RESEARCH FOR MANAGERIAL DECISIONS COURSE DURATION: 2 HRS PER WEEK FOR 12 WEEKS COURSE CREDITS: 02 1.

ROLE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH Scope, definition, managerial value Need for business research Broad areas for research Research Design 2. RESEARCH PROCESS: AN OVERVIEW Decision making under certainty, uncertainty, ambiguity Types of business research: Exploratory, descriptive, and casual Stages in research process Problem definition and research proposal: - Nature of business problem - Importance of proper problem definition - Process of problem definition - Hypothesis formulation & testing 3. EXPLORATORY RESEARCH AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS Exploratory research: What it is and what it is not Why conduct exploratory research Categories of exploratory research 4. DATA SOUECES & COLLECTION Primary data : Advantages; disadvantages Secondary data : Advantages; disadvantages Data mining Data collection and fieldwork 5. SURVEY RESEARCH Nature of surveys Error in survey research Respondent error, administrative error Rate of thumb estimates for systematic error Reduction in survey error Survey research methods: - Interviews - Self administered questionnaire - Observations - Experimental research

6. MEASUREMENT AND SCALING TECHNIQUES What to measure Types of scale Index measures 3 criteria for good measurement 7. ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT AND QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN Definition Techniques for measuring attitude Psychological measures of attitude Attitude rating scales; selection of a scale Other methods Questionnaire design: - What should be asked - Phrasing questions - Art of asking questions - Right question sequence - Pretesting and revising 8. SAMPLING Sample: Termnology, concepts, types of sampling Appropriate sampling design Determination of appropriate sample size 9. PROCESSING AND ANALYSING DATA Data processing analysis and interpretation of data Application of advanced statistical techniques: Correlation, regression, cluster analysis, factor analysis, and conjoint analysis 10. REPORT WRITING AND PRESENTATION Report format Content Presentation style Presentation: Written and oral REQUIRED TEXT: Zikmund : Business Research Methods ( South Western: 2003 ): Relevant chapters Donald R. Cooper: Business Research Methods (TMH: Latest edition): Supplementary text Ranjit Kumar: Research Methodology (Sage: 2010)