MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

RESEARCH METHODS HANDOUT

Course instructor: Tesfaye Tufa, Salale University

APRIL 1, 2024
FITCHE, ETHIOPIA
Chapter One: Introduction: Concepts of Research

1.1. Definitions of Research

We all are instinct to know, need to know something we cannot determine, and that is why we
forced to ask questions. Why we always need to know? And for what purpose we need to know?
Why do we conduct research? Why is research necessary? Though the possible answers to these
questions may be varied from person to person, commonly speaking we can suggest that the
following answers: To influence/control over something or somebody, to upgrade ones knowledge
and to cope up with the ever changing environmental problems.

Literally, research means to “search for, to find” and comes from Latin re (again), and cercier (to
search). Research means search for knowledge, a careful investigation or inquiry especially search
for new facts in any branch of knowledge. It may also be any way of gathering of data, information
and facts for the advancement of knowledge.

Research is a systematic collection of information and analyzing/interpreting it to increase our

understanding of the phenomenon under study. Research is an intellectual activity to establish facts
so as to advance the existing knowledge. It is an attempt to search for truth or knowledge. Besides,
research is a scientific approach to answering questions, providing more reliable answers in most
situations than authority, personal experience and historical precedent. However, research does
not mean that necessarily gives a one to one solution/answer for every problem. Therefore,
research is done to explore the problem, phenomenon, but not necessarily the exact solution. The
ultimate goal of any research is to give a solution to a stated problem and/or to prove or disprove
the hypothesis that a researcher established first. Research is a never-ending process. In most
instances, a research project designed to answer one series of questions produce a new set of
questions no one thought of before. This failure to reach closure may be troublesome to some
people, yet it is the essential nature of research.

Research should be systematic, follow rigid standard (not flexible) or series steps, certain
procedures/protocols and interpretation (“some opinion of the researcher”).

One can visualize the fact that a detailed study is required in each practical situation for better
results. Any effort which is directed to such study for better results is known as a research. In other

Page 1 of 68
words, a research is an organized set of activities to study and develop a model or
procedure/technique to find the results of a realistic problem supported by literature and data such
that its objectives(s) is (are) optimized and further make recommendations/interferences for
implementations.

1.2. Diversity of Research

Regardless of how the word research is used, it essentially means the same thing: an attempt to
discover something. We all do this every day. Every day we all conduct hundreds and thousands
of research projects. Research can be very informal, with only a few (or no) specific plans or steps,
or it can be formal, where a researcher follows highly defined and exacting procedures. The lack
of exacting procedures in informal research does not mean the approach is incorrect, and the use
of exacting procedures does not automatically make formal research correct. Both procedures can
be good or bad – it depends on how the research is conducted. The important thing for all
researchers to understand is the correct methods to follow to ensure the best results. .

All research, whether formal or informal, begins with a basic question or proposition about a
specific phenomenon. For example, why do viewers select one television program over another?
Which sections of the newspaper do people read most often? Which types of magazine covers
attract the most readers? What type of radio format will attract the largest number of listeners?
Which types of advertising are most effective in communicating messages to consumers? These
questions can be answered to some degree with well-designed research studies. However, the task
is to determine which data collection method can most appropriately provide answers to specific
questions.

To start from the scratch, research can be divided into two broad umbrellas: scientific (scholarly,
formal) research method and everyday (informal or common sense) research method. Let’s look
at their differences as follows:

Table 1.1 Differences between everyday and scientific research methods

S.N Everyday research method Scientific research method

1 Instinct/intuitive Theory based
2 Common sense Structured

Page 2 of 68
 3 Causal Systematic
4 Focus is personal decision Focus is knowledge about reality
5 Spur of the moment Planned & time bound
6 Selective & subjective Objective
7 Magical thinking Scientific thinking
Source: various sources

Characteristics of the Scientific Research Method

The basic characteristics, or tenets, distinguish the scientific method from other methods of
knowing. A research approach that does not follow these tenets is not a scientific approach.

1. Scientific research is question oriented

2. Science is empirical – empiricism comes from the Greek word for “experience.”
Empiricism does not mean that scientists avoid abstract ideas and notions; they encounter
them every day. However, they recognize that concepts must be strictly defined to allow
for objective observation and measurement. Scientists must link abstract concepts to the
empirical world through observations, which may be made either directly or indirectly via
various measurement instruments.
3. Science is objective
4. Science is systematic
5. Scientific research is public (universal) – advances in science require freely available
information. Researchers (especially in the academic sector) cannot plead private
knowledge, methods, or data in arguing for the accuracy of their findings; scientific
research information must be freely communicated from one researcher to another. Thus,
science is a highly public enterprise in which efficient communication among scientist is
essential.
6. Science is replicable [this is workable especially for natural sciences than social sciences
because in the latter human behavior makes the chance to replicate a given research finding
more complicated due to their ever changing nature; science only deals with testable ideas]
– researchers must take great care in their published reports to include information on
sampling methods, measurements, and data-gathering procedures. Such information allows

Page 3 of 68
 other researchers to independently verify a given study and support or refute the initial
research findings. This process of replication allows for correction and verification of
previous research findings.
7. Science is cumulative – no single research study stands alone, nor does it rise or fall by
itself. Astute researchers always use previous studies as building blocks for their own work.
One of the first steps in conducting research is to review the available scientific literature
on the topic so that the current study will draw on the heritage of past research. This review
is valuable for identifying problem areas and important factors that might be relevant to
the current study.
8. Science is predictive

Limitations of scientific research method

1. Scientific research does not provide a single, concise and precise answer to some questions,
because such questions are beyond the reach of the scientific research method itself. For
example, it cannot prove or disprove the existence of God or any other supernatural
entity/power
2. It is impossible for scientific research to make value judgments such as human behaviour
and culture
3. It took a longer period of time to answer a question or problem due to series or rigid of
experiments. For instance, the enterprise to invent the vaccine of HIV/AIDS is not
successful so far albeit rumors of Western countries, especially the United States of
America, conspiracy are heralded by some commentators here and there.

There are different ways of classifying research. It is really difficult to propose a single
classification method that fits different disciplines and is acceptable by all. Besides, it should be
noted that there is no clear dividing line between one method and the other. There are always
overlaps in a sense that one method somehow includes the other. For our purpose, research can be
classified in terms of:

• Goal of research,
• Specific objectives of research,
• Approaches of research,

Page 4 of 68
 • Designs,
• The type of data used in research, and
• Fields of study.

Classification of Research based on the Goal of Research

The goal of research is problem solving. The nature of the problem that the research attempts to
solve could be theoretical or practical – building a theory or solving immediate practical problems.
These two types of problems that the research tries to solve leads to two broad classifications of
research: basic (also called pure or fundamental or academic) and applied (also called operational
or practical or private) researches. Both of these types follow the same structures and protocols for
propagating and testing hypotheses and predictions, but vary slightly in their ultimate purpose.

Basic research has as its primary objective the advancement of knowledge and the theoretical
understanding of the relations among variables. It is basically concerned with the formulation of a
theory or a contribution to the existing body of knowledge. That is, basic research is designed to
add to an organized body of scientific knowledge and does not necessarily produce results of
immediate practical value. Therefore, the driving force in basic research is a researcher’s curiosity
or interest in a scientific question. The motivation behind is to expand human knowledge, not to
create or invent something that has practical significance. Whilst offering no direct benefits, pure
research often has indirect benefits, which can contribute greatly to the advancement of humanity.
Basic research lays down the foundation for the applied research that follows.

Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to
acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It is undertaken to solve immediate practical
problem and the goal of adding to the scientific knowledge is secondary. Some scientists feel that
the time has come for a shift in emphasis away from purely basic research toward applied science.
This trend, they feel, is necessitated by the problems resulting from globalization, migration,
overpopulation, pollution, and the overuse of the earth’s natural resources.

In the private sector (applied research), researchers generally do not have the flexibility to select
topics or questions to investigate. Instead, they conduct studies to answer questions raised by
management, or they address the problems and questions for which they are hired, as is the case
with full-service research companies.

Page 5 of 68
The purpose of applied research is about testing theories, often generated by pure science, and
applying them to real situations, addressing more than just abstract principles. Applied scientific
research can be about finding out the answer to a specific problem, such as “Is global warming
avoidable?”

Classification of Research based on the Specific Objectives of Research

Research can be classified differently when the issues at hand are specific objectives of research.
Hence, according to the specific objectives research can be classified at least into: exploratory
descriptive and explanatory.

A) Exploratory Research

Exploratory research is an initial research which analyzes the data and explores the possibility of
obtaining as many relationships as possible between different variables without knowing their end-
applications. This means that a general study will be conducted without having any specific end-
objective except to establish as many relationships as possible between the variables of the study.
This research provides a basis for general findings. Researchers and practitioners can explore the
possibility of using such general findings in future. This type of research laid the foundation for
the formulation of different hypotheses of research problems. In short, it structures and identifies
new problems.

Exploratory research is conducted when there are few or no earlier studies to which references can
be made for information. It provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation for
more rigorous investigation later. It is a type of research conducted because a problem has not been
clearly defined.

Exploratory research is less formal, sometimes even unstructured and focuses on gaining
background information and helps to better understand and clarify a problem. It can be used to
develop hypotheses and questions to be answered, determine the best research design and data
collection method, understand how to measure a variable and determine selection of subjects.

Page 6 of 68
 B) Descriptive Research

A descriptive research is carried out with specific objective(s) and hence it results in definite
conclusions. This research tries to describe the characteristics of the respondents in relation to a
particular product or a practice/culture of importance.

Description represents efforts exerted to give pictorial account of the phenomenon being studied.
It is actually the first step in research since it provides the basis for further exploration about the
phenomenon under consideration. In description, the researcher attempts to find answers to the
questions ‘why’, “who” and “where?”

Descriptive research sets out to describe and to interpret what is. It looks at individuals, groups,
institutions, methods and materials in order to describe, compare, contrast, classify, analyze and
interpret the entities and the events that constitute the various fields of inquiry. It aims to describe
the state of affairs as it exists.

C) Explanatory Research (also called Analytical Research)

Explanatory research aims at establishing the cause and effect relationship between variables. The
researcher uses the facts or information already available to analyze and make a critical evaluation
of the data/information.

The desire to know “why”, to explain, is the purpose of explanatory research. It is a continuation
of descriptive research and builds on exploratory and descriptive research and goes on to identify
the reasons for something that occurs. The researcher goes beyond merely describing the
characteristics, to analyze and explain why or how something is happening. Thus, it looks for
causes and reasons.

Classification of Research based on the Approaches of Research

Research can be classified as qualitative research and quantitative research when the issue at hand
is the approaches to be employed in conducting research. This structure is mainly for educational
purpose. This section will be elaborated in detail in Chapter 3.

Page 7 of 68
Classification of Research based on Designs

Once the researcher has determined the specific question to be answered and has operationalized
the variables and research question into a clear, measurable hypothesis, the next task is to consider
a suitable research design. Although there are endless ways of classifying research designs, they
usually fall into one of the following three general categories: experimental, quasi-experimental
and non-experimental.

Classification of Research by Types of Data

Depending on the type of data generated and used research can be classified as primary (also called
field research) and secondary research (also known as desk research). Primary research involves
the collection of data that does not already exist whereas secondary research involves the summary,
collation and/or synthesis of existing data rather than generating primary data, where data are
collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments.

Classification of Research by Fields of Study

Research can also be classified based on fields of study such as: natural science research, social
science research, educational research, behavioural science research, health science research, etc.

1.3. Key Concepts in Social Research

Research in mass media is used to verify or refute gut feelings or intuition for decision makers.
Although common sense is sometimes accurate, media decision makers need additional objective
information to evaluate problems, especially when they make decisions that involve large sums of
money. Research is not limited only to decision making situations. It is also widely used in
theoretical areas to attempt to describe the media, to analyze media effects on consumers, to
understand audience behavior, and so on.

Page 8 of 68
Important Terminologies in Research

✓ Variable: A variable is anything that can take on different values. For example, height,
weight, age, race, attitude, and IQ are variables because there are different heights, weights,
ages, races, attitudes, and IQs. By contrast, if something cannot vary, or take on different
values, then it is referred to as a constant. Variable refers to an image, perception or concept
that is capable of measurement – hence capable of taking on different values – is called a
variable. In other words, a concept that can be measured is called a variable. Concepts are
mental images or perceptions and therefore their meanings vary markedly from individual
to individual, whereas variables are measurable, of course, with varying degrees of
accuracy. Here, measurability is the main difference between a concept and a variable. A
concept cannot be measured whereas a variable can be subjected to measurement by crude
refined or subjective/objective units of measurement. For example, effectiveness,
satisfaction, impact, excellent, self esteem, high achiever, rich, domestic violence, etc are
examples of concept, whereas gender(male/female), age(x years, y months),
income($__per year), weight(___kg), height(__cm), religion(Orthodox, Muslim,
Catholic), etc are examples of variables. The research variables, of any scientific
experiment or research process, are factors that can be manipulated and measured. In
research terminology, change variables are called independent variables, outcome/effect
variables are called dependent variables, the unmeasured variables affecting the cause and
effect relationship are called extraneous [not relevant, coming from outside] variables and
the variables that link a cause and effect relationship are called intervening variables.
Hence, research variables are divided into four, namely, Independent variable (the cause
or reason for), dependent variable (consequence), extraneous variable (unmeasured) and
intervening.
• Independent variable is the core of the experiment and is isolated and
manipulated by the researcher. It is a variable which does not depend on any
other variable. So, it is called controlled variable. It is the cause supposed to be
responsible for bringing about change(s) in a phenomenon or situation.
• Dependent variable is the measurable outcome of the manipulation, the results
of the experimental design. It is depending on the independent variable. In other
words, it is the outcome of the change(s) brought about by changes in an
Page 9 of 68
 independent variable. For example, if you designed an experiment to determine
how quickly a cup of coffee cools, the manipulated [controlled] independent
variable is time and the dependent measured variable is temperature.
• Extraneous variable – several other factors operating in real-life situation may
affect changes attributed to independent variables. These factors, not measured
in the study, may increase or decrease the magnitude or strength of the
relationship between independent and dependent variables.
• Intervening variable – sometimes called the cofounding variable, links the
independent and dependent variables. In certain situations the relationship
between an independent and a dependent variable cannot be established without
the intervention of another variable. The cause variable will have the assumed
effect only in the presence of an intervening variable.

To explain these variables let us take one example. Suppose you want to study the relationship
between smoking and cancer. You assume that smoking is a cause of cancer. Studies have shown
that there are many factors affecting this relationship, such as: the number of cigarettes or the
amount of tobacco smoked every day; the duration of smoking; the age of the smoker; dietary
habits; and the amount of exercise undertaken by the individual. All of these factors may affect
the extent to which smoking might cause cancer. These variables may either increase or decrease
the magnitude of the relationship but you are not interested in measuring their impact. In this
example, the extent of smoking is the independent variable, cancer is the dependent variable and
all the variables that might affect this relationship, either positively or negatively, are extraneous
variables.

When students are exposed to research terminology for the first time, it is not uncommon for them
to confuse the independent and dependent variables. Fortunately, there is an easy way to remember
the difference between the two. If you get confused, think of the independent variable as the
“cause” and the dependent variable as the “effect.” To assist you in this process, it may be helpful
if you practice stating your research question in the following manner: “What are the effects of
__________ on__________?” The first blank is the independent variable and the second blank is
the dependent variable. For example, we may ask the following research question: “What are the
effects of exercise on levels of body fat?” In this example, “exercise” is the independent variable

Page 10 of 68
and “levels of body fat” is the dependent variable. Thus, the independent variable is called
“independent” because it is independent of the outcome being measured. More specifically, the
independent variable is what causes or influences the outcome. The dependent variable is called
“dependent” because it is influenced by the independent variable. For example, in our hypothetical
study examining the effects of medication on symptoms of depression, the measure of depression
is the dependent variable because it is influenced by (i.e., is dependent on) the independent variable
(i.e., the medication).

✓ Units: Units are the ways that variables are classified; units may includes, individuals,
groups, social interaction and objects.
✓ Correlation refers to a relationship between two variables
✓ Science: The term “science” comes from a Latin word “Scientia”- meaning “knowledge.”
Science is defined as a body of systematized knowledge gained by a systematic study. It
only deals with testable ideas. Science is a method of inquiry – a way of developing
knowledge claims about the world. Science is any system of knowledge that is concerned
with the physical worlds and its phenomena. According to Buddebaun, science is a way of
knowing based on the systematic gathering and testing of evidence through observation.
✓ Belief is a subjective personal basis for individual behavior, while truth is an objective state
independent of the individual, i.e., a fact.
✓ Positivists believe that there is a reality independent of an individual, whether or not an
individual is aware of about that reality. They believe that reality is stable and can be
observed and described from an objective viewpoint. A positivist researcher often acts
independently of his/her research subjects, but being completely independent is not
achievable.
✓ Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as
well as the basic categories of being and their relations. In other words, ontology is the
theory of objects and their ties. It provides criteria for distinguishing different types of
objects (concrete and abstract, existent and nonexistent, real and ideal, independent and
dependent) and their ties (relations, dependencies and predication). It answers the question
what is…? Traditionally, it is considered as part of the major branch of philosophy known
as metaphysics. Ontology is the starting point of all research, after which one’s
epistemological and methodological positions logically follow.

Page 11 of 68
 ✓ Epistemology: The term epistemology comes from the Greek word ‘episteme’ which
means ‘knowledge’; and logos which refer to reason. Epistemology is the branch of
philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge and knowing and the process by which
knowledge is acquired and validated. Epistemology addresses the following questions:
o What is knowledge?
o How is knowledge acquired?
o How do we know what we know?
o What distinguishes true (adequate) knowledge from false (inadequate)
knowledge?
o Are the objects that the researchers study real?
✓ Methodology is focused on the specific ways – the methods- that we can use to try to
understand our world. “What methodology --- strategy or plan of action that links methods
to outcomes --- governs our choice and use of methods) e.g., experimental research, survey
research, ethnography, etc.)?”
✓ Methods: What methods --- techniques and procedures --- do we propose to use (e.g.,
questionnaire, interview, focus group, etc).

To wrap up,

Ontology is the study of reality

Epistemology is the study of knowledge
Methodology is the study of methods

✓ Ideology: From post-positivism perspective (or ideology), research can be made closer to
value free (more true) and can be used to promote change; so that when you doing your
research paper be careful of value contaminating research.
✓ Data (datum-singular form): It is a set of organized information or values. It is also refers
to known facts used for inference
✓ Information: It is a raw (unprocessed, unrefined) idea
✓ Action research: Action research is “learning by doing.” It aims to contribute both to the
practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals
of social science simultaneously. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to

Page 12 of 68
 study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it
in what is together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires
the active collaboration of researcher and client/participant.
✓ Misconduct: Research misconduct, which a government can define as “fabrication,
falsification, or plagiarism” or (FFP). Actions that nearly all researchers classify as
unethical are viewed as misconduct. It is important to remember, however, that misconduct
occurs only when researchers intend to deceive: honest errors related to sloppiness, poor
record keeping, miscalculations, bias, self-deception, and even negligence do not constitute
misconduct. Also, reasonable disagreements about research methods, procedures, and
interpretations do not constitute research misconduct. However, there has been
considerable debate and criticism about the limited definition of “research misconduct”
that stated above. Therefore, we can conclude that all research misconduct is unethical, but
all types of unethical behavior cannot be necessary lead to research misconduct.

1.4. Research Ethics

The word “ethics” comes from a Greek word ‘ethos’ (character). Ethics is a systematic study of
value concepts, ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, ‘wrong’ and the general principles that justify applying these
concepts. When most people think of ethics (or morals), they think of rules for distinguishing
between right and wrong, such as the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you”), a code of professional conduct like the Hippocratic Oath (“First of all, do no[t] harm”),
a religious creed like the Ten Commandments (“Thou shall not kill…”), or wise aphorisms like
the sayings of Confucius. This is the most common way of defining “ethics”: ethics are norms for
conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Therefore, ethics is not
about etiquette. Most people learn ethical norms at home, at school, in religious institutions, or in
other social settings.

It is important to remember that ethics and law are not the same. Most societies have legal rules
that govern behavior, but ethical norms tend to be broader and more informal than laws. Although
most societies use laws to enforce widely accepted moral standards, ethical and legal rules use
similar concepts. We can also use ethical concepts and principles to criticize, evaluate, propose, or
interpret laws. Peaceful civil disobedience is, for example, an ethical way of expressing political
viewpoints.

Page 13 of 68
Another way of defining ‘ethics’ focuses on the disciplines that study standards of conduct, such
as philosophy, theology, law, psychology, or sociology. For example, a “journalism ethicist” is
someone who studies ethical standards in journalism. Finally, one may also define ethics as a
method, procedure, or perspective for deciding how to act and for analyzing complex problems
and issues.

Why to be ethical? Public trust in science erodes when scientists behave unethically and illegally,
subjects avoid participating in research. Ethics is so important in social science research because
it is about people.

Ethics is one of the most crucial areas of research, with deception, misconduct and abuses in
research increasingly becoming a crucial area of discussion among stakeholders of various fields
of research. Today it is widely acknowledged that researchers without training and awareness of
principles of research ethics are at risk of perpetrating abuses or making mistakes of real
consequences. Thus, there is a growing recognition that any researcher conducting research,
particularly on/with human participants, should undergo formal research ethics training.

Research ethics deals primarily with the interaction between researchers and the people they study
(and in recent decades, on laboratory animals as well); while professional ethics deals, among
others, with additional issues such as collaborative relationships among researchers, mentoring
relationships, intellectual property, fabrication of data and plagiarism.

Ethics in research are very important when you are going to undertake a research (perform an
experiment, conduct an interview, participant observation, etc.). Whenever we conduct research
on/with people, the well-being of research participants must be our top priority. The research
question is always of secondary importance. This means that if a choice must be made between
doing harm to a participant and doing harm to the research, it is the research that is sacrificed.

Importance of research ethics

“Education might be the vessel that helps you cross the vast ocean of knowledge, but where would
you land without an ethical compass?” This statement tells us that the very importance of ethics.
In fact, there are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical norms in research. First,

Page 14 of 68
some of these norms promote the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of
error. For example, prohibitions against fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data
promote the truth and avoid error. Second, since research often involves a great deal of cooperation
and coordination among many different people in different disciplines and institutions, many of
these ethical standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative work, such as trust,
accountability, mutual respect, and fairness.

Third, many of the ethical norms help to ensure that researchers can be held accountable to the
public. For instance, US federal policies on research misconduct, on conflicts of interest, on the
human study participant’s protections, and on animal care and use are necessary in order to make
sure that researchers who are funded by public money can be held accountable to the public.
Fourth, ethical norms in research also help to build public support for research. People are more
likely to fund research project if they can trust the quality and integrity of research. Finally, many
of the norms of research promote a variety of other important moral and social values, such as
social responsibility, human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the law, and health and safety.
Ethical lapses in research can significantly harm human and animal subjects, students, and the
public. For example, a researcher who fabricates data in a clinical trial may harm or even kill
patients and a researcher who fails to abide by regulations and guidelines relating to radiation or
biological safety may jeopardize his health and safety or the health and safety of staff and students.

Research ethics when dealing with human participants

A) Basic research ethics principles

What are the fundamental research ethics principles? All research involving human beings should
be conducted in accordance with four basic ethical principles, namely respect for persons,
beneficence, justice and respect for communities.

1. Respect for persons/autonomy: it incorporates at least two fundamental ethical considerations,

namely;

1.1. Respect for autonomy, which requires that those who are capable of deliberation about their
personal choices should be treated with respect for their capacity for self-determination.

Page 15 of 68
1.2. Protection of persons with impaired or diminished autonomy, which requires that those
who are dependent or vulnerable be afforded security against harm or abuse.

Autonomy or respect for persons requires a commitment to ensuring the autonomy of research
participants, and where autonomy may be diminished, to protect people from exploitation of their
vulnerability. The dignity of all research participants must be respected. Adherence to this
principle ensures that people will not be used simply as a means to achieve research objectives.
According to this principle a study participant has rights to privacy and confidentiality.

2. Beneficence: it refers to the ethical obligation to maximize benefits and to minimize harms.
This principle gives rise to norms requiring that the risks of research be reasonable in the light of
the expected benefits, that the research design is sound, and that the investigators be competent
both to conduct the research and to safeguard the welfare of (“mental integrity”, psychological
well-being) of the study participants. Beneficence requires a commitment to minimizing the risks
associated with research including psychological and social risks and maximizing the benefits that
accrue to research participants.

3. Justice: it refers to the ethical obligation to treat each person in accordance with what is morally
right and proper, to give each person what is due to him or her. Justice requires a commitment to
ensuring a fair or equitable distribution of both the risks (burdens) and the benefits resulting from
research. Those who take on the burden of research participation should share in the benefits of
the knowledge gained.

We evaluate the cost and benefits for most decisions in life, whether we are aware of it or not. This
can be quite a dilemma in some research projects and/or experiments. The first thing to do before
designing a study is to consider the potential cost and benefits of the research. Are the benefits so
good that they will outweigh the costs?

4. Respect for communities: This principle is mainly propagated by bioethicists. It “confers on

the researcher an obligation to respect the values and interests of the community in research and,
wherever possible, to protect the community from harm.” Some scholars believe that this principle
is, in fact, fundamental for research when community-wide knowledge, values, and relationships
are critical to research success and may in turn be affected by the research process or its outcomes.

Page 16 of 68
 B) Informed consent

Informed consent is a process by which a study participant voluntarily confirms his or her
willingness to participate in a particular trial/study, after having been informed of all aspects of
the trial/study that are relevant to the study participant’s decision to participate. Informed consent
is a process and acknowledges respect for persons. It is not a legal document; it is rather a risk
management tool for an investigator/researcher. In other words, signing of the consent form with
written documentation signify the contract agreement, not legally binding.

Goal of informed consent: The main goal of informed consent is to make sure that the study
participant has understood and make choices freely whether to begin or continue participation in
a study. Specifically, a signature at the bottom of the consent form simply implies that the study
participant has understood and agreed to what s/he was told, it does not mean that he/she was fully
and completely informed. And the essential elements of informed consent are: information,
comprehension and autonomy of study participants and consent. In short it is a process which
addresses three important questions namely, who? When? How?

C) Confidentiality (and Privacy)

The concept of confidentiality is a key element of research ethics in that the researcher needs to
know which types of information can or cannot be shared with a third part with/without the consent
of the study participant.

Page 17 of 68
Chapter Two: Composing Communication Research

Selecting a topic is a concern for many beginning researchers, especially those writing term papers,
theses, and dissertations. The problem is knowing where to start. Each topic that is proposed for
research has to be judged according to certain guidelines or criteria. There may be several ideas to
choose from. Before deciding on a research topic, each proposed topic must be compared with all
other options. Therefore, when you decide to do a research paper, you should take into account the
following guidelines or criteria for selecting a research topic:

(1) Relevance or significance

(2) Avoidance of duplication
(3) Urgency of data needed (timeliness)
(4) Feasibility of study
(5) Applicability of results
(6) Interest to the researcher [ask yourself as “is it the topic my interest?”]
(7) Ethical acceptability
(8) Ability or capability of the researcher: ask yourself as “Am I capable to do this research?”

2.1. Title

Title is an indication about what your research is looking for. A title ought to be well studied, and
to give, so far as its limits permit, a definite and concise indication of what is to come. The title of
your research proposal/thesis should state your topic exactly in the smallest possible number of
words. Put your name, the name of your department/faculty/college, the name of your advisor(s)
and date of delivery under the title.

All words in the title should be chosen with great care, and association with one another must be
carefully managed. A good title is defined as the fewest possible words that adequately describe
the contents of the study. Title is a label: it is not a sentence. Titles should almost never contain
abbreviations. The title page has no page number and it is not counted in any page numbering.

2.2. Introduction

Page 18 of 68
The chapter on introduction should begin with the background of the research topic and state-of-
the-art scenario in brief. The origin and the development of the research concept along with the
most significant contributions in the past must be summarized in this chapter. Furthermore, this
part should give a lead for literature search.

The purpose of the introduction/background is to establish a framework for the research, so that
readers can understand how it is related to other research. The introduction should cite those who
had the idea or ideas first, and should also cite those who have done the most recent and relevant
work. You should then go on to explain why more work is necessary (your work, of course).

Though it may be varied from one research type to another, the chapter on introduction may
consists the following main sections: background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives
of the study, research questions (hypotheses), importance/significance of the study, limitations of
the study, and scope of the study.

2.3. Statement of the Problem

Most research proposals, whether designed for bachelor’s degrees, master’s theses or doctoral
dissertation, may be considered as responses to a problem. A problem might be defined as the issue
that exists in the literature, theory, or practice that leads to a need for the study. The prospective
researcher should think on what caused the need to do the research (problem identification). The
question that the researcher should ask him/herself is: Are there questions about this problem to
which answers have not been found up to the present? Effective problem statements answer the
question “Why does this research need to be conducted.” If a researcher is unable to answer this
question clearly and without resorting to hyper-speak, then the statement of the problem will come
off as ambiguous and diffuse.

A research problem must be identified and defined without any ambiguity. Statement of the
problem encapsulates the question you are trying to answer. The problem statement provides the
context for the research study and typically generates questions which the research hopes to
answer. The following issues require critical attention in relation to identifying or stating a problem
statement:

A) What is the problem?

Page 19 of 68
 B) Why is this problem worth my attention?
C) The problem statement limits the scope of the study by focusing on some variables and not
others (or at the expense of others)
D) It provides an opportunity to demonstrate why these variables are important over the rest
E) A problem statement is the description of the issues and the problems which are supposed
to be addressed by a researcher or problem solving team converge
F) It gives a specific purpose to be achieved. The primary aim of the problem statement is to
converge the attention of the target audience towards one point
G) It is nothing but a concise and precise description of the nature, scope, causes, severity and
the effect or impact of a problem. Thus, it is the specific description of a problem which is
essential to understand it properly.
H) It is necessary to formulate a good and effective problem statement to ensure that the
research is successful
I) A good problem statement would always be specific and focus on one particular issue (i.e.,
one major idea) instead of being vague and running the risk of being confused.

Importance of Problem Statement

As much as possible give serious attention to the following three crucial questions so as to promote
the significance or acceptance of your research paper in general and problem importance in
particular:

1. Is the problem of current interest? Is it topical?

2. Is the problem likely to continue into the future?
3. How large is the population affected by the problem?

2.4. Objectives of the research

The objectives of a research delineate the ends or aim which the inquirer seeks to bring about as a
result of completing the research undertaken. An objective may be thought of as either a solution
to a problem or a step along the way toward achieving a solution; an end state to be achieved in
relation to the problem. The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be achieved by
the study. Objectives should be closely related to the statement of the problem.

Page 20 of 68
Objectives should be:

o Simple (not complex)

o Specific (not vague)
o Stated in advance (not after the research is done), and
o Stated using “action verbs” that are specific enough to be measured.

As a researcher, you should:

• Take time to state your objective clearly

• Distinguish your objective from related objectives
• Check periodically to be sure that you are still on target
• Choose and write significant and realistic objectives

After statement of the primary objective, secondary objectives may be mentioned. Or, the
objectives of the research can be divided into general objective and specific objectives, if needed.
The general and specific objectives are logically connected to each other and the specific objectives
are commonly considered as smaller portions of the general objectives. It is important to ascertain
that the general objective is closely related to the statement of the problem.

General objective:

o What exactly will be studied?

o General statements specifying the desired outcomes of the proposed project

Specific objectives:

o Specific statements summarizing the proposed activities

o It identifies in greater detail the specific aims of the research project
o They should systematically address the various aspects of the problem and the key
factors that are assumed to influence or cause the problem

Page 21 of 68
2.5. Research Questions (or Hypotheses)

The objectives of the research must be identified by taking the system requirements into account.
In the process of identifying the objectives of the research, the researcher must finalize the
following: research questions, hypotheses and boundary of the study.

Hypotheses and questions are linked to the speculative proposition of the problem statement, can
be inferred from the overall conceptual framework of a study, and are of critical importance to
data analysis and interpretation. In research studies, the term hypothesis implies a derivation,
within a hypothetic-deductive theoretical system, of a particular assertion or prediction. The term
question implies an interrogative statement that can be answered by data, which is logically related
to the same conceptual framework, but which does not necessarily stem from that framework
through logical deduction. Questions are most often used in qualitative inquiry, although their use
in quantitative inquiry is becoming more prominent. Hypotheses are relevant to theoretical
research and are typically used only in quantitative inquiry.

Research questions are the problems which are not resolved till date. One should ask questions
relating to the purpose of the study, place of the study, present state of the research issue and the
possible means of finding solution to the research problem. For example,

Purpose: What is the purpose of the study?

Place: Where does the study take place?

Present state: What is the present state of the research issue?

Means: How is the purpose achieved? Why that particular method?

Answers to these questions will provide a starting point to crystallize the objectives and hypotheses
of the research problem.

A hypothesis is an assumption about a population of the study where the truth of the assumption
is not sure. The hypothesis is subject to test, i.e., to confirmation or rejection on empirical grounds.
Hypotheses are thus tentative statements that should either be acknowledged or rejected by means
of research. In other words, hypotheses are tentative statements/solutions or explanations of the
formulated problem. The research problem does not have to consist of one hypothesis only. The

Page 22 of 68
type of problem area investigated, the scope of the research field are the determinate factors on
how many hypotheses will be included in the research proposal/thesis. A sample hypothesis is as
follows:

Hypothesis: Age has no influence over achieving sales target of a salesperson.

Generally, a hypothesis is formulated for a situation where the inference is not explicit. In the
above case, for instance, the hypothesis may be true or false. The correct fact can be ascertained
only after collecting and analyzing related data. Hypothesis is a tentative statement about the
relationship between variables which is aimed to be verified (tested).

There are two types of hypothesis, namely null hypothesis and alternate (or experimental)
hypothesis. The former (i.e. null hypothesis) refers to an assumption (preferred assumption) about
a population. It is denoted by Ho. If the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected, then the opposite of the
null hypothesis must be true. The hypothesis representing the opposite of the null hypothesis is
called alternate hypothesis. It is denoted by H1.

In their simplest forms, hypotheses are typically phrased as “if-then” statements. For example, a
researcher may hypothesize that “if people exercise for 30 minutes per day at least three days per
week, then their cholesterol levels will be reduced.” This hypothesis makes a prediction about the
effects of exercising on levels of cholesterol, and the prediction can be tested by gathering and
analyzing data.

The null hypothesis always predicts that there will be no differences between the groups being
studied. By contrast, the alternate hypothesis predicts that there will be a difference between the
groups. In our example, the null hypothesis would predict that the exercise group and the no-
exercise group will not differ significantly on levels of cholesterol. The alternate hypothesis would
predict that the two groups will differ significantly on cholesterol levels. In this example, the
researcher would collect data on the cholesterol levels of the study participants by using an
accurate and reliable measurement device. Then, the researcher would compare the cholesterol
levels of the two groups to see if exercise had any effects.

Page 23 of 68
A key decision that researchers must make with the assistance of statistics is whether the null
hypothesis should be rejected. Remember that the null hypothesis always predicts that there will
be no difference between the groups. Therefore, rejecting the null hypothesis means that there is a
difference between the groups. In general, most researchers seek to reject the null hypothesis
because rejection means the phenomenon being studied (e.g., exercise, medication) had some
effect.

It is important to note that there are only two choices with respect to the null hypothesis.
Specifically, the null hypothesis can be either rejected or not rejected, but it can never be accepted.
If we reject the null hypothesis, we are concluding that there is a significant difference between
the groups. If, however, we do not reject the null hypothesis, then we are concluding that we were
unable to detect a difference between the groups. To be clear, it does not mean that there is no
difference between the two groups. There may in actuality have been a significant difference
between the two groups, but we were unable to detect that difference in our study.

2.6. Scope (Boundary/Delimitation) of the Study

What are those aspects not to be included in your study? Delimitation refers to the area coverage
of the research you are going to study. The researcher expected to define the boundary of the study
clearly. In an ideal case, consideration of the whole universe of the study may be beneficial. But,
such an assumption will make the study infeasible because of its size, complexities and constraints.
Hence, the boundary of the study should be properly defined.

2.7. Significance of the Study

-Why is this research so important

2.8. Limitations of the Study

-Anything that will hinder the work and sometimes you can write it at the end of your study

2.9. Review of Literature (Literature Review)

Literature review is the crucial part of any research. This helps the researcher avoid reinventing
past contributions and results. This focuses on the past literature in the field of research and its
classification under different angles. The critique comparison of the past literature will narrow

Page 24 of 68
down the research topic and provide a base for selecting a research topic which will have more
pay-off. The outcome of the literature review gives a direction for feature research.

It is advisable to choose a theory or paradigm that suits with the issue you want to study. It is a
section where you should contextualize with your targeted topic.

The literature review asks how similar and related questions have been answered before. Literature
review is not a compilation of every work written about a topic. It is not simply a list of sources
reviewed separately for their own merit. A literature review is a description of the literature
relevant to a particular field or topic. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the key
writers are, what are the prevailing theories and hypotheses, what questions are being asked, and
what methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful. As such, it is not in itself primary
research, but rather it reports on other findings. Besides, it seeks to describe, summarize, evaluate,
clarify and integrate the content of primary reports.

The literature review in a research study accomplishes several purposes. It shares with the reader
the results of other studies that are closely related to the study being reported. It relates a study to
the larger ongoing dialogue in the literature about a topic, filling in gaps and extending prior
studies. It provides a frame work for establishing the impotence of the study as well as a benchmark
for comparing the results of a study with other findings. All or some of these reasons may be the
foundation for writing the scholarly literature into a study. Beyond the question of why it is used
is the issue of how it use might differ in the three approaches to research.

In qualitative research, inquirers use the literature in a manner consistent with the assumptions of
learning from the participant, and not prescribing the questions that need to be answered from the
researcher's stand point. One of the chief reasons for conducting a qualitative study is that the study
is exploratory. This means that not much has been written about the topic or the population being
studied, and the researcher seeks to listen to participants and build an understanding based on their
ideas.

Quantitative research, on the other hand, includes a substantial amount of literature at the
beginning of a study to provide direction for the research questions or hypotheses. In planning a
quantitative study, the literature is often used at the beginning of a study to introduce a problem or
to describe in detail the existing literature in a section titled "related literature" or "review of

Page 25 of 68
literature," or something similar. In addition, the literature is included in the end of a study in
which the researcher compares the results of the study with the existing finds in the literature. In
this model, the end of a study in which the researcher compares the results of the study with the
existing finds in the literature. In this model, the quantitative researcher uses the literature
deductively as a framework for the research questions or hypotheses.

2.10. Method(s) or Research Methodology

Methods or procedures show how you will achieve the objectives and answer the questions. The
methods/procedures section is really the heart of the research proposal. You must decide exactly
how you are going to achieve your stated objectives: i.e., what new data you need in order to shed
light on the problem you have selected and how you are going to collect and process this data.

A system of models, procedures and techniques used to find the results of a research problem is
called a research methodology. The word “Methodology” can be defined as:

“The analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline.”
“The systematic study of methods that have been applied within a discipline.”
“The study or description of methods.”
Methodology is a system of broad principles or rules from which specific methods or
procedures may be derived to understand different situations (or solve different problems)
within the scope of a particular discipline. Unlike an algorithm, a methodology is not a
formula but a set of practices. Among other complex things, statisticians generate
statistical procedures, or formulas, called algorithms. Researchers then use these
algorithms to investigate research questions and hypotheses.
Methodology represents “a theory and analysis of how research does or should proceed.”
It also encompasses our entire approach to research.
Methodology is concerned with the logic of scientific inquiry, in particular with
investigating the potentialities and limitations of particular techniques or procedures.
Methodology is a strategy or plan of action that links methods to outcomes, governs our
choice and use of methods. For example, experimental research, survey research,
ethnography [in which the researcher studies an intact cultural group in a natural setting

Page 26 of 68
 over a prolonged/extended period of time by collecting primary and observational data],
content analysis, etc.

Research methodology aims to finalize the activities of research design and data collection
procedure which are as listed below:

o Selection of research approach

o Design of sampling plan
o Design of experiment
o Design of questionnaire
o Determination of sample size
o Design of sampling frame
o Execution of survey.
✓ Method refers to the “techniques or procedures used to collate and analyze data.” Of the
techniques of data collection methods - questionnaire, interview, and focus group
discussion are few examples.

Differences between Method and Methodology

✓ Although the terms methods and methodologies are often used synonymously, they convey
different meanings.
✓ A method is a particular research technique or way to gather evidence about a phenomenon.
Therefore, methods are the specific research tools we use in research projects to gain fuller
understanding of phenomena. For example, surveys, interviews and participant
observations.
✓ Methodology describes “the theory of how inquiry should proceed” that “involves analysis
of the principles and procedures in a particular field of inquiry.” It involves the researchers’
assumptions about the nature of reality and the nature of knowing and knowledge.
✓ To wrap up, method is a specific technique of collecting data while methodology is a large
way of theory how it does works and it represents how a given research should proceed.

Page 27 of 68
Table 2.1 Specific examples of methodology and research methods

Methodology Methods
Experimental research Sampling
Survey research Statistical analysis
Ethnography Questionnaire
Phenomenological research Observation
Grounded theory Interview
Heuristic inquiry Focus group
Action research* Case study
Discourse analysis etc. Document analysis
Content analysis etc.
*Action research involves close collaboration between researcher and practitioners, and places an
emphasis on promoting change within an organization. While the emphasis is on seeking
information on the attitudes and perspectives of practitioners in the field, the way in which data
are collected may involve both quantitative and qualitative methods. The main action research
medium, however, is the case study, or multiple case studies.

2.11. Result [data analysis/presentation] and Discussion

The data analysis can be classified into preliminary analysis and hypotheses [research questions]
testing. This chapter deals with the application of statistical tools for the analysis of data and
making inferences. In preliminary analysis, the data are presented in the form of charts and graphs
to have insight into the research problem. This helps the researcher to come out with some
inferences, but these are based on the observations from the charts and graphs.

The second type of analysis is the testing of hypothesis. The different hypotheses which have been
formulated earlier are tested at this stage. This exercise will reveal certain underlying facts of the
research problem which will help the researcher to formulate strategies for the operations of any
business system. This chapter will have a major subsection on results ad discussions.

2.12. Conclusions

Page 28 of 68
The chapter on conclusions summarizes the research findings, contribution of the study, limitations
of the study, and scope for the future research.

2.13. Research Proposal

Scientific research commences with the writing of a research proposal which is a detailed plan that
the researcher intends to follow and which will give an adjudicator or evaluator a clear idea of
what the researcher plans to do and how he/she intends to complete the research. The research
proposal contains a description of the research topic and the literature survey, motivation for the
research, a statement of the problem, a hypothesis, the research methodology to be used,
clarification of terms, and the sources consulted to demarcate the research problem. Quality writing
is critical in all good proposals. It should be clear, concise, and free of jargon. Proposals that are
well-written and attractive are a pleasure to read, and they make a good impression with
readers/reviewers.

Chapter Three: Varieties of Social Research

In social sciences and later in other disciplines too, quantitative and qualitative research methods
can be applied depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the
research. Quantitative research method refers to the systematic empirical investigation of
quantitative properties and phenomena as well as their relationships. Qualitative research method,
on the other hand, tries to understand of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior.
Thus, in quantitative research numbers has meaning while in qualitative research words/texts have
meaning. Social science researchers do not give a concrete finding/result rather they have tried to
show their results in relation to and in compare to the actual and existing fact. In contrast, natural
science researchers come out with tangible, scientific and visible findings.

Quantitative and qualitative methods raise a number of fundamental epistemological issues and
visions of what science is. Each method derives from contrasting academic and philosophical
traditions. Quantitative methods are identified with the so called “hard science” disciplines,
whereas qualitative methods with the social sciences.

Page 29 of 68
 3.1. Quantitative Methodology

3.1.1. The Nature of Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is the systematic and scientific investigation of quantitative properties and
phenomena and their relationships. The objective of quantitative research is to develop and employ
mathematical models, theories and hypotheses pertaining to natural phenomena. It usually starts
with a theory or a general statement proposing a general relationship between variables. With this
approach it is likely that the researchers will take an objective position and their approach will be
to treat phenomena as hard and real. As a result proponents of such studies claim that quantitative
research is undertaken in a value free framework. For this reason, this type of research is mainly
objective.

A quantitative approach is one in which the investigatory primarily uses postpositive claims for
developing knowledge (i.e., cause and effect thinking, reduction to specific variables and
hypotheses and questions, use of measurement and observation, and the test of theories), employs
strategies of inquiry such as experiments and surveys, and collect data on predetermined
instruments that yield statistics data.

Quantitative research method is associated with hard sciences (natural sciences), such as biology,
chemistry and physics. Besides, it is useful for mathematical and statistical analysis that leads to a
predictive formula. The quantitative researcher’s goal is to explain, predict and develop laws that
can be applied universally.

Quantitative Research Methods includes, but not limited to,

Content analysis (also referred to as document analysis) – this refers to the process of using
any kind of document, films, television and radio programs and photographs as well as
written sources, such as books, papers and letters, for analysis in relation to a particular
research question. Content analysis can be used as the singular method of research or as a
supplementary form of inquiry. Content analysis is a research technique for the objective,
systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication. The

Page 30 of 68
 “manifest” content communication is anything spoken (and recorded), written, published,
broadcast, presented as a graphic or on film, or digitized.
Survey research
Experimental research
Longitudinal research

Advantages of quantitative research method

➢ It is easier to analyze (categorize) like closed-ended questions

➢ Covers large sample size

3.1.2. Critique [disadvantages] of Quantitative Methodology

➢ Restrict the richness of alternative responses

3.2. Qualitative Research

3.2.1. Features [characteristics] of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research involves studies that do not attempt to quantify/quantifier their results through
statistical summary or analysis. It seeks to describe various aspects about behavior and other
factors studies in the social sciences and humanities. In qualitative research data are often in the
form of descriptions, not numbers. But sometimes results of qualitative research are subjected to
relatively less rigorous quantitative treatment. Often the goal of qualitative research is to look for
meaning. That is, stress is laid on the socially constructed nature of reality. This type of research
is mainly subjective.

A qualitative approach is one in which the inquirer often makes knowledge claims based primarily
on constructivist perspectives (i.e., the multiple meanings of individual experiences meanings
socially and historically constructed, with an intent of developing a theory or pattern) or
advocacy/participatory perspectives (i.e., political, issue-oriented, collaborative, or change
oriented) or both. It also uses strategies of inquiry such as narratives, phenomenologies,
ethnographies, grounded theory studies, or case studies. The researcher collects open-ended,
emerging data with the primary intent of developing themes from the data.

Page 31 of 68
Qualitative approach: constructivist knowledge claims, ethnographic design, and observation of
behavior. In this situation the researcher seeks to establish the meaning of a phenomenon from the
view of participants. This means identifying a culture-sharing group and studying how it developed
shared patterns of behavior over time (i.e., ethnography). One of the key elements of collecting
data is to observe participants’ behaviors by participating in their activities.

Qualitative research is characterized by adherence to diverse array of orientations and strategies

for maximizing the validity of trustworthiness of study procedures and results. It is thus a type of
empirical enquiry that entails purposive sampling for gathering data. It typically involves in-depth
interviews, group discussions, artifact studies, projective techniques, and observations without
formal measurement. A case study, which is an in-depth examination of one person, is a form of
qualitative research. It is more time consuming, but provides more richness to the data.

➢ Qualitative research is not directly related with quality research.

➢ If you are conducting your research paper with qualitative research method, hypothesis is
not necessary to use. In other words, hypothesis can be used in quantitative work, but if
your research is based on qualitative one do not use a hypothesis; instead you can simply
apply statement of the problem.
➢ Qualitative research methods associated with or applied in social sciences [i.e., economics,
political science, sociology and social psychology] and human science/ humanities [i.e.,
history, language, literature, philosophy, religion, law, technology, anthropology,
communication studies, and arts].
➢ The qualitative researcher’s goal is to interpret and understand of what people give to their
situation. That is why it requires hermeneutical approach.
➢ It is value laden/oriented - it cannot be value free

Examples of Qualitative Research Methods:

Interviews
Field observation
Focus group discussion (FGD)
Historical analysis

Page 32 of 68
 Ethnographic methods – Ethnographies, in which the researcher studies an intact cultural
group in a natural setting over a prolonged period of time by collecting, primarily,
observational data. The research process is flexible and typically evolves contextually in
response to the lived realties encountered in the field setting.

Phenomenological studies – it holds that any attempt to understand social reality has to
grounded in people’s experiences of that social reality. Hence, phenomenology insists that
we must lay aside our prevailing understanding of phenomena and revisit our immediate
experience of them in order that new meanings may emerge. The result will be new
meaning, fuller meaning or renewed meaning.
Grounded theory
Participant observation
Qualitative content analysis
Dialectical or discourse analysis
Hermeneutical (Interpretive or a theory of meaning) - Hermeneutics is the art or science of
interpretation. It rejects the correspondence theory of truth. Correspondence theories
separated facts from values via methodology, offered the researcher as a neutral or
objective figure, and sought verification of phenomenon in the generalizability and
regularity of occurrences.

N.B. A case study can be both quantitative and qualitative research method

Advantages of qualitative research method

o It is used to generate hypothesis and guide new quantitative measures

o It provides more richness to the data

3.2.2. Critique [disadvantages] of Qualitative Research

o It is much more time consuming

o It is difficult to analyze (or categorize) the various responses of respondents

Page 33 of 68
Table 3.1 Differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods

Qualitative research method Quantitative research method

Subject-subject Subject*-object**
Intertwined values and facts Separate values and facts
Search for understanding and interpretation Search for laws and generalizations
Phenomenon of ‘multiple realities’ exists -
No objective reality There is objective reality
Applies inductive reasoning*** Applies deductive reasoning****
Time of analysis is parallel with data collection Time of analysis is after data collection
Source: Various sources

*Subject refers to the ‘researcher’ who conduct the study

**Object refers to the ‘subject of study (participant/respondent)’

***Inductive Reasoning – refers to drawing a general conclusion from a series of specific

knowledge (i.e., from specific to general)

Example: Helen is shrewd

Helen is a female

All females are shrewd

N.B. Logical conclusions may not necessarily lead to correct conclusions. For instance, look at the
following wrong conclusion even if it follows a correct inductive reasoning.

Paula is thief

Paula is Briton

All Britons are thief

**** Deductive reasoning- refers to producing a specific conclusion from a general conclusion
(i.e., from general to specific). The idea that underlies the a priori method is that first
we develop general knowledge, opinion, or belief about the world through personal

Page 34 of 68
 observation of things around us and then we draw new and specific conclusion from
this general knowledge. As a result it is also known as a deductive reasoning.

Example 1: All females are shrewd

Helen is a female

Helen is shrewd

Example 2: All men are short

Samuel is a man

Therefore, Samuel is short

For more comprehension of the differences between quantitative and qualitative researches, look
at the following crucial points:

1. They differ in terms of the nature of reality. Quantitative researchers believe that there are
human characteristics and processes that constitute a form of reality in that they occur
under a wide variety of conditions and thus can be generalized to some degree. On the other
hand, qualitative researchers believe that there are no human characteristics and processes
from which generalizations can emerge. Instead, each subject or phenomenon is different
and can only be studied holistically.
2. Quantitative and qualitative researches also differ in terms of the relationship of the
researcher to the research participants. In quantitative research, the researcher can function
independently of the participants of the research to a major degree, although some
interaction is probably inevitable. Whereas in qualitative research the researcher the
researcher and the research participant interact to influence one another and are inseparably
interconnected.
3. Qualitative research often does not know what it is looking for whereas quantitative
research does – designs and measurements decisions are made prior to conducting the
research. In qualitative research the design of the research emerges as the research
progresses. That is, in qualitative inquiry the investigator starts with a very tentative design
and develops the design as the inquiry progresses.

Page 35 of 68
 4. Qualitative researchers are often immersed in the data and look at it more subjectively
whereas quantitative research demands objectivity.
5. Qualitative research typically employs small samples than quantitative research.
6. The ultimate goal of research in quantitative research is to develop a body of knowledge in
the form of generalization that will hold at least to some degree over time and in contexts
similar to those in which the generalizations were developed. In qualitative research the
aim of inquiry is to develop a body of knowledge that is unique to the individual being
studied, and that can be used to develop hypotheses about the individual.
7. Qualitative research describes meaning or discovery whereas quantitative research
establishes relationship or causation. That is, in quantitative research, given sufficient
research with valid measures, every action or effect can be explained by a cause or
combination of causes that precede the effect in time. In qualitative research all elements
in the situation are in a state of mutual simultaneous interaction; so it is impossible to
distinguish causes from effects.
8. Quantitative inquiry should be made as value-free as possible through the use of sound
research design and objective data collection procedures. Qualitative research, on the other
hand, is value-bound because inquiries are inevitably influenced by the values of the
researcher, the choice of theory, the methodology employed, and the values inherent in the
context of the inquiry.
9. Qualitative research uses unstructured data collection whereas quantitative research uses
structured data collection methods. In qualitative research, humans are the primary data-
gathering instrument. Non-human instruments – measurement instruments are the data
gathering tools in quantitative research.

3.3.Mixed Approaches

The Quantitative approach has been available to the social and human scientist for years, the
qualitative approach has emerged primarily during the last three or four decades, and the mixed
method is new and still developing in form and substance. Whilst the distinction is often made
between quantitative and qualitative approaches, they should not be seen as mutually exclusive or
alternative perspectives, and are often used in conjunction with each other.

Page 36 of 68
Despite the fundamental philosophical differences between qualitative and quantitative research
methods, in practice however, there is little difference in between them. For this reason, qualitative
is not to be taken as an opposite of quantitative and vice-versa. Therefore, these methods of enquiry
are not absolutely exclusive or unconnected to each other.

Using such pair of methods is commonly known as ‘triangulation’ or “mixed methods” approach,
which is helpful in mitigating and/or compensating one method’s weaknesses/disadvantages by
the strengths/advantages of the other. And the key benefit of using such a combination of research
methods is to make sure that the findings are not artifacts of one particular method of analysis.

A mixed methods approach is one in which the researcher tends to base knowledge claims on
pragmatic grounds (e.g., consequence-oriented, problem-centered, and pluralistic). It employs
strategies of inquiry that involve collecting data either simultaneously or sequentially to best
understand research problem. The data collection also involves gathering both numeric
information (e.g., on instruments) as well as text information (e.g., on interviews) so that the final
database represents both quantitative and qualitative information.

Chapter four: Sampling Methods

Introduction

The realities, such as residents in a region, account holders of a bank, educational institutions in a
state, employees in an industrial estate, collection of machines in an industry, finished products at
the final inspection stage in a factory, students in a college, etc., are considered to be different
populations. Here, the word population [also called universe] means the entire spectrum of a
system of interest. For example, the population representing the account holders of a bank consists
of individuals who are having accounts with the bank. The account holders are termed as
members/units of the population. The members of a population need not be necessarily human
beings as can be inferred from the examples of educational institutions in a state, collection of
machines in a factory, etc. Therefore, apart from persons, a study population may consist of
villages, institutions, plants, animals, records, etc. each study population consists of study units.

Samples are taken from populations. In research, the term ‘population’ can refer to people,
aggregates of texts, institutions, or anything else being investigated. The size of a population can

Page 37 of 68
thus be small or large depending on what the researcher is investigating. In principle, it is desirable
to study all of the units that form the population of interest in a given study. However, in practice
this is rarely done or it is often not practicable because of the following main reasons: cost,
feasibility, time and quality. As a result, sampling has been taken as a solution to the
aforementioned problems.

Census versus Sampling

The inference of any study can be drawn by analyzing the data. So, data collection is an important
activity in this type of research studies. There are two options for data collection: census and
sampling.

Census is the process of obtaining responses from/about each of the members of the population.
The determination of the size of population of a country is an example of census. This process is
also known as population census. Under census method, one has to collect data from each
individual of the population. If the size of the population is manageable, one can resort to census
method; otherwise, this method is seldom feasible. So, under this situation, it is appropriate to use
the alternate method of data collection that is sampling. Census refers to the complete enumeration
or counting of the whole population.

Sampling is a process of selecting a subset of randomized number of members of the population

of a study and collecting data about their attributes. The limited members of the population selected
for sampling are called as sampling units. Based on the data of the sample, the analyst will draw
inference about the population. Similarly, sampling is the process of selecting a number of study
units from a defined study population. The study population has to be clearly defined. Otherwise
you cannot do the sampling. The way you define your study population and your study unit
depends on the problem you want to investigate and on the objectives of the study.

A sample is any sub-set or representative of a total population from which sample is drawn in order
to generalize the finding of a given study to the population as a whole. In other words, sampling
is the process of selecting elements from a population (the aggregate number of elements or units
that are included in the study or about which the researcher wants to make inferences) of interest.

Page 38 of 68
Sample size: If the sample size is very large, then the error in making decision will be less. But, it
will be a costly exercise to do sampling for a large sample, which is more than the necessity. In
sampling, the right size of sample minimizes the error in making decision, too. Hence, before
performing sampling, it is a general practice to determine the sample size for a desired accuracy
based on the population variance.

The research proposal should provide information and justification about sample size. It is not
necessarily true that the bigger the sample, the better the study. Beyond a certain point, an increase
in sample size will not improve the study. In fact, it may do the opposite; if the quality of the
measurement or data collection is adversely affected by the large size of the study. After a certain
sample size, in general, it is much better to increase the accuracy and richness of data collection
(for example by improving the training of interviewers, by pre-testing of the data collection tools)
than to increase sample size. Besides, it is important to make extra effort to get a representative
sample rather than to get a very large sample. Generally, the actual sample size of a study is a
trade-off (compromise) between the level of precision to be achieved, the research budget and any
other operational constraints, such as time.

Sampling frame

The complete list of all the members/units of the population from which each sampling unit is
selected is known as sampling frame. Probability sampling requires that a listing of all study units
exists or can be compiled. This listing is called the sampling frame. It should be free from error.
A perfect sampling frame will contain its each unit only once. But, of course, at times, it is
impossible to obtain a complete list of the population. The sampling frame must be complete,
accurate, adequate and up to date, as explained below:

• Presence of all legitimate units in a frame makes it complete.

• Absence of non-existing units in the frame improves its accuracy.
• The structure of the frame should make it adequate in terms of covering the entire
population unlike the units from telephone directory of a region which has a limited subset
of the population of that region.
• The units of the frame must be up to date in terms of its content.

Page 39 of 68
Representative sampling: If researchers want to draw conclusions which are valid for the whole
study population, which requires a quantitative study design, they should take care to draw a
sample in such a way that it is representative of that population. A representative sample has all
the important characteristics of the population from which it is drawn. In short, a sample is a
representative of the population under study.

4.1. Essentials of Sampling

A sampling plan is a mechanism by which the sampling units of a study are selected from the
sampling frame of the population. The selection of the sampling plan in a study in turn affects the
cost and time to conduct the study, and the reliability of inferences of the study. Hence, it should
be selected with utmost care.

The size of the number of sampling units is relatively smaller when compared to that of the
population, which results in reduced time and cost of data collection. On the other hand, if the size
of the population is too large, it is impossible to collect data through complete enumeration
(census) method. This necessitates the use of sampling. In complete enumeration method of data
collection, since data is collected about each unit of the population, there is a greater possibility of
error in data collection. Whereas in sampling, there is more accuracy of data about the sampling
units because of its limited number of sampling units. In general, sampling has been taken as a
solution to overcome the problems of cost, feasibility, time and quality.

Advantages of sampling

Less time taken to collect data (i.e., saves time)

Less cost for data collection (i.e., saves cost/resource)
Minimizes discomfort
Helps to anticipate events
Helps to expand our horizon
It is the only option while collecting data using a destructive testing
Physical impossibility of complete enumeration (census) necessitates sampling
More accuracy of data collected due to its limited size

Page 40 of 68
 4.2. Types of Sampling (or Sampling Methods)

Sampling methods can be classified into two, viz., probability sampling and non-probability
sampling methods.

In ‘probability sampling’, each unit of the population has a probability of being selected as a unit
of the sample. But, this probability varies from one method to another method of probability
sampling. This type of sampling is more rigorous and free from biases. In ‘non-probability
sampling’, on the other hand, there may be instances that certain units of the population will have
zero probability of selection, because judgment, biases and convenience of the interviewers are
considered to be the criteria for the selection of sample units of such sampling.

4.2.1. Probability or Random Sampling Methods

Probability is defined as the chance of occurrence of an event. Many of the real-life events are
subjected to probability. Whether it is the events which occur in the day-to-day life of people or in
the day-to-day operation of businesses, one can visualize many examples of probability.

Probability sampling consist the following categories:

❖ Simple random sampling

❖ Systematic sampling
❖ Stratified random sampling
❖ Cluster sampling
❖ Multi-stage sampling

Simple random sampling

The guiding principle behind this technique is that each element must have an equal and nonzero
chance of being selected. This can be achieved by applying a table of random numbers or a
computer generated random numbers to a numbered sampling frame. Another approach involves
drawing numbers from a container. The product of this technique is a sample determined entirely
by chance. It should be noted, however, that chance is “lumpy”[shapeless, irregular], meaning that
random selection does not always produce a sample that is representative of the population.

Page 41 of 68
Let N be the number of units of the population; n be the number of units of the sample (n<N).
There are two ways of performing simple random sampling, viz., simple random sampling with
replacement of units and simple random sampling without replacement of units.

Simple random sampling with replacement: In this method of sampling, each unit of the
population has equal probability of being selected as a unit of the sample given by the following
formula:

The probability of selection of each unit=1/N

This means that the first unit of the sample will be selected from the population with a probability
of 1/N. The selection of the unit from the sample can be done using either random number table if
it is done manually or using Monte-Carlo simulation, if it is done using computer. Each of the
remaining units required for the sample is selected in the same way using the same probability of
sampling.

Simple random sampling without replacement: In this method of sampling, each unit of the
population has a varying probability of being selected as a unit of the sample given by the
following formula:

The probability of selection of the first unit= 1/N

The probability of selection of the second unit= 1/N-1

The probability of selection of the third unit= 1/N-2

The probability of selection of the nth unit= 1/N- (n-1)

Systematic Sampling

The systematic random sampling technique begins with selecting one element at random in the
sampling frame as the starting point; however, from this point onward, the rest of the sample is
selected systematically by applying a predetermined interval. This is a special kind of random
sampling in which the selection of the first unit of the sample from the population is based on
randomization. The remaining units of the sample are selected from the population at a fixed
interval of n, where n is the sample size. For example, let the size of the population (N) be 800 and

Page 42 of 68
the sample size (n) be 40. The units of the sampling frame are divided into n number of intervals
based on the ratio N/n, as shown below:

Sampling interval width, I= N/n=800/40=20

The sampling frame consists of units with serial numbers from 1 to 800. This range is divided into
40 intervals, viz., 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80,..., 760-780, 781-800, where the total number of
intervals is equal to the sample size. Then a number from the first interval 1-20 is selected
randomly and the unit of the population with this serial number is treated as the first unit of the
sample. Let the randomly selected unit from the first interval of the population be 12. Then, the
second unit of the sample is the unit in the population with serial number 32 which is obtained by
adding 20 (sampling interval width, I) to 12. Then, each of the remaining units of the sample can
be obtained from the population in the same manner by adding 20 to the serial number of the
previous unit selected from the population. As per these guidelines, the units of the population
with serial numbers 52,72,92,…,772 and 792 are treated as third, fourth, fifth,…,39th and40th units
of the sample, respectively.

The advantage of this sampling method is that, once the first unit of the sample is randomly
determined all the remaining units can be easily obtained. But, the sampling units starting from 2
to n are dependent on the first sampling unit which lacks complete randomization of the selection
of the sampling units from the population.

Stratified Sampling

Stratified random sampling begins with the identification of some variable, which may be related
indirectly to the research question and could act as a cofounder (such as geography, age, income,
ethnicity, or gender). This variable is then used to divide the sampling frame into mutually
exclusive strata or subgroups. Once the sampling frame is arranged by strata, the sample is selected
from each stratum using simple random sampling or systematic sampling techniques. It is
important that the sample selected within each stratum reflects proportionately the population
proportions; thus, you can employ proportionate stratified sampling.

Stratified sampling is an improved sampling over simple random sampling and systematic
sampling. This sampling will have more statistical efficiency. In this sampling method, the

Page 43 of 68
population is divided into a specified set of strata such that the members within each stratum have
similar attributes but the members between strata have dissimilar attributes. This means that each
stratum is homogenous when compared to the population.

Consider an example of studying the educational standard of schools in a state. The location of a
school will have certain influence over its standard of education. The location can be classified
into rural, semi-urban and urban areas. If we use the same proportion of sampling units from each
stratum, then it is known as proportional stratified sampling; otherwise, the sampling is known as
disproportional stratified sampling.

In the above example, if there is no much of difference (less variance) in educational standard of
education between schools within each area, viz., stratum (rural or semi-urban or urban), then the
proportional stratified sampling is to be used. In other words, if the variance between the members
within each stratum of a population is zero or very less, then one can employ proportional stratified
sampling.

But, due to good infrastructure facilities and other reasons, it is generally expected that the standard
of education between the schools located in an urban area would be more or less same which
results in less variance between them; but on other extreme, the standard of education between the
schools located in a rural area differs markedly because of varying infrastructure facilities. In this
context, one should use disproportional stratified sampling. In disproportional stratified sampling,
the stratum which has more variance will have proportionately more sampling units when
compared to another stratum which has less variance.

Cluster sampling

Cluster sampling is a sampling technique in which the population is divided into different clusters
such that the members within each cluster are dissimilar (heterogeneous) in terms of their
attributes, but different clusters are similar to each other. This leads to the inference that each
cluster can be treated as a small population which possesses all the attributes of the population.
Hence, in cluster sampling, any one of the clusters is randomly selected and all the units of that
cluster are selected (sampled) to arrive at inference about the population. All study units in the
selected clusters will be included in the study.

Page 44 of 68
 1 5 6
2 7 8
3 9
4 10
Figure 4.1 Schematic view of cluster sampling

A schematic view of the cluster sampling is shown in figure 4.1. The population shown in the
figure consists of clusters from 1 to 10. These clusters can be viewed as different geographic
regions of a state. In a survey to study the culture of the population of a state and its impact on the
economy of the state, one can conveniently assume that these cultures are similar to each other and
the members within each cluster are heterogeneous. This kind of sampling can also be called area
sampling as the population and cluster are defined with reference to the geographic regions.

Multistage Sampling

In a large scale survey covering the entire nation/subcontinent, the size of the sampling frame will
be too large which leads to more time and cost of the study. In such study, multi-stage sampling
technique helps designing a smaller sampling frame which will make the study practicable in terms
of cost and time. This sampling method employs more than one stage to sample the population
depending upon the reality. The combination of the types of sampling techniques to be used in the
specified number of stages is unique to the reality.

Multistage sampling is used when an appropriate sampling frame does not exist or cannot be
obtained. Multistage cluster sampling uses a collection of preexisting units or clusters to “stand
in” for a sampling frame. The first stage in the process is selecting a sample of clusters at random
from the list of all known clusters. The second stage consists of selecting a random sample from
each cluster. Because of this multistage process, the likelihood of sampling bias increases. This
creates a lack of sampling precision known as a design effect. It is recommended to consider the
design effect during sample size determination.

4.2.2. Non-probability or non-random Sampling

Non-probability sampling consist the following categories:

❖ Convenience sampling or volunteer sampling

Page 45 of 68
 ❖ Judgment sampling or purposive sampling
❖ Quota sampling
❖ Snowball sampling

Convenience sampling

This is a non-probability sampling method in which the interviewers will decide the choice of
sampling units based on their convenience. In most of the situations, the following may be true:

The sampling units may be distributed sparsely.

Many respondents will refuse to fill the questionnaires.
Some respondents will not cooperate in filling the questionnaires.
Some of the interviewers may not be serious in selecting the sampling units as per the
assumed sampling plan.

Though the probability sampling gives better accuracy in terms of confidence level of the
inferences of the study, there are many practical difficulties in fully executing probability sampling
because of the limitations stated above. So, naturally, the interviewers will be resorted to
convenience sampling to overcome such difficulties. The sampling units for this type of sampling
are selected from a telephone directory, newspaper subscribers list, departmental stores, etc.

Judgment sampling (Purposive sampling)

Purposive sampling may succeed in achieving a true cross-section of the population. The primary
concern in purposive sampling (also known as judgmental sampling) is the judgment of the
researcher as to who and what can provide the best information to achieve the objectives of the
study. Or, in purposive sampling, the researcher samples with a purpose in his/her mind. In
addition, Riffe and Freitag (1997) confirm the importance and popularity of purposive sampling
in content analysis. For instance, in their study, they found that 68 percent of all the content
analyses in Journalism Quarterly from 1971 to 1995 used a purposive sample.

In judgmental sampling method, the sampling units are selected on the advice of some expert or
by the intuition/opinion of the researcher him/herself. In the first case, an expert who is familiar
with the sampling frame guides the researcher in selecting the sampling units from the sampling

Page 46 of 68
frame. In the second case, the researcher applies his/her intuitive judgment and previous
experience in selecting the sampling units from the sampling frame.

In this sampling method, there is more chance of personal biases. But, if the exercise is done more
seriously, it would lead to better results. This sampling is also called as purposive sampling
because the sampling units of the sample are identified from the population selectively which
prevents the inclusion of other sampling units in the sample. This sampling technique is applied
for sampling the population related to rare events in which the members of the population are not
equally qualified to become the members of the sampling frame and hence the members of the
sample.

Quota sampling

In quota sampling method, the population is classified into a number of groups based on some
criterion, say age of the members of population, viz., old age, middle age and young age. Let the
proportion of the number of persons in the population under the old age category be 20%, and that
of middle age and young age be 50% and 30%, respectively. In the quota sampling, the proportions
of the number of sampling units selected from these categories are the same as in the population.
If n is the sample size, then the proportions of the number of sampling units to be selected from
the old age, middle age and young age categories will be 20%, 50% and 30% of the sample size
(n), respectively (i.e. 0.2n, 0.5n and 0.3n, respectively). Later, while selecting the required number
of sampling units from each category, one can use any one of the other non-probability sampling
methods, viz., convenience sampling or judgment sampling.

Snowball sampling

The snowball sampling is a restrictive multi-stage sampling in which initially certain numbers of
sampling units (respondents) are randomly selected. Later, additional sampling units are selected
based on referral process. This means that the initially selected respondents provide addresses of
additional respondents for the interviewers. This is an inexpensive and convenient sampling
method which suits the situations where the development of sampling frame is a difficult and time-
consuming task.

Page 47 of 68
 4.3. Sampling Procedures in Qualitative Research

Qualitative research methods are typically used when focusing on a limited number of informants,
whom you select strategically so that their in-depth information will give optimal insight into an
issue about which little is known. This is called purposeful sampling.

Chapter Five: Methods of Data Collection

The reliability of managerial decisions depends on the quality of data. The quality of data can be
expressed in terms of its representative feature of the reality which can be ensured by the usage of
a fitting data collection method. Data are the basic input to any decision-making process in a
business. The processing of data gives statistics of importance of the study.

The data can be classified into primary data and secondary data. The data which is collected from
the field under the control and supervision of an investigator for the first time by direct observation
is called primary data. This type of data is generally afresh and collected for the first time. The
data which is obtained from existing records such as journals, newspapers, magazines, government
publications, annual reports of various organizations, etc., is known as secondary data. In
simplistic terms a primary data can be defined as one that is personally researched by the researcher
himself or interviewer in terms of face-to-face interviews, visits, observation, and first–hand
experience; secondary data may be also defined as using any existing material, whether it is
written, stored on electronic data bases, audio/video recorded on different formats or indeed found
on the internet.

The distinction between primary data and secondary data is only relative. The primary data of one
study will serve as secondary data of another study. For example, the census data of a country is
an example of primary data to find the size of its population. This in turn will serve as data to plan
public distribution system of each state of a given country.

Different methods of primary data collection are observation method, personal interview,
telephone interview and mail survey. The success of survey methods depends on the strength of
the questionnaire used. A questionnaire consists of a set of well-formulated questions to probe and
obtain responses from respondents.

Page 48 of 68
In an observation method, the investigator will collect data through personal observations.
Personal interview is a survey method of data collection which employs a questionnaire. Personal
interview can be classified into door-to-door interview, executive interview, mall intercept
surveys, self-administered questionnaires and purchase intercept technique. Telephone interview
is considered to be a cost effective and dominant data collection method. Mail survey is a data
collection method in which questionnaires are mailed to potential respondents who in turn fill and
return them at their convenience.

The secondary data are collected from sources which have already been created for the purpose of
first-time use and future uses. The secondary data can be obtained from internal and external
sources. The internal sources of secondary data for marketing applications, for example, are sales
records, marketing activity (such as infrastructures, labour force, sales promotions and
advertisements), cost information, distributor reports and feedback and customer feedback. The
different external sources of secondary data are government publications, foreign government
publications, journals, publications of trade associations, books, magazines, newspapers, annual
reports, research reports in universities, industry handbook, publication of statistics department,
census data, etc.

Besides, publications from UNESCO, WHO, ILO, UNO [United Nation Organizations] also form
sources of secondary data. Case studies and findings of research articles in journals of different
disciplines form up-to-date form of secondary data for advanced research studies.

The secondary data collection involves less cost, time and effort. Sometimes more accurate data
can be obtained only from secondary data. Such data are collected for some other purpose. So,
sometimes, it may not suit for the present purpose. There is no control over secondary data
collection and hence it may not be accurate for many applications. Further, it may not be available
in the required format. Sometimes, it may be outdated and may not meet the requirements of the
present study.

5.1. Observation

Observation refers to the process of observing and recording events or situations. The technique is
particularly useful for discovering how individuals or groups of people or animals (and in some
instances inanimate objects) behave, act or react.
Page 49 of 68
There are two main types of observation, namely participant and non-participant:

Participant observation: It is usually limited to studies of human subjects. The researcher

becomes part of the group studied and participates in their daily life and activities: observing their
everyday situations and their behavior in these situations. Conversation is used in order to discover
the subjects’ own interpretations of events.

Non-participant observation: In this type of observation, the researchers simply observe the
activities without taking part themselves. Whilst this has the advantage of preventing the
researcher from unduly influencing or becoming involved in activities they may not wish to take
part in (for example dangerous or criminal actions), they are less likely to understand fully the
meanings behind behavior in the group studied. Beside the study of human subjects, non-
participant observation can also be used to study animal behavior.

In human observation studies the observer can remain covert, hiding their true identity as a
researcher, or covert, where their identity is revealed to those studied. It is argued that covert
research will lead to a more valid study as the subjects are less likely to modify their behavior if
they do not know they are the subjects of research. However, the ethics of such studies should be
questioned – have we the right to do this? In all research we have a responsibility to those being
studied and research should not interfere with their physical, social or mental welfare.

With regard to data collection during observation, it is impossible to keep a record of everything
and you must decide at the outset where your interests lie. You may decide to film or tape record
events, although the cost of this may be quite substantial. Data is often recoded through writing up
notes in private after the event or you could set up your own complex system with specific
categories of behavior for post-observation recordings.

Table 5.1. Advantages and disadvantages of observation method

Advantages Disadvantages
Requires little training or familiarization Time consuming
Can understand meanings behind actions Problems with recording data
Behavior can be observed in its natural Can only study a small group
environment, the subject is undisturbed

Page 50 of 68
 Can study deviant groups such as chat addicts Cannot make generalizations- no way of
judging whether the group is typical or not
Flexibility- researcher may come across If covert is it ethical?
conditions and events previously not
comprehended
Moral, legal and injury risks associated with
this model
Source: AAU, 2009

5.2. Questionnaires

Asking the correct (in time, structure) question is half of the answer. A questionnaire is a type of
survey where respondents write answers to questions posed by the researcher on a question form.
A number of respondents are asked identical questions, in order to gain information that can be
analyzed, patterns found and comparisons made. Questionnaires are extremely flexible and can be
used to gather information on almost any topic involving large or small numbers of people.

Broadly speaking the format of a question can be grouped into two: open-ended questions and
closed-ended questions.

Open-ended questions: The open-ended questionnaire differs in that it allows the respondent to
formulate and record their answers in their own words. These are more qualitative and can produce
detailed answers to complex problems.

In this type of question, the interviewer writes the answer of the respondent verbatim. Here, there
is no pre-coded classification of answers to the question. It may bring unconventional answers
which are not known to the researcher. Generally, this type of question is used for probing type
question, introductory question to get opinion about the components of the system of study,
sensitive question, etc. If the number of alternative answers is many, then one can resort to this
type of question. This is alternatively known as unstructured question.

Examples of open-ended questions

• What are the reasons for poor performance of students?

Page 51 of 68
 • Do you think that corruption is eternal or stoppable issue? Reason out.
• What is your assertion about the efficacy of applying the continuous assessment of
students?
• People go to the church/mosque for different reasons; for what reason do you most go?

Closed-ended questions: Closed-ended questions are structured questions. Closed choice or fixed
questions where the respondent is required to answer by choosing an option from a number of
given answers, usually by ticking a box or circling an answer. These types of questionnaires only
gather straightforward, uncomplicated information, and only simple questions can be asked. It has
two formats:

(1) Questions with multiple responses out of which the respondents have to select one or more
choices.
For example, look at the following sample format

Question: What is the number of dependents with you?

A) None B) One C) Two D) Three E) Four and above

(2) Questions with rating scale with discrete responses or continuous range.

For example, look at the following sample format

Question 1: “Joint family system leads to better GDP of a nation.” Please tick one of the following:

A) Strongly agree B) Moderately agree C) Strongly disagree D) Moderately disagree

E) Neither agree nor disagree.

Question 2: Have you ever watching football matches?

A) Yes B) No

(Question 2 is an example of an extreme form of closed-ended question because it has only two
responses: yes or no).

Generally speaking, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with each type of method.
Open-ended questions give a greater insight and understanding of the topic researched but may be
difficult to classify and quantify and must be carefully interpreted. Fixed choice questions are easy
Page 52 of 68
to classify and quantify, require less time, effort and ingenuity to answer but do not allow the
respondents to qualify, develop or clarify their answers.

Mail survey

Mail survey is a data collection method in which questionnaires are mailed to potential respondents
who in turn fill and return them at their convenience. This method has the following advantages:

o Less cost of data collection

o Less time of data collection
o Wider coverage of population
o Better accuracy of data
o Absence of interviewer’s bias.

But mail survey has the following drawbacks too,

o The identity of the respondents is not known to the interviewers

o The questionnaire may be filled in by the assistant/family members of the respondent
o Some respondents may not return filled in questionnaires
o There may be delay from the part of the respondent in returning the filled in questionnaires.

5.3. Interviews

Interviews are one of the most commonly used and most fundamental research techniques.
Perhaps, the simplest way to describe the term an ‘interview’ is to say that it is a conversation or
an interaction between interviewer and interviewee, in which the former has the role of researcher;
or it is a conversation between a researcher (someone who wishes to gain information about a
subject) and an informant (someone who presumably has information of interest on the subject).
The term interview can be also defined as any person-to-person interaction between two or more
individuals with a specific purpose in mind.

Interviews are limited to cases where the subjects of study are humans. Interviews are a type of
survey where questions are delivered in a face-to-face encounter by an interviewer. The interview
is like a conversation and has the purpose of obtaining information relevant to a particular research
topic. It is initiated by the researcher and is focused on specific content.

Page 53 of 68
Interviewing is one of the most widely used data collection methods in media and communication
research, and it is mainly applied in the qualitative research method. There are a number of
different types of interviews, such as informal conversational interview, structured interview (this
is purely quantitative interview, like a closed-ended questionnaire, and it is formal interview which
is determined in advance and have fixed responses), semi-structured interview, unstructured
interview (this is purely qualitative interview like an informal interview), in-depth interview and
focus group interview, among other things.

There are advantages and disadvantages associated with each type of method. Structured
interviews maximize reliability and are easier to classify and quantify. By contrast unstructured
interviews can give a greater insight and more in-depth understanding of the topic researched, but
need more expertise to control and more time for analysis.

Reliability is concerned with the question of whether the results or findings of a study are
repeatable or not. To assess the reliability of a measure of a concept, the procedures that constitute
that measure must be replicable by someone else. Therefore, reliability can be met if the findings
of one researcher can be repeated by another researcher following the same method of procedures
over a period of time. Alternatively, Oppenheim (1992) recommends that a research tool to be
reliable, it must be consistent. “Reliability in content analysis is essentially about consistency:
consistency between different coders (inter-coder reliability), and consistency of the individual
coder’s coding practice over time (intra-coder reliability).” Thus, reliability is both an indication
and measure of consistency – this condition will be met if and only if different coders code the
same content/story in the same way (i.e. consistently). The simplest way of testing reliability
(“intercoding reliability” in content analysis jargon) is to have several coders analyze the identical
content and then compare the results.

Page 54 of 68
Table 5.2 Advantages and disadvantages of interview method

Advantages Disadvantages
High response rate Limited sample only
Can collect complex information Can be difficult to analyse (especially in-depth
interviews)
High degree of researcher control achieved May be a hostile reaction
Can be made more responsive to early results Whole process is time consuming
Relaxed environment Recording techniques may cause problems
There is room for interviewer bias
Source: AAU, 2009:83

Types of Interviews

Personal Interview

Personal interview is a survey method of data collection which employs a questionnaire. The
components of the personal interview are the researcher, the interviewer, the interviewee and the
interview environment. Under the guidance of the researcher several interviewers will be sent with
questionnaires to meet the respondents/interviewees of the survey for seeking responses to the
questions in the questionnaire under the defined interview environment. The environment is
defined in terms of place, time and several other factors which will influence interviewees.
Personal interview can be classified into door-to-door interview, executive interview, mall
intercept surveys, self-administered questionnaires and purchase intercept technique.

Door-to-door interviewing: in door-to-door interview, the interviewer will go to the residence of

each selected respondents/customers and obtain responses for the items in the questionnaire by
direct interviewing with him/her for the topic of study. This is a detailed in-depth survey method
which seeks responses with better precision. It is a time-consuming and costly process.

Executive interviewing: It is same as door-to- door interviewing except that the interviewees are
industrial executives and the products are industrial goods. This is a costly and time-consuming

Page 55 of 68
process. The average waiting time of the interviewers at the offices of the executives before
commencing the interview process is too long because of the busy schedule of the executives.

Mall intercept interview: It is conducted in shopping complexes where a diverse spectrum of

customers can be interviewed. The people who pass through that place will be used as respondents
for filling the questionnaires. In this method, the interviewers are stationed in a particular place of
an area and the people who come to that area will be sampled and served with questionnaires.
Hence, it is a less costly and quick process.

Self-administered interview: here the respondents will be issued with questionnaires and they
will be asked to fill them on their own. This mean that the interviewers will be absent while filling
the questionnaires. This method has the advantage of removing interviewer’s bias. But, the absence
of the interviewer will make the respondents to assume some irrelevant responses for some open
ended questions for which the respondents have limited knowledge/doubt. It is a less costly and
quick process.

Purchase intercept technique: it is a direct interviewing method in which the customers will be
intercepted and interviewed after they select their items from the showroom. The main advantage
of this method is that it will enable the buyers to have better recall and compare the product of
interest with competing brands with greater accuracy since they are yet to complete the buying.
But, in this method, the sampling is restricted to the buyers who completed the selection of some
items to buy. Hence, a complete randomized selection of sampling units is prohibited in this
method.

Telephone Interview

Telephone interview is considered to be a cost effective and dominant data collection method
because of the following reasons:

✓ The travel time of interviewers is totally eliminated

✓ The cost of travel of interviewers is also eliminated
✓ Greater possibility of reaching the customers all over the geography
✓ Total time of conducting the interview of the sample is least when compare to other
methods

Page 56 of 68
 ✓ Greater possibility of random selection of respondents among the population having
telephone connection
✓ There is a greater probability of reaching the respondent unlike the non-response problems
of personal interview.

On the other hand, the drawbacks of telephone interview are:

✓ Impossible to employ visual aids

✓ Exclusion of population who are not having telephone connection
✓ Interviewee may discontinue conversation in the mid-way unlike the personal interview in
which there is greater probability of completing the interview fully because of the rapport
developed between the interviewer and the interviewee through personal contact.

The components of the telephone interview are same as the personal interview, viz., the researcher,
the interviewer, the interviewee and the interview environment. The unique features of telephone
interview are selecting telephone numbers, call outcomes, call timing and call reports.

5.4. Focus Group Interview (Focus Group Discussion - FGD)

The focus group is a type of interview that involves carefully selected individuals who usually do
not know each other. They generally consist of 7-10 members alongside the researcher. These
individuals are selected as they hold particular characteristics which the researcher believes are
necessary to the topic of focus. A group discussion is held in a permissive environment in order to
extract opinions and share ideas and perceptions through group interaction. It is not necessary to
reach a consensus. In this method of qualitative data gathering technique, the researcher acts as a
moderator and listener posing predetermined open ended questions which the respondents answer
in any way they choose.

General tips for carrying out interviews:

Begin with an explanation of who you are and what the survey is about and ensure
confidentiality.
Try to achieve rapport with the respondent [interviewee]: be friendly and look as if you are
enjoying the interview and are interested in what they have to say.
Be aware of the importance of body language in face-to-face interviews.

Page 57 of 68
 Be aware that interviewees are more at ease with someone who is like them in terms of
ethnicity, class, sex, speech and dress code. Whilst the majority of these cannot be changed,
you can dress in a similar manner to your interviewee.
Be familiar with your questions and ask them in a neutral manner, endeavor not to lead
respondents to answer in a certain way.
Be aware of your role as an interviewer, which is to listen, not to speak.
Take a full record of the interview either through tape-recording or note taking.

Chapter Six: Data Analysis (or Report writing and Presentation)

Following data collection, investigators must be classified and presented the collected data in meaningful
forms to have better insight of a research problem. In other words, after data are collected, proper tools and
techniques should be used for classification and analysis of data. The classification tools serve as data
presentation techniques for clear interpretations. Of the various tools of classification of data using charts
is one example. Charts are graphical representation of data. To mention some of the different types of charts
are pie chart, bar chart, stacked bar chart, histogram, frequency polygon and ogive curves.

Analysis is about a breaking down a broad idea, statement, data, etc. into a small, clear, concise, precise,
and understandable manner of the whole organ.

Decompositioning of total variability into its components is called analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The purpose of conducting a research is to come out with inferences and suggestions. Hence, the
outcome of the research should be well documented in the form of a research report for
implementation and future use. The design and presentation of the research report involves a pre-
specified sequence of steps which are presented this chapter.

6.1. Guidelines for Reviewing Draft

The draft of the research draft should be reviewed for an appropriate number of times so that the
errors are completely avoided. While reviewing the draft, certain guidelines are to be followed, as
indicated below:

▪ The text of the report should be free from ambiguity.

▪ The text should convey the intended message.

Page 58 of 68
 ▪ Because the readers are with different profiles, the style and presentation of the text of the
report should suit the profile of the targeted group of readers; otherwise, the purpose of the
report will be lost.
▪ The content of the report should fully reveal the scope of the research in logical sequence
without omitting any item and at the same time it should be crisp and clear.
▪ The report should be organized in hierarchical form with chapters, main sections,
subsections within main sections, etc.
▪ There should be continuity between chapters and also between sections as well as
subsections.
▪ The abstract at the beginning should reveal the essence of the entire report which gives the
overview of the report.
▪ The chapter on conclusions and suggestions is again enlarged version of the abstract with
more detailed elaboration on the inferences and suggestions.
▪ A reading of abstract and conclusion of a report should give the clear picture of the report
content to the readers.
▪ Avoid using lengthy sentences unless warranted.
▪ Each and every table and figure should be numbered and it must be referred in the main
text.
▪ The presentation of the text should be lucid so that every reader is able to understand and
comprehend the report content without any difficulty.
▪ The report should have appropriate length.

6.2.1. Cover Page

The cover page gives the title of the research, department/faculty to which the thesis/report is
submitted, degree for which it is submitted, name of the researcher, name of the supervisor (if
applicable), university/organization emblem, name of the university/organization and its address,
month and year of submission. A sample cover page is shown in Table 6.1.

6.2.2. Introductory Pages

The introductory pages are vita [for books only], acknowledgments, abstract, table of contents, list
of tables, list of figures and list of variables (acronyms/abbreviations).

Page 59 of 68
6.2.2.1. Vita: It gives a brief bio-data of the researcher. This should contain the following:

• Name of the researcher

• Date of birth and place of birth
• Degrees already holding and the respective years of pass and institutions of study
• Details of experience in chronological sequence
• List of publications by the researcher which are classified as follows: (1) publications by
the researcher from the current research (2) publications by the researcher in other others

6.2.2.2. Acknowledgments: In the process of carrying out any research, the researcher would have
received help from different persons and organizations. So, all those helps should be acknowledged
under this heading.

6.2.2.3. Abstract: Abstract gives the overview of the research report outlining the title of the
research, objective(s), shortcomings of existing literatures, need for further research, proposed
measure of performance and research methods, results of comparison and highlights of inferences.

The abstract (also called summary) is a one page brief summary of the thesis/proposal. It needs to
show a reasonably informed reader why a particular topic is important to address and how you will
do it. To that end, it needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic
and what new contribution your work will make. Specify the question that your research will
answer, establish why it is a significant question; show how you are going to answer the question.
Do not put information in the abstract that is not in the main text of your research thesis/proposal.
Do not put references, figures, or tables in the abstract. Though it appears at the front of the
proposal/thesis, it is written last.

6.2.2.4. Table of contents: Table of contents is the catalogue of the research report which
summarizes every aspect of the report.

6.2.2.5. List of tables: In research reports, the data and results are presented in the form of tables
for quick grasp. Each and every table must be numbered. The numbering should be such that it is
internal to each chapter. For example, if the total number of tables in Chapter 4 is 6, then the
numbering should be from Table 4.1 to Table 4.6.

Page 60 of 68
6.2.2.6. List of figures: In research reports, the results are presented in the form of figures for
better understanding and comparison. Each and every figure must be numbered. The numbering
should be internal to each chapter. For example, if the total number of figures in Chapter 5 is 10,
then the numbering should be from Figure 5.1 to Figure 5.10. Figures and charts help infer the
relative comparison of results of a research study.

6.2.2.7. List of variables (acronyms/abbreviations): The researcher will be forced to use

different variables and abbreviations in different chapters of the research report to save time and
cost. They must be defined under the heading “List of Variables’ or ‘Acronyms’ or
‘Abbreviations’.

6.2.3. Text

The different items under ‘Text’ are chapters, main sections, subsections, footnotes and
conclusions. With regard to chapters, the text of the report should be divided into different chapters
depending on the type of research. For our purpose, the different chapters are as listed below:

➢ Introduction
➢ Literature Review
➢ Research Methodology [data collection methods]
➢ Data Analysis
➢ Conclusions

6.2.4. Bibliography (or References)

Each and every research work is based on a set of literatures which forms the foundation for the
research theme. This includes identification of the broader area of research and then narrow-
downing the specific research issues which are not yet tried by other researchers. Further, the
literatures are helpful for using appropriate tools of analysis. So, bibliography is an alphabetical
catalogue of different literatures which are used in the research. The references can be classified
into books, journals, research studies, magazines, newspapers, periodicals, government
publications, websites, etc.

Page 61 of 68
A basic tenet in reviewing the literature is to use an appropriate and consistent reference style.
When identifying a useful reference for a literature review, make a complete reference to the source
using an appropriate style.

You must give references to all the information that you obtain from books, papers in journals,
and other sources. The exact format for depicting references within the body of the text as well as
the end of the proposal varies from one discipline to another. It is best that to consult with someone
who is familiar with the format in your particular area of research.

Particularly with references obtained from websites, it is important to establish the reputability and
reliability of the website you are making reference to. Every reference in your main text must
appear in the list at the end of your proposal, and every reference in the list must be mentioned in
your main text.

As a general guideline, there are certain items that must be included from each source reference.
Let’s look at some of them as follows:

For a book give:

o The author
o The year of publication
o The title, and the edition number if there is one
o Place of publication
o The name of the publisher
o The page numbers for your reference.

For a journal paper give:

o The names of the authors

o The year of publication
o The title of the paper
o The title of the journal
o The volume number of the journal
o The first and last page numbers of the paper.

Page 62 of 68
For an internet reference give:

o The author of the web page

o The title of the item on the web page
o The date the item was posted on the web page
o The date the item was accessed from the web page
o The complete and exact URL[universal resource locator]

6.2.5. Appendices (or Annexes)

Each and every chapter of the text in a research report should be crisp so as to enable the readers
to have quick grasp of its content. Appendices help to achieve such quick grasp of the content of
each chapter of the report. Appendices are placed at the end of the report.

In a chapter, if there is any material whose absence within that chapter itself does not affect the
flow of reading and grasp of the content, then it can be presented at the end of the report under the
heading of ‘Appendices.’ Some of the types of materials which are to be placed under appendices
include such as the format of questionnaire, long tables and organizational or key respondents
details.

You can include in the appendices of your proposal any additional information that you think
might be helpful to a proposal reviewer. For example, appendices may include,

• Questionnaire and other collection forms

• Dummy tables
• Biographical data on the principal investigator
• The consent form (if any)

6.3. Typing Instructions

After thoroughly checking the draft of the research report, it should be given for final typing. This
sections deals with important instructions for typing the report. The different items which to be
concentrated are paper, margins, indention, spacing between lines and spacing within a sentence.

6.3.1. Paper: The quarto-size white thick un-ruled paper is used for the final printing of the report.
The printing should be done on one side only.

Page 63 of 68
6.3.2. Margins: The left margin and the right margin of the report should be 1.5 inch and 1 inch,
respectively. The top as well as bottom margins should be 1 inch. But, in the pages starting with a
chapter, the top margin should be 3 inch.

6.3.3. Indention: The paragraph can be classified into general and indented. The first line of
general paragraph is not indented, whereas in indented paragraph, the first line of the paragraph is
indented by 10 spaces from the left margin.

6.3.4. Spacing between lines: The entire report should be typed with double spacing except
indented paragraphs, tables and footnotes. The indented paragraphs, tables and footnotes are to be
typed with single spacing. But there should be double spacing between each neighboring pair of
these single spaced items, that is, between adjacent indented paragraphs as well as adjacent tables.

Triple spacing should be given for the following cases:

Before each paragraph heading

Before and after each centre heading, centre subheading, side heading and indented
paragraph.

6.3.5. Spacing within a sentence: The details of spacing within a sentence are summarized in
Table 6.2.

Table 6.2. Details of spacing within a sentence

Description of item Number of spaces

Between words 1
After a semicolon, colon, and comma 1
After a full stop or period 1
Before the first parenthesis or bracket 1
Between the last letter of a word in a sentence and each of 0
comma, semicolon, colon, exclamation mark, question mark,
last parenthesis and last bracket
Before the first quotation mark and the very next word 0

Page 64 of 68
 Between the end quotation mark and the immediate preceding 0
word
Before and after a hyphen (-) 0
Before and after a slash (/) 0
Source: (Panneerselvam, 2009:597).

6.4. Oral Presentation

After the completion of any research project, the concept, techniques and results of the research
project should be presented to the audience of interested group. The presenter should take all the
necessary steps to make his/her presentation more effective so that the audience receives the
essence of the report without any omission. In so doing, the presenter should consider the following
aspects of communication to make his/her presentation more effective:

• Purpose of the presentation should be identified. The purpose may be to inform the
audience, selling the data, persuading, changing the attitude, etc.
• Knowledge about the mix of audience
• The breadth and depth of the message should be decided to suit the audience
• If the presenter has the option of selecting presentation timing, then it should be either at
the beginning of the day or after a break
• The size of the room should be decided based on the size of the audience
• The audience should be provided with pre-presentation handout if necessary
• Best fitting audio-visual aids should be selected and used. Some of the audio-visual aids
are tape recorder, overhead projector, epidiascope, slide projector, video cassette, etc.
• It is better to augment the audio-visual aids with writings on conventional blackboard
• Computer-aided presentation can be made if there is required infrastructure at the place of
presentation
• The oral presentation should be augmented with minimal number of transparencies
• The presenter should avoid simply reading the transparencies without explanation
• The beginning of the presentation must be impressive
• The presenter should avoid distracting the audience
• The presenter should take continuous effort to involve the audience

Page 65 of 68
 • It is preferable to allow questions even before the completion of the presentation
• The presenter should maintain eye contact with the audience
• The presenter should continuously sense the response of the audience through their facial
expression and symbolic actions and tune the presentation accordingly.

Chapter Seven: Levels of Measurement

The first decision to be made in operationalizing a construct is to decide on what is the intended
level of measurement. Levels of measurement, also called rating scales, refer to the values that an
indicator can take (but says nothing about the indicator itself). For example, male and female (or
M and F, or 1 and 2) are two levels of the indicator “gender.” In his seminal article titled "On the
theory of scales of measurement" published in Science in 1946, psychologist Stanley Smith
Stevens (1946) defined four generic types of rating scales for scientific measurements: nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio scales.

Nominal scales, also called categorical scales, measure categorical data. These scales are used for
variables or indicators that have mutually exclusive attributes. Examples include gender (two
values: male or female), industry type (manufacturing, financial, agriculture, etc.), and religious
affiliation (Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc.). Even if we assign unique numbers to each value, for
instance 1 for male and 2 for female, the numbers don’t really mean anything (i.e., 1 is not less
than or half of 2) and could have been easily been represented non-numerically, such as M for
male and F for female. Nominal scales merely offer names or labels for different attribute values.
The appropriate measure of central tendency of a nominal scale is mode, and neither the mean nor
the median can be defined. Permissible statistics are chi-square and frequency distribution, and
only a one-to-one (equality) transformation is allowed (e.g., 1=Male, 2=Female).

Ordinal scales are those that measure rank-ordered data, such as the ranking of students in a class
as first, second, third, and so forth, based on their grade point average or test scores. However, the
actual or relative values of attributes or difference in attribute values cannot be assessed. For
instance, ranking of students in class says nothing about the actual GPA or test scores of the
students, or how they well performed relative to one another. A classic example in the natural
sciences is Moh’s scale of mineral hardness, which characterizes the hardness of various minerals
by their ability to scratch other minerals. For instance, diamonds can scratch all other naturally

Page 66 of 68
occurring minerals on earth, and hence diamond is the “hardest” mineral. However, the scale does
not indicate the actual hardness of these minerals or even provides a relative assessment of their
hardness. Ordinal scales can also use attribute labels (anchors) such as “bad”, “medium”, and
“good”, or "strongly dissatisfied", "somewhat dissatisfied", "neutral", or "somewhat satisfied", and
"strongly satisfied”.

In the latter case, we can say that respondents who are “somewhat satisfied” are less satisfied than
those who are “strongly satisfied”, but we cannot quantify their satisfaction levels. The central
tendency measure of an ordinal scale can be its median or mode, and means are uninterpretable.
Hence, statistical analyses may involve percentiles and non-parametric analysis, but more
sophisticated techniques such as correlation, regression, and analysis of variance, are not
appropriate. Monotonically increasing transformation (which retains the ranking) is allowed.

Interval scales are those where the values measured are not only rank-ordered, but are also
equidistant from adjacent attributes. For example, the temperature scale (in Fahrenheit or Celsius),
where the difference between 30 and 40 degree Fahrenheit is the same as that between 80 and 90
degree Fahrenheit. Likewise, if you have a scale that asks respondents’ annual income using the
following attributes (ranges): $0 to 10,000, $10,000 to 20,000, $20,000 to 30,000, and so forth,
this is also an interval scale, because the mid-point of each range (i.e., $5,000, $15,000, $25,000,
etc.) are equidistant from each other. The intelligence quotient (IQ) scale is also an interval scale,
because the scale is designed such that the difference between IQ scores 100 and 110 is supposed
to be the same as between 110 and 120 (although we do not really know whether that is truly the
case). Interval scale allows us to examine “how much more” is one attribute when compared to
another, which is not possible with nominal or ordinal scales. Allowed central tendency measures
include mean, median, or mode, as are measures of dispersion, such as range and standard
deviation. Permissible statistical analyses include all of those allowed for nominal and ordinal
scales, plus correlation, regression, analysis of variance, and so on. Allowed scale transformation
are positive linear. Note that the satisfaction scale discussed earlier is not strictly an interval scale,
because we cannot say whether the difference between “strongly satisfied” and “somewhat
satisfied” is the same as that between “neutral” and “somewhat satisfied” or between “somewhat
dissatisfied” and “strongly dissatisfied”. However, social science researchers often “pretend”

Page 67 of 68
(incorrectly) that these differences are equal so that we can use statistical techniques for analyzing
ordinal scaled data.

Ratio scales are those that have all the qualities of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales, and in
addition, also have a “true zero” point (where the value zero implies lack or non- availability of
the underlying construct). Most measurement in the natural sciences and engineering, such as
mass, incline of a plane, and electric charge, employ ratio scales, as are some social science
variables such as age, tenure in an organization, and firm size (measured as employee count or
gross revenues). For example, a firm of size zero means that it has no employees or revenues. The
Kelvin temperature scale is also a ratio scale, in contrast to the Fahrenheit or Celsius scales,
because the zero point on this scale (equaling -273.15 degree Celsius) is not an arbitrary value but
represents a state where the particles of matter at this temperature have zero kinetic energy. These
scales are called “ratio” scales because the ratios of two points on these measures are meaningful
and interpretable. For example, a firm of size 10 employees is double that of a firm of size 5, and
the same can be said for a firm of 10,000 employees relative to a different firm of 5,000 employees.
All measures of central tendencies, including geometric and harmonic means, are allowed for ratio
scales, as are ratio measures, such as studentized range or coefficient of variation. All statistical
methods are allowed. Sophisticated transformation such as positive similar (e.g., multiplicative or
logarithmic) are also allowed.

The End!

Page 68 of 68