JUNE 2012 EXAMINATION

eGM 07
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Time : Three hours

Maximum Marks : 100

Section A ( 2 marks each )

1. In general if primary research does not have an effect on management decisions

a) it is exploratory
b) it is unobtrusive
c) it is descriptive
d) it should not be done
2. The most economical and fastest sources of information are generally provided by
a) interviews
b) secondary data
c) qualitative data
d) none of the above
3. Which one of the following can affect market research ?
a) available resources to conduct research
b) the objectives of the sponsor
c) the decision makers understanding of the problem
d) all of the above
4. Compared to field service firms, syndicated service firms
a. are considerably smaller.
b. are considerably larger.
c. are about the same size.
d. cannot be compared.
5. Which of the following is the most essential characteristic of good decision making
information ?
a) accuracy
b) currency
c) sufficiency
d) relevancy
6. A decision situation exists when
a) all possible decision alternatives have been defined
b) a choice must be made between two or more courses of action
c) a deadline is approaching
d) uncertainty exists
7. The most important activity stage in the marketing research process is
a) marketing problem or opportunity identification
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marketing research project design

data collection
preparing and presentation of the research report
8. Which of the following is not true about the research process?
b)
c)
d)

a. It is a systematic, planned approach.

b. It ensures that the stages of the research project will be independent of each other.
c. It guides the project from conception to the final analysis and presentation of results.
d. It creates a consistency between the research design and the research purpose.
9. Which of the following is not a part of the research process?
a. Formulation of the problem
b. Calculating the expected value of the project
c. Analyzing the data
d. All of these are part of the research process.
10. Which of the following should be understood before developing the research purpose?
a. The decision alternatives and means of choosing among them
b. Anticipated problems or opportunities
c. The expectations and objectives of the research users
d. All of these
11. The research question
a. refers to the question of whether or not to proceed at each evaluation point in the
research project.
b. should not be specified in research involving internal problem- solving.
c. should be prepared in general terms.
d. asks what specific information is needed to achieve the research purpose.
12. Which of the following is not true about hypotheses?
a. A hypothesis is a possible answer to a research question.
b. A hypothesis usually adds specificity to a research question.
c. Only one hypothesis is concerned with each specific research purpose.
d. The alternative hypothesis is often obvious and need not be stated.
13. The research design does not involve
a. determining the sampling plan.
b. decisions on the sampling frame.
c. collection of the data to be used.
d. creating the questionnaire.
14. The difference between primary and secondary data centers on
a) who collected the data
b) the variables the data describe
c) why the data was collected
d) the richness of the data
15. Sources of information to develop hypotheses include
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previous research
exploratory research specifically designed to come up with a hypothesis
a managers past experience
all of these
16. Which of the following can be called exploratory research ?
a) experiments
b) observation
c) case studies
d) interviews
a)
b)
c)
d)

17. A research proposal does not generally contain

a) description of the research design
b) definition of the problem
c) expected results
d) all of the above
18. Compared to primary data, the two advantages of secondary data are they
a) can be gathered quickly and inexpensively
b) are generally more objective and accurate
c) are generally more objective and accurate
d) are always internal to the firm and more relevant to the firms problems
19. Secondary data cannot be used for which of the following ?
a) interpret primary data
b) demonstrate causal relationship
c) identify problem
d) all of the above
20. The advantage (s) of online panels is/are
a) possibility of covering a wide audience
b) the ability to conduct international research from one place
c) the viability of electronic monitoring of respondents through log file analyses
d) All of the above
21. A small convenience sample in which there is an interviewer who keeps the discussion
centered on a few predetermined topics is known as a
a) projective interview
b) omnibus interview
c) focus group interview
d) nondirective interview
22. Cameras and traffic counters are used for
a) case studies
b) focus groups
c) projective techniques
d) observational methods
23. The dominant mode of interviewing within the last decade is
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a)
b)
c)
d)

personal interviewing
telephone interviewing
mail survey
focus group studies

24. Longitudinal data are

a) standard or identical data collected at periodic intervals from the
same study objects each time period
b) standard or identical data collected at periodic intervals from different
study objects each time period
c) nonstandard or different data collected at periodic intervals from
the same study objects each time period
d) nonstandard or different data collected at periodic intervals from
different study objects each time period
25. How can the problem of interviewer bias be minimized ?
a) switching to an alternative mode of data collection
b) increasing the sample size
c) validating a certain percentage of completed interviews
d) disguising the purpose of the research project
26. The best way to improve the response rate of mail interviews is to
a) offer an incentive
b) pre-notify people of the survey
c) use colored questionnaires
d) none of the above
27. Long and complicated questionnaires are generally best handled in
a. telephone interviews.
b. omnibus surveys.
c. personal interviews.
d. all of these.
28. A researcher who must collect survey data as inexpensively as possible will probably
choose a
a. telephone interview.
b. shopping center intercept interview.
c. mail survey.
d. personal door-to-door interview.
29. If a scale is successful in measuring what it is supposed to measure, it is said to be
a) robust
b) generalizable
c) reliable
d) valid
30. The scaling that permits most sophisticated statistical analysis is
a) nominal scaling
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b)
c)
d)

ordinal scaling
interval scaling
ratio scaling

Section B ( 5 marks each )

Q1. Distinguish between Research Question and a Research Questionnaire
Q2. Distinguish between comparative and non comparative scaling technique
Q3. What are the different methods by which Internal Consistency reliability can be
assessed.
Q4. Discuss some of the limitations of conducting Personal interview for collection of
data.
Q5. When do you consider Observation technique is most suitable for collecting data.
Q6. What is meant by Depth Interview. When do you suggest such a methodology.
Q7. Discuss the purpose of conducting Longitudinal Research Design.
Q8. What major decisions must the researcher make when constructing non-comparative
itemized rating scales?
Q9. Discuss the advantages of convenience samples and when it is appropriate to use them.
Q10. Discuss how the scaling of a question is linked to the analysis of the question using
statistical techniques.
Section C ( Case Study )
iPads are a common sight with executives on the move. However, it is not clear whether
they use it more as a status symbol or do they really put to use. Similarly we also find that
the youngsters who are school or college going are also using it. They probably find it
comfortable to read books or see movies or may be some other aspect they find useful with
an iPad. In order to research some of these issues, it was decided by the researcher that he
would check if the different usage depends on whether the user is a student or a working
professional. Further it was intended to find whether there was any specific purpose which
the student as well as the professional think is more important than other aspects. For
example may be students think that internet telephony or google search to be more
important than other features and professionals think that collecting data from other offices
and compiling them and then reporting to the superior and being in touch with all offices at
all times to be more important. The researcher was thus interested in gathering information
on all these aspects.
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a) Prepare the list of information and the questionnaire based on the information that is
desired.
b) Indicate the type of analysis that you would suggest based on the type of questions that
you would be asking.

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