RM Notes 1 To 3
RM Notes 1 To 3
Definition of Research
Features of Research
Research can either be applied (or action) research or fundamental (to basic or pure) research. Applied
research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business
organization, whereas fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalizations and with the
formulation of a theory.
Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by
philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.
On the other hand, empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due
regard for system and theory.
It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by
observation or experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of research. In such a research it is
necessary to get at facts firsthand, at their source, and actively to go about doing certain things to
stimulate the production of desired information. In such a research, the researcher must first provide a
working hypothesis thereafter enough facts (data) is collected to prove or disprove the hypothesis.
Next step is the setting up of experimental designs which will manipulate the persons or the materials
concerned so as to bring forth the desired information. Such research is thus characterized by the
experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them
to study its effects. Empirical research is appropriate when proof is sought that certain variable affect
other variables in some way. Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies is today
considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.
Researchers in India, particularly those engaged in empirical research, are facing several problems.
Some of the important problems are as follows:
The lack of a scientific training in the methodology of research is a great impediment for researchers
in our country. There is paucity of competent researchers. Many researchers take a leap in the dark
without knowing research methods. Most of the work, which goes in the name of research is not
methodologically sound. Research to many researchers and even to their guides, is mostly a scissor
and paste job without any insight shed on the collated materials. The consequence is obvious, viz., the
research results, quite often, do not reflect the reality or realities. Thus, a systematic study of research
methodology is an urgent necessity. Before undertaking research projects, researchers should be well
equipped with all the methodological aspects. As such, efforts should be made to provide short-
duration intensive courses for meeting this requirement.
2. NO proper channel of communication between the researcher and the other influencers
There is insufficient interaction between the university research departments on one side and business
establishments, government departments and research institutions on the other side. A great deal of
primary data of non-confidential nature remains untouched/untreated by the researchers for want of
proper contacts. Efforts should be made to develop satisfactory liaison among all concerned for better
and realistic researches. There is need for developing some mechanisms of a university—industry
interaction programme so that academics can get ideas from practitioners on what needs to be
researched and practitioners can apply the research done by the academics.
There does not exist a code of conduct for researchers and inter-university and inter-departmental
rivalries are also quite common. Hence, there is need for developing a code of conduct for researchers
which, if adhered sincerely, can win over this problem.
Library management and functioning is not satisfactory at many places and much of the time and
energy of researchers are spent in tracing out the books, journals, reports, etc., rather than in tracing
out relevant material from them.
There is also the difficulty of timely availability of published data from various government and other
agencies doing this job in our country. Researcher also faces the problem on account of the fact that
the published data vary quite significantly because of differences in coverage by the concerning
agencies. 10. There may, at times, take place the problem of conceptualization and also problems
relating to the process of data collection and related things
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH:
All Scientific Researches have two integral components viz Reliability and Validity.
A research can be said to be scientific only when it has both the components ie., Reliability and
Validity in it. Only Scientific Researches are trustworthy because they are both reliable and valid.
Definition
According to Karl Pearson, a scientific method or research is marked by the features such as:
In other words, scientific research follows an order and the research operations are highly
disciplined. It is empirical in nature. Hence Scientific approach is a specially systemized form of
all reflective thinking and inquiry.
Automobile have various components like Steering Wheel (4 Wheelers) or Handle (2 Wheelers),
Brake, Accelerator and Clutch (for geared vehicles)
We need to have brakes because they are scientific devices and hence, they need to perform the
function what they are supposed to perform.
Brakes allows to drive the vehicle faster because otherwise also the vehicle will move. However, we
will not have the confidence to run the vehicle at high speed.
RELIABILITY
Reliability is the ability of any phenomena or an object or an individual to repeat itself again and
again.
Individual: Credit Rating Agencies like CIBIL (Credit and Information Bureau India Limited)
Phenomena: Rainbow will always against the Sun. Water will always fall from top of the mountain to
plunge pool.
Measurement of Reliability
The calculation of reliability is carried out through the Statistical tool of Standard Deviation which
further is a measure of dispersion.
Measures of Dispersion are: Range, Mean Deviation, Quartiles, Deciles, Percentiles (Fractiles),
Standard Deviation, Variance, Coefficient of Variation (CV).
How?
Defects 3.4
--------------------
= 99.99966%
a) Lower is the standard deviation the higher will be the consistency (Higher will be the
reliability)
b) It always yields positive value because the formula squares the deviations.
c) Smaller standard deviation means that very low number of observations are away from the
mean. Hence, it gives certificate to the measure of the central tendency itself (Mean or
average)
d) The frequency curve plotted on a graph paper should look like Leptokurtic curve for standard
deviation to be lower.
Q: When to use standard deviation and when to use variance?
When Risk is to be measured Standard Deviation is Used (Volatility, financial risks etc)
When there is a measurement of variation in the targets, profits or costs, the tool used is variance.
Q: Calculate the standard Deviation and Skewness from the following data:
VALIDITY
OBSERVATION
FACT
Generalization
HYPOTHESIS1
Hypothesis is a declarative statement, validity of which is ascertained through numerical data. Only
with the help of numerical data, a hypothesis can be accepted or rejected.
2
Sequential progression in a specified manner. It is a slow process from observation to finalization of
THEORY. (THEORY is considered as universal truth). The subject matter of Physics is considered as
inductive in nature. Physics starts with observation of phenomena and finally ends in formulation of
Theories (or Laws)
Examples of theories:
1. ObjectivityScientific
knowledge is objective. Simple objectivity means the ability to see and accept
facts as they are, not as one might wish they were.
2.Systematic explorationA scientific investigation adopts a certain sequential procedure, an organized plan or a research
design to collect and analyze data about the problem under study. In general, this plan includes some scientific steps:
formulation of hypotheses, compilation of facts, analysis of facts (classification, coding and tabulation) and generalization
and scientific prediction.
3. Reliable or reliableScientific knowledge must occur under the prescribed circumstances not once
but repeatedly. It is replicable in the indicated circumstances in any place and at any time. The
conclusions based on casual memories are not very reliable.
a) Objectivity of the Researcher: The researcher has to remain very clear to the objective
behind the research. It helps in drawing right sample for data analysis. If the objectives are
clearly defined and samples are correctly chosen the chances of subjectiveness or biasness can
be eliminated.
i) A business house wants to forecast the future demand of their products hence they will
clearly send communication to all sales points to ascertain the next year’s possible
demand levels. The information collected will be passed on to the production department
for estimate of the working capital requirements for the purchase of raw materials to meet
the demand. The estimate received from the Production Operation department will be sent
to the finance department for the arrangement of funds or budgetary allocations.
Example: For Practice
A manufacturer has come up with a new high-end laptop. They are not sure about the pricing of their
product hence they decide to keep the base price at Rs 1 lakhs and thereafter will determine the price
by using sampling technique. They will ask the respondents about their willingness to pay an amount
for buying the product.
Mention in the light of the above situation:
b) Accuracy of Measurement: Scientific devices and equipment can measure very sensitive
data easily. There are many scientific devices which are used in day to day life as well as for
precision measurements. For example,
i) Time measured in nano-seconds
ii) Atmospheric pressure measured through barometer
iii) Temperature measured through thermometer
iv) Altitude measured in all the aircrafts through Altimeter.
v) There are many such devices like Speedometer, Amperemeter, Voltmeter etc.
Examples by Participants:
Vernier Callipers:
Spherometer:
Compass:
Common point between all these devices is the fact that they have scales inbuilt which shows the
value to the reader.
Since, these scientific instruments are trustworthy hence, all management researches need to have
scales on which values can be shown. Since, there multiple possibility of researches in social sciences
hence there are not many readymade scales. Hence, we create our own scale for the research purpose.
The social researches or management researches does not have any scientific devices or scales hence
we measure through our own created scales. In short, scales are created for specific purpose of
research in social researches while readymade scales are available in the scientific researches.
Examples:
ii) Examples by Participants: Compass, Solar Panel, Barometer, Pulse Oximeter, sphygmomanometer,
anemometer
Wind Speed is measured on Beaufort Scale (Range 0 to 10), Earthquakes are measured on Richter
Scale (Range is 0 to 10).
Descriptive hypotheses: This is simply a statement about the magnitude, trend, or behaviour
of a population under study.
Relational hypotheses: These are the typical kind of hypotheses which state the expected
relationship between two variables.
Social Research is a macro level concept which includes Management Research also. Management
research can further be broken down into the following:
c) Operations Research
Social Research
It is the study of human behaviour that is the relationship between and among people in smaller
groups like families, neighbours, kinships, club member, batch mates etc and study of human
behaviour in large groups like people living in countries, continents, cultural landscapes etc.
Social Research is the systematic method of discovering new facts or verifying old facts, their
sequence, inter-relationships and other factors impacting the relationships
Thus, the difference between social research and scientific research is the fact that social research is
conducted for discovering new facts and also for verifying old facts while in scientific research, old
facts are not anymore searched.
For example, consumer behaviour pattern changes from time to time hence they need to be studied
again to understand change in attitude, preferences and need (demand of the customers). However, in
scientific researches once a discovery is made, it becomes universal truth and it is no longer searched
again like discovery of Amperemeter, Voltmeter, Speedometer etc.
In the light of the above said facts, in scientific researches, we have readymade devices or
measurement scales while in social research we have to make our own scales.
a) Social research deals with social phenomena and hence it focusses on human behaviour. Few
of the elements of human behaviour that are studied includes Attitude, Feelings, Responses,
inter-personal relationships and many more
b) Social Research is carried out for both: discovering new facts and verifying old facts (as
stated above).
Why to conduct Social Research / Objectives of Social Research:
(i) to gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into a phenomenon
Illustration 1:
There is a company which is witnessing continuous decline in sales revenue and it is contemplating
the reasons behind the declining sales revenue like change in customer’s preferences, higher
expectation of customer’s more than currently provided by the company, availability of alternative
products etc.
A routine research can be carried out to find out the actual reasons and accordingly, curative actions
can be initiated.
To remain aware of changes in the preference of customer, routine research can be carried out to gain
insights.
They are observational in nature. It means that the researches do not influence the responses rather
only collects information from the respondents. They conduct multiple observations of the same
subjects or same focus groups over a period of time, sometimes even decades.
In this method, the researchers gain insights into the periodic changes occurring in the characteristics
of the target subjects or focus groups both at the individual and group levels. The benefits that are
derived from longitudinal studies is the fact that it establishes the entire sequence of changes
happening in the intervals of time.
The information collected represents time series data and can be used for predicting the future trend
by using auto-regressive methods.
A typical example can be sales revenue at different intervals of the product life cycle.
Illustration 2:
Not understanding completely, the Indian customer’s mindset, almost all foreign banks have failed in
India in the retail segment.
The customers mostly are females hence colourful umbrella remain more in demand
Illustration
There is a company which is continuously making losses for past few years (say 5-6 years). They
have conducted a small research and have concluded that the Sales Revenue has increased in the
given period, Number of branches have also increased and there increase in number of employees as
well as the advertisements carried out by the company.
Question:
Solution:
1. Fixed cost can be very high for the company and achievement of BEP is very high in terms of units
produced and sold. All large capital-based industries like Iron and Steel, Automobiles and others
witness the same situation.
1. Continuous expansion by inorganic (Huge capital investment for the Acquisition of another
company – Tata Corus) or organic manner (Natural growth of the company, they open new
branches for first few years- CCD)
2. It can be due to Systematic risk (Impact of Inflation on the economy): Increase in operations
expenditure, profit margin is low and cost of production has increases)
3. Impact of Government policies (Fiscal policies)
Examples:
To define the potential market for a particular product (say KIA SUV)
To estimate the potential buying power of the consumers for any particular product say
D’Damas Diamond Jewellery
To estimate the potential buying power along with the inclination for purchase of a particular
item
To estimate future sales of the product, say FMCG
To establish relationship between various marketing activities and demand creation.
To understand whether the preference of customers have changed or not?
(iii) to determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated
with something else (CAUSAL RESEARCH).
Examples:
Will there be any change in the demand of designer wear post COVID-19 situations?
Will there be more demand of luxury cars, hotels and items once there will be control of
the pandemic?
Both the above examples will have deep impact on the Sales revenue of the companies as we all
know sales revenue is considered as top line of any company. If the top line increases
automatically, there will be an increase in the EPS of the company thereby impacting the share
price of the companies share.
For example, if there will be resumption of tour and travel (Tourism), there can be big gains for
the companies operating in Hotel business Examples, The Park, ITC and many more.
(iv) To test a hypothesis for finding out relationship between variables based upon cause-
and-effect relationships generally post-facto
Examples:
Relationship between sale of Invertors and Generators with frequent power cuts
Sales of Medicines after a natural hazard like floods, earth quakes, avalanches, mud slides
etc
Growth of economies post COVID -19
Sale of specific types of medicines for pandemic situation
Social research on its own is neither trustworthy not acceptable because of the reason that there are
chances of incorrect information being provided / supplied by the respondents. It may also happen
that, the researcher itself has a biasness and collects information only from those units which are not
proper. To come out of this situation, social research needs to follow the lines of scientific research.
As we have already studied earlier that scientific researches are trustworthy as well as acceptable. The
reason of acceptability of scientific research are the two components namely Reliability and
Validity.
Hence, if we incorporate both these two components in the social research, it will become trustworthy
and acceptable.
The hypothesis is tested with the numerical data that has been collected through the questionnaire.
Once hypothesis is proved to be correct, we start believing the outcome of social research.
There are many statistical techniques to test these hypotheses which can be classified into two broad
categories – Parametric and non-parametric methods. These methods use statistical tests like t-test, Z-
test*, F-test, Sign test, U-test, Chi-square* test etc
EXAMINATION QUESTION
CASE 1: [December 2020]
Television Rating Points - TRP is the criterion that indicates the popularity of a channel or
programme and this data is extremely useful for the advertisers. Television ratings provide
information about the viewers TV watching habits and the socio-economic background of the
audience. This helps advertisers and corporate media planners in selecting the right media at the right
time.
Doordarshan has its own ratings system DART (Doordarshan Audience Ratings). DART is a diary-
based system of ratings. Each week, DD people distribute diaries in sample homes and the viewers are
asked to note down each programme as and when watched by family members. In the end of the
week a person collects all the diaries and sends them to the head office, where popularity of
programmes is calculated.
Question: Explain Descriptive Research Design. Also, briefly explain Longitudinal and Cross-
Sectional studies. Which method is implemented by Doordarshan? Justify (05 Marks)
Answer Key:
Descriptive Research design: Describes the situation that is being studied. Answers the question:
Who, What, Where, When and How?
Longitudinal Studies: Data collected by a panel multiples times at different periods of time on
the same variables.
Cross Sectional Studies: Data collected from a sample only once at a particular period of time.