MB17205 L T P C

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3 1 0 4

COURSE RATIONALE
The course brings out the necessity to inquiry of business problems in an empirical approach. Its goal is to help
students to understand research practice, research cycle in general through critical examination of methods
associated with decision-making, critical thinking, and ethical judgment.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The overall objectives of this course are:
 To help students develop a thorough understanding of the fundamental theoretical ideas and logic of
research. These fundamental ideas underpin the approach to research, the vast range of research methods
available and the researcher’s choice of methods.
 To help students develop a thorough understanding of the issues involved in planning, designing,
executing, evaluating and reporting research within a stipulated time period
UNIT I - Introduction to Research & Research Design
Research – Meaning, Scope and Significance, Type of Research, Research
process, Characteristics of good research, Scientific method,
Research Design- Concept and importance of research design, Qualitative and quantitative research.
Exploratory research-Concept, Types, and uses. Descriptive research- Concept, Types, and uses.
Experimental research design. Concepts of independent and dependent variables.
UNIT II - Identification of Problem & Review of Literature
Problems in research – identification of research problem, Research question,
Research objectives and Research Hypothesis. Questionnaire and Interview Schedule.
Review of Literature- Need and scope.
UNIT III - Data types, Scaling & Sampling
Types of data and sources, Measurement level- concepts, Level of measurement- Ordinal, Nominal, Ratio
and Interval, Scaling techniques- meaning, types of scales, scale construction techniques. Population and
sample. Sampling theory- concepts, methods of sampling, Sample frame and sample error, sample size,
characteristics of good sample, Parametric and statistics.
Types of sample design- Probability and non-probability sample.
UNIT IV - Data analysis & Testing of Hypothesis
Data preparation- Univariate analysis- meaning, concept and uses.
Bivariate analysis- meaning, concept and uses. Multivaraite Analysis- meaning, concept and uses. Type-I,
Type-II errors, confidence level, critical region. Test of significance – Assumptions about parametric and
nonparametric tests. Parametric tests – Correlation, regression, Chi-square, T-Test, F-Test and Z-Test.
Introduction to ANOVA. Non-Parametric test.
UNIT V - Research writing, report & Ethics in research
Interpretation – meaning, Techniques of interpretation, Report writing- significance and
steps, Layout of report – types of reports – oral presentation – executive summary,
Mechanics of writing research report, Precautions for writing report – norms for using tables, chart and
diagrams, Appendix- norms for using Index and Bibliography. Ethics and its importance in research
TEXT BOOK
Kothari C.R., Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, New Age International publisher, 2004.
REFERENCE BOOKS
1. Rao K.V., “Research Methodology in Commerce and Management”, Sterling Publishers, 1993.
2. Wilkinson Bhadarkar, “Methodology & Techniques Of Social Research”, Himalaya Publishing House, 2003.