*Research design

 Research design is blueprint of the research process.

 Research design is the methods and procedures for acquiring the information
needed to find the answers of problems
*Types of research design
 Exploratory research
 When research problem is very ambiguous
 Degree of uncertainty of research problem is very high
 Ex. “Sales of our product has declined”
 Descriptive research
 In descriptive research problems are fairly defined.
 Some thing extra is described about the problem
 Ex. Sales of our product decline because of poor distribution activities ”
 Causal research
 cause and effect relationship exits here
 Ex. “10% decrease in price will increase sales by what %”
*Tools used to conduct Exploratory research
 Literature Review
 Personal interview
 Skilled interviewer is required
 Most questions are open ended
 Focus group
 8 to 12 people are called
 Topic is introduced to them
 Moderator is required who monitor this group
*Projective technique
 Word association :Respondent is given series of words and asked to tell first thing
which comes to his mind about that word
 Time and frequency of the answer is most important parameter to know feeling of
the person about that word
 If some body does not give any answer it mean he is very emotionally involved in
that thing it blocks him to respond
*Tools to conduct descriptive research
 Cross sectional design
 A cross-sectional design involves the collection of information from any given sample
of population elements only once
 Longitudinal design
 In a longitudinal design, a fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is
measured repeatedly on the same variables
*Questionnaire Designing-
 Types of scales-
 Nominal scale
1.Gender
2.Marital status
3.Religion
4.Nationality
 Ordinal scale
1.Performance (Good, Very good, Excellent)
2.Happiness (Happy, Very Happy, Extremely happy)
 Interval scale –
1.Interval scale has two features
2.Distance between options are same
3.And it does not have real zero i.e. absence of that property
4. Example: Temperature
5. 0 degree Celsius means 32 Fahrenheit
6. 0 Fahrenheit means -17 degree Celsius
1.Temperatur ,2.IQ
 Ratio Scale
1.Weight
2.Height
3.Income
 Types of Questions-
Open ended
Closed ended-
1.Dichotomous
2.MCQ
3.Scaled Questions

*How to choose scale and question type-

 Information need
 Output format & ease of tabulation & interpretation
 Statistical analysis
*Features of good questionnaire-
 Language
 Difficulty level (difficult words, jargons)
 Stick to only necessary questions
 Ease of recording
 Sequence of the questions
 Avoid biased questions
 Avoid double barreled questions

*Stages of good questionnaire

1 List of information needed
2 Convert it into questions using proper scale
3 Arrange questions in to logical sequence
4 Pretest
5 Modification if needed
6 Make final draft of questionnaire

*METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION-

 While deciding about the method of data collection
to be used for the study, the researcher should
keep in mind two types of data viz., primary and
secondary.
 Primary Data-Primary data are those which are
collected for the first time and are original in
character.
 Secondary Data-Secondary data are those which have already been collected by
someone else and which have through some statistical analysis.
*PRIMARY DATA
TYPES OF PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
1.Observation Method: Observation method is a method under which data from the field is
collected with the help of observation by the observer or by personally going to the field
Steps involved are----
 .Determine what needs to be observed
 Select participants
 Random/Selected
 Conduct the observation
(venue, duration, recording materials, take photographs )
 Compile data collected Analyse and interpret data collected
2. Interview Method: The interview method of collecting
data involves presentation of oral-verbal stimuli and reply in
terms of oral-verbal responses. This method can be used
through personal interviews and, if possible, through
telephone interviews and online interviews.
3.Questionnaires Method: -In this method a
questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons
concerned with a request to answer the questions and
return the questionnaire. A questionnaire consists of a
number of questions printed or typed in a definite
order on a form or set of forms.
Open-ended questions-This gives the respondents the ability to respond in their own words.
Close-ended or fixed alternative questions-This allows the respondents to choose one of
the given alternatives. Types:- Dichotomous questions and Multiple Questions.
4. Schedules: Very similar to Questionnaire method
 The main difference is that a schedule is filled by the enumerator who is specially
appointed for the purpose.
 Enumerator goes to the respondents, asks them the questions from the
Questionnaire in the order listed, and records the responses in the space provided.
 Enumerator must be trained in administering the schedule.
*SECONDARY DATA-

 Secondary data may either be published data or unpublished data.

Usually published data are available in- 1. Various publications of the central, state are local
governments.2. Various publications of foreign governments or of international bodies and
their subsidiary organisations. 3.Technical and trade journals. 4.Books, magazines and
newspapers. 5.Reports and publications of various associations connected with business and
industry, banks, stock exchanges, etc. 6. Reports prepared by research scholars, universities,
economists, etc. In different fields. 7.Public records and statistics, historical documents, and
other sources of published information.
The sources of unpublished data are-They may be found in diaries, letters, unpublished

biographies and autobiographies and also may be available with scholars and research
workers, trade associations, labourbureaus and other public/ private individuals and
organisations.

*CHARACTERISTICS OF SECONDARY DATA

1.Reliability of data: The reliability can be tested by finding out such things about the said
data: (a) Who collected the data? (b) What were the sources of data? (c) Were they
collected by using proper methods (d) At what time were they collected?(e) Was there any
bias of the compiler? (f) What level of accuracy was desired? Was it achieved ?
2.Suitability of data: The data that are suitable for one enquiry may not necessarily be
found suitable in another enquiry. Hence, if the available data are found to be unsuitable,
they should not be used by the researcher. In this context, the researcher must very carefully
scrutinise the definition of various terms and units of collection used at the time of
collecting the data from the primary source originally. Similarly, the object, scope and nature
of the original enquiry must also be studied. If the researcher finds differences in these, the
data will remain unsuitable for the present enquiry and should not be used.
3.Adequacy of data: If the level of accuracy achieved in data is found inadequate for the
purpose of the present enquiry, they will be considered as inadequate and should not be
used by the researcher. The data will also be considered inadequate, if they are related to an
area which may be either narrower or wider than the area of the present enquiry.
*Research report format-