Research Methodology

Meaning Clifford Woody Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting, organizing and evaluating data, making deductions and reaching conclusions and at the last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.

Importance To gain familiarity or achieve new insights To portray accurately the characteristics of an individual, situation or group To determine the frequency To test a hypothesis

Types of Research Descriptive vs Analytical Research Applied vs Fundamental Quantitative vs Qualitative Conceptual vs Empirical One time research Simulation research Exploratory research Historical research Decision oriented

Research Methods & Methodology Differences

Research Process Formulating the research problem Extensive literature survey Development of working hypothesis Preparing the research design Determining sample design Deliberate sampling, convenience, judgment Simple random sampling Systematic sampling

Contd - Stratified sampling - Quota sampling - Cluster sampling & area sampling - Multi- stage sampling Sequential sampling Collecting the data By observation Personal interview Telephonic interview

Contd Mailing questionnaire Schedules Execution of the project Analysis of the data Hypothesis testing Generalization Report preparation

Research Problem Individual or group which has a difficulty or problem Some objective to be attained Some alternatives Some doubt in the mind of the researcher Some environment

Technique Involved in Defining a Problem Statement of the problem in a general way Understanding the nature of the problem Surveying the available literature Developing the ideas through discussions Rephrasing the research problem

Points to be observed in defining the problem Technical terms or phrases should be clearly defined Basic assumptions Statement of value of investigation Time frame and availability of data Scope of investigation

Characteristics of Hypothesis Clear and precise Should be capable of being tested State relationship between variables Must be consistent

Concepts for testing of Hypothesis Null and alternative hypothesis Level of significance Decision rule or test of hypothesis Type I & type II errors Two-tail and one-tailed tests

Procedure for hypothesis testing Making a formal statement Selecting a significance level Deciding the distribution Selecting a random sample Calculating values Comparing the probability