MBA Online Test – 2 (PUT)

Semester: II Subject: Research Methodology Max Marks: 80

NOTE: Part (a) of each question is compulsory and carries 2 Marks.

Attempt any TWO questions from (b), (c) and (d), which carry 7
Marks each.

1.(a) Distinguish between Research methods and Research methodology.

1.(b) “Creative management, whether in public administration or private industry, depends on
methods of inquiry that maintain objectivity, clarity, accuracy and consistency”. Discuss this
statement.
1.(c) “Research is much concerned with proper fact finding, analysis and evaluation.” Do you
agree with this statement? Give reasons in support of your answer.
1.(d) “Knowing what data are available often serves to narrow down the problem itself as well as
the technique might be used.” Explain the underlying idea in this statement in the context of
defining a research problem.

2.(a) Is single research design suitable in all research studies? Yes / No, why?
2.(b) “Research design in exploratory studies must be flexible but in descriptive studies, it must
minimise bias and maximise reliability.” Discuss.
2.(c) “It is never safe to take published statistics at their face value without knowing their
meaning and limitations.” Elucidate this statement by enumerating and explaining the various
points which you would consider before using any published data. Illustrate your answer by
examples wherever possible.
2.(d) Describe some of the major projective techniques and evaluate their significance as tools of
scientific social research.
3.(a) Why probability sampling is generally preferred in comparison to non-probability
sampling?
3.(b) Annual incomes of 900 salesmen employed by Hi-Fi Corporation is known to be
approximately normally distributed. If the Corporation wants to be 95% confident that the true
mean of this year‟s salesmen‟s income does not differ by more than 2% of the last year‟s mean
income of Rs 12,000, what sample size would be required assuming the population standard
deviation to be Rs 1500?
3.(c) “Scaling describes the procedures by which numbers are assigned to various degrees of
opinion, attitude and other concepts.” Discuss. Also point out the bases for scale classification.
3.(d) Are you in agreement with the following statements? If so, give reasons:
I. Validity is more critical to measurement than reliability.
II. Stability and equivalence aspects of reliability essentially mean the same thing.
III. Content validity is the most difficult type of validity to determine.
IV. There is no difference between concept development and concept specification.
V. Reliable measurement is necessarily a valid measurement.

4.(a) “Discriminate use of average is very essential for sound statistical analysis”. Why? Answer
giving examples.
4.(b) A group of 150 College students were asked to indicate their most liked film star from
among six different well known film actors viz., A, B, C, D, E and F in order to ascertain their
relative popularity. The observed frequency data were as follows:
Actors A B C D E F Total
Frequencies 24 20 32 25 28 21 150
Test at 5 per cent whether all actors are equally popular.
4.(c) Write short notes on:
I. Discriminant Analysis
II. Factor Analysis
III. Cluster Analysis
IV. Univariate Analysis
4.(d) Three brands of detergents have been used in three water temperature to wash similar kinds
of cloths The cleanliness is observed as follows:
Surf Excel Tide Wheel
Cold Water 5 7 18
Normal 7 12 21
Warm Water 10 14 25
.
Test if there is any difference because of;
i. Detergent Brands
ii. Water Temperature

5.(a) Write a short note on „Documentation‟ in the context of a research report.

5.(b) “We can teach methods of analysis, yet any extensive research... requires something
equally important: an organisation or synthesis which provides the essential structure into which
the pieces of analysis fit.”
Examine this statement
5.(c) “It is only through interpretation the researcher can expose the relations and processes that
underlie his findings”. Explain, giving examples.
5.(d) “The role of research in several fields of management, whether related to business or to the
economy as a whole, has greatly increased in modern times”. Explain with relevant example.

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