Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Types of Research
• Exploratory – Activity/Process to uncover more information and better
understanding about a problem or a research objective (e.g. using
qualitative/quantitative data of a small, non-representative sample)

• Descriptive – Activity/Process to describe the characteristics of a

phenomenon (e.g. asking who, what, when, where questions)

• Causal – Activity/Process to establish a cause and effect relationship

between variables/factors, often with an agenda of prediction.
 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Types of Business Analytics Techniques

• Descriptive – describing what has happened (e.g. Descriptive Statistics,

Visualization, What if analysis)

• Predictive – developing mathematical models for prediction/forecasting

(e.g. Data Mining, Regression Analysis, Simulation)

• Prescriptive – identifying a best course of action (e.g. Decision Analysis,

Optimization techniques, Simulation)
 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Business Analytics – Structure/Framework

• Statistical Techniques and Methods

• Mathematical/Quantitative Techniques and Methods

• Data/Information (Disparate, Big, Business Intelligence)

 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Measurement
• Process of assigning numbers to a characteristic of any stimulus (subject,
object, idea, event etc.)

• Types of Characteristics: Directly Observable, Directly Unobservable

• Directly Observable Characteristics: Variables

• Directly Unobservable Characteristics: Constructs

 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Attitude
• Attitude : Stable disposition to respond consistently to any stimulus
(subject, object, idea, event etc.)

• Components of Attitude: Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioural

• Measuring Attitude: Scales

 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Attitudes Scales
• Estimating the magnitude of a characteristic in a stimulus by giving a
Rating (e.g. assessing satisfaction with your car of by giving a rating)

• Ranking various stimuli in an order of increasing/decreasing amount of

some characteristic. (e.g. ranking various passenger cars in terms of
quality)

• Sorting or grouping various stimuli into categories/groups (e.g. dividing

different makes of motor bikes into two groups: practical vs aspirational

• Indicating preference or Choice between two or more alternatives (e.g.

preference between two models/brands of bikes)
 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Attitude Rating Scales – Most Widely Used

• Likert scale (Rensis Likert, 1932) - Respondents are asked to indicate the
amount of agreement or disagreement on a odd (e.g. 5, 7, 9 etc.) points
scale.

Example (5 point Likert scale): Indicate your level of

agreement/disagreement with the following statements

I love riding a bike

SD D DN A SA
1 2 3 4 5
 Vishal Mishra (IBS, Hyderabad)

Attitude Rating Scales – Most Widely Used

• Semantic Differential Scale (Charles Osgood et al, 1957) - Respondents are
asked to indicate the their response on a odd (e.g. 5, 7, 9 etc.) points scale
(semantic space) using bipolar adjectives

Example (7 point scale): Indicate where will you place your favorite bike

Smooth _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Rugged