1. JOSEPH COLLEGE OF COMMERCE (Autonomous)

END SEMESTER EXAMINATION – APRIL 2014

BBM – IV Semester

BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Duration : 3 Hrs.                                                                                                Max. Marks: 100

Section – A

1. Answer ALL the questions. Each carries 2 marks.                                       (10 x 2 = 20)
2. Narrate the reasons to support the argument that research is essential to address the problems faced by companies?
3. In what order will you make the following entries in the bibliography
4. “An Examination of the Comparative Reality of Performance Rating ” Walter C. Borman, Journal of Applied Psychology,  Vol.12 No. 7  pp 158-77 Oct. 2013
5. “India Unbound” , Revised and updated edition, 2002, Gurcharan Das, Penguinbooks.
6. Explain the term “population parameter’ with proper examples..
7. What are the main aims of sampling?
8. State the advantages a researcher gets while depending on primary data.
9. Explain the term ‘coding’ with suitable examples. What is the purpose behind coding.
10. Illustrate the meaning of “level of significance” with suitable examples ?
11. Which of the following statements is a null hypothesis? State your reasons.
12. The population proportions of Agra and Allahabad differ in wheat consumption.
13. The population proportions of Agra and Allahabad do not differ in wheat consumption.
14. What is meant by “glossary of terms” and in which part of the research is it normally found?
15. What is a “footnote’ and where does it appear in a report?

Section – B

1. Answer any FOUR questions. Each carries 5 marks.    (4 x 5 = 20)
2. Suppose you are working as Assistant HR Manager of Asia Pacific Sports goods company.  To improve competitiveness in the market,  the management wants to revamp the entire functioning of the HR division of the company. You are asked to make close association with the agency conducting research.  To ensure research to be of value, what  essential features  of research should you  ensure that the agency is adhering to?
3. Discuss the characteristics of a good sample design.
4. Rahul wants to conduct a research on bank fraud happening in commercial banks. What would be the source of information that would assist him in the task? State which source of data will help him in his endeavour. Briefly state the difference between primary and secondary data.
5. What is meant by editing? What is the purpose behind editing?
6. State the important principles that are to be followed while preparing a table.
7. Discuss what is meant by “end notes” and what are the items presented in this section.

Section – C

III. Answer any THREE questions.  Each carries 15 marks.                          (3 x 15 = 45)

17. A very successful business person who was not fortunate enough to have higher level academic qualifications  is searching for  a business opportunity to export cotton cloths to Dubai. Will you advise this person about the desired sequence of steps  that are to be undertaken for  carrying out  a proper research before signing any technical collaboration with a foreign concern.
18. Discuss on the various non-probability and probability sampling techniques with suitable examples.
19. What do you understand by classification of data and what are its objectives? Elucidate different methods of classification of data?
20. What should be the ideal structure of a research report?
21. In an anti-bacterial campaign in a certain area, a new chemical drug was administered to 812 persons out of a total population 3248. The number of affected cases reported is shown below

Application of the drug
	Affected	Not affected	Total
Drug	20	792	812
No drug	220	2216	2436
Total	240	3008	3248

Discuss the usefulness of the drug in checking bacterial infection.

Given for v =1, X² _0.05 =3.84,  v =2, X² _0.05 =5.99

Section – D

1. Compulsory question – Case Study           (1 x 15 = 15)
2. In the following situations, decide what is the most appropriate method of data collection. State your reasons for recommending a particular method and what all sources are most appropriate.
3. Mr. Ramesh is conducting a study on the index of Chicago Mercantile Exchange on gold pricing and its impact of gold pricing under the Indian situations.
4. Ms. Chandana is interested in understanding the problems of marginalized women entrepreneurs due to financial exclusion by nationalized banks.
5. Ms. Carol and Mr. Pramod, two researchers, are investigating on latest Retail Store Display tactics to attract new customers so as to advise their clients.

 

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_{End Semester Examination – April 2014}

BM 401: BBM (Fourth Semester)

BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY –ANSWER KEY

Section – A

1. 1. Identify and find solutions to problems. 2. To help making decisions. 3. To find alternate strategies.
2. To develop new concepts.
3. Books:
4. Das, Gurcharan (2002) “India Unbound”, Penguinbooks, Revised and updated edition, 2002.

Journals

1. Borman, Walter C. (Oct. 2013) “An Examination of the Comparative Reality of Performance Rating” Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.12 No. 7 pp 158-77 .
2. Parameter is a characteristic of the population, eg., mean, standard deviation, proportion etc.,
3. The basic objective of sampling is to draw inferences about population. Sampling helps to understand the characteristics of the population.
4. First hand information- reliable information- useful in knowing opinion attitudes of people- starting point of collection of information.
5. After editing, the responses to individual questions are assigned symbols or numbers, which is referred to as coding. Coding helps to put responses into a limited number of categories or classes. E.g., question about marital status has two answers,.i.e., i) yes and ii) No. Researcher may code 1 to Yes and 2 to No.
6. The confidence with which null hypothesis is accepted or rejected depends on significance level. It is the probability of rejecting a null hypothesis when it is true. For instance, when LOS is .05, the statistician will be rejecting true null hypothesis 5 times out of every 100.
7. H_o: ii. The population proportion of Agra and Allahabad do not differ in wheat consumption

Hypothesis is of no difference is Null Hypothesis.

9. Glossary of terms is usually part of research Report. It contains a word list of specific terms and technical jargons used in the report.
10. Footnote is part of main report and appears at the bottom of a page or at the end of the main text. This refers to a source that the author has referred to or it may be an explanation of a particular referred to in the text

 

Section – B

11. 1. Clearly stated purpose. 2. A systematic and detailed plan of investigation 3. A logical system of data collection. 4. The study should be unbiased, objective and neutral. 5. Maintain high ethical standard.6. the study should be replicable.
12. Representation of population- variance between variables is small- free from bias- conform with the subject matter- based on past and practical experiences.
13. Secondary information.

Primary Source	Secondary Source
1. latest information	Relates to a past period
2. Apt for the study (tailor made)	Usually not apt for the study
3. Always not feasible	Some times more processed information available
4. Efforts of data collection more	Can be taken effortlessly,
5. Expensive	Inexpensive

 

14. Editing ensures that all relevant data are included and irrelevant are excluded. Errors and omissions are detected and corrected as far as possible. Purpose: Ensure i. Completeness, ii. Consistency, iii. Accuracy, iv. Homogeneity.
15. i. Table No., ii. Title, iii. Captions and Stubs [Caption =column heading, Stubs= row heading]

iv Head Notes – clarifies contents of the table. E.g., in millions, in hectars etc. v. Body – figures, sub totals . vi. Source: Source of information.

16. End notes provides all supportive material in the study. Some common details are: i) Appendices (consists of secondary information and primary data). Ii. Bibliography. iii. Footnote. iv. Glossary of terms.

Section C

7. Formulating research problem-extensive literature survey- Development of working hypothesis- preparing research design- determining sample design- collecting data- execution of project- Analyzing of the data- Hypothesis testing- Generalization and interpretation- preparation of report or thesis.

Non-probability sampling techniques:  convenience samples- judgment samples- Quota samples  – Snow ball sampling.  Probability sampling techniques: Simple random sampling:  [i. Lottery method, ii. Random number table Method  (Mechanical  Randomization),  Stratified random sampling, Systematic  random sampling. Cluster sampling, Multistage sampling.

19. The process of arranging and data in groups or classes according to resemblances and similarities is called classification of data. Objectives: 1. To simplify complexities, 2. To bring out points of similarity, 3. To facilitate comparison, 4. To bring out relationship, 5. To prepare basis for tabulation.  Methods of classification:  Classification based on: 1. Attributes, 2. Variables, 3.  Geographical, 4. Chronological.
20. 1. Preliminary section: i. title page, ii. letter of authorization, iii. Table of contents, declaration, iv. Acknowledgements. 2. Background section: i. Introduction and back ground, ii. Review of literature iii. Problem statement, iv. Objectives and scope. 3. Methodology section: i. research design, ii. sampling design, iii.  Data collection, iv. Data analysis tools used. 4. Analysis and interpretation. 5. Findings, Conclusion and Suggestions. 6. Appendices, glossary. 7. Bibliography.

H₀: The new drug is not effective in checking bacterial infection.

H_a: The new drug is effective in checking bacterial infection.

Expected frequency

60	752	812
180	2256	2436
240	3008	3248

 

O	E	(O-E)2	(O-E)2/E
20	60	1600	26.667
220	180	1600	8.889
792	752	1600	2.128
2216	2256	1600	0.709
			38.393

Calculate value of X² =38.393.  Table  value of X² = 3.84

Calculate value of X² is greater than the table value . Hypothesis is rejected. The new drug is effective in checking bacterial infection.

22.A.                (Secondary Information).

1. (Primary data and secondary data).
2. (Observation, web browsing)

 

 

 

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