RESEARCH METHODS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Prepared By D Muchochoma (2015)

The following table shows the different features that distinguish qualitative research from
quantitative research. Examine these and clearly bring out the differences. Full marks will
be given for relevant and specific examples. (25)
Quantitative Qualitative
Objective – Measuring facts, for example Subjective – Documenting on the
measuring financial performance based on ground, based on what the researcher
theory. CAPM. and the responds think about a certain
subject, culture group.
Deductive – Use of theory to deduce a Inductive – bring about a theory after
certain hypothesis. The study then confirms a observing and establishing patterns.
certain hypothesis. Establish whether there is Explore retention strategies in the health
a relationship between gender differences sector.
and academic performance.
Focuses on variables – attempt to measure Focuses on in-depth meaning asking
variables or count occurences of a broader questions, general questions,
phenomenon. able to identify a unit of collecting detailed views. Empasizing on
analysis and further into cotracts which can meanings and experiences related to a
be broken down into quantifiable variable. phenomenon
Measure financial performance, bank,
financial performance, profitability, share
price.
Many cases – the research can encompass Few cases – looking at few cases with the
several cases to reach the objective. Multiple objective of getting deeper meaning.
variable
Statistical analysis – bases developed Thematic analysis – personal themes are
statistical tools such as hypothesis testing, chi used to analyse data and deduce what the
square to reach a conclusion. researcher recommendation.

Briefly discuss the following qualitative sampling strategies.

a) Extreme / deviant case sampling (5)
 Looks at highly unsual indicator of the phenomenon interest
 For example outstanding success and notable failures
 Used when time and resources are limited
 Eg battered women kill their abusers
b) Snowball / chain sampling (5)
  Involve people who are information reach
 Who will refer to another
 And the chain grow
 More accurate data collection
 People cld be not willing
c) Convenience sampling (5)
 Selects based on easy of accessibility
 Saves time, money, effort
 Credibilty is lost
d) Opportunistic / emergent sampling (5)
 Follows new leads during the research period
 May be used after field work is done
 Flexible
 Takes advantage of the unexpected
 Compromise study because its unplanned
 Delay time and cost
e) Confirming and disconfirming sampling (5)
 Seeks cases that are expected and not expected
 Provide depth analysis
 Enhance credibility
 Objective (2 sides)
 Provide cases that disqualify the opinion
1) Define and describe the following types of validity in qualitative research.
 Validity is the to which an account is accurate or truthful
a) Descriptive validity (5)
 Factual accuracy of an account
 Making sure that one is not making up or distorting things
 Captures the physical or behavioral events as opposed to deduced meaning
 Describes the report of what one sees, hear, and touches smells
b) Interpretive validity (5)
 Grounded in the language of the people
 Relies heavily on their own words and concepts
 Accuracy depends on the views of the participants
 Use member checks and peer to peer approach
c) Theoretical validity (5)
 Concerned about the validity of concepts
 The ability to explain concisely the amount of data
 The relationship postulated to one another (goodness of fit)
 Can be enhanced by triangulation (different methods, different data sources)
d) External validity (5)
 Extent to which data results can be generalized another population
 Whether the concept or model can be used by another researcher
 Can be enhanced by thick description (read and understood by an outside)
ii) Define and describe reliability in qualitative research (5)
 Ability of different researchers to make the same observations of the same event using
same methods and procedures.
 Enhanced by standardizing data collection methods and protocols/rules
  Enhanced by documenting time, place, observations
 Inter-rate reliability
Compare and contrast the following research questions in terms of focus, type of data to be
collected, data analysis and product of study.
a) In what ways do survivors of the Botswana Liberation struggle describe their strategies of
surviving?
 Phenomenon because the focus of the study seeks to understand the essence of an
experience about an occurrence.
 Interview results with a group of up to 10 people
 Analyses statements, meanings and general description of experiences
 Description of survival strategies
b) What is the relationship between level of education and performance at work?
 Quantitative research
 Establishing a relationship between variables (if performance of work depends on the
level of educations)
 Categorical data in terms of the different levels of education (ranked data, ordinal) eg
 Independent t test
 Conformation tio of relations (acceptance of null or alternate)
Qualitative research is more invasive and tends to investigate more completely. In light of this
observation, examine the ethical obligations and responsibilities that should be met by the
researcher. (25).
Overall
 All research involving humans and animals require ethics approval from appropriate
authorities.
 Ethics approval must be obtained before the study is commenced.
 Need to consider ethical issues early in the planning stages of the study – you may need
to adjust your study accordingly.
 Proposal should discuss all relevant ethical issues associated with your study.
 Objectivity
 No misrepresentation
 Preserve anonymity and confidentiality
 Equity in the selection of subjects and distribution of risk
 Benefit must outweigh risk to the subject
 Experimentation must be voluntary
 No coercion or force
 No consideration for mentally ill
To subject
 Right to informed consent
 Obligation to be truthful
 Right to privacy
 Right to confidentiality
 Right to no harm
 Right to be informed
 Right of subjects to withdraw participation at any time without penalty
Write short explanatory notes on the following qualitative research approaches focusing on the
focus of research, data collection, data analysis and product of study.
a) Narrative research (5)
b) Phenomenology (5)
c) Ethnography (5)
d) Grounded theory (5)
e) Case study (5)
With the aid of examples define and describe the following types of business research.
a) Applied research (10)
Conducted when a decision must be made about a specific real-life problem
• Should Chicken Inn add sadza (pap) and maguru (offals) to its menu?
• Should MSU introduce a full time DBA for its Masters graduates?
• Should MSU rebrand its programs to remain the University of choice?
• Should Delta Beverages introduce a premier sorghum pack?
• Should Netone acquire a bank in order to grow its one wallet money transfer business?
b) Action research (15)
Focus on a particular case with a view of providing solutions to particular problems
Its empirical and reflective
Provide feedback as the reseach goes on
Researcher facilitates and lead to an out come (improve practice, implement change)
 What is the reason of a decline in sales
 Why are the cost increasing
 What are the causes of ebola
 Why do female students show low marks than man

8) Examine the relevance of literature review in qualitative research. (15)

Literature review is an evaluative report of what other studies found in the area related to your
selected area
Literature review typically includes scholarly journals, scholarly books, authoritative databases
and primary sources
 Provide a context for the research
 Justify the research
 Ensure the research hasn't been done before (or that it is not just a "replication study")
 Show where the research fits into the existing body of knowledge
 Allows the researcher to determine their space and place their ‘voice’ in the body of
knowledge
 Enable the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject
 Illustrate how the subject has been studied previously
 Highlight flaws in previous research
 Outline gaps in previous research
 Show that the work is adding to the understanding and knowledge of the field
 Help refine, refocus or even change the topic
 You need it to support your findings
 A great source of methodologies

b) What are the limitations of a conceptual framework in qualitative research (10)

 Qualitative seeks to build a theory
 Influenced by knowledge
 Experiences of the researcher
 Once develops shapes the study
 May result in other things being given prominence
 Other things may also be ignored
  Many theoretical frameworks exist around subject
 Challenge of hamronising into one’s study
 Preempties the study (providing limits to obtaing critical information)
 Affects methodology

Question 9

Examine the fact that a background to the study in qualitative research is developed on the
basis of gaps in the literature. Your answer should reveal the composition and features of a
good background to the study. (25)
 Create reader interest is supported by evidence from literature
 Lay the foundation of the problem
 Broad problem and narrow down the problem
 Show the existing gap from broad to [Link] this supported by literature
 Conflict issues
 Unresolved issues
 Social concerns
 Difference between thery and practice
 Uresolved issues
 Gap in policy
 Theory gap
 Methodology
 Practical
 Summary of major findings in the study (supported by literature)
 Provide the research problem while also testing the limits of the previous proposed
solutions
 Provide reason why that study
 State the problems and resaons for conducting the study
 State how it differs from other published work
 Spell out the relevance of the study

Question 10
Discuss in detail the following research designs and their methodologies.
a) Descriptive Survey (10)
b) Case study methodology (15)

Question 11

Discuss the different types of interviews that can be use in qualitative research. (25)
Question 12
Discuss the different types of observation techniques and their applications.

Question 13
a) Define validity in business research. (5)
 Define validity
 Identify the various types Descriptive, theoretical, external, interpretive
b) Suggest ways of enhancing validity in research. (20)
  Increase the sample size (the larger and more variable the more applicable to a wider
population)
 Investigations done in more realistic setting to make the findings relevant to everyday
life
 Repeat investigation on a different culture/population
 Use random sampling over non random sampling
 Replicate the study on another population
 Triangulation
 Thick description (outsider is able to read and interpret results)
 Member checking
 Peer review
 Prolonged time in the field
 External audit
Show how the following factors can determine the need and timing for business research.
a) Time constraints (5)
 Is there sufficient time before a managerial decision can be made
 Is the time available to conduct the research
 If the answer is no don’t conduct
 If yes then move on
b) Availability of data (5)
 Is the information on hand inadequate to make a decision
 How difficult is it to collect the data
 Or to access participants
c) Nature of the decision (5)
 Is the decision of considerable strategic or tactical importance
d) Benefits versus costs (10)
 Does the value exceed the cost of conducting it
 Potential value in terms of
 Contribution to knowledge
o To decision making
o Should be used for foreable future
o Form basis of other studies
o Closing an existing practical gap
o Contribution to strategy
o Contribution to policy
 Should exceed the cost of conducting study
 Vaue – improved performance, risk reduction, ehnaced decision making, cost cutting
 Cost – research expenditures, delay of business, possible time
Question 16
The following table shows the differences between qualitative and quantitative purpose
statements and research questions
Quantitative (closed) Qualitative (Open ended)
1. Probable – cause / effect 1. Descriptive
(Why did it happen) (What happened)

2. Use of theories 3. Interpretive (What was the means to

(Why did it happen in view of an people of what happened)
 explanation theory)
4. Assessing differences and magnitude) 2. Process oriented (What happened
over time)

Using examples clearly expose these differences (25)

Question 17
1. Using a research topic of your choice show how a research can be delimited based on the
following major focus areas
a) Time period (5)
b) Geographical scope (5)
c) Literature scope (5)
d) Research design & methods (5)
e) Population, sample and respondents categories (5)

You have chosen to write a dissertation on the following topic: Growth constraints for SMEs
(Small and Medium Enterprises) in Zimbabwe. Using your knowledge and imagination come
up with a conceptual framework and explain in detail the relevance of a conceptual framework
in qualitative research. (25)
Relevance of conceptual framework
Conceptual frameworks provide researchers with:
– The ability to move beyond descriptions of ‘what’ to explanations of ‘why’ and
‘how’.
– A means of setting out an explanation set that might be used to define and
make sense of the data that flow from the research question.
– An filtering tool for selecting appropriate research questions and related data
collection methods.
– A reference point/structure for the discussion of the literature, methodology
and results.
– The boundaries of the work.

Examine briefly the following concepts related to business research ethics.

a) Justice and inclusiveness (5)
Fairness and equity
Procedural justice
Application process
Distributive justice
Harms and benefits
b) Non-malfeasance (5)
Duty to avoid or minimise harm
Smallest utilisation of human subjects
c) Beneficence (5)
The duty to benefit others
The duty to maximize net benefits
Produce benefits for subjects themselves, other individuals
Produce benefits for society as a whole and for the advancement of knowledge (usually the
primary benefit)
What is your understanding of ethical relativism in relation to the study of ethical
Principles (10)
 Relativity of ethics (vary and perculiar to a setiing, country, community)
 Ethical relativism
 Various periods of time
 A society’ s tradition
 Personal opinion
 Special circumstances a t a moment
 Ethics relative to time, place, circumstance and people involved
In exposing the gap in knowledge during literature review, how can a research strategist employ
the following;
a) Theoretical review (5)
 Sythesises esiting theory and related concepts to empirical research to develop
foundation for a new concept or theory developmet
 Presents different theories focused on the research topic
 Compares on the bases of assumptions, scope and consistency
 Focuses on the breadth, consistency and predictions
b) Methodological review (5)
 Provides a methods summary of studies
 Examine research methods of different studies applied to a problem
 Compares their strengths
And show how they provide different results
c) Context review (5)
 Links the specific study to a broader body of knowledge
 Shows its specific location on framewrks
 Shows how it is developin over time
d) Meta-analysis (5)
Organising results from various studies
Uses astatistical tool to identy common findings
While looking for patterns across the studies
Researche gathers a larger number of studies in terms of
 Sample size
 Date published
 Size of the effects of variables
e) Historical review (5)
 The researcher traces an issue over time.
 It can be merged with a theoretical or methodological review to show how a concept
theory
 Research method has developed over time.
In carrying out an exhaustive literature review, the qualitative researcher can employ systematic
literature review as it addresses the problems presented by the traditional narrative. Explain in
detail. (25)
 Information has gone from scarce to superabundant
 This has many many advantages and many many disadvantages too
 The pace of knowledge production in the field of management/business has increased
in parallel
 This has increased the challenge of determining what is relevant and valid ‘literature’ to
include
  There is a move towards “evidence-based” decision making/management
 A systematic review is part of the evidence based movement
o It is the tool that is used to develop the evidence base
 It is a thorough investigation of the intellectual territory of a specific topic
 3 possible forms of bias:
o Bias from studies included in the review
o Bias from the studies not included in the review
o Bias from the actual analysis of the selected studies
 Systematic reviews are literature reviews:
o based on a set of scientific methods that explicitly aim to limit systematic error
(bias),
o that identify, appraise and synthesize all relevant studies (of whatever design)
o to answer a particular question (or set of questions)
 In a sense they are similar to a survey BUT of literature/knowledge
Explain and justify the qualitative research approach that you will use in carrying out the
following studies;
a) You want to build a theory that explains how individuals develop a sense of awareness.
(15)
b) You want to describe the culture and belief of a yoga practice group.
(10)
Using examples examine the following types of interviews in detail.
Structured interview (5)
 Structured interview close ended questions
 used for quantitative research
 Used to compare findings
 Known variables
 Standardised questions
 Used on same participants
 Follow up from unstructure
Unstructured interview (15)
 No planned sequence of questions
 Bring out preliminary issues to best define the variables of a study
 Understand or probe more about an issues
 Ivestigate a perception
 Out find out causes of certain behaviour
 Other questions can be generated in the field based on the response from the
participant
 Its difficult to analyse the findings
Semi-structured interview (5)
 Combination of the 2
 Standard while offering an opportunity to probe into the responses

Advise an MBA student on how he can come up with a good research proposal focussing on
the important features of a business research proposal (25)
Background to the study
Create reader interest
Broad problem and narrow down the problem
Place the study withn the larger contenxt of literature
Show the existing gap
Summary of major findings in the study
Provide the research problem while also testing the limits of the previous proposed solutions
Provide reason why that study
State how it differs from other published work
Spell out the relevance of the study
Statement of the problem
Problem might be the issue that exists in literature, practice or theory that leads to the need for
study
The research problem shpuld be evidence based from literature
The research problem may take a form of hypothesis, question or statement
Should arise from the background
A research question should never be answered by a yes or no
Do not mix research questions and hypothesis
Research objectives
Smart objectives related to intended outcomes
Drawn from the problem statement
Explanatory exploratory, descriptive, evaluation
Research hypothesis or questions
Question poses a relationship and hypothesis represents a declarative statement
Factors affecting choice
• Purpose of the study
• Nature of study design
• The audience of the study
Significance of the study
Why it is important to close the gap
Significance to humanity
Describe contribution to body of knowledge
Who will benefit
Omissions by previous researcher
Relevance ingoring of a methodology
Significance to (literature, practice, policy makers )
Assumptions (postulates)
Assumptions made to conduct the study
Truthful resposnes to questions
They should remain true even after the study
Delimitation (scope of the study)
Factors under control
Choice of a particular location
Area of focus
Time/period
Literature scope/theories
Research design, methods
Population sample
Conceptual framework
Concetual framework – developed by researcher
Theoretical framework – existing framework
A written or visual presentation that explains the main things to be studied
And presumed relationship about them
Limitations
Affect study but not under your control
But you could reduce it

1) What is external validity? Give examples

 The truth of conclusions that involve generalization of data to greater population.
 The generalization of population can also be across populations, time, different
contexts.
 A study whether attendance influence performance
 External validity is when we want to find out if the results are the same in a different
setting, population, time, location etc
2) Describe threats to external validity in quantitative research
 Selection bias – if the sample does not represent fully the population
 Constructs and methods – how one identifies constructs and defines them.
 Testing effects – When pre tested tend to influence results at post testing
 History effects – changes in environment might cause an object of interest to change as
a result of unmonitored variables.
3) Describe threats to internal validity in quantitative research
Internal validity is the degree to which a dependent variable changes as a result of variables
other than the independent variables under study.
Threats
 Instrumentation – Instrumentation decay, when a survey can no longer collect the
desire information maybe as changes in time. One might need structured over
unstructured means of data collection,
 Testing effects
 Maturity – The effect of time and its effect on people. Changes occur overtime
someone becomes smarter and their perceptions changes.
 Mortality – Changes in paticipants age out, relocate, no longer interested so much that
the sample is no longer representative of the population.
 History effects – unplanned changes in the environment (sleeping trends yet an
emergency arises)
4) Explain what you understand by “statistical conclusion validity”
The degree to which statements about conclusions of association of variables can be
determined using statistical tests.
5) Using specific examples, discuss threats to statistical conclusion validity and their
remedies
Threats
 Statistical power – when the sample is too small to be fully representative of the
population
 Violated assumptions of statistical tests –
 Fishing and error rate problem – this happens as a result of too many comparisons
causing a type 1 error rejecting null when its actually true.
  Measurement error – happens when there is low reliability on data as result this reduces
relationships among variables.
 Random heterogeneity – when criteria or characteristic of the sample units differ.
Certain kinds of respondents might be affected more than others and this results to
inflation of error variance.
Remedies
 Select samples to be as homogeneous as possible
 Pre-test measures should be collected based on the same scales being used
 Matching before and after randomization on variables being measured
 Increase the reliability of the dependable variable being measured
 Increase the sample size (collect more data)

6) Explain research design techniques to overcome threats to internal validity

Descriptive survey
Provide accurate represeantion of a phenomenon at one point in time or at various stages
(customer view on new product)
Cross sectional survey
Divide the sub group into sub groups
Statistically identify the causal group
Conduct the suvey and collect data at the same time in the different groups
Analyse the variation of outcomes between the groups
Longitudinal survey
From one group conduct survey at different points in time
Pre and post results are analysed
Then the differences will explain the influences of x on y
Absence of control group
Experimental design
Pre test
2 groups, experimental and control group
One intervention
Random allocation to the groups
Post test
Analysis focuses on the change before and after the intervention
Compared to the same change of the control group
Random assignment of subjects
Quasi experimental
In cases where the researcher cannot randomly assign subjects this method can be considered
The groups totally differ from each other
7) Define research design
 Detailed procedural plan that is adopted by researcher to answer questions validly,
objectively, accurately and economically.
 Provide details on rational and justification of
 Which study design to used and why
 Data collection methods
 Data analysis
 Data presentation
 All this supported by literature review
8) Under what circumstances is it appropriate to use
Explanatory correlational study design
 A correlational study determines whether or not two variables are correlated. This
means to study whether an increase or decrease in one variable corresponds to an
increase or decrease in the other variable.
 Used when one one wants to figures out if there is a relationship between 2 variables
 Interested in the nature of the relationship as well as the direction of the relationship
Predictive study design
 When one needs to predict trends over time
 With an intention to make a decision into the future
 Basing of historical data
Survey research designs
 Used when one wants to find out attitudes, feelings, perception about a certain product
at a articulat time
 Descibe (that is better define a an opinion, attitude etc)
 Cuasal - Make a conlusion about something
 Explain a discovery ideas or insights (market research)
Longitudinal research designs
 Detect developments or changes on a certain particular group
 Done over time
 Done on the same group
 Observations
Cross sectional survey designs
 Compare different groups at the same point
 No interference at all
 Compare many different variables at the same time
 Often when wanting to do it once
9) What are the key characteristics of correlational designs?
 The description and measure of a degree of association between 2 variables
 Display of scores (scatter or matrix)
 Association between scores (form, direct and strength)
 Multiple variable analysis (partial correlation, and multiple regression)
10) What are the main types of survey research designs that you know?

 Questionnaires - a series of written questions a participant answers. This method

gathers responses to questions that are essay or agree/neutral/disagree style.
 Interviews - questions posed to an individual to obtain information about him or her.
This type of survey is like a job interview, with one person asking another a load of
questions.
 Surveys - brief interviews and discussions with individuals about a specific topic. Yes,
survey is also a specific type of survey, to make things even more confusing. A survey is
a quick interview, with the surveyor asking only a few questions.
11) What is a hypothesis?
 A tentative statement of the relationship between 2 or more variables
 Null Hypothesis – Makes a prediction in the general population that: no relationship
or no significant relationship exists between groups on a variable.
 Alternative hypothesis – states the investigator’s true expectation (there is a
relationship)
  Directional hypothesis – the investigator makes a prediction about the expected
outcome
 Non directional hypothesis – the investigator makes a prediction but does not specify
the exact form of relationship
12) What are the main reasons for using hypotheses in quantitative research?
 Collect empitical data to verify hypotheses
 Test hypothesis
 Help narrow the field of study
 Brings direction to study
 Adds to the formulation of theory
 Enhances objectivity of a study
 Provides focus (tells the researcher what information to collect)
 Form basis of an inquiry
13) Why do researchers use a sample rather than collecting data from the entire
population?
 Impossible to collect data from every element in situations where we have hundreds of
members in a population
 Cost effective
 Saves time
 Does not require large number of human resources
 Likely produce reliable result because reduces fatigue and error
 Human resources
 Avoid destructive sampling
14) Describe a situation where a researcher would consider the use of
Simple random sampling
 When each member has an equal chance to be selected
 Used when members of the population are relatively homogeneous with respect to the
research question
 Sampling frame is the entire population
Cluster sampling
 Used when one does not have access to the entire list of population
 When members within sub groups of the entire population are different
 When the subgroups of the entire population are the same
 Market research (clusters of residence)
Stratified sampling
 When one wants to study sub groups on a certain area of interest
 When separate sub groups exists (these are deemed to be the population)
 When the unit of analysis is at the group level

Systematic random sampling

 Used when members of the population are relatively homogeneous with respect to the
research question
 Used in market surveys, consumer attitudes

15) What are the advantages and disadvantages of

(i) Simple random sampling
Advantages
 Eliminates bias every member has a chance of being selected
  Offers more generalization to the population
Disadvantages
 Used only when the members are homogeneous
 Cumbersome and expensive
(ii) cluster sampling
Advantages
 Less expensive
 Not dependant on a sampling frame
Disadvantages
 Exposed to bias
 Less generalisation

(iii) Stratified sampling

Advantages
 Focused approach
 Provides more information
 Ensures homogeneity less differences between within the group
Disadvantages
 Depends on as sampling frame
 Expensive approach

(iv) Systematic random sampling

Advantages
 Viable and more efficient than random
 Systematic (logical)
Disadvantages
 Systematic bias
16) Using business examples, define each of the following types of variables,
a. Independent variable

b. Dependent variable
c. Moderating variable

d. Mediating variable

17) Explain the differences between the Likert and Semantic differential ]approaches by
using examples of possible items to measure the efficiency of a bus service

18) Operationally define the following concepts

(i) Socioeconomic status
Unit – people, concept – socio economic status, indicatior – income, qualification, occupation,
spending patterns, residence, variable – income per month, education level, occupation,
(ii) Social class

(iii) Company performance

(iv) Unethical behaviour

(v) Shopping enjoyment