sample mba sem3 summer 2015

7/23/2019 Sample MBA Sem3 Summer 2015

1/3

1

Summer 2015

MBA Semester 3

MB0050: Research Methodology

Q1. What do you mean by Focus Group Discussion? Explain the key elements of afocus group.

Focus Group Discussions

Exploratory analysis is carried out by discussions with individuals associated with the

problem under study. This technique is actively used in business research. In a typical focus

group, there is a carefully selected small set of individuals representative of the larger

respondent population under study. It is called a focus group as the selected membersdiscuss the concerned topic for the duration of 90 minutes to, sometimes, two hours. Usually

the group is made up of six to ten individuals. Generally, these discussions are carried out in

neutral settings by moderator who usually does not participate in the discussion. His prime

objective is to manage a relatively non-structured and informal discussion.

Key elements of a focus group

Size: Ideal recommended size for a group discussion is 8 to 12 members. Less than eight

would not generate all the possible perspectives on the topic and the group dynamics

required for a meaningful session.

Nature: Individuals who are from a similar background in terms of demographic and

psychographic traits must be included, otherwise disagreement might emerge as a result of

other factors rather than the one under study. The other requirement is that the respondents

must be similar in terms of the subject/policy/product knowledge and experience with the

product under study. Moreover, the conduction of the focus group discussion must ensure

that the following criteria are taken care of:

Acquaintance: It has been found that knowing each other in a group discussion is disruptive

and hampers the free flow of the discussion. It is recommended that the group shouldconsist of strangers rather than subjects who know each other.

Setting: The space or setting in which the discussion takes place should be as neutral,

informal and comfortable as possible. In case one-way mirrors or cameras are installed,

there is a need to ensure that they are not directly visible.

Time period: The discussion should be held in a single setting unless there is a before and

after design, which requires group perceptions, initially before the study variable is

introduced; and later in order to gauge the groups reactions. The ideal duration of

conduction should not exceed an hour and a half.


2/3

2

The moderator: The moderator is the one who manages the discussion. He might be a

participant in the group discussion or a non-participant. He must be a good listener and

unbiased in his conduct of the discussions.

Q2. Discuss the concepts involved in Testing of Hypothesis. Also discuss the stepsinvolved in testing the hypothesis.

Concepts in Testing of Hypothesis:

Null hypothesis: The hypotheses that are proposed with the intent of receiving a rejection

for them are called null hypotheses. In this we hypothesize the opposite of what is desired to

be proved. For example, if we want to show that sales and advertisement expenditure are

related, we formulate the null hypothesis that they are not related.

Alternative hypotheses: Rejection of null hypotheses leads to the acceptance of alternative

hypotheses.

One tailed and two tailed tests: A test is called one-sided (or one-tailed) only if the null

hypothesis gets rejected when a value of the test statistic falls in one specified tail of the

distribution.

Steps in Testing of Hypothesis:

Setting up of a hypothesis: The first step is to establish the hypothesis to be tested. As it is

known, these statistical hypotheses are generally assumptions about the value of the

population parameter; the hypothesis specifies a single value or a range of values for two

different hypotheses rather than constructing a single hypothesis.

Setting up of a suitable significance level: The next step is to choose a suitable level of

significance. The level of significance denoted by is chosen before drawing any sample.The level of significance denotes the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is

true. The value of varies from problem to problem, but usually it is taken as either 5 percent or 1 per cent.

Determination of a test statistic: The next step is to determine a suitable test statistic and

its distribution. As would be seen later, the test statistic could be t, Z, 2 or F, depending uponvarious assumptions to be discussed later in the book.

Determination of critical region: Before a sample is drawn from the population, it is very

important to specify the values of test statistic that will lead to rejection or acceptance of the

null hypothesis. The one that leads to the rejection of null hypothesis is called the critical

region.

Computing the value of test-statistic: The next step is to compute the value of the teststatistic based upon a random sample of size n.


3/3

3

Making decision: The hypothesis may be rejected or accepted depending upon whether the

value of the test statistic falls in the rejection or the acceptance region. Management

decisions are based upon the statistical decision of either rejecting or accepting the null

hypothesis.

Q3. What do you mean by Exploratory research design? Explain the types ofexploratory research design.

Q4. Explain the Structure of the Research Report . What are the guidelines for effectivereport writing?

Q5. Explain the any three types of comparative and non-comparative scales of each indetail.

Q6. What do you mean by Research Problem? Explain the steps involved in researchproblem identification process.

Remaining answers are available in the full assignments.

For full assignments contact us:

Global Education

Rajdeep: 098662 48187 / 077958 40110

Email:[email protected] /

Website:

[email protected]

www.smuassignments.com

Note: Paid assignments will be in word format without any water mark as per SMUs new

requirement.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.smuassignments.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.smuassignments.com/http://www.smuassignments.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

sample mba sem3 summer 2015

Documents