Dr. Md.

Musa Khan
Associate Professor
DBA, IIUC
[email protected]

Field Work

A field work is an important task for a business study/ research. Fieldwork involves the
selection, training and supervision of persons who collect data. Without this a researcher cannot
start his research activities.

Nature of Fieldwork: A field work contains the following activities

(1) A draft questionnaire/ schedule is pre-test and a final questionnaire is prepared.

(2) A pilot survey is conducted for taking decision about sample size, field operations, time
and cost of research activities.
(3) An interviewer administers a questionnaire from door to door.
(4) A telephone interviewer calling from a central location.
(5) An observer wants consumer in a shopping mall and others involved data collection.
(6) A supervisor supervises interviewers and interviews for data collection and recordings.
(7) An interviewer contacts to the respondents for presence and supply of data.

Importance of Fieldwork

Collection of data for conducting a research involves the use of some kind of field force. The
fieldworker who collect the data usually have little research background and training. Therefore
it is absolutely essential that fieldworkers should be thoroughly trained in locating the sample
units, recording the measurements, the method of collecting the data before starting the
fieldwork. The success of a research to a great extent depends upon the fieldwork.

Fieldwork/ Data collection Process/ Fieldwork Management

(1) Selection of Fieldworkers: The first step in the fieldwork process is the selection of
fieldworkers. The researcher should
(i) develop job specification for the project, taking into account the
mode of data collection
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 (ii) decide what characteristics the fieldworkers should have and
(iii) recruit appropriate individuals.

Interviewers’ background characteristics, opinions, perceptions, expectations, and attitudes can

affect the responses they elicit.

(2) Training of fieldworkers: Training of fieldworkers is critical to the quality of data

collected. Training should cover making initial contact, asking the questions, probing,
recording the answers and terminating the interview.
(i) Making initial contact: The interviewer at first make initial contact with the
respondents and they give information what is to be collected.
(ii) Asking questions: The interviewers ask questions to the respondents and record
them properly. They should ask brief, clear, non-offending etc. questions to the
respondents. They should avoid questions which are hampering prestige to the
respondents.
(iii) Probing: Probing is intended to motivate respondents to enlarge on, clarify, or
explain their answers. Probing also helps respondents focus on the specific
content of the interview and provide only relevant information.
(iv) Recording the answers: All interviewers should use the same format and
conventions to record the interviews and edit completed interviews.
(v) Terminating the interview: The interview should not be closed before all the
information is obtained. The interviewer should answer the respondent’s
questions about the project. The respondent should be left with a positive feeling
about the interview. It is important to thank the respondent and express
appreciation.
(3) Supervision of fieldworkers: Supervision of fieldworkers’ means making sure that they
are following the procedures and techniques in which they are trained. Supervision
involves quality control, and editing, sampling control, control of cheating and central
office control.
(4) Validation of fieldwork: Validation of fieldwork means verifying that the fieldworkers
are submitting authentic interviews. To validate the study, the supervisors call 10 to 25
percent of the respondents to inquire whether the fieldworkers actually conducted the

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 interviews. The supervisors ask about the length and quality of the interview, reaction to
the interviewer and basic demographic data.
(5) Evaluation of fieldworkers: It is important to evaluate fieldworkers to provide them
with feedback on their performance as well as to identify the better fieldworkers and
build a better, high-quality field force. The evaluation criteria should be clearly
communicated to the fieldworkers during their training. The evaluation of field workers
should be based on the criteria of cost and time, response rates, quality of interviewing
and quality of data.

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 Dr. Md. Musa Khan
Associate Professor
DBA, IIUC
[email protected]

Reports Writing
Research Report
A research report is an oral presentation or a written statement of v research findings and
recommendations to a specific audience. It is considered a major component of research study.
Research task remains incomplete till the report is presented or written.

Types of Report
Research reports vary greatly to length and type. The results of a research investigation can be
presented in a number of ways:
1. Technical Report
2. Popular Report
3. Oral presentation

Technical Report
In the technical report the main emphasis is on-
(i) Methods employed
(ii) Assumptions made in the course of the study
(iii) A detailed presentation of the findings including the limitations and supporting data
A great outline of technical report is –
(i) Summary and results
(ii) Nature of the study
(iii) Method employed
(iv) Data
(v) Analysis of data and presentation of findings
(vi) Conclusion
(vii) Bibliography.

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Popular Report
A popular report is one which gives emphasis on simplicity and attractiveness. The
simplification should be sought through clear writing, minimization of technical details and
liberal use of charts and diagrams. In such a report, emphasis is given on practical aspects and
policy implications. The outlines of this report are –
(i) The findings and their implications
(ii) Recommendation for action
(iii) Objective of the study
(iv) Method employed
(v) Results
(vi) Technical appendices.

Oral Presentation
All times, oral presentation of the results of the study is considered as effective, particularly in
cases where the findings indicated the policy implications. The merit of this approach lies in the
fact that it provides give and take decision that lead to better understanding of the findings and
their implications.

Distinguish between technical and popular report

Technical report used whenever a full written report is required for record keeping on public
distribution. On the other hand, popular report is used if research results are policy implication.
Different Steps in Writing Reports/ Formats of Research Report/ Layout of the research
report
Most Research reports include the following elements
1. Title Page: The cover and title page of report contains the following information:
(i) Title of the subject
(ii) Presentation to whom
(iii) On what date
(iv) For what purpose
(v) Written by whom
2. Letter of Authorization: A letter of authorization is written by the client to the
researcher before work on the project begins. It authorizes the researcher to proceed with
the project and specifies its scope and the terms of the contracts.

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3. Table of Contents: The table of contents should list the topics covered and the
appropriate page numbers. The table of contents is followed by a list of tables, list of
graphs and list of appendices.
4. Executive Summary: The executive summary is on extremely important part of the
report, because this is often the only position of the report that executives read. The
summary should concisely describe the problem, approach and research design that was
adopted.
5. Problem definition: This section of the report gives the background to the problem,
highlights the discussions with the decision makers and industry experts and discusses the
secondary data analysis and the factors that were considered.
6. Research design: This section of research design should specify the details of how the
research was conducted. This should include the nature of the research design adopted,
information needed, data collection from secondary and primary sources, scaling
techniques, questionnaire development and pre-testing, sampling techniques and field
work.
7. Data Analysis: This section should describe the plan of data analysis and justify the data
analysis strategy and techniques used. The techniques used for analysis should be
described in simple and non-technical terms.
8. Results: This section is normally the longest part of the report and may comprise several
chapters. The results should be organized in a coherent and logical way. The detail results
should be presented in table graphs, with the main findings discussed in the text.
9. Conclusion and recommendations: The researcher should interpret the results in light
of the problem being addressed to arrive at major conclusions. Based on the results and
conclusions, the researcher may make recommendations to the decision makers.
10. Bibliography: The references of books and articles studied should be mentioned in
appropriate ways.
Example of Bibliography
Kothari, C. R., Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, India, 1983.
Bailey, K.D., Methods of Social Research, New York, 1975.
Islam, M., An introduction to research methods, Dhaka, 2008.

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 11. Appendices: Appendices to given for all technical matters relating to questionnaire,
mathematical derivation of particular technique of analysis and the like ones.

Significance or Importance of Research report and Presentation

Research report is considered as major component of research study. The report serves as a
historical record of the research. The task research remains incomplete till the report has been
presented. Management decisions are guided by the report and the presentation. The involvement
of many managers of business in the research is limited to the written report and the oral
presentation. These managers evaluate the quality of the entire project based on the quality of the
report and presentation. The purpose of research is not well served unless the findings are made
known to others. Therefore, this task should be accomplished by the researcher with utmost care.