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METHODOLOGY ,

'•'•' ~,1 '•'•' ~u '•'•' ~,.,. '•'•' 1-1

Tribhuvan University, Pokhara University &
Purbanchal University

Dr. Niranjan Devkota

Quest International College
Pokhara University

Udaya Raj Paudel

Quest International College
Pokhara University
Shanker Dev Campus
Tribhuvan University

Udbodh Bhandari
Quest International College
Pokhara University
Nepal Commerce Campus
Tribhuvan University

Advance Saraswati Prakashan

Kathmandu, Nepal
 METHODOLOGY ?(JI'{/

••'•' ~,1 ••'•' ~Ml ••'•' ~t•••• ••'•' 141

Tribhuvan University, Pokhara University &
Purbanchal University
Published by Advance Saraswati Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.
Kathmandu , Nepal
Phone:01-4780359, 9851176247
E-mail: advancesaraswatip@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/asaraswatiprakashan
lnstagram: www.instagram.com/advancesaraswatic
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/asaraswatiprakashan

Edition 2020

I Text © reserved by Authors, press processing, layout, design and formatting © reserved by Publisher.
Price NRs. 655/-

ISBN 978-9937-744-17 -1

Distributed by Advance Saraswati Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.

Kathmandu , Nepal
Phone: 01-4780359, 01-4241247, 9843262646

Printed in Kathmandu , Nepal.

 FOREWORD

Writing Research Book is not an easy task. For a long time I have been witnessing the graduate students of
management being unable to find a proper book based on syllabus so that they have been consulting
different foreign writer books for different topics. I would like to appreciate and congratulate this young
team of authors who dared to bring such a comprehensive textbook for Master' s level management
students for preparing their examination and obtaining knowledge. Besides, this book can contribute
research methodology lecturers, scholars, students and early career independent researchers to enhance
research skills.
The book chapters include the description and context of research, literature review, problem definition
and hypothesis formulation, quantitative and qualitative research design, measurement, scaling and
sampling, data collection and analysis, and writing proposals and reports. Each chapter describes the topic
prescribed by the syllabus. As the additional features for differentiating the book posits its merits as:
• Consideration to the teachers' and students; mindsets to teach research methodology course
• Most of the examples are prepared linking the real works of the students from their learning and
practicum.
• Let's work together section has been developed to engage and instruct students
• Exercises have been prepared to support faculties to deliver real and practical project based
activities to the students.
• Research series has been introduced chapter wise to show the process of a real research paper.
• Guidelines for Communication and Writing Styles, Ethical Approval Process, Budget Preparation
Process, Focus Group Discussion, Key Informant Interview have been widely discussed in Annex
section of the book.
• Proposal and thesis/ dissertation guidelines have been extensively discussed
At the end of the chapter a comprehensive bibliography, reference and glossary sections are provided.
Finally, I would like to express my appreciations to the authors and Advance Saraswati Publication Pvt.
Ltd. for the commendable efforts in bringing out this textbook in the market.
Best wishes.

Prof. Mahananda Chalise, PhD

Director: School of Management (SOM)
Tribhuvan University (TU)
September 2020
 FOREWORD

I am immensely happy to write few forwarding words to appreciate the authors of this graduate level
research book for bringing such a resourceful text as per the syllabus and guidelines prescribed by Office
of the Dean, Faculty of Management, and Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Each chapter describes the topic prescribed by the syllabus. Additionally, practical illustrations for
required section is provided aiming that it helps students to understand the issue very clearly. Similarly,
every chapter includes Let's Work Together and Exercises. The purpose of the section is to guide students
to work in chapter based practical exercises and develop the overall concept illustrated in each chapter.
Exercises help students to understand the research process better. To make students clear about research
idea development and writing the concept, each chapter presents Research Series where two full research
papers have decomposed and presented for practical understanding. Chapter Questions are presented in
all chapters to make students aware about the questions in the university examinations. Finally, each
chapter provides Key Readings with the aim to explore further knowledge.
I am confident that the students can use this book as part of a research methodology course or for self-
study for their research projects. This book also serves students as an independent guide to entire research
process and research project they are undertaking for their graduate level assignments and course
requirements. Research faculty also may find this book as a complete resource helping them to prepare
materials, gather cases and project related questions for the research methodology class teaching. It also
accomplishes as the guide for proposal writing, thesis/ dissertation writing and all other assignments
related to the research methodology.
With all these features, I believe that faculties teaching research methodology, students, research scholars
and independent learners will be profited from this textbook.
Wish you all a happy reading.

Prof. Ramji Gautam, PhD

Head: Central Department of Management (CDM)
Tribhuvan University (TU)
September 2020
 PREFACE

In the winter days of 2017, we were extensively working in our research papers " Indo-Nepal Cross Border
Small Business Activities". In the process, we collected some research text books and started reviewing the
pertinent sections. As researchers, we realized inadequacy of the content to fulfill our queries in the text
available in the book market of Kathmandu. This issue pinched us and encouraged to develop a research
text book that can fulfill the gap to the instructors and students to prepare for their examinations and
research works. As a result, this book has been conceptualized.
This book has been written with the two groups of readers in the mindset of the authors - first, Master's
Degree students; and second, those faculties involved in research methodology teaching learning activities
in Nepalese universities. Also, this book may serve the early-career researchers and those students who
want to transform their research ideas.
This book is highly useful for MBA Research Methodology courses in Tribhuvan University, Pokhara
University, Purbanchal University, Mid-Western University and (Foreign University affiliated colleges
teaching Research Methodology course in MBA).
Based upon the MBS/ MBM/ MBA syllabus this book has been prepared under seven chapters:
Chapter I: The Nature and Context of Social Research
Chapter II: Literature Review
Chapter III: Problem Definition and Hypothesis Formulation
Chapter IV: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Designs
Chapter V: Measurement, Scaling and Sampling
Chapter VI: Data Collection and Analysis
Chapter VII: Writing Proposals and Research Reports
Each chapter describes the topic prescribed by the syllabus. Additionally, practical illustration for required
section is provided aiming that it helpsstudents to understand the issue very clearly. Similarly, every
chapter includes Let's Work Together and Exercises. The purpose of Let's Work Together is to guide
students to work inchapter based practical exercises and develop the overall concept illustrated in each
chapter. Exercises help students to understand what are the previous researchers'plan for their studies
along with other project related exercises to help them analyze the work critically and develop their own
concept at the end. To make students clear about research idea development and writing the concept each
chapter presented Research Series where two full research papers have decomposed and presented for
practical understanding. Chapter Questions are presented in all chapters to make students aware about
the questions in the university examinations. Finally, each chapter provides Key Readings with the aim to
explore further knowledge about the chapter. The book is organized in seven chapters and annex is
divided in nine parts:
Annex 1: Communication and Writing Styles
Annex 2: Ethical Approval Process
Annex 3: Budget Preparation Process
Annex 4: Focus Group Discussion Format
Annex 5: Key Information Interview (KII) Format
Annex 6: Case Study Analysis
Annex 7: Internship Report Format
Annex 8: Checklist for Evaluating Thesis/ GRP Report
 Annex 9: Some Business and Management Journals
The annex section provides examples of research supports required to the students and research faculty to
guide and developstudents' own format as per need. At the end of the chapter a comprehensive
bibliography has been provided for the reference of some pertinent past publications in research that can
be suitable for the students to follow their additional insights. The glossary section provides around 700
words commonly used in research with suitable explanation.
Students can use this book as part of a research method course or for self-study for their research project.
This book serves student as an independent guide to entire research process and research project they are
undertaking for their graduate level assignments and course requirements. Research faculty also may find
this book as a complete book helping them to prepare materials, gather cases and project related questions.
The guidelines provided in the illustration and annex section helps them to develop their own idea to
make students creative. Without the generous support of our family, colleagues, teaching faculties,
research fellows and students; it would not be possible to bring this book in this shape and size. Hence,
wewould like to express our sincere gratitude to our parents and all the Gurus who brought us at this
level to bring this book out. We are also grateful to our colleagues, fellow teachers, and students who have
encouraged and supported us in writing this book. We owe an academic debt to the philosophers, authors
and researchers of scholarly texts quoted and referred to the text.
We are thankful to all those Master's Level graduates at Quest International College whose research,
research concepts and ideas have been applied as real time examples and critical questions throughout the
book. Special thanks go to Seeprata Parajuli, Research Assistant at Quest Research Management Cell for
her continuous support throughout the book writing period. Thanks also go to Quest International College
management for giving us space, support and respect.Also, we would like to express gratitude to Dr.
Madhusudan Bhattarai, a veteran researcher, and Advocate Madan Khaniya for providing us -
questionnaires, FGDs and KIIsprepared for real project. We would like to special thanks to Assistant
Professor Dipendra Karki, PhD candidate in Kathmandu University, for providing us two case studies
which we have used in this text book. Similarly, our sincere thanks also go to Ranjana Koirala, for
providing NHRC ethical approval letter.
We would love to remember graduate research faculties involved in different collegesall over Nepal. We
would also like to express our deep respect to Management gurus Prof. Dr. Prem Raj Pant, Prof. Dr.
Pushkar Bajracharya, Prof. Dr. Radheshyam Pradhan, Prof. Dr. Kundan Dutta Koirala, Prof. Dr.
SubarnaLal Bajracharya,Prof. Dr. UpendraKoirala, Prof. Dr. Dev Raj Adhikari, Prof. Dr. Santosh Raj
Poudyal, Prof. Dr. Sushil Bhakta Mathema, Prof. Dr. Vishnu Khanal, Prof. Dr. Yadav Raj Koirala, Prof. Dr.
Satish Ojha, Prof. Dr. Dilli Raj Sharma, Prof. Dr. Mahananda Chalise, Prof. Dr. Dhurba Kumar Gautam,
Prof. Dr. Ramji Gautam, Prof. Dr. Chandra Prasad Rijal, Prof. Dr. Sanjay Kumar Shrestha, Prof. Dr. Arhan
Sthapit, Prof. Hari Bhadur Khadka, Associate Prof. Dr. Surya Bahadur G.C., Associate Prof. Dr. Umesh
Singh Yadav, Associate Prof. Dr. Jeetendra Dangol, Associate Prof. Dr. Kapil Khanal, Associate Prof. Dr.
Dhurva Lal Pandey, Asst. Prof. Dr. Bal Ram Chapagain, Dr. Khagendra Ojha, Dr. Bishwas Gauchan, Asst.
Prof. Surendra Mahato, Asst. Prof. Bharat Thapa, Asst. Prof. Prakash Kumar Gautam and Lecturer
Nagendra Ray.
We would like to express our appreciation and gratefulness to the entire team members of Advance
Saraswati Publication Pvt. Ltd. for their interest and sincere efforts in bringing out this text book to this
enticing design and hard copy, without their continuous follow up and support it would not have been
possible.
Despite our best efforts, there might have been errors. Thus, the constructive suggestions and feedbacks
from seniors, dear colleagues, fellow teachers, students and readers are most welcome. We promise to
acknowledge in the forthcoming editions.
Authors, 2020
 Note to the Students

Still most of our graduate students are indifferent to the foreign texts. The students in general complain
that foreign books are difficult to comprehend as they prescribe some prior knowledge of the subject, deal
with concepts, models and theories either too short or too elaborative and vague.
Foreign book also contain examples and sentences of their own context and region which are often
difficult to our student to understand. It is also very costly which can be beyond the capacity of low-
income students, especially in the rural areas of Nepal. Besides, we often recommend our students a few
selected pages of a few selected chapters from the selected books often exceeding half-a-dozen. Most of
our students have therefore to rely either on photocopy materials and notes from musty diaries.
Thus, this book has been written in view of facing this problem of the students. An attempt has been made
to provide comprehensive and standard study materials for Master's Degree students of research
methodology, though not exhaustive.
The merits of this book:
This book has been written strictly under the MBS/ MBM syllabus and guidelines prescribed by
Office of the Dean, Faculty of Management, Tribhuvan University. It is equally useful for MBA
syllabus in Tribhuvan University, Pokhara University, Purbanchal University and Mid - Western
University.
All the headings and subheading are prepared and placed in book as per syllabus.
Sufficient examples and illustrations have been added to make students clear about the issues they
have to learn.
While preparing examples, Master's Degree students works are extensively used to make clear
about what and how students involve in such problems and to illustrate what would be its
solution.
This book has introduced Let's work together section considering practical aspects required to the
students to develop their skills.
Exercises section has been developed considering students' interest and curiosity regarding the real
and practical project.
Research Series has been introduced in the book to provide opportunity to the students to
understand how to develop a real research and its chapter wise connectivity.
Real examples on ethical approval process, questionnaire development, focus group discussion
(FGD) checklist, key informant interview (KII) checklist, real budget sheet, and a real proposal are
provided to the students to understand and guide them to develop their own tools during their
master degree research activities.
How to develop a proposal and Thesis/ Dissertation under TU guidelines have been extensively
discussed in the chapter seven.
Hence, we believe that this book will remain a complete text book for the Master's Degree students to
prepare for their examinations and to involve themselves in their thesis/ dissertation writing. We also
believe that students can take advantage of this book for their several other projects related to research
activities during their Master's level study.
Authors, 2020
 Note to the Teachers

In our teaching career at master's level management, we have heard a number of times students seeking a
proper book that covers their university syllabus thoroughly with sufficient examples and practical
guidelines in Research Methodology. Generally, subject teachers have been suggesting students to follow
foreign authors, prescribed on syllabus, to prepare their notes, assignments and for examinations purpose.
It is found hard to get such foreign authors' book in the libraries of the campus in rural area. Even if they
exit, there are many problems related to limited number of books, not available in time, hard to get such
books during exam. Even as a research methodology faculty, teachers are also feeling that there could be a
book which covers university syllabus along with comprehensive examples that is necessary to teach
students the subject matter.
This book has been written in view of this problem faced by the teachers. An attempt has been made to
provide comprehensive and standard study materials for Master's Degree students of research
methodology. This book can be a teachers' note and helpful to prepare themselves for the research
methodology class teaching. It also serves as the guide for proposal writing, thesis/ dissertation writing
and all other assignments related to the research methodology.
Research teaching faculties can also be benefited from other silent features of this book:
This book has been prepared strictly under the MBS/ MBM syllabus of Tribhuvan University
All the chapters are prepared considering teachers' mindset to teach research methodology course.
Real and practical examples are used throughout the book to make the course easy to deliver
Most of the examples are prepared linking students work during their learning and practicum.
Let's Work Together section has been developed with the mindset that faculty can easily engage
and instruct students to follow the process to know the chapter practically.
Exercises have been prepared to support faculties to deliver real and practical project based
activities to the students.
Research Series has been introduced in the book to facilitate faculties to understand and chapter
wise development process of a real research paper.
Guidelines for Communication and Writing Styles, Ethical Approval Process, Budget Preparation
Process, Focus Group Discussion, Key Informant Interview have been widely discussed in Annex
section of the book.
How to develop a proposal, Thesis/Dissertation under TU guidelines have been extensively
discussed in this book.
With all these additive features, we believe that faculties teaching research methodology will find this
book as a comprehensive and complete text book to teach and prepare Master's Degree research course
and activities.
Authors, 2020
 SYLLABUS

MSC 521: Research Methodology

Credits: 3 Lecture Hours: 48
Course Objectives _ _ _ __
The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to quantitative and qualitative method for
conducting meaningful inquiry and research. Specifically, course aims at introducing them to the basic
concepts used in research and to scientific social research methods and their approaches.
Course Description_____
The course provides an introduction to, and a basic grounding in, fundamental research methods as they
relate to the practice of modern management and to academic research. The emphasis of the course is
therefore on problem definition, hypothesis formulation, research design, measurement, sampling
secondary date gathering, observation and interview, data analysis and report writing. The course thus
enables students to develop their understanding of research methods, and confidence in designing a
research project, choosing and executing appropriate methods, and assessing its academic rigour.
Course Details_ _ _ __
Unit 1: The Nature and Context of Social Research LH6
The concept of research; Types of research; Nature and purpose of research; Scientific research -
scientific research process, feature of scientific research, difficulties of applying scientific methods
to social science research; Management research-concept, types, importance of research for
decision making; Ethical issues in management research.
Unit 2: Literature Review LH4
Concept, purpose and functions of literature review; phases in literature review; searching,
obtaining, and evaluating the literature; Literature search through the Internet; Format and
guidelines for conducting literature review; Meta analysis
Unit 3: Problem Definition, Theoretical Framework and Hypothesis Formulation LH8
Problem definition- concept and steps in problem formulation; Research questions- concept and
types; Theoretical framework- concept and need for research; Research and theory- deduction
and induction; Contributions of research to theory building and practices; Hypotheses
Formulation- concept and function of hypothesis; Types- descriptive, relational, directional,
explanatory and null hypothesis; Criteria of good hypothesis.
Unit 4: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Design LH9
Definition; Elements of a research design; Classification of research designs- exploratory;
descriptive; developmental; case study; causal- comparative and experimental research designs;
Common sources of error; Qualitative research- concept, basic assumptions, types and features;
Differences between quantitative and qualitative research.
Unit 5: Measurement, Scaling and Sampling LH6
Variables- concept and types; Scales of measurement; Attitude measurement and scale
construction; Attitude scales commonly used in social science research; Criteria of good
measurement-validity and reliability of measurement; Sources of measurement problems;
Sampling-concept and process; Population and sampling; Types of sampling-probability and
non- probability sampling; Sampling and non-sampling errors.
Unit 6: Data Collection and Analysis LH8
Data and its types; Sources of primary and secondary data; Important considerations for data
collection; Questionnaire- principles, components and types; Research interview-types and
process; Sources of qualitative data- observation, participant observation, focus groups; Use of
Internet for data collection; Data analysis- Data processing; Presenting data in graphs and tables;
Statistical analysis of data- descriptive and inferential statistics; Hypothesis testing; Methods of
analyzing qualitative data-content, thematic and narrative analysis.
Unit 7: Writing Proposals and Research Reports LH7
Functions and types of research proposals- solicited and unsolicited proposals; Structure and
contents of academic and funded research proposals. Research reports- concept, process, types
and procedure for writing research report; Conventions of academic writing; Pre-writing
concerns; Components of the research report; Body of the research report; Documenting sources-
APA style of citation and referencing; Evaluation of research reports; Essentials of good research
report.
Basic Books_ _ _ __
1. Zikmund, W. G. Business Research Methods. Thompson, New Delhi.

2. Cooper, D.R. and Schindler, P.S. Business Research Methods. Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi.
3. Pant, Prem R. Social Science Research and Thesis Writing. Buddha Academic Enterprises, Kathmandu.
References _ _ _ __
1. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. Business Research Methods. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
2. Flick, U. An Introduction to Qualitative Research. Sage South Asia Edition, New Delhi.
 CONTENTS

I The Nature and Context of Social Research

Meaning and Concept of Research ............................................................................................................................. 2

Motivation of Research .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Types of Research .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
On the Basis of Application ................................................................................................................................... 4
On the Basis of Objective ....................................................................................................................................... 4
On the Basis of Information Sought ..................................................................................................................... 5
Nature and purpose of Research ................................................................................................................................ 6
Nature of Research ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Purpose of Research ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Scientific Research ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Process of Scientific Research ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Features of Scientific Research .................................................................................................................................. 12
Paradigms in Research ............................................................................................................................................... 14
Positivism ............................................................................................................................................................... 14
Pragmatism ............................................................................................................................................................ 15
Constructivism ...................................................................................................................................................... 16
Difference between the Philosophies ................................................................................................................. 17
Approach in Research .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Paradigm Shift in Research ................................................................................................................................. 20
Emerging Paradigm in Social Science Research ............................................................................................... 21
Difficulties of Applying Scientific Method to Social Science Research ............................................................... 22
Management Research/ Business Research ............................................................................................................. 24
How to Conduct a Business Research? .............................................................................................................. 24
Types of Business/ Management Research .............................................................................................................. 25
Types of Business/ Management Research .............................................................................................................. 25
Nature and Values for Decision Making ................................................................................................................. 27
Ethical Issues in Management Research .................................................................................................................. 29
Summary .......................................................................................................................................................... 31
Research Series ................................................................................................................................................ 32
Let's Work Together ....................................................................................................................................... 35
Exercises ........................................................................................................................................................... 35
Chapter Questions .......................................................................................................................................... 37
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................... 38
 2 Literature Review

Concept ......................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Purpose of Literature Review .................................................................................................................................... 41
Functions of Literature Review ................................................................................................................................. 42
Phases/Steps in Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 43
Searching, Obtaining and Evaluating the Literature ............................................................................................. 45
Searching the Literature ....................................................................................................................................... 45
Obtaining the Literature ...................................................................................................................................... 47
Evaluating the Literature ..................................................................................................................................... 48
Literature Search through the Internet .................................................................................................................... 50
Importance Consideration before Writing the Literature Review ....................................................................... 52
How to Read and Review the Literature? ............................................................................................................... 54
Style of Note Taking During Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 54
Format for Conducting Literature Review .............................................................................................................. 56
Templates for Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 61
Meta-Analysis .............................................................................................................................................................. 62
Plagiarism ..................................................................................................................................................................... 64
Summary .......................................................................................................................................................... 69
Research Series ................................................................................................................................................ 70
Let's Work Together ....................................................................................................................................... 73
Exercises ........................................................................................................................................................... 74
Chapter Questions .......................................................................................................................................... 75
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................... 76

3 Problem Definition, Theoretical Framework and

Hypothesis Formulation

Problem Definition ...................................................................................................................................................... 78

Problem Formulation .................................................................................................................................................. 79
Research Question ....................................................................................................................................................... 81
Types of Research Questions ..................................................................................................................................... 83
Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................................................................. 84
Need of Theoretical Framework for Research .................................................................................................. 86
Research and Theory .................................................................................................................................................. 87
What is Theory? .................................................................................................................................................... 87
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning ........................................................................................................................ 88
Inductive Reasoning ............................................................................................................................................. 88
Deductive Reasoning ............................................................................................................................................ 89
Contribution of Research to Theory Building ......................................................................................................... 92
Hypothesis Formulation ............................................................................................................................................ 93
What is Proposition? ............................................................................................................................................. 93
Use of Propositions ............................................................................................................................................... 93
Concept of Hypothesis ......................................................................................................................................... 93
Functions of Research Hypothesis ............................................................................................................................ 94
Types of Research Hypothesis .................................................................................................................................. 95
Criterias of Good Hypothesis Statement ................................................................................................................. 97
Summary .......................................................................................................................................................... 98
Research Series .............................................................................................................................................. 100
Let's Work Together ..................................................................................................................................... 103
Exercises ......................................................................................................................................................... 103
Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 105
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................. 106

4 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Designs

Concept of Research Design .................................................................................................................................... 108

Elements of Research Design ................................................................................................................................... 110
Types/ Classification of Research Design .............................................................................................................. 112
Difference between Qualitative and Quantitative Research Design ........................................................... 112
Exploratory Research Design ............................................................................................................................ 115
Descriptive Research Design ............................................................................................................................. 116
Development Research Design ......................................................................................................................... 118
Causal Comparative Research Design ............................................................................................................. 122
Experimental Research Design ......................................................................................................................... 123
Common Sources of Error in Research Design ..................................................................................................... 126
Sampling Error .................................................................................................................................................... 126
Non-sampling Error ........................................................................................................................................... 127
Other Sampling and Population Related Errors ............................................................................................ 128
Qualitative Research ................................................................................................................................................. 129
Basic Assumption of Qualitative Research ............................................................................................................ 130
Types of Qualitative Research ................................................................................................................................. 132
Action Research ................................................................................................................................................... 132
Feminism and Qualitative Research ................................................................................................................ 133
Collaborative and Participatory Research ....................................................................................................... 133
Post-colonial and Indigenous Research ........................................................................................................... 134
Difference between Quantitative and Qualitative Research ............................................................................... 136
Qualitative Research Design .................................................................................................................................... 137
 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 138
Research Series .............................................................................................................................................. 139
Let's Work Together ..................................................................................................................................... 143
Exercises ......................................................................................................................................................... 144
Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 145
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................. 146

5 Measurement, Scaling and Sampling

Variables ..................................................................................................................................................................... 148

Types of Variables ..................................................................................................................................................... 150
Scale of Measurement ............................................................................................................................................... 152
Concept of Measurement ................................................................................................................................... 152
Measurement Scales ........................................................................................................................................... 154
Attitude Measurement and Scale Construction .................................................................................................... 158
Arbitrary Scales ................................................................................................................................................... 160
Differential Scales (or Thurstone-Type Scales) ............................................................................................... 161
Likert- Type Scale (Summated Scale) ............................................................................................................... 162
Cumulative Scales (Louis Guttmans's Scalogram Analysis) ........................................................................ 165
Factor Scales (with Semantic Differential Scale) ............................................................................................. 167
Attitude Scale Commonly Used in Social Science Research ............................................................................... 168
Criteria for Good Measurement .............................................................................................................................. 172
Validity ................................................................................................................................................................. 173
Reliability ............................................................................................................................................................. 174
Practicality ............................................................................................................................................................ 175
Source of Measurement Problem ............................................................................................................................ 176
Sampling ..................................................................................................................................................................... 176
Population and Sampling .................................................................................................................................. 176
Sampling .............................................................................................................................................................. 177
Process of Sampling ............................................................................................................................................ 179
Types of Sampling ..................................................................................................................................................... 181
Probability Sampling .......................................................................................................................................... 182
Non-probability Sampling ....................................................................................................................................... 191
Quota Sampling .................................................................................................................................................. 192
Convenience Sampling ....................................................................................................................................... 193
Purposive Sampling ........................................................................................................................................... 196
Snowball Sampling ............................................................................................................................................. 198
Sampling and Non-sampling Error ........................................................................................................................ 200
Sampling Error .................................................................................................................................................... 200
Non-sampling Error .................................................................................................................................................. 201
 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 202
Research Series .............................................................................................................................................. 202
Let's Work Together ..................................................................................................................................... 205
Exercises ......................................................................................................................................................... 206
Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 207
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................. 208

6 Data Collection and Analysis

Data ............................................................................................................................................................................. 210

Types of Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 212
Sources of Data .......................................................................................................................................................... 212
Primary Data ........................................................................................................................................................ 213
Secondary Data ................................................................................................................................................... 216
Important Con sideration for Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 220
Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................................................. 222
Principles of the Questionnaire ......................................................................................................................... 223
Components of Questionnaire .......................................................................................................................... 225
Types of Question s ............................................................................................................................................. 227
Research Interview .................................................................................................................................................... 233
Types of Interview .............................................................................................................................................. 234
Sources of Qualitative Data ..................................................................................................................................... 238
Observation .......................................................................................................................................................... 238
Focus Group Discu ssion .................................................................................................................................... 240
Use of Internet for Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 241
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................. 242
Data Preparation and Description .................................................................................................................... 243
Statistical Analysis of Data ...................................................................................................................................... 250
Descriptive Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 250
Inferential Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 266
Hypothesis Testing ................................................................................................................................................... 275
Procedure for Testin g Hypothesis .................................................................................................................... 276
Type I and Type II Error .................................................................................................................................... 278
Method of Analyzing Qualitative Data ................................................................................................................. 280
Content Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 281
Narrative Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 286
Thematic Analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 287
Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 289
Research Series .............................................................................................................................................. 291
Let's Work Together ..................................................................................................................................... 301
 Exercises ......................................................................................................................................................... 302
Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 304
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................. 305

7 Writing Proposals and Research Reports

Topic Selection ...................................................................... ...... ............................. ............................. ...... ............... 308

Attributes of a Good Research Topic ............................................................................................................... 310
Probable Research Issues/ Topics for Social Science Master' s Degree Thesis/ Dissertation/ GRP .......... 312
Research Proposal ..................................................................................................................................................... 314
Functions of Research Proposal ........................................................................................................................ 315
Types of Research Proposal ............................................................................................................................... 316
Structure and Components of Academic and Funded Research Proposals ............................................... 317
Writing the Proposal .......................................................................................................................................... 320
Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing .......................................................................................................... 324
Research Report ......................................................................................................................................................... 334
Process of Research Report ................................................................................................................................ 335
Types of Research Report .................................................................................................................................. 336
Procedures of Research Report ......................................................................................................................... 338
Conventions of Academic Writing ................................................................................................................... 339
Pre-writing Concerns ......................................................................................................................................... 340
Components of the Research Report ................................................................................................................ 341
Essentials of Good Research Report ................................................................................................................. 361
Checklist for the Preparation of Final Report ................................................................................................. 362
Documentary Sources ............................................................................................................................................... 363
APA Style Citation and Referencing ................................................................................................................ 364
Evaluation of Research Report/ Dissertation/Thesis ............................................................................................ 371
Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 373
Research Series .............................................................................................................................................. 373
Let's Work Together ..................................................................................................................................... 380
Exercises ......................................................................................................................................................... 380
Chapter Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 381
Key Readings ................................................................................................................................................. 382

Appendices ......................................................................................................................................................... 383-452

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................. 416-419
Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................... 419-452
Examination Question Sets ............................................................................................................................. 453-457
Guideline ............................................................................................................................................................ 458-504

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