1. Differentiate in cross sectional and longitudinal Research design.

Ans. Longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies are two different types of research design. In a
cross-sectional study you collect data from a population at a specific point in time; in a longitudinal
study you repeatedly collect data from the same sample over an extended period of time.

Cross-sectional study is defined as an observational study where data is collected as a whole to study a
population at a single point in time to examine the relationship between variables of interest.

Cross-sectional study Longitudinal study

Cross-sectional studies are quick to conduct as
compared to longitudinal studies.   even decades.
A cross-sectional study is conducted at a given point
in time.
Cross-sectional study is conducted with different
samples.
Cross-sectional studies cannot pin down cause-and-
effect relationship.
Multiple variables can be studied at a single point in
time.
Cross-sectional study is comparatively cheaper.
Longitudinal studies may vary from a few yea
A longitudinal study requires a researcher to
participants of the study at proper intervals.
Longitudinal study is conducted with the sam
sample over the years.  
Longitudinal study can justify cause-and-effec
relationship.
Only one variable is considered to conduct th
Since the study goes on for years longitudina
tends to get expensive.

2. Elaborate the four primary scales of measurement with example

Ans. Data can be classified as being on one of four scales: nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio. Each level of
measurement has some important properties that are useful to know. For example, only the ratio scale
has meaningful zeros.

1. Nominal Scale. Nominal variables (also called categorical variables) can be placed into categories.
They don’t have a numeric value and so cannot be added, subtracted, divided or multiplied. They also
have no order; if they appear to have an order then you probably have ordinal variables instead.
Nominal scale is often used in research surveys and questionnaires where only variable labels hold
significance. For instance, a customer survey asking “Which brand of smartphones do you prefer?”
Options : “Apple”- 1 , “Samsung”-2, “OnePlus”-3.

2. Ordinal Scale. Ordinal Scale is defined as a variable measurement scale used to simply depict the
order of variables and not the difference between each of the variables. These scales are generally used
to depict non-mathematical ideas such as frequency, satisfaction, happiness, a degree of pain, etc. It is
quite straightforward to remember the implementation of this scale as ‘Ordinal’ sounds similar to
‘Order’, which is exactly the purpose of this scale. For example, hottest to coldest, lightest to heaviest,
richest to poorest. Basically, if you can rank data by 1st, 2nd, 3rd place (and so on), then you have data
that’s on an ordinal scale.

3. Interval Scale. An interval scale has ordered numbers with meaningful divisions. Temperature is on
the interval scale: a difference of 10 degrees between 90 and 100 means the same as 10 degrees
between 150 and 160. Compare that to high school ranking (which is ordinal), where the difference
between 1st and 2nd might be .01 and between 10th and 11th .5. If you have meaningful divisions, you
have something on the interval scale.

4. Ratio Scale. The ratio scale is exactly the same as the interval scale with one major difference: zero is
meaningful. For example, a height of zero is meaningful (it means you don’t exist). Compare that to a
temperature of zero, which while it exists, it doesn’t mean anything in particular (although admittedly,
in the Celsius scale it’s the freezing point for water).

3. Explain personal Interview method as a survey method of data collection.

Ans. Personal interview surveys are used to probe the answers of the respondents and at the same time,
to observe the behavior of the respondents, either individually or as a group A personal or face to face
interview is one that employs a standard structured questionnaire (or interview schedule) to ensure that
all respondents are asked the same set of questions in the same sequences.

It is a two-way conversation initiated by an interviewer to obtain information from a respondent. The

questions, the wording, and their sequence define the structure of the interview, and the interview is
conducted face-to-face.

Studies that obtain data by interviewing people are called surveys. If the people interviewed are a
representative sample of a larger population, such studies are called sample surveys.

Thus, a sample survey is defined as a method of gathering primary data based on communication with a
representative sample of individuals.

The number of questions and the exact wording of each question incorporated in a questionnaire is
identical to all respondents and is specified in advance.

The interviewer merely reads each question to the respondent and usually restrains from providing
explanations of the questions if the respondent asks for clarification.

Three broad conditions must be met to have a successful personal interview: They are

 Availability of needed information from the respondent;

 An understanding of the interviewer’s role by the respondent, and
 Adequate motivation by the respondent to cooperate.

4. Discuss the Stratified Sampling technique in brief.

Ans. Stratified sampling is a type of sampling method in which the total population is divided into
smaller groups or strata to complete the sampling process. The strata is formed based on some common
characteristics in the population data. After dividing the population into strata, the researcher randomly
selects the sample proportionally. To use stratified sampling, you need to be able to divide your
population into mutually exclusive and exhaustive subgroups. That means every member of the
population can be clearly classified into exactly one subgroup.

Stratified sampling is the best choice among the probability sampling methods when you believe that
subgroups will have different mean values for the variable(s) you’re studying.

Example

Your population is all graduates of the university within the last ten years. You will stratify by both
gender and degree received.