basic Research & applied research. (ii) Exploratory research & conclusive research (iii) Research methods & research methodology 3. What is a research problem? List the main aspects which should receive the attention of the researcher. Give examples to illustrate your answer. 4. What is meant by a hypothesis? What are the different types of hypothesis used in business research? 5. What are the steps of hypothesis testing? Explain with your own examples.
SECOND SET OF ASSIGNMENTS Assignment-II = 5 Marks

PART B
1. How do exploratory, descriptive & causal studies differ from each other? 2. It is desired to estimate the mean life time of a certain kind of vacuum cleaner. Given that the population standard deviation = 320 days, how large a sample is needed to be able to assert with a confidence level of 95% that the mean of the sample will differ from the population mean by less than 45 days? 3. At Shakti Minerals & Chemicals the following data relates to the daily production of calcite(in m ton) for 30 days at the companys plant; i. 11.5 ii. 09.3 iii. 10.8 10.0 10.7 11.9 11.2 11.3 12.4 10.0 10.4 9.6 12.3 11.4 10.5 11.1 12.3 11.6 10.2 11.4 8.3 9. 6 10.2 9.3 8.7 11.6 1.4 9.3 9.5 11.5

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Based on Chi-square hypothesis testing at 5% level of significance, test whether the distribution of production is uniform or not. 4. Point out the difference between a sample survey & a census survey. Under what conditions are these undertaken? Enumerate the various methods of sampling & describe two of them.

5. A sample of 200 bulbs made by a company give a lifetime mean of1540 hours with a standard deviation of 42 hours. Is it likely that the sample has been drawn from a population with a mean lifetime of 1500 hours? You may use 5% level of significance.

THIRD SET OF ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment-II = 5 Marks

PART C
1. The following are the number of kilometres/ litre which a test driver with three different types of cars has obtained randomly on different occasions. Car 1 15 14.5 14.8 14.9 Car 2 13 12.5 13.6 13.8 14 Car 3 12.8 13.2 12.7 12.6 12.9 13

2. 3.

4. 5.

Using a 5% level of significance, perform a one way ANOVA to examine the hypothesis that the difference in the average mileage in the three types of cars can be attributed to chance. Prepare a list of ten points as a guidance for writing a research report. Two drugs meant to provide relief to arthritis sufferers were produced in two different laboratories. The first drug was administered to a group of 12 patients & produced an average of 8.5 hours of relief with a standard deviation of 1.8 hours. The second drug was tested on a sample of 8 patients & produced an average of 7.9 hours of relief with a standard deviation of 2.1 hours. Test the hypothesis that the first drug provides a significantly higher period of relief. You may use 5% level of significance. Describe the various sources of (i) Primary Data (ii) Secondary Data .Name five Websites indicating the type of data available on those websites. What is a Questionnaire. Distinguish between open ended & close ended questions. Describe the steps which are involved in development of the Questionnaire.

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FOURTH SET OF ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment-IV = 2.5 Each Case Study

CASE STUDY - I
A random sample of eight drivers insured with a company & having similar minimum required auto insurance policies was selected. The following table lists their driving experiences (in years) & monthly auto insurance premium (in Dollars) Driving Experience (Years) 5 2 12 9 15 6 25 16 1. 2. 3. 4. Monthly Auto Insurance Premium ($) 64 87 50 71 44 56 42 60

Does the insurance premium depend on the driving experience? Find the least squares regression line. Predict the monthly auto insurance premium for a driver with 10 years of driving Calculate r2 to interpret whether the driving experience is the main factor in explaining the variation in insurance premium or there are other important variable also that contribute to the determination of auto insurance premium . 5. Compute the standard deviation of errors to test the reliability (predictability ) of the regression model at 90 % confidence level . 6. Test at the 5 % significance level whether B is negative i.e whether monthly auto insurance premium decreases with an increase in years of driving experience.

CASE STUDY-II
Afactorymanagerwantstocheckifthreemachineshavedifferentmeandeliverytimesvisavis thefinalproduct.Heassigns24similarexecutives(eightpermachines)tothemachines.Atthe 5presentsignificancelevel,isthereadifferenceinthemeandeliverytimesforthefinal product?

MachineGroup
MachineA(x1) MachineA(x1) MachineA(x1) 7 5 2 4 5 4 6 3 7

Meandeliverytime(inhours)
8 4 1 6 4 2 6 7 1 2 2 5 9 2 5

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