FINALTERM EXAMINATION
Spring 2009
STA630- Research Methods


Marks: 80


Question No: 1 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Who, among the following, wrote the book "Research Methods for Business"?

  • Zikmund, W.
  • Sekaran, U.
  • Dessler, G.
  • Neuman, W.C.




Question No: 2 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
On which of the following, Scientific knowledge mostly relies?

  • Identification of events
  • Logical understanding
  • Prior knowledge
  • All of the given options




Question No: 3 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following refers to research supported by measurable evidence?

  • Opinion
  • Speculation
  • Empiricism
  • Rationalism




Question No: 4 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
All of the following are true statements about action research EXCEPT;

  • Data are systematically analyzed.
  • Data are collected systematically.
  • Results are generalizable.
  • Results are used to improve practice.



Question No: 5 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
If a researcher is studying the effect of using laptops in his classroom to ascertain their
merit and worth, he is likely conducting which of the following types of research?

  • Evaluation
  • Experimental
  • Applied
  • Basic


Question No: 6 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
What is the problem with using strict definitions of important concepts?

  • They take the focus away from accurate measurement.
  • They prevent the researcher from assessing alternative ways of viewing a concept.
  • They prevent a consistent approach being achieved with business research.
  • They prevent research from being truly objective.


Question No: 7 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
A variable that is presumed to cause a change in another variable is known as:

  • Discontinuous variable
  • Dependent variable
  • Independent variable
  • Intervening variable




Question No: 8 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is the difference between measures and indicators?
  • Measures are unambiguous quantities, whereas indicators are devised from common sense understandings.
  • Indicators have a more direct relationship to the underlying concept than measures.
  • Measures are intuitively devised and then applied as if they were direct indicators of a concept.
  • Indicators are unambiguous quantities, whereas measures are subjective and value laden.

REF. Measures include things like demographics (of age, income and so on), which can be counted. In fact, usually we think of measures as raw numbers. Often though, what we want to research does not lend itself immediately to straightforward calculation on numbers of things and how they vary but on slightly vaguer concepts. Like job satisfaction, for example. In this case we need a number of attitude statements, which, taken together, can be argued to represent the concept. These separate statements are indicators and often represent our 'common sense' understanding of a concept. Later, these can be coded to turn them into numbers for statistical analysis.



Question No: 9 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is NOT the implication of Ordinal scale?

  • Characteristics of nominal scale
  • Rank the object
  • Does not provide magnitude of object
  • Provide rate




Question No: 10 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Measurement reliability refers to which of the following?

  • Accuracy of the scores
  • Dependency of the scores
  • Consistency of the scores
  • Comprehensiveness of the scores.


Question No: 11 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following statements might assist response rates?

  • Please photocopy the questionnaire five times and pass on to your work colleagues.
  • Please make sure that the questionnaire is completed with a fountain pen.
  • Please read the attached journal article on the ontological foundations of positivism prior to completing the questionnaire.
  • Please put the completed questionnaire in the enclosed stamped addressed envelope and place in the mail out tray.




Question No: 12 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Why it is important to avoid ambiguous terms while designing questions?

  • Respondents may not understand the question.
  • Respondents may operate with a different frame of reference.
  • Respondents may think the question is less important.
  • Respondents may have to ask for help when completing the questionnaire.




Question No: 13 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is a double-barreled question?

  • How satisfied you are with the performance appraisal system?
  • How satisfied you are with investment levels in new and existing software packages?
  • How satisfied you are with the organization's marketing strategy?
  • How satisfied you are with the levels of customer satisfaction?




Question No: 14 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The small scale trial run of a particular item is called ______________.

  • Test Run
  • Pilot test
  • Post hoc test
  • T test




Question No: 15 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following terms describes an interview protocol in which the topics and
questions to be addressed are identified, but the order in which the questions can be asked
is not stipulated?

  • Unstructured
  • Partially structured
  • Semi structured
  • Structured




Question No: 16 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The most important characteristic of the sample in survey research is that it is:

  • Representative of the target population.
  • Convenient to access.
  • Easily observed in naturalistic settings.
  • Large enough to compare differences between subgroups.


Usually, the population is too large for the researcher to attempt to survey all of its members. A small, but carefully chosen sample can be used to represent the population. The sample reflects the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn.



Question No: 17 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is NOT something a researcher will have to consider while
thinking about their sample size?

  • Time and cost.
  • Non-response.
  • Length of questionnaire.
  • Heterogeneity of population.

In general bigger is better when considering sample size however all researchers need to be aware of the limitations of their resources.



Question No: 18 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
A correlation coefficient of -0.45 is generally considered to be;

  • No correlation
  • Low
  • Moderate
  • High




Question No: 19 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
What is a researcher doing when he removes the variance explained by one variable in
order to understand the correlation between two other variables?

  • Statistical significance
  • Attenuation
  • Controlling for the variable
  • Multiple regression research




Question No: 20 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following best describes qualitative data analysis?

  • It begins after all the data has been collected.
  • It is an ongoing, cyclic process integrated into all phases of research.
  • It is an awkward, haphazard process.
  • It builds from abstraction to specific, concrete examples.



Question No: 21 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The statistic used to determine the relationship between two variables is:

  • Analysis of covariance
  • Chi square
  • Standard deviation
  • Pearson "r"



Question No: 22 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following describes the nature of qualitative data interpretation?

  • Reflection
  • Integrative
  • Explanatory
  • All of the given options




Question No: 23 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
In frequency tables total of columns and rows are called:

  • Body of table
  • Cell of table
  • Area of table
  • Marginals


Page No.107: PARTS OF TABLE Include the totals of the columns and rows. These are called marginals.They equal theunivariate frequency distribution for the variable.



Question No: 24 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
A researcher studies three groups of students who vary in level of self-confidence. She
finds that students with higher self-confidence are more popular among their peers. The
most plausible conclusion is that:
  • We do not know what causes self-confidence or popularity.
  • Self-confidence causes popularity.
  • Popularity causes self-confidence.
  • Self-confidence and popularity are related.




Question No: 25 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Educational policymakers often conclude that an intervention didn't work. Often, however, the intervention was not implemented as intended. The validity of the policymaker's conclusion is threatened by;
  • Lack of specificity of variables
  • Selection-treatment interaction
  • Treatment diffusion
  • Faulty data analysis procedures




Question No: 26 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Many beginner researchers believe that research involves testing, treating, and testing
again . This is an example of:

  • Comparison group research
  • Quasi-experimental research
  • True experimental research
  • Pre-experimental research


Question No: 27 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following questions can be answered using content analysis?

  • How do managers behave in the face of employment insecurity?
  • How do the media report corporate re-branding exercises?
  • What effect does organizational size have on marketing strategy?
  • What are the most popular leisure activities amongst the over-50s?

Rationale: Content analysis is often used to examine the mass media and the manner in which it covers certain issues.

Question No: 28 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Case study is empirical because;

  • It investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context.
  • It is retrospective study in which the researcher follows the research process from effect to its cause.
  • It is a study back in time.
  • All of the given options



Question No: 29 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which component of a research report contains information about the topic studied, literature review, hypotheses, participants, instruments, procedures, results, and discussion?

  • Preliminary pages
  • Main body
  • Method
  • Discussion




Question No: 30 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which one of the following Test helps in the proper sequence of the questions as
wording, translation, coding and structuring?

  • Test Run
  • Pre Test
  • Post Hoc Test
  • T- Test


Question No: 31 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following sampling is least reliable but normally the cheapest and easiest to
conduct?

Sponsored Links

  • Purposive Sampling
  • Snowball Sampling
  • Convenience Sampling
  • Quota Sampling


Ref:Page No.90: Convenience samples are least reliable but normally the cheapest and easiest to conduct



Question No: 32 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is a form of Non-random sampling?

  • Snowball sampling
  • Convenience sampling
  • Quota sampling
  • All of the given option




Question No: 33 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following has greatly facilitated the researcher to conduct tabulation and statistical analysis?

  • SPSS
  • MINITAB
  • SYSTAT
  • All of the given options


Page No.104: The proliferation of computer technology in business and universities has greatly facilitated tabulation and statistical analysis. Commercial packages eliminate the need to write a new program every time you want to tabulate and analyze data with a computer. SAS, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), SYSTAT, Epi. Info. And MINITAB is commonly used statistical packages.


Question No: 34 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
What is the place of quotations in referencing?

  • Quotations should be given at the end.
  • Quotations should be given exactly as they appear in the source.
  • Quotations should be given in left margins only.
  • Quotations should not be given at all.


Ref: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/linguistics/resources_hons/Brochure/Para10.pdf



Question No: 35 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following terms refers to a statistical method that can be used to statistically
equate groups on a pretest or some other variable?

  • Experimental control
  • Differential influence
  • Matching
  • Analysis of covariance




Question No: 36 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following could be used for randomly assigning participants to groups in an
experimental study?

  • Split-half
  • Even versus Odd numbers
  • Use a list of random numbers or a computer randomization program
  • Let the researcher decide which group will be the best

Rationale: Using a random number generator reduces bias.



Question No: 37 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The design in which one group of research participants is administered a treatment and is
then compared, on the dependent variable, with another group of research participants
who did not receive the experimental treatment is known as:

  • One-group posttest-only design
  • One-group pretest-posttest design
  • Posttest-only design with non-equivalent groups
  • Time series design



Question No: 38 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is referred to as the influence of a single independent variable?

  • Interaction effect
  • Reactive effect
  • Main effect
  • Proactive effect


Question No: 39 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following types of analysis can be done using secondary analysis?

  • The analysis of specific subgroups
  • Longitudinal analysis
  • Cross-cultural analysis
  • All of the given options


Question No: 40 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is/are advantage(s) of the self-completed questionnaire?

  • Inability to confirm who completed the questionnaire
  • Its unsuitability for some kinds of respondents
  • Inability to ask many questions that are not directly relevant to the respondent
  • Easy to justify the answer.


Question No: 41 ( Marks: 5 )
Defend the use of the term inductive to describe qualitative data analysis and
interpretation.

Question No: 42 ( Marks: 5 )
Briefly discuss the Solomon s Four Group Design in experimental research with the
help of example?

Question No: 43 ( Marks: 10 )
A multination company ABC has launched a new tooth paste Cleanex in Pakistan.
After eight months the company wants to analyze the consumer satisfaction about their
tooth paste. For research purpose, develop questions for the following scenarios that can
be used in questionnaire.
See the consumer preference for tooth paste or tooth powder by using nominal scale.
i. See the consumer preference for Cleanex Tooth Paste by using ordinal scale.
ii. See the important characteristics of the Cleanex Tooth Paste by using interval scale
so that the company can modify its strengths and improve its weaknesses.
iii. Check the monthly consumption of the tooth paste by using the ratio scale.

Question No: 44 ( Marks: 10 )
What are different types of probability sampling? Explain any two with detail.

Question No: 45 ( Marks: 10 )
What are different advantages and disadvantages of using secondary data?