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Dare to Ask Mian Aamir all about Business Research
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes, 0 secondsDear Sir,Kindly explain in easy words parameter and statistics. Also explain about sampling frame why in actual practice sample will be drawn from a list of population elements that is often different from the target population?
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]A parameter is a characteristic of a population such as the population mean, the population standard deviation etc. But we cannot calculate them without conducting the census of the whole population. Therefore to cope with this situation we apply Statistics on the selected sample. A statistic is a characteristic of a sample. The Sample Statistics—- the sample mean, standard deviations, variance in the sample and other statistical analysis enables us to make an educated guess about a population parameter based on a statistic computed from a sample. The second part of your query is about sampling frame. It is a complete list of the units or elements of the population. Sometime it is not available and we have to prepare it by ourselves for example list of students of colleges in Lahore. Sometime sampling frame is already made and readily available for example telephone directory as it has the data of all the telephone users. But the telephone directory is not updated on regular basis and it might not be updated for the last five year, if we draw sample from the directory in the current year, the sample may be different from the sample which we require for our research. Due to such problems, sample drawn from a list of population elements is often different from the target population that has been defined in term of our research. Hope this reply will make you understand the term Sampling.[/box]
Sir please explain Sampling Terminology ?
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Sample is a subset of the population. It comprises some member selected from it. In other words, some, but not all, elements of the population would form the sample. If 200 members are drawn from a population of 1000 middle level managers, these 200 employees form the sample of the study. A sample is thus a subgroup of the population. By studying the sample, the researcher should be able to draw conclusion that would be generalizable to the whole population of the interest. The process to select the sufficient number of elements from the target population is known as Sampling. Hope this reply will make you understand the term Sampling[/box]
Sir Please explain Make dummy tables?
[box type=”shadow” ]During analysis process, researcher checks the presentation of results of statistical tests by developing some table formats to evaluate the readability and understandability of the information provided in those tables. Those tables are called dummy tables. For more understanding, read the content available in following link. http://fernandezresearch.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/dummy-tables1.pdf[/box]
Dear Sir Explain Pilot Testing and also the dummy table?
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]In surveys, to find the perception of participants, researcher needs a standardized tool against which he/she can collect data. The standardized tool is called questionnaire and to make it standardized, researcher has to design that questionnaire according to predefined rules. To check whether all the predefined rules are incorporated in the developed questionnaire, he/she selects few of the respondents from targeted population and asked them to fill the questionnaire and then researcher applies statistical tests. This process is called pilot testing. Pilot testing is not limited to questionnaire development; researcher can use this technique to test whole methodology as well. After applying the statistical tests, researcher also checks the presentation of results of statistical tests by developing some table formats to evaluate the readability and understandability of the information provided in those tables. Those tables are called dummy tables[/box]
Sir please explain funnel technique?
[box type=”shadow” ]Funnel technique is basically used while doing literature review and in questionnaire construction. Funnel technique in research refers to move from general to specific i.e. ask general questions first from respondents to put them at ease and then funneling down towards narrowed (specific) questions. You must have looked funnel whose one end is broad and other end is narrow, the technique is adopted likewise in academics[/box]
Dear Mian Sab what about Open ended Vs Close ended Question.?
[box type=”shadow” ]Open-ended questions are questions in which respondent is free to answer in a way he/she likes. Options to answer the question are not given rather only vacant lines are present in which respondent writes his answer. Open ended questions are useful in opinion seeking, exploratory research when problem is totally new and researcher wants to have clarity of it, and taking suggestion. Structured questions are also called closed-ended questions. Options are given and respondent has to choose his/her response from them. Closed ended questions include following: 1. Multiple choices. 2. Dichotomous questions. 3. Rating scales. Closed ended questions are useful when researcher wants to have a desired positive or negative frame of mind of respondents; also when researcher wants to get answer that is limited and can be answered in a few words.[/box]
Why questionnaire Design?its is essential for data collection tools?
[box type=”shadow” ]While conducting a research, a researcher sets some questions and to answer those questions he/she needs some evidences. Those evidences may be in the form of data. To collect the data various techniques are used like making observations, conducting interviews, performing experiments and conducting surveys. In surveys, to find the perception of participants, researcher needs a standardized tool against which he/she can collect data. The standardized tool is called questionnaire and to make it standardized, researcher has to design that questionnaire according to predefined rules. For all studies, it is not necessary to design questionnaire. Sometimes researcher uses already developed questionnaires and in some case, he/she develops new questionnaire[/box]
Where we apply the questionnaire as tool for data collection?
[box type=”shadow” ]Questionnaire refers to a list of questions which is used to get responses of the customers by handling the questionnaire directly to respondents. It is used when respondent’s convenience is of importance. They can fill the questionnaire when they get time. Moreover as it is cost efficient, researcher uses it when there is this constraint. When observing the body language of respondent is not of high importance, questionnaire can be used also[/box]
What is supervisor-subordinate relationship?
[box type=”shadow” ]Supervisor – subordinate relationship means relationship between boss and employee. This relationship is important in an organization for organizational efficiency and effectiveness.[/box]
Sir please explain Props and Visual Aids?
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Props and visual aids is one of the advantages of the doing face to face personal interviews. Interviewer becomes able to see the visual expressions of respondent. In case of face to face interview of a marketer, interviewer becomes able to see a product sample and discuss it. Such visual aiding is not possible in telephonic interview[/box]
Dear Aamir Bahi Kindly explain it with examples.i am not getting these concepts clearly.what are correlation,variables,coefficient, in research process?we use these terms in mathematics but in research subject how i will recognize and differentiate them?
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Co-relation is a statistical measure of how variables are related with each other. Coefficient of variation is a statistical measure of dispersion of data points in a data series around them. Yes they both are statistical terms but they use in research while doing data analysis in quantitative study. These tests are used to get the results and make objective analysis in research.[/box]
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Co-relation is basically used to check the relationship between certain variables. For example; if you want to analyze how job commitment is related with productivity of employees you can use co-relation to analyze whether both are positively related or negatively related with each other. Co-relation is used to analyze and draw conclusion about variables. Coefficient of variation is a statistical measure of dispersion of data points in a data series around them. It is basically used to analyze variation in data sets whether your data is too much variant or it has uniformity in it.[/box]
Aslamo alikum ,Dear and respected sir. Please explain what is variable and proposition, what is the differences B/W of these .
[box type=”shadow” ]Walikum As Salam. Variables are basically concepts and concepts are building blocks of propositions. Propositions are statements composed of variables. For example; higher education leads to get good job. This statement is said to be proposition. ‘Education’ and ‘job’ are variables.[/box]
Asslamo alikum Dear and respected sir Please define what is time dimension and its type in details in easy wording thanks
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Time dimension refers to the time you take to complete your research. Sometimes researchers take data just once and complete research in single snapshot, and at times researchers take data more than one time after specific time period to complete the study. First type of research is cross sectional and second type of research is named as longitudinal research. For example, if you study the career intentions of students of 5th semester then it is cross sectional but if you study the career intentions of same students in 7th semester then it is longitudinal research.[/box]
Respected Mian Aamir Sab,what “reliability” means? and also explain me the two “test of stability”.Sir please in simple words
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Reliability means the extent to which an instrument measures consistently. Here the question is not what it is measured or whether the measurement is correct or wrong, rather reliability ensures whatever the instrument measures, it measures consistently. The other aspect of the reliability is stability i.e. the ability of an instrument to remain same over time and less vulnerable to change in different situation. When researcher tests the reliability of an instrument then in fact he/she is actually measuring the consistency and stability of the instrument and for that purpose different test are available.[/box]
Please explain what is criterion related validity?
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]The criterion validity of any survey instrument is the extent to which agreement exists between the results of the given survey instrument and other variables or criteria that reflect the same construct extracted for the same population. If researcher takes the correlation between the two sets of measurements then it is called the representation of criterion validity in quantified format. For example, if you want to test the leadership skills and for that purpose you have developed an instrument then the results of instrument have to match with the traits displayed by known leaders. The new instrument on leadership skills should correlate positively with an old and existing established instrument. If scores of new leadership skills instrument developed by the researcher are correlated with the scores of an existing test on leadership taken at the same time then it is called concurrent validity which is a type of criterion validity. However, if scores of new leadership skills instrument developed by the researcher predicts something that will happen or be assessed in the future about leadership skills then it is called predictive validity which is another type of criterion validity.[/box]
Aslamo alikum Respected sir, please define what is construct , convergent,discriminant validity.
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Construct validity measures validity of multiple indicators. For example, in order to measure job satisfaction you make questionnaire on multiple dimensions such as working conditions, interaction with co-workers/managers, work itself, remuneration, self-growth, promotion, praise & recognition, organizational policy and job security. Construct validity ensures that all the dimensions operate in consistent manner. Construct validity basically measured by convergent validity or discriminant validity. Convergent validity ensures that all the similar dimensions are associated with one another. In above mentioned dimensions; promotion and praise & recognition both should score high in order to ensure convergent validity. If one scores high and second scores low then it lack convergent validity because similar dimensions are supposed to give similar results. On the other hand discriminant validity ensures that concepts that are not similar should not give similar results. For example, you make questionnaire on extravert and introvert. You put 10 statements of introvert and 10 of extrovert. Scores of both concepts should be opposite in order to ensure discriminant validity[/box]
Honorable sir, Please explain more simply and clearly with the help of an example about “Conceptualization and Ope-rationalization”
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Conceptualization is the process through which researchers try to define a concept which they will study in their research. A variable can be defined differently (for an instance, motivation is defined by various researchers and each has highlighted different aspects of motivation) but by conceptualization the researchers draw a boundary around a variable’s definition so that a clear and comprehensible specification of variable can be understood and both researcher and reader view variables from same aspect. It is the process of specifying what researchers mean by a variable (motivation) in a particular research. For example if a researcher hypothesized that lower social status in office directly correlates to an increase in unusual behavior at workplace, then in this case what is meant by unusual Behavior? The definition of unusual behavior is different for readers as well as for researcher. To eliminate the disparity researcher gives a definition which is called conceptualization. For example unusual behavior means actions that violate workplace norms. At the same time, in a research it is the responsibility of the researcher to measure that variable. Therefore by operationalization means to discover or identify how a variable will be measured in a specific research and for that purpose the researcher specifies the indicators that will specify the value of different respondents on a variable. For example in above example, the actions of an employee like coming too late, wearing indecent dress, speak loudly etc. are the actions which are against workplace norms and any individual who performs these actions will be considered as “Unusual behavior”.[/box]
Respected sir, Can you please brief it more clearly about “equal intervals and Natural Zero” ?
Equal interval and Natural ZERO are two important parameters used to differentiate different scales like nominal, ordinal, interval and scale.
Equal interval means equal gap or distance between two reference points. For example, look at following two series; in first series the gap between two numbers is same i.e. every next digit will appear after adding 01 in preceding number. However in second series the gap between numbers is not same as there is no gap between first two digits whereas in second that third digit there is difference of one and in third and fourth the difference is two. So, in first series there is equal interval while in second series there is inconsistent interval.
Series 01: 1 2 3 4 5
Series 02: 2 2 3 5 7
Let take another example, there are three students who stand first, second and third in the class but when we look at the CGPA of all three students then difference is not same i.e. the CGPA of student who stand first is 3.95 whereas the CGPA of second and third student is 3.81 and 3.49 respectively. The interval between the ranks is equal but in CGPA it is unequal.
The other component is Natural Zero. When a variable is measured and while defining a scale if researchers add “ZERO” in the scale then you must aware what is the meaning of that ZERO. For example, if researcher wants to measure a variable “AGE” and “Income” according to following scale:
What is your age?
ZERO 10-20 Years 21-30 Years 31 – 40 Years Above 40 Years
What is your per month Income?
ZERO 10-20 Thousands 21-30 Thousands 31 – 40 Thousands Above 40 Thousands
In this example there is logical meaning of “zero age” where “Zero Income” is conveying some sort of meaning i.e. respondent is jobless.
Respected sir, please tell me what is the importance of different scale nominal,ordinal,interval and ratio in our life, please define it with the help of example.
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Different type of scale measures variable in specific way. Nominal scale only identifies and classifies the variable for example; yes or no, male or female, true or false and etc. If asked in which area you are currently living then such statement will be measured using nominal scale. Ordinal scale not only classifies the variable but rank it in an order. For example if asked in which area you want to make your new home (First priority comes first). Then such statement will be measured using ordinal scale. Interval scale not only identifies or ranks but also measures the intensity of variable. For example, if asked how much satisfied you are with your job, such statement can be measured by using interval scale. Ratio scale is mostly used where there is absolute zero. Mostly it is used to measure physical objects for example, weight, distance, money etc.[/box]
Respected sir, please clear what is meant by that point “Maximizing the sponsor’s value for the resources expended”.
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]As you know generally three parties are involved in research process: the researcher, the sponsoring client, and the respondent. The whole research is based on problem or issue presented by sponsor. After completing the research, the results are forwarded to sponsor and if results are not providing any substantial value to sponsor or result are not providing the solution of sponsor’s problem then one can said that resources are not generating any value to sponsor or waste of sponsor’s resources. The other words, if results are providing some thing extra in addition to solution of sponsors’ problem then you can say that it is maximizing the sponsor’s value for the resources expended.[/box]
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