BASIC RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
LECTURE 7
BY

DR. SHAILJA PANDEY

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
GALGOTIAS UNIVERSITY, GREATER NOIDA, U.P.
 Examples on Formulation of Research Problem and Hypothesis
Summary
• Food has cultural and social implications and food choice has become more broadly influenced by
symbolic values; thus one of the offshoots of this new lifestyle shift is the increasing demand for
organically grown products.
• However, the nature of the product demands a marketing strategy very different from normally
grown food products.
• The question is also if there is really a market in the country for organic products. If yes then what is
the size of the market and how we cater to the needs of the consumers. The imperative for any
manufacturer of organic food products is to gauge the demand and then analyse how to address
this. A highly lucrative market driven by premium pricing is extremely enticing if there is scope for
capturing it.
Example 1: The Indian Army wants to ascertain why young
students do not select the armed forces as a career option in their
graduation.

a)How would you formulate a research problem to resolve the

objective?
b)How would be the variables under study?
c) How would you generate descriptive and relational hypothesis
for your study?
Ans:
a)Research Problem

 What is the impact of salary offered by armed forces on

students’ choice to select it as a career?
 What is the awareness of students regarding the career
options available to them in the armed forces?
 What apprehensions do students have about selecting armed
forces as a career option?
Ans:
b)Variable identification

 Salary offered by armed forces (IV) and armed force as

career choice (DV)
 Awareness of students in the armed forces(IV) and career
options in the armed forces (DV)
 Apprehensions which students have about selecting armed
forces (IV) and career option(DV)
Ans:
c)Research Hypothesis

 Is there any impact of salary offered by armed forces on

students’ choice, if they select it as a career.
 Is the awareness of students in the armed forces helpful for
students to chose armed forces as a career option.
 Apprehensions affect students to select armed forces as a
career option.
Example 2: The diet drink manufacturer in the study finds that young women
are more health conscious and are looking at low calorie options. Thus, any
communication on advertisement for the product has to emphasize the health
aspect. The purchase probability is also influenced by their education level and
the nature of their profession. Other factors such as available brands, celebrity
endorsement and dieticians recommendations also have an impact on them.

a) Research Problem and hypothesis

b) Variable Identification
a) Research Problem: Create the right model to spread awareness about the health
aspects of the diet drink. Identification of the relevant factors for purchase probability
with respect to the education level and profession.

Hypothesis 1: Women prefer products that are labelled healthy and have a catchy
nomenclature as far as health is concerned.

Hypothesis 2: Women get influenced by the packaging of the product.

Hypothesis 3: Women purchasing behaviour is influenced by word of mouth which

varies among different cohorts w.r.t factors like celebrity endorsement and profession.
b) Dependent Variables: Purchase probability – Dependent on Profession, Education,
Available brands, Celebrity endorsement and Dietician recommendation.

Independent Variables: Health Consciousness, Calorie level and Communication &

Advertisement.
Example 3: The training manager at ABC corporation has asked you to
identify the kind of training programmes that should be offered to the
young recruits who have joined as management trainees and are to be
imparted five additional general management programmes along with their
specific job training modules. The trainees are a mixed bunch of
engineering and management graduates.
a. Formulate research problem
b. State the research objectives and research hypothesis
a) Research Problem: Create a fool-proof method of training engineering and management
graduates in order to impart the necessary skills valuable to the organisation.
b) Research objectives
• Identify the skill gap in the engineering and management graduates who are employed by the
firm.
• Split the problem to parts to develop discrete solutions to each part.
Research Hypothesis
Hypothesis 1 Engineering and management graduates do not possess general management skills due
to lack of experience.

Hypothesis 2 Training of engineering and management graduates can be done simultaneously as

long as they are being trained for the same role.

Hypothesis 3 The main goal of the training program is to get the trainees ready for the organisation;
so the training will majorly involve company specific requirements.
THANK YOU