Transcript Research Methodology PowerPoint Slides for Week 12

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
(Business Research Methods)
Week 12
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
1
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics (1)
Descriptive statistics – The branch of statistics
which describes or summarizes information
about a population or sample
Examples:
 The number of employees with MBA degrees in an
organization
 The number of students who failed to qualify their
final examination at CIIT
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
2
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics (2)
Inferential statistics – The branch of statistics
which is used to make inferences or judgments
about a population on the basis of a sample
Examples:
 The demand for a new Product X based on a sample
conducted in Region Y
 The general election result based on a representative
survey of voters in electoral district Z
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
3
Statistical Data Analysis
Collecting data on the basis of surveys
and questionnaires is the first step towards
interpreting and utilizing the data for
decision-making
After data has been collected, it must be
organized and analysed using various
statistical tools and techniques
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
4
Statistical Data Analysis
(Frequency Distribution (absolute distribution))
 A frequency distribution (or frequency table) is a set of
data which records the number of times a particular
vlaue of a variable, or range of values of a variable,
occurs
 Example:
Amount Deposited (Rs.)
Frequency
Less than 50,000
50,000 – 100,000
Above 100,000
6700
1240
375
Total = 8,315
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
5
Statistical Data Analysis
Relative
(Frequency Distribution (relative distribution))
Amount Deposited (Rs.)
Frequency
Less than 50,000
50,000 – 100,000
Above 100,000
80%
15%
5%
Probability
Total = 100%
Amount Deposited (Rs.)
Frequency
Less than 50,000
50,000 – 100,000
Above 100,000
0.80
0.15
0.05
Total = 1
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
6
Proportions
Proportions are the percentage of popluation
elemts that succesfully fulfill some specific
criteria
Examples:
– The proportion of CIIT Management Science students
who are in the evening programme
– The proportion of jeweller shops in Islamabad who
have an annual revenue exceeding 50 million Rupees
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
7
Measures of Central Tendency
 The purpose of „measures of central tendency“
is to determine the average value in a set of
values
 There are three measures of central tendency:
– (Arithmetic) Mean
– Median
– Mode
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
8
Measures of Central Tendency
(Arithmetic Mean)
 The arithmetic mean is the average of all the values
under consideration
Branch
Revenue
1
2
3
4
50,000,000
150,000,000
40,000,000
60,000,000
Total = 300,000,000
Arithmetic Mean = 300,000,000 / 4 = 75,000,000
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
9
Measures of Central Tendency
(Median)
 The Median is the midpoint of the distribution of values
under consideration
Salesperson
Number of Sales
Calls
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
4
3
2
5
3
3
1
5
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Median = 3
1 2 3 3 3 4 5 5
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
10
Measures of Central Tendency
(Mode)
 The Mode is the value that occurs most frequently in the
distribution of values under consideration
Salesperson
Number of Sales
Calls
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
4
3
2
5
3
3
1
5
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Mode = 3
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
11
Measures of Dispersion
 Measures of dispersion provide an indication of
the tendency of value to depart from their central
tendency
 Two sets of values may have the same central
tendency, but their dispersion may differ
significantly
 See example table 17.5 on page 407 of the text
book
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
12
Measures of Dispersion
(The Range)
 The Range is the simplest measure of dispersion of values and is defind as
the distance between the smallest and the highest value (i.e. the extreme
values) in a frequency distribution
 Refer again to table 17.5 on page 407 of your text book for an example
 See the deviation score (the distance of a value from the arithmetic mean,
e.g. deviation score = 500 – 750 = - 250)
 The deviation score is used as the basis of computing the „average
deviation“ which is simply the summation of all deviation scores divided by
the sample size. The absolute values of the deviation scores should be
used
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
13
Measures of Dispersion
(The Variance)
 The variance is another very useful measure of the level
of dispersion or variability in a set of values
 The variance is computed by squaring the deviation
scores, summing them all up, and then dividing by the
sample size minus one
 The larger the value of the variance, the larger is the
distance from the arithmetic mean
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
14
Measures of Dispersion
(The Standard Deviation)
 The standard deviation is simply the square root of the
variance and is considered a very accurate measure of
variation or dispersion in a set of values
 The standard deviation is preferred by business
researchers over the variance
 If the set of values is based on a sample, it is important
to note that the standard deviation of the sample may
differ from the standard deviation of the whole population
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
15
Fieldwork (1)
 The gathering of data by individuals, such as,
personal or telephone interviewers and
observers is, broadly speaking, referred to as
fiedwork
 The selection of fieldworkers with adequate
training and experience is essential the success
of the research project
 A research study is only as good as the data
input
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
16
Fieldwork (2)
 There are organizations to whom the task of gathering
data and information can be outsourced, which are
refffered to as „field interviewing services“
 Such organizations gather data (e.g. through personal
and telephone interviews or observation) for a fee, and
they may also offer training and supervision services and
selecting fieldworkers
 It is important for fieldworkers to have certain
characteristics when gathering data, for e.g., being welldressed and well-groomed, pleasant in disposition,
outgoing, keen to interact with strangers
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
17
Training Fieldworkers
 Briefing Session (provides all interviewers with identical
background information about the project
 Training Interview (a practice session in which an
inexperienced fieldworker records answers on a
questionnaire to develop his or her skills, and clarify the
requirements of the research project in question)
 The purpose of the briefing session and training
interview is to ensure that data is gathered by the
fieldworkers in a uniform manner
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
18
Major Themes in Training Fieldworkers
1) Making initial contact with the respondent
and securing the interview
2) Asking survey questions
3) Probing
4) Recording Responses
5) Terminating the interview
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
19
Making Initial Contact
• Polite introduction
• Try to convince the person being
interviewed that cooperation is important
• Use of ID cards
• Avoid using certain words which give the
respondent a means of quickly ending the
interview (e.g.: may I ...)
• Do not be too aggressive
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
20
Asking Survey Questions
 Questions must be asked in a manner that avoids
interviewer bias
 Asking questions must take 5 major principles into
consideration, i.e.:
– ask the questions exactly as they are worded in the
questionnaire,
– read each question very slowly,
– ask the questions in the order in which they are presented in the
questionnaire,
– ask every question specified in the questionnaire and
– repeat questions that are easily misunderstood or misinterpreted
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
21
Probing
 Probing is about verbal prompts by the fieldworker or
interviewer when the respondent must be motivated to
communicate his or her answer or to enlarge on, clarify,
or explain an answer
 Interviewers must try to ensure that answers provided by
the respondents are complete and unambiguous and
they must ensure that the respondent does not lose track
of the questions they are asked
 Interviewers must ensure that they do not influence the
respondents when probing (neutrality)
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
22
Recording Responses
All fieldworkers should use the same
procedure for recording responses
In case of open-ended questions,
responses should be recorded in the
respondent‘s own words (no summarizing
or paraphrasing) and should include an
indication as to whether probing was
required
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
23
Terminating the Interview
 Interview should not be terminated before all the
information has been gathered from the respondent
 Hasty departure by the interviewer should be avoided
because sometimes after formal interviewing, the
respondents may offer valuable information. Moreover, a
hasty departure is considered impolite and the
respondent may have to be reinterviewed
 Interviewers should have the courtesy to answer
questions which the respondent may have after the
interview
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
24
Principles of Good Interviewing
The Basics
 Integrity and honesty (for interviewers)
 Patience and tactfulness (in dealing with respondents)
 Accuracy and detail (record responses that are
understood, clarify and ask respondents for detailed
answers if necessary, and record answers verbatim)
 Impartiality (keep your opinions to yourself and remain
neutral)
 Listen more, talk less (respondents are expected to
provide the information)
 Maintain confidentiality and privacy (do not disclose
information on respondents to anyone else)
 Be respectful of the rights of respondents
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
25
Principles of Good Interviewing
Required Practices (1)
 Complete the number of interviews according to the
assigned sampling plan
 Follow the directions given to you
 Keep your schedules
 Keep control of the interview (no deviation to other
subjects, avoid talking too much, keep time frame in
mind)
 Complete the questionnaires and follow the prescribed
sequence in asking questions
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
26
Principles of Good Interviewing
Required Practices (2)
 Ask questions as they are written (no summarizing or
paraphrasing)
 Do not leave questions blank
 Use all aids (props, photographs etc.) provided to the
interviewer for conducting the interview
 Check each questionnaire (preferably immediately) after
the interview has finished
 Check how many questionnaires were you assigned to
complete with the number you actually completed
 Clarify any questions with the research initiator or
fieldwork supervisor
29 August 2005
MBA III (Research Methodology)
Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan
27