This document provides an introduction to research methods and business research. It defines key concepts such as the meaning of research, objectives of research, types of research including descriptive vs analytical and quantitative vs qualitative, and components of the research process. Research is defined as a systematic investigation to discover facts or revise theories. The objectives are to gain insights, accurately portray characteristics, determine frequencies of occurrences, and test hypotheses. The types of research discussed include the different approaches and paradigms that can be taken. The research process involves defining the problem, reviewing literature, developing hypotheses, designing the study, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting findings.

2. Introduction to Research
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•To understand the fundamental concepts of business research methods
• To appreciate the several terminologies in business research
• To be able to identify one’s own philosophical position in business
research
• To be able to identify one’s own practical position in business research.

4. MEANING OF RESEARCH
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 “Research is a careful investigation or inquiry
especially through search for new facts in any branch
of knowledge.
 Research comprises defining and redefining problems,
formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions;
collecting, organising and evaluating data; making
deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last
carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether
they fit the formulating hypothesis.

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 Research can be defined as “a careful study to discover
correct information” or “a way of collecting information
to facilitate problem solving”. In most simple words, it is
“search and search again”.
 “A methodical investigation into a subject in order to
discover facts, to establish or revise a theory, or to
develop a plan of action based on the facts discovered.”

6. Business research
 Research is a wide field and has many branches like agricultural
research, medical research and physiological Research. Likewise,
business research is an important sub-sector of research and
encompasses: market research, financial research and human resource
research.
 To be brief, business research is any type of research to identify
investment opportunities or start of a business or subsequent
improvement. In startup, we need to know our target customers and
market competition. We need to provide information for attracting
potential investors. Research is a must for analyzing strengths and
weaknesses of a company, what customers demand or what the
business is offering. A company can focus to serve customers better or
gain over competitors or merely on its survival.

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 It can be defined as a systematic and objective process of
gathering, recording and analyzing data that provides
information to guide business decisions.
 It is used to understand the market trends.
 To find out the optimal marketing mix, devise effective
HR policies, or to find the best investment options.

8. OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
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To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to
achieve new insights into it (studies with this
object in view are termed as exploratory or
formulative research studies)
To portray accurately the characteristics of a
particular individual, situation or a group (studies
with this object in view are known as descriptive
research studies)

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To determine the frequency with which something
occurs or with which it is associated with something
else (studies with this object in view are known as
diagnostic research studies
To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables (such studies are known as hypothesis-
testing research studies).

10. Role of Business research in decision
making
 Problem / opportunity identification
 Problem / opportunity prioritization and selection
 Problem / opportunity resolution
 Implementing the course of action

11. Factors affecting Business Research
 Time constraint
 Availability of resources
 Nature of information sought
 Benefits versus costs

12. TYPES OF RESEARCH
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Types of research
Conceptual v/s
Empirical
Quantitative v/s
Qualitative
Applied v/s
Fundamental
Other types of
research
Descriptive v/s
analytical

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Descriptive vs. Analytical
 Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding
enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive
research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at
present.
 Involves gathering data that describe events and then
organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data.
 Uses description as a tool to organize data into patterns that
emerge during analysis.
 Researcher has no control over the variables; he can only
report what has happened and what is happning

15. Descriptive Research
takes a “what is” approach
 What is the best way to provide access to computer
equipment in schools?
 Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward using
computers in schools?
 What have been the reactions of school administrators
to technological innovations in teaching?

16. Data Collection Methods
Surveys Interviews
Observations

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 Under analytical research the researcher has to
use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the
material.]

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Applied vs. Fundamental
 Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem
facing a society or an industrial/business organisation
 It is use of basic research or past theories, knowledge and methods for
solving an existing problem. It deals with practical problems. It is
opposed to pure research which is not problem-oriented but for the
increase in knowledge which may or may not be used in future.
 The research conducted for a specific purpose, brand, company or
situation is called the applied research. For example if a research is
conducted in the KFC regarding the increasing waiters turnover it will
be called applied research because there is a specific purpose,
company and specific situation

19. Basic / Fundamental research
 Fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalisations
and with the formulation of a theory.
 Basic research refers to focused systematic study or investigation
undertaken to discover new knowledge and establish facts or
principles in a particular field.
 this type of research is conducted by the students or teachers of the
universities and educational institutions
 It is primarily aimed at gathering knowledge.
 Eg:
 Understanding the consumer buying process
 Examining the consumer learning process.

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21. Quantitative vs. Qualitative
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Quantitative research is based on the measurement of
quantity or amount.
It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in
terms of quantity.

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 Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e.,
phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. Qualitative Research is
designed to tell the researcher how and why things happen as they do. It aims
to achieve an in-depth understanding of a situation.
Qualitative research draws data from many sources, including the following:
1. Published texts
2. Organizations
3. People
Examples: investigating the reasons for human behavior (i.e. why people think
and do certain things),
Motivational research :which aims at discovering the underlying motives and
desires, using in depth interviews for the purpose.
Attitude and opinion research: how people feel or what they think about a
particular thing.

23. Conceptual vs. Empirical
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Conceptual research is that related to some abstract
idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by philosophers
and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret
existing ones.
Empirical research relies on experience or observation
alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It
is data-based research, coming up with conclusions
which are capable of being verified by observation or
experiment.

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Empirical Research Reports
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An empirical research report is structured to answer specific questions
posed by readers in scientific and technical fields:
–What is the problem?
–What was done to study the problem?
–What was found?
–What do the findings mean ?
An empirical research report is a report in which you gather your most
important information from primary sources, such as the field or
laboratory, rather than published documents. The research focuses on
why certain things happen.

25. Exploratory Research
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
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 undertaken with the aim of clarifying ambiguous problems
 general problems usually known but not sufficiently understood

 the purpose is to get more information, not to uncover specific courses of
action (subsequent research)
 The systematic investigation of relationship among two or more variables
 Purpose:
 To describe relationships
 To predict the effects of one variable on another
 To test relationships that are supported by clinical theory

26. Other Types of Research
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 One-time research or longitudinal research
In the former case the research is confined to a single time-period,
whereas in the latter case the research is carried on over several
time-periods.
 Exploratory & Formalized
 The objective of exploratory research is the development of
hypotheses rather than their testing, An exploratory study is
undertaken when not much is known about the situation at hand, or
no information is available on how similar problems or research
issues have been solved in the past.
 whereas formalized research studies are those with substantial
structure and with specific hypotheses to be tested.

27. Significance of Research
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 The role of research in several fields of applied economics,
whether related to business or to the economy as a whole
 Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies
in our economic system.
 Research has its special significance in solving various
operational and planning problems of business and industry.
 Research is equally important for social scientists in studying
social relationships and in seeking answers to various social
problems.

28. Research Methods versus Methodology
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 Research methods may be understood as all those
methods/techniques that are used for conduction
of research.
 All those methods which are used by the
researcher during the course of studying his
research problem are termed as research
methods.
 Research methods or techniques*, thus, refer to
the methods the researchers use in performing
research operations.

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 Research methodology is a way to systematically
solve the research problem.
 In Research methodology we study the various steps
that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying
his research problem along with the logic behind
them.

30. Research Process
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Review the Literature
Formulate Hypothesis
Design Research (including sample Design)
Collect Data (Execution)
Analysis Data (Test Hypothesis if any)
Interpret and report
Define the Research Problem

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 Define the Research Problem
There are two steps involved in formulating the research
problem, viz., understanding the problem thoroughly, and
rephrasing the same into meaningful terms from an
analytical point of view.
The best way of understanding the problem is to
discuss it with one’s own colleagues or with those having
some expertise in the matter.
 Extensive literature survey
Brief summary of the problem should be written down under
this.

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 Development of working hypotheses
Working hypothesis is tentative assumption made in
order to draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences.
Hypothesis should be very specific and limited to the
piece of research in hand because it has to be tested.
 Preparing the research design
Researcher will have to state the conceptual structure
within which research would be conducted.

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 Determining sample design
The researcher must decide the way of selecting a
sample or what is popularly known as the sample
design.
A sample design is a definite plan determined before
any data are actually collected for obtaining a sample
from a given population
 Collecting the data
Primary data can be collected either through
experiment or through survey.
If the researcher conducts an experiment, he observes
some quantitative measurements, or the data, with the
help of which he examines the truth contained in his
hypothesis.

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 Execution of the project
The researcher should see that the project is executed in
a systematic manner and in time.
If the survey is to be conducted by means of structured
questionnaires, data can be readily machine-processed.
 Analysis of data
After the data have been collected, the researcher turns to
the task of analyzing them.
The analysis of data requires a number of closely related
operations such as establishment of categories, the
application of these categories to raw data through
coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical inferences.

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 Hypothesis-testing
After analysing the data as stated above, the
researcher is in a position to test the hypotheses, if
any, he had formulated earlier.
Various tests, such as Chi square test, t-test, F-test,
have been developed by statisticians for the purpose
 Generalisations and
interpretation
If a hypothesis is tested and upheld several times, it
may be possible for the researcher to arrive at
generalisation, i.e., to build a theory
If the researcher had no hypothesis to start with, he
might seek to explain his findings on the basis of

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 Preparation of the report or
the thesis
Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report of what has
been done by him. Writing of report must be done with great
care keeping in view the following:
The layout of the report should be as follows: (i) the
preliminary pages; (ii) the main text, and (iii) the end matter.
Report should be written in a concise and objective style in
simple language avoiding vague expressions such as ‘it
seems,’ ‘there may be’, and the like.

37. Defining the Research Problem
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A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty which a
researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical or practical
situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
Condition of Research Problem:
(i) There must be an individual (or a group or an organisation),
(ii) There must be at least two courses of action,
(iii) There must be at least two possible outcomes of the course of
action, of which one should be preferable to the other.
(iv) The courses of action available must provides some chance of
obtaining the objective

38. SELECTING THE PROBLEM
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 Subject which is overdone should not be normally chosen,
for it will be a difficult task to throw any new light in such a
case.
 Controversial subject should not become the choice of an
average researcher.
 Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.
 The subject selected for research should be familiar and
feasible so that the related research material or sources of
research are within one’s reach.
 The importance of the subject, the qualifications and the
training of a researcher, the costs involved, the time factor
are few other criteria that must also be considered in
selecting a problem.

39. TECHNIQUE INVOLVED IN DEFINING A
PROBLEM
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 Statement of the problem in a general way: pilot
survey
 Understanding the nature of the problem : origin &
nature
 Surveying the available literature :
 Developing the ideas through discussions : experience
survey
 Rephrasing the research problem in to a working

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Research Design

41. Research Design
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 Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much,
by what means concerning an inquiry or a research
study constitute a research design.
 “A research design is the arrangement of conditions
for collection and analysis of data in a manner that
aims to combine relevance to the research purpose
with economy in procedure.”

42. Research design is always gives the answers of following
questions
 What is the study about ?
 Why is the study being made ?
 Where will the study be carried out ?
 What type of data is required ?
 Where can the required data be found ?
 What periods of time will the study include ?
 What will the sample design ?
 How will the data be analyzed ?

43. NEED FOR RESEARCH DESIGN
 Minimizes time and money
 Advance planning
 Avoid flaws
 Selection of appropriate tools
 Eliminate bias

44. FEATURES OF GOOD DESIGN
 It should be flexible, appropriate, efficient, economical
and so on.
 It should give a smallest experimental error and high
reliability and validity.
 Good research design includes following five important
elements.
 Subjects
 Variables
 Time
 Setting
 Investigator’s role

45. Components of Research Design
 Define the information needed.
 Design the exploratory, descriptive and/or causal
phases of the researches.
 Specify the measurement and scaling procedures.
 Construct and pretest a questionnaire (interviewing
form) or an appropriate form for data collection.
 Specify the sampling process and sampling size.
 Develop a plan of data analysis.

46. CONCEPTS RELATING TO RESEARCH
DESIGN
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 Variables: A concept which can take on different
quantitative values is called a variable. As such the
concepts like weight, height, income etc.
 continuous variables: Phenomena which can take on
quantitatively different values even in decimal points are
called ‘continuous variables’
 discrete variables: If the variables can only be expressed
in integer values, they are non-continuous variables or
discrete variables.
Examples: Age is an example of continuous variable, but
the number of children is an example of non-continuous
variable
 If one variable depends upon or is a consequence of the

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 Extraneous variable: Independent variables that are not
related to the purpose of the study, but may affect the
dependent variable are termed as extraneous variables.
 Effect on dependent variable as result of extraneous variable(s)
is technically described as an ‘experimental error’
 Control: minimizing the effects of extraneous independent
variables.
 Confounded relationship: When the dependent variable is not
free from the influence of extraneous variable(s), the
relationship between the dependent and independent variables
is said to be confounded by an extraneous variable(s).
 Research hypothesis: When a prediction or a hypothesized
relationship is to be tested by scientific methods, it is termed as
research hypothesis

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 Experimental and non-experimental hypothesis-testing
research: Research in which the independent variable is
manipulated is termed ‘experimental hypothesis-testing
research’ and a research in which an independent variable is
not manipulated is called ‘non-experimental hypothesis-
testing research
 Experimental and control groups: In an experimental
hypothesis-testing research when a group is exposed to
usual conditions, it is termed a ‘control group’, but when the
group is exposed to some novel or special condition, it is
termed an ‘experimental group
 Treatments: The different conditions under which
experimental and control groups are put are usually referred
to as ‘treatments’
 Experiment: The process of examining the truth of a
statistical hypothesis, relating to some research problem, is
known as an experiment.

49. PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH DESIGN
Professor Fisher has enumerated three important
principles of research design.
 Principle of Replication
 Principle of randomization
 Principle of Local Control

50. PRINCIPLE OF REPLICATION
 According to this principle, the experiment
should be repeated more than once. Thus,
each treatment is applied in many
experimental units instead of one.
 By doing this method, the accuracy and
precision of the study are increased
significantly.
 For example, the effect of two variety of

51. PRINCIPLE OF RANDOMIZATION
 This principle provides protection
 This principle indicates that the researcher
should design or plan the experiment in
such a way that the variations caused by
extraneous factors can all be combined
under the general heading of “Chance”.
 Example : effect of two variety of rice

52. PRINCIPLE OF LOCAL CONTROL
 The extraneous factors, the known source
of variability, is made to vary deliberately
over as wide a range as necessary and
this needs to be done in such a way that
the variability it causes can ne measured
and hence eliminated from the
experimental error.
 Example : effect of two variety of rice

53. TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN
 Exploratory research Design
 Descriptive Research Design
 Experimental design

54. Comparison of Basic Research
Designs

Parameter
s
Exploratory Descriptive Causal
Objective
Discover
ideas and
insights.
Describe
market
characteristics
or functions.
Determine
cause and
effect
relationships.
Characteristics
Flexible, Versatile
Often the front
end of total
research design
Manipulation
of one or more
independent
variables.
Control of
other
mediating
variables.
Methods
Uses non-
probability
sampling. No
preplanned
analysis
techniques. Uses
method of expert
survey, Secondary
Marked by the
prior formulation
of specific
hypotheses.
Preplanned and
structured
design.
Probability
sampling design.
Data collected
through Surveys,
Panels and
Secondary data
Well-defined
sampling plan and
data is collected
through
experiments under
controlled or natural

55. Exploratory Research
The major emphasis in exploratory research is on
converting broad, vague problem statements into small,
precise sub-problem statements, which is done in order
to formulate specific hypothesis.
Characteristics of Exploratory Research:
 Exploratory research is flexible and very versatile.
 For data collection structured forms are not used.
 Experimentation is not a requirement.
 Cost incurred to conduct study is low.
 This type of research allows very wide exploration of
views.
 Research is interactive in nature and also it is open

56. Purpose of Exploratory Research
 Formulate a problem or define a problem more
precisely.
 Identify alternative courses of action.
 Develop hypotheses.
 Gain insights for developing an approach to the
problem.
 Establish priorities for further research.
 Appropriate to any problem about which very little is
known. This research is the foundation for any future
study.

57. Exploratory Research Methods
 Literature Search – This refers to “referring to a literature to
develop a new hypothesis.” The literature referred are: trade
journals, professional journals, market research finding
publications, statistical publications, etc.
Example: Suppose a problem is “Why are sales down?” This
can quickly be analyzed with the help of published data which
should indicate “whether the problem is an industry problem or
a firm problem”. Three possibilities exist to formulate the
hypothesis.
1. The company’s market share has declined but industry’s
figures are normal.
2. The industry is declining and hence the company’s market
share is also declining.
3. The industry’s share is going up but the company’s share is
declining.
If we accept the situation that our company’s sales are down
despite the market showing an upward trend, then we need
to analyse the marketing mix variables.

58.  Expert Surveys – In expert surveys, it is desirable
to talk to persons who are well informed in the area
being investigated. These people may be company
executives or persons outside the organisation.
Here, no questionnaire is required. The approach
adopted in an experience survey should be highly
unstructured, so that the respondent can give
divergent views.
Example :1. A group of housewives may be
approached for their choice for a “Ready to Eat”
product.
2. A publisher might want to find out the reason for
poor circulation of newspaper introduced recently.
He might meet a) Newspaper sellers b) Public
reading room c) General Public d) Business

59.  Focus Group – Another widely used technique in
exploratory research is the focus group. In a focus
group, a small number of individuals are brought
together to study and talk about some topic of
interest. The discussion is coordinated by a
moderator. The group usually is of 8-12 persons.
While selecting these persons, care has to be taken
to see that they should have a common background
and have similar experiences in buying. This is
required because there should not be a conflict
among the group members on the common issues
that are being discussed.

60.  Secondary Data Analysis – Secondary data refers
to literature, published or unpublished, available as
a result of studies made by others for their own
purposes. A researcher may review the literature
with the purpose of framing a hypothesis, or he may
review hypothesis already developed for further
study by others to see their applicability. The
sources of data can be bibliographies available on
the topic, journals, magazines, newspapers, reports
and books, special catalogues, subject guides,
online on the internet, digital libraries, e-databases
maintained by the organization, guides, directories,
indexes, Statistical data, Census data and other
government publications.

61.  Case- Study Analysis – Analysing a selected case
sometimes gives an insight into the problem which is
being researched. Case histories of companies which
have undergone a similar situation may be available.
These case are well suited to carry out exploratory
research. For eg, Case Study on Mumbai Dabbawalas
gives an insight into the problem of Supply Chain. A
company implementing the practice of Supply Chain
can take useful inputs from the case.

62. At exploratory stage:
1. Sometimes, it may not be possible to
develop any hypothesis at all, if the
situation is being investigated for the first
time. This is because no previous data is
available.
2. Sometimes, some information may be
available and it may be possible to
formulate a tentative hypothesis.
3. In other cases, most of the data is
available and it may be possible to provide
answers to the problem.

63. Descriptive Research
Descriptive Research is to describe something –
usually market characteristics or functions.
 It can describe the characteristics of a group such as,
customers, organisations, markets etc. It provides
association between two variables, like income and
place of shopping, age and preferences.
 Inform us about the proportions of high and low income
customers in a particular territory
 Requires a clear specification of “Who, what, when,
where, why and how of the research.

64. Reasons for conducting
Research
 To describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such
as consumers, salespeople, organizations or market
areas.
 To estimate the percentage of units in a specified
population exhibiting a certain behavior.
 To determine the perceptions of product characteristics.
 To determine the degree to which marketing variables
are associated.

65. Descriptive research is marked by a clear statement
of the problem, specific hypotheses and detailed
information needs.
Examples of descriptive research are:
 Market studies, which describe the size of the
market, buying power of the consumers, availability
of distributors and consumer profiles.
 Market share studies, which determine the
proportion of total sales received by a company and
its competitors.
 Sales analysis studies, which describe sales by
geographic region, product line, type and size of the
account.

66.  Image studies, which determine consumer perceptions
of the firm and its products.
 Product usage studies, which describe consumption
patterns.
 Distribution studies, which determine traffic flow
patterns and the number and location of distributors.
 Pricing studies, which describe the range and
frequency of price changes and probable consumer
response to proposed price changes.
 Advertising studies, which describe media consumption
habits and audience profiles for specific television

67. Types of descriptive Studies
 Cross-Sectional Designs – A type of research design
involving the collection of information from any given sample
of population elements only once.
 Longitudinal Designs – A type of research design involving
a fixed sample of population elements that is measured
repeatedly. The sample remains the same over time, thus
providing a series of pictures which, when viewed together,
portray a vivid illustration of the situation and the changes
that are taking place over time.
For eg., “ How did the Indian people rate the character of
ministers immediately after CWG games?” would be
addressed using a cross-sectional design. However, a
longitudinal design would be used to address the question, “
How did the Indian people change their view of minister’s
character during CWG Games?”

68. Methods of Data Collection
There are mainly two methods of data collection In
Descriptive Research:
 Survey Method – A structured questionnaire given to
respondents and designed to elicit specific
information.
 Observation Method – The recording of behavioral
patterns of people, objects and events in a
systematic manner to obtain information about the
phenomenon of interest.

69. TYPES OF SURVEY
 True Survey – This involves repeat measurement of
the same variables. Eg. Perception towards frozen
peas . Each member of the panel is examined at a
different time to arrive at a conclusion on the above
subject.
 Omnibus Survey – A sample of elements is being
selected and maintained, but the information collected
from the member varies. At a certain point of time, the
attitude of panel members “towards an advertisement”
may be measured. At some other point of time the
same panel member may be questioned about the
“product performance”.

70. Classification of Survey Methods
Survey Methods
Telephone
Interviewing
Personal
Interviewing
Mail
Interviewing
Electronic
Interviewin
g
Traditiona
l
Compute
r-
Assisted
In-
Hom
e
Mall
Intercep
t
Compute
r-
Assisted
Mai
l
Mail
Pan
el
E-
mai
l
Internet

71. Survey Methods
 Traditional Telephone Interviews – Phoning a sample
of respondents and asking them a series of questions.
 Computer-Assisted Telephonic Interviewing – Uses
a computerized questionnaire administered to
respondents over the telephone. The interviewer sits in
front of a computer terminal and wears a minihead set.
When contact is made, the interviewer reads questions
posed on the computer screen and records the
respondent’s answers directly into the computer
memory bank.

72.  Personal In-Home Interviews – Respondents are
interviewed face-to-face in their home.
 Mall Intercept Personal Interviews – Respondents
are intercepted while they are shopping in malls and
brought to test facilities in the malls.
 Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing – The
respondent sits in front of a computer terminal and
answers a questionnaire on the computer screen by
using the keyboard or a mouse.

73.  Mail Interviews – Questionnaires are mailed to
preselected potential respondents. A typical mail
interview package consists of the outgoing envelope,
cover letter, questionnaire, return envelope and possibly
an incentive. The respondents complete and return the
questionnaires.
 Mail Panels – A mail panel consists of a large,
nationally representative sample of households that
have agreed to participate in periodic mail
questionnaires and product tests.

74.  E-mail Interviews –To conduct an e-mail survey, a list
of e-mail addresses is obtained. The survey is written
within the body of the e-mail message. The e-mails are
sent out over the internet. Respondents type the
answers to either closed-ended or open-ended
questions at designated places, and click on reply.
 Internet Interviews – Internet or Web surveys use
hypertext markup language and are posted on a
Website. Respondents are asked to go to a particular
Web location to complete the survey.

75. Classification of Observation
Methods
Observation
Methods
Personal
Observatio
n
Mechanical
Observation
Audit
Content
Analysis
Trace
Analysis

76. Observation Methods
 Personal Observation – A researcher observes
actual behavior as it occurs. The observer does not
attempt to control or manipulate the phenomenon
being observed.
 Mechanical Observation – Mechanical devices,
rather than human observers, record the
phenomenon being observed. Devices are:
Audimeter – Attached to a television set to continually
record what channel the set is tuned to.
People Meters – Attempt to measure not only the
channels to which a set is tuned but also who is
watching.
Turnstiles – Record the number of people entering or
leaving a building.

77.  Audit – The researcher collects data by examining
physical records or performing inventory analysis of
inventory of brands, quantities and package sizes
in a consumer’s home or at a retail store.

78.  Content Analysis – Objective, systematic
and quantitative description of the manifest
content of a communication. The unit of
analysis may be words, characters, themes,
space and time measures or topics.
 Trace Analysis – Data collection is based
on physical traces or evidence of past
behavior. Eg. No. of different fingerprints on
a page was used to find out the readership
of various advertisements in a magazine.

79. Causal/Experimental Research Design
Causal research is used to obtain evidence of
cause and effect relationships. It is appropriate for
the following purposes:
1. To understand which variables are the cause
(independent variables) and which variables are
the effect ( dependent variables) of a
phenomenon.
1. To determine the nature of the relationship
between the causal variables and the effect to
be predicted.

80. For eg. In the context of department store project, a
researcher wishes to determine whether the presence
and helpfulness of salespeople(causal variable) will
influence the sales of house wares (effect variable). A
causal design could be formulated in which two groups
of otherwise comparable house wares departments of
a particular chain are selected. For four weeks, trained
salespeople are stationed in one group of housewares
departments but not in the other. Sales are monitored
for both groups, while controlling for other variables. A
comparison of sales for the two groups will reveal the
effect of salespeople on housewares sales in
department stores.

81. Classification of Experimental
Designs
Experimental
Designs
Pre
experimental
True
Experimental
Quasi-
Experiment
al
Statistical
One- Shot Case
Study
One Group
Pretest-Posttest
Static Group
Pretest-Posttest
Control Group
Posttest-Only
Control Group
Time Series
Multiple Time
Series
Latin Square
Factorial

82. DEFINITION OF SYMBOLS
X = the exposure of a group to an independent
variable, treatment or event, the effects of which are
to be determined.
O = the process of observation or measurement of the
dependent variable on the test units or group of units.
R = the random assignment of test units or groups to
separate treatments.

83. Types of Experimentation
 Pre experimental designs do not employ
randomization procedures to control for extraneous
factors.
1. One-Shot Case Study – Also known as the
after-only design, it is represented as
X O1
A single group of test units is exposed to a treatment X,
and then a single measurement on the dependent
variable is taken (O1). There is no random
assignment of test units.
For eg. An advertisement of Pears Soap is being shown
to the respondent (X) and then they were asked

84. 2. One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design –
Symbolized as
O1 X O2
In this design, a group of test units is measured twice.
There is no control group. First, a pretreatment
measure is taken(O1), then the group is exposed to the
treatment(X). Finally, a post treatment measure is
taken(O2). The treatment effect is computed as O2 –
O1.
For eg. Respondents are first interviewed to know their
opinion towards consuming alcohol (O1). An
advertisement depicting harmful effects of alcohol is
being shown to the respondent (X). After watching ad,
the respondents are again being interviewed to test
their opinion towards consuming alcohol now (O2). The

85. 3. Static Group design – It is a two-group
experimental design. One group, called the
experimental group(EG), is exposed to the treatment,
and the other, called the control group (CG), is not.
Measurements on both groups are made only after the
treatment.Symbolically as:
EG : X O1
CG : O2
For eg. HUL was trying to find out the impact of free
samples of shampoo on the sales of shampoo. To the
experimental group, they offered both the free samples
and redemption coupon, and to Control Group only the
redemption coupon was being offered. Coupons were
coded and the number of coupons redeemed by the
respondents were calculated. Difference between the
coupons redeemed by the EG and CG will give the
impact of free samples on sales of the shampoo.

86.  True Experimental design – Researcher randomly assigns
test units to experimental groups and treatments to
experimental groups.
4. Pretest-Posttest Control Group
Design – Test units are randomly assigned to either the
experimental or the control group, and a pretreatment
measure is taken on each group. The design is symbolized
as
EG: R O1 X O2
CG: R O3 O4
The Treatment Effect is measured as
(O2 - O1) – (O4 – O3)
E.g.. In order to measure the impact of tuition on the
performance of students, first a sample of respondents
would be selected at random. Half of these would be
randomly assigned to the experimental group and the other
half would form the control group. Respondents in both
groups were given a test to check their performance. Only
the respondents in the experimental group were given a
tuition and then both groups were given test and their

87. 5. Posttest-Only Control Group Design
– Experimental group is exposed to the treatment but
the control group is not and no pretest measure is
taken. It is symbolized as:
EG : R X O1
CG : R O2
The treatment effect is obtained by
TE = O1 - O2
Eg. To measure the effectiveness of ad, a sample of
respondents is selected at random. Half of them would
be taken as Experimental Group and the other half
would be Control Group. An advertisement on harmful
effects of alcohol would be shown to only the
experimental group and not to the control group. Then
the opinion of both the groups on alcoholism would be
recorded. Difference in their opinion will tell us the

88.  Quasi-Experimental Designs – Researcher
can control when measurements are taken and on
whom they are taken but is unable to expose test units
to the treatments randomly.
5. Time series design – Involves a series of
periodic measurements of the dependent variable for a
group of test units. The treatment is then administered
by the researcher or occurs naturally. After the
treatment, periodic measurements are continued to
determine the treatment effect. It may be symbolized
as:
O1 O2 O3 O4 X O5 O6 O7 O8
Eg. There is a trend being followed in share market

89. 6. Multiple Time Series Design – A time series
design that includes another group of test units to
serve as a control group. Symbolically, it may be
described as
EG : O1 O2 O3 O4 X O5 O6 O7 O8
CG : O1 O2 O3 O4 O5 O6 O7 O8
 Statistical designs – Allows for statistical control and
analysis of external variables.

90. 7. Latin Square Design – Allows the
researcher to statistically control two non
interacting external variables as well as to
manipulate the independent variable.
For eg. In order to understand the impact of showing
advertisement A ( humor), B ( No Humor) and
C(High Humor) to sales in the store. Two control
variables are being taken as Store Patronage and
Interest in the store.
Store
Patronage
High Medium Low
High A C B
Medium B A C
Low C B A
Interest in the store

91. http://www.facebook.com/mr.fortyseven
8. Factorial Design – Used to measure the effects
of two or more independent variables at various levels
and to allow for interactions between variables.
For eg. A Departmental Store is planning to reduce the
price of a product. For the same product, they are
conducting three promotional campaigns, display at
the entrance, display at POP and display anywhere in
the store. They have got six combinations, P1X1,
P2X1, P1X2, P2X2, P3X1, P3X2. Sales of each of the
combinations is recorded in six different stores.
Combination giving maximum will be taken as the
best.

92. http://www.facebook.com/mr.fortyseven
Combinations Sales
P1X1 Rs. 12000 Best Combination
P1X2 Rs. 200
P2X1 Rs. 476
P2X2 Rs. 800
P3X1 Rs. 700
P3X2 Rs. 1100