Surveying means contacting for getting certain information. Survey method is a method of collecting data for research purpose. There are personal surveys, mail surveys, telephone surveys and internet surveys. Survey may be sample survey or census survey. The features of each of surveys are given below: Personal Survey Personal survey involves meeting personally every number who has to be surveyed. The features of this method of data collection are as follows. The number of respondents that can be contacted is not very high, as the time taken to contact the respondent, and the time spent on the interview itself is very high in relative terms. When the time available for research in large the personal method is used. The cost involved is highest in the personal method since it requires field interviewers as well as their conveyance/ traveling costs. Also, if a person is not available he may have to Continue reading
Research Techniques
Extrapolative Forecasting – Explained with Definition and Methods
In extrapolative forecasting we predict the future by extrapolating a historical trend. What has happened in the past determines what is forecast for the future [with other forecasting methods, such as exploratory forecasting, this need not be so. For example, with exploratory forecasting we can explore revolutionary, as well as evolutionary, scenarios]. In some circumstances it is right to use extrapolative forecasting. In other cases different approaches might be more suitable. It is not an appropriate approach to use in a new product/ new business situation, or in situations where circumstances have radically changed, and the past is no guide to the future. Any time series [a series of numbers recording past events] will have been produced by the interaction of a number of variables. For example, a time series of a company’s past profits will have been produced by a complex process, which involves an interaction between multiple revenue Continue reading
Preparing a Research Report
The research report is considered as a major component of the research work, because through this report the research problem, the research design, the analysis and findings are brought to the knowledge of the world. The research report converts the research work into a public asset from its earlier state of private asset. The research report shows the readers the progress in knowledge made in the specific area or discipline. The report by bringing to light the new frontiers of knowledge enhances the society’s intellectual well-being. The report by highlighting the design and methodology, runs as a fore-runner for future researchers in this or related area. The analyses and interpretations may give a boost to knowledge. The findings and suggestions take the readers into enlightenment from ignorance. Every research must endeavor to achieve this. Research report is a record of the whole of every bit of the research work. This Continue reading
Meaning of Hypothesis and Procedure for its Testing
Meaning of Hypothesis A hypothesis is an assumption about relations between variables. It is a tentative explanation of the research problem or a guess about the research outcome. Before starting the research, the researcher has a rather general, diffused, even confused notion of the problem. It may take long time for the researcher to say what questions he had been seeking answers to. Hence, an adequate statement about the research problem is very important. What is a good problem statement? It is an interrogative statement that asks: what relationship exists between two or more variables? It then further asks questions like: Is A related to B or not? How are A and B related to C? Is a related to B under conditions X and Y? Proposing a statement pertaining to relationship between A and B is called a hypothesis. The hypothesis is outlined as following: “Hypotheses square measure single Continue reading
Exploratory Research – Explanation and Methods
Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous problems. Management may have discovered general problems, but research is needed to gain better understanding of the dimensions of the problems. Exploratory studies provide information to use in analyzing a situation, but uncovering conclusive evidence to determine a particular course of action is not the purpose of exploratory research. Usually, exploratory research is conducted with the expectation that subsequent research will be required to provide conclusive evidence, It is a serious mistake to rush into detailed surveys before less expensive and more readily available sources of information have been exhausted. In an organization considering a program to help employees with childcare needs, for example, exploratory research with a small number of employees who have children might determine that many of them have spouses who also work and that these employees have positive reactions to the possibility of an on-site child-care program. In such Continue reading
Referencing a Research Report
References must be explicitly given in the research report. Bibliography is one type of referencing a research report and this has been already dealt. Other type of referencing is the foot notes. Referencing using Footnotes Footnotes are meant to give complete bibliographical references and to provide the reader with information to enable him consult sources independently. These may be placed at the foot of a page or at the end of every chapter. When footnotes are given at the foot of the page, they are to be separated from the text by a fifteen space solid line drawn from the left margin and one double space below the last line of the text. If given at the end of a chapter, a centered heading ‘FOOTNOTES’ is necessary. Reference to footnotes is made by the use of superscripts i.e., numerals raised by one-half space. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively through a Continue reading