RWANDA POLYTECHNIC

IPRC KIGALI
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
B-Tech Program (Year4 WAS, QUS, HWE, LSV)
ACADEMIC YEAR 2023-2024
CCMRM801 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
10Credits ( 100hours)

Lecturer: Mugabe Assiel

 1. INTRODUCTION

Research work is traditionally defined as gathering of data to answer the questions and finding
solution to problems. The research work may be asked to provide answer to questions of
theoretical interest to particular discipline. Research should not be considered as academic
activity only; it also applies to all the respect of human activity. Research is basis for making
process of decision effective and more meaningful. It includes the defining of research problem
formulation of hypothesis, collection of data, analysing of data and arriving to conclusions. After
the conclusions are drawn, it is also necessary to find out testing of the conclusions in relation to
the hypothesis.
Now research has acquired so much of prominence in all the activities, that no development can
be thought without proper application of research. Research is now taken up by many
professionals. It is a way of thinking. It critically examines the various aspect of the professional
work. It is a habit of questioning what you do and systematic examination of observed
information to find answer, with a view to make appropriate change for effective use of the
information.
1.1. Definition

On the basis of the definitions given by various authors we can summarize that the research is
an organized inquiry designed and carried out to provide information for solving problem. It is
a careful inquiry to discover new information to expand the existing knowledge. It is an
investigation, recording and analysing evidences for on-going knowledge.
1.2. Characteristics of research
a) Controlled: In a study of cause and effect relationships it is important to be able to link
the effect (s) with the cause (s) and vice versa. The concept of control implies that, in
exploring set up your study in a way that minimizes the effects of other factors affecting
the relationship.

b) Rigorous: You must be scrupulous in ensuring that the procedures followed to find
answer to questions are relevant; appropriate and justified.

c) Systematic: This implies that the procedures adopted to undertake

an investigation follow a certain logic sequence. The different steps cannot be taken in a
haphazard way. Some procedures must follow others.

d) Valid and Verifiable: This concept implies that whatever you conclude on the
basis of your findings is correct and can be verified by you and others.

e) Empirical: This means that any conclusions drawn are based upon hard evidence
gathered from information collected from real life experiences or observations.

f) Critical: The process of investigation must be fool proof and free from drawbacks. The
process adopted and the procedures used must be able to withstand critical scrutiny.

1|Page Course notes for B-Tech_RP_IPRCKigali

Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 1.3. Research objectives

The research is being conducted with a purpose of discovering answer to the question by
making an application of scientific procedures. The main objective of the research work is to
take out the hidden facts yet to be discovered. Every research study has its own purpose to be
attended; therefore objectives of research can be broadly classified as academic and utility one.

A) Academic Objectives – It relates to development of new concept and addition to old concept.
It means that urge for knowledge is main factor in this type of objectives of research.

B) Utility objectives- It relates to utility of research work, as research work, as research is

accepted for more use to the society. It has to provide the base for policy formation in the
society.
1.4. Nature of research
 Research is process in which in-depth study of the problem is carried out. This requires
investigation to be conducted based on collections and compilation of data along with its
interpretation and presentation.
 The research activities will help us in testing of hypothesis and establishing relationship
between variables by this we can identify the methods for solution of the research
problems.
 The research is a fact finding process, which influences the decisions to be taken. This
also provides an opportunity to check the effectiveness of the decision taken.
 The research is a scientific process and it is required to be conducted in proper
sequences, which includes activities right from identification of research problem,
formulation of hypothesis, testing of hypothesis, observation and relationship of variables
and drawing of conclusions.
1.5. Importance of research

All development and progress in the society is an outcome of a research work. The
development of logical thinking is promoted by conducting the research activities.
Research has special importance in relation to solving various problems of business and
industries. Market research, operation research and motivation research are conducted in
the business for various requirements. The importance of research can also be ascertained
through its application in socio political sector in order to find out solution to social and political
problem of the society.
1.6. Relevance of research

Research establishes the relationship between variables and functional areas. It is an

effective tool for forecasting. The formulation and implementation of policies and strategies
will be more effective, when they are based on the research studies. Research is main source of
decision making as it helps the process of thinking, analysing and interpretation of the

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
business situations. It provides base for innovations product development and product
modifications.
1.7. Research process

There are various approaches to research work. Every research project is different from each
other on account its time and place in which it is to be conducted. But all the research projects
will have common understanding of the society and have common steps through which
research is conducted. In order to have proper research work, every research project work,
every research project has to have research problem identified. The research process will
consist of particular objective which should be clearly stated and there should be a
hypothesis which has to be proceeding right or wrong.
In addition to this each research project will have research design which indicates as to how
required data will be collected, analyzed and interpreted. The research process consists of
series of various actions, which are necessary to effective research work.
The stages in research process are listed as, selecting research problems and stating of
hypothesis, formulating of research design, collecting, analysing and interpreting of data. These
steps can be summarized as:

 Formulate the research problem

 Get the background information
 Refine your search topic
 Consider your research option
 Select the appropriate tool (i.e. sampling procedure)
 Use the tool effectively
 Locate your material (i.e. data for research)
 Analyses the material located (i.e. data analysis)
 Organize and write report.
 References and bibliography

The stages which are explained above are depended on each other. It is clear from the above
steps sequence in the research process, which are described as:
1) Formulation of research problem
2) Review of the existing literature
3) Formation and development of working hypothesis
4) Preparation of research design
5) Determining sample design
6) Data collection
7) Project execution
8) Data analysis
9) Testing of hypothesis
10) Data interpretation
11) Report of the research work.

In order to understand the research process perfectly brief description of each of the stages is
provided and can more helpful to researchers:
3|Page Course notes for B-Tech_RP_IPRCKigali
Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
a. Formulation of research problem: The research problem relates to statement of problem and
relationship between two variables under study.
Research has to identify the problem first and later on its required to single out the problem.
This will give scope to researcher to decide general area of interest or subject matter of that
researcher who has no knowledge about subject matter will not be in a position to collect and
analyse data. Therefore researcher is supposed to have proper knowledge of later stages
before be performing the earlier stages. Research process is system of interdependent related
stages. Before giving brief description of the various stages involved in research process it is
necessary to understand the difference between research method and research process.

b. Review of the existing literature: Research cannot be conducted without reviewing of

existing literature which may be conceptual or empirical in nature. Conceptual literature is
concerned with concept on theories empirical literature is concerned with earlier studies of
similar nature already conducted. This review of existing studies provides base to understand
how to plan for the study.

c. Formation and development of working hypothesis: After the formation of the research
problem and reviewing of the available existing literature now hypothesis is
required to be explained by the researcher. The normal assumptions which are the base of the
study which may be tentative in nature are considered as hypothesis.

d. Preparation of research design: It is an outline on a conceptual structure within its limit

research work is supposed to be carried on. The research design is prepared with an object of
collecting relevant data with the minimum efforts and with minimum of expenditure, just to
control wasteful expenditure.

e. Determining sample design: The success of the research study is largely based on
proper identification of the sample to be selected for the study. the method for selecting is
normally known as sample design. It is a sample plan already decided before later is collected
from given population.

f. Data collection: The data is collected as per the requirement of the study. This may be primary
or secondary in nature. If the secondary is sufficient enough to assess the research problem
then there is no necessity for primary data to be collected. As per the requirement of the
research study appropriate data is a basic need of research. This primary data can be collected
by observation, interview, questionnaire and schedule.

g. Project execution: The project execution is very important stage in the research process. It
should be executed in a systematic manner. Therefore periodical and occasional check is
essential for verification of the data collected.

h. Data analysis: In research process after the data is collected it is required

to analyse the meaning of objective. The collected data is processes through various
operations. So in order to make raw data meaningful these operations will help us to draw
proper conclusions.

i. Testing of hypothesis: It is only after the analysing data, researcher can go further
in testing of his hypothesis in which he can ascertain the fact to support or disagree with the
hypothesis.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
j. Data Interpretation: After hypothesis is tested than researcher can go further for
drawing of general inferences so that he can arrive at making of statement. The ability of any
research is largely based on its capacity of making general statement.
k. Report writing: Report writing is final job to be done by the researcher.
Research work which is conducted by him is finally presented in form of research report. Report
must be written in systematic manner, which normally should have following parts.

I. Preliminary part
II. Main text of the report
III. Conclusion part
IV. Reference material

2. Types and methods of research

2.1. Pure and applied research

Pure research is undertaken for the sake of knowledge without any intention to apply it in
practice, e.g., Einstein’s theory of relativity, Newton’s contribution, Galileo’s contribution, etc.
Pure research is also known as basic or fundamental research. It aims at extension of
knowledge. It may lead to either discovery of a new theory or refinement of an existing theory.
Applied research is carried on to find solution to a real life problem requiring an action or policy
decision. It is thus problem oriented and action action-directed. It seeks an immediate and
practical result.

2.2. Exploratory research

Exploratory research is preliminary study of an unfamiliar problem about which the researcher
has little or no knowledge. It usually takes from of a pilot study. An exploratory study does not
aim at testing hypothesis. According to Daniel Katz, it just attempts “to see what is there rather
than to predict the relationships that will be founded.” But it should be so designed as to provide
definite information as possible for a set of research objectives.

2.3. Descriptive research

Descriptive study is a fact-finding investigation with adequate interpretation. It is the simplest

type of research. It is more specific that an exploratory study, as it has focus on particular
aspects or dimensions of the problem studied. It is designed to gather descriptive information
and provide information for formulating more sophisticated studies.

2.4. Diagnostic research

This is similar to descriptive study but with a different focus. It is directed towards discovering
what is happening, why it is happening and what can be done about it. It aims at identifying the
cases of a problem and the possible solutions for it.

2.5. Evaluation studies

Evaluation study is one type of applied research. It is made for assessing the effectiveness of
social or economic programmes implemented. Evaluative research is thus, directed to assess or

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
appraise the quality and quantity of an activity and its performance and to specify its attributes
and conditions required for it success.

2.6. Experimental research

Experimental research is designed to assess the effects of particular variables on a

phenomenon by keeping the other variables constant or controlled. It aims at determining
whether and in what manner variables are related to each other. The factor which is influenced
by other factors is called a dependent variable and the other factors, which influence it are
known as independent variables. For example, agricultural productivity, i.e. crop yield per
hectare is a dependent variable and the factors such as soil fertility, irrigation, quality of seed,
manuring and cultural practices which influence the yield are independent variables.

2.7. Analytical study and statistical method

Analytical study is a system of procedures and techniques of analysis applied to quantitative

data. It may consist of a system of mathematical models or statistical techniques applicable to
numerical data. Hence, it is also known as the statistical method (The details will be provided in
the chapter “Data Analysis” of this course notes).

2.8. Historical research

Historical research is a study of past records and other information sources with a view to
reconstructing the origin and development of an institution or a movement or a system and
discovering the trends in the past. It is descriptive in nature. It is a difficult task; it must often
depend upon inference and logical analysis of recorded date and indirect evidences rather than
upon direct observation. Hence, it is aptly described as “the induction of principles through
research in to past and social forces which have shaped the present”.

2.9. Surveys

Survey is a ‘fact finding’ study. It is a method of research involving collection of data directly
from a population or a sample there of at particular time. It must not be confused
with the mere clerical routine of gathering and tabulating figures. It requires expert and
imaginative planning, careful analysis and rational interpretation of the findings.
Data may be collected by observation, or interviewing or mailing questionnaires.
The analysis of data may be made by using simple or complex statistical techniques depending
upon the objectives of the study.

2.10. Case study

A case study is an in-depth comprehensive study of a person, a social group, an episode, a

process, a situation, a programme, a community, an institution or any other social unit.
It is one of the most popular types or research methods. Its purpose may be to understand the
life cycle of the unit under study or the interaction between factors that explain the present
status or the development over a period of time.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 3. Research design

3.1. Definition

A research design is a logical and systematic plan prepared for directing a research study. It
specifies the objectives of the study, the methodology and techniques to be adopted for
achieving the objectives. It constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement and
analysis of data. It is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain
answer to research question. The plan is the overall scheme or program of research. A research
design is the program that guides the investigator in the process of collecting, analysing and
interpreting observation. It provides a systematic plan of procedure for the research to follow.

3.2. Importance of research design

 The preposition of a research plan for a study aids in establishing direction to the study
and in knowing exactly what has to be done and how and when it has to be done at
every stage.
 It enables the researcher to consider beforehand the various decisions to be made.
 Without a plan, research work becomes unfocussed and aimless empirical wandering
the researcher would find it difficult, laborious and time-consuming to make adequate
discriminations in the complex inter plan of facts before him, he may not be able to
decide which is relevant and which is not and may get lost in a welter of irrelevances.
 A research plan prescribes the boundaries of research activities and enables the
researcher to channel his energies in the right work with clear research objectives in
view, the researcher can proceed systematically focused their achievement the design
also enable the research to anticipate potential problems of data gathering operation of
concepts, measurement, etc.

3.3. Types of research design

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 4. Formulating a research problem

The formulation for research problem is the first and most important step of the research
process. It is like the identification of destination before undertaking a journey. As in the
absence of a destination, it is impossible to identify the shortest or indeed any route, in the
absence of a clear research problem, a clear and economical plan is impossible. The research
problem serves as the foundation of a research study: If is well formulated, you can expect a
good study to follow.

4.1. Criteria in selecting research problem

When selecting a research problem/topic there are a number of considerations to keep in mind.
These help to ensure that your study will be manageable and that you will be manageable and
that you will remain motivated. These considerations are interest, magnitude, measurement of
concepts, level of expertise, relevance, availability of data and ethical issues.

Interest: A research is usually time consuming, and involves hard work and possibly
unforeseen problems. If you select a topic which does not greatly interest you, it could become
extremely difficult to sustain the required motivation, and hence its completion as well as the
amount of time taken could be affected.

Magnitude: It is extremely important to select a topic that you can manage within
the time and resources at your disposal. Even if you are undertaking a descriptive study, you
need to carefully consider its magnitude.

Measurement of Concept: If you are using a concept in you study, make sure you are clear
about its indicators and their measurement. Do not use concepts in your research problem that
you are not sure how to measure.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Level of Expertise: Make sure you have an adequate level of expertise for the task you are
proposing. Allow for the fact that you will learn during the study and may receive help from your
research supervisors and others, but remember you need to do most of the work yourself.

Relevance: Select a topic that is of relevance to you as a professional. Ensure that your study
adds to the existing body of knowledge, bridges current gaps or is useful in policy formulation.

Availability of Data: If your topic entails collection of information from secondary sources
before finalising your topic, make sure that these data are available and in the format you want.

Ethical Issues: Another important consideration in formulating a research problem is the ethical
issue involved. How ethical issues can affect the study population and how ethical problems can
be overcome should be thoroughly examined at the problem formulation stage.

4.2. Steps in formulation of research problem

The formulation of a research problem is the most crucial part of the research journey on which
the quality of the entire project depends. The process of formulating a research problem
consists of a number of steps. Working through these steps presupposes a reasonable level of
knowledge in the broad subject area within which the study is to be undertaken. A brief review
of the relevant literature helps enormously in broadening this knowledge base.

Step 1: Identify a Broad Subject: Identify a broad field or subject area of interest to you. Ask
yourself, ‘what is it that really interests me as a professional’?

Step 2: Discussing sub Area of subject: Dissect the broad area into sub areas.

Step 3: Selecting most interested Area of study: Select what as of most interest to you. It is
neither advisable nor feasible to study all sub areas. Out of this list, select issues or sub areas
about which you are passionate.

Step 4: Development of Research Problem: Raise research questions at this step you ask
yourself, ‘what is it that I want to find out about in this sub area’? Within your chosen sub area,
first list whatever questions you want to find answers to.

Step 5: Formulate Objectives: Formulate objectives formulate your main objectives and your
sub objectives.

Step 6: Examine Objectives: Assess your objectives. Now examine your objectives to
ascertain the feasibility of achieving them through your research endeavour. Consider them in
the light of the time, resources (financial and human) and technical expertise at your disposal.

Step 7: Double check. Go back and give final consideration to whether or not
you are sufficiently interested in the study, and have adequate resources to undertaken it. Ask
yourself, ‘Am I really enthusiastic about this study’, and ‘Do I really have enough resources to
undertake it’?

5. Formulation of objectives

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in your study. Since, these objectives inform a
reader of what you want to achieve through the study, it is extremely important to word them
clearly and specifically. Objectives should be listed under two headings: (1) Main Objective
(2) Specific objectives.
The main objective is an overall statement of the thrust of your study. It is also a statement of
the main associations and relationships that you seek to discover or
establish. The specific objectives are the specific aspects of the topic that you want to
investigate within the main framework of your study.

Specific objectives should be numerically listed. They should be worded clearly and
unambiguously. Make sure that each specific objective contains only one aspect of the study.
Use action oriented words or verbs when writing your objectives. The objectives should start
with words such as ‘to determine’, ‘to find out’, ‘to ascertain’, ‘to measure’ and ‘to explore’. The
way the main and specific objectives are worded determine how your research is classified (e.g.
descriptive, co-relational or experimental). In other words, the wording of your objectives
determines the type of research design you need to adopt to achieve them.

5.1. Characteristics of objectives

 If your study is primarily descriptive, your main objective should clearly describe the
major focus of your study even mentioning the organisation and its location unless these
are to be kept confidential (e.g. to describe the types of treatment program provided
by…. [name of the organization].

 If your study is co-relational in nature, in addition to the above three properties, the
wording of the main objective should include the main variables being co-related.

 If the overall thrust of your study is to test a hypothesis, the wording of main objectives,
in addition to the above, should indicate the direction of the relationship being tested.

6. Hypothesis

6.1. Introduction

The important consideration in the formulation of a research problem is the construction of

hypothesis. You can conduct a valid investigation without constructing a single formal
hypothesis. On the other hand, within the context of a research study you can construct as
many hypotheses as you consider being appropriate.
The importance of hypotheses lies in their ability to bring direction, specificity and focus to
research study. They tell a researcher what specific information to collect, and thereby provide
greater focus.

6.2. Meaning of hypotheses

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
1) A hypothesis. “A hypothesis is conjectural statement of the relationship between two or more
variables.”
2) Webster’s New International Dictionary of English language defines “a hypothesis as a
proposition, condition, or principle which is assumed, perhaps without belief, in order to draw out
its logical consequences and by this method to test its accord with facts which are known or
may be determined.”
3) According to Grinnell and Slothers, a hypothesis is written in such a way that it can be proven
or disproven by valid and reliable data. it is in order to obtain these data that we perform our
study.
4) Hypothesis is a tentative proportion formulated for empirical testing it is a deductive
statement combining concepts. It is a tentative answer to a research question. He is tentative
because its veracity can be evaluated only after it has been tested empirically.
5) Lundberg defines hypothesis as a tentative generalization the validity of which remains to be
tested.

6.3. Characteristics of hypothesis

 Simple specific and conceptually clear: There is no place for ambiguity in the
construction of a hypothesis, as ambiguity will make the verification of your hypothesis
almost impossible. If should be unidimensional. That is it should test only one
relationship on hunch at a time to be able to develop a good hypothesis you must be
familiar with the subject are. The more insight you have into a problem the easier it is to
construct a hypothesis.
 A hypothesis should be capable of verification: Methods and techniques must be
available for data collection and analysis. There is no point in formulating a hypothesis if
it cannot be subjected to verification because there are no techniques to verify it.
However this does not necessarily means that you should not formulate a hypothesis for
which there are no methods of verification.

 A hypothesis should be operational is sable this means that it can be expressed in terms
that can be measured it cannot be measured, it cannot be tested and no conclusion can
be drawn.

6.4. Types of hypothesis

As explained any assumption that you seek to validate through on inquiry is called a
hypothesis. Hence, theoretically these should be only one type of hypothesis that is the
researcher hypothesis. .Hypotheses are classified in several ways:

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 Good hypotheses are characterised by:

Simplicity: Requiring fewer conditions on assumptions

Objectivity: Scientific hypotheses should be free from value judgment
Consistency: Two or more propositions from same theory must not be contradictory.
Theoretical relevance: Related to a body of theory
Availability of Techniques: Related to available techniques
Testability: A hypothesis should be testable and should not be a moral judgment. It should
be possible to collect empirical evidences to test the hypothesis.
Specificity: Specific and explain the expected relation between variables and the conditions
under which these relations will hold.

7. Sampling

7.1. Introduction

The first objective of sampling is to make an inference about an unknown parameter from a
measurable sample statistic. The second aim of sampling is to test a statistical hypothesis
relating to population. A sample is drawn and the data collected from the sample informants are
analysed and on the basis of the result the hypothesis may be accepted or rejected. In making
this decision of census or sampling, the following factors are considered:

The size of the population: If the population to be studied is relatively small, the investigator
may decide to study the entire population. The task is easily manageable and the sampling may
not be required. But if the population to be studied is quite large, sampling is warranted.
However, the size is a relative matter. Whether a population is large or small depends upon the
undertaken and the time and other resources available for it.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Amount of funds budgeted for the study: The decision regarding census or sampling
depends upon the budget of the study. Sampling is opted when the amount of money budgeted
is smaller than the anticipated cost of census survey.

Facilities: The extent of facilities available, staff, access to computer facility and accessibility to
population elements is another factor to be considered in deciding to sample or not, when the
availability of these facilities is extensive, census survey may be manageable. Otherwise,
sampling is preferable.

Time: The time limit within which the study should be completed is another important factor, to
be considered in deciding the question of census or sample survey. This, in fact, is a primary
reason for using sampling by academic and marketing researchers.

7.2. Sampling techniques

Sampling techniques or methods may be classified into two generic types (a) probability or
random sampling and (b) nonprobability or non-random sampling.

7.3. Criteria governing the choice of the sampling technique

 Purpose of the survey: What does the researcher aim at? If he intends to generalize the
findings based on the sample survey to the population, then an appropriate probability
sampling method must be selected.
 Measurability: The application of statistical inference theory requires computation of the
sampling error from the sample itself probability sample only allow such computation.
 Degree of Precision: Should the results of the survey be very precise, or even rough
results could serve the purpose? The desired level of precision is one of the criteria of
sampling method selection.
 Information about population: How much information is available about the population to
be studied?
 The nature of the population: In terms of the variables to be studied is the population
homogeneous for heterogeneous?

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
  Geographical area of the study and the size of the population: If the area covered by a
survey is very large (e.g. a country or a state) and the size of the population in quite
large,
multi-stage cluster sampling would be appropriate. But if the area and the size of the
population are small single stage probability sampling method would be used.
 Financial resources: is the available finance a limiting factor or not?
 Time Limitation: The time limit within which the research project should be completed
restricts the choice of a sampling method.

8. Questionnaire design

Questionnaire design is one of the important areas of research. It is most commonly used. The
accuracy and relevancy of data collected depends upon the questionnaire. There are certain
functions, which a questionnaire performs and these are:
 Given to the respondent clear idea and understanding of the questions. Questions
should not be vague.
 Motivate the respondents to give answers
 Stimulate the responses
 How respondent should answer, clear cut instructions
 Information must be treated confidential

Questionnaire design has to produce a document which is:

 Easy to administer, read our or fill in by both an interviewer and an informant.
 Constructed in a way that answer the research hypothesis or research problem, but also
has the capability to identify new issues.
 Easy to analyse and can provide all the characteristics of the informant being
interviewed.
Question should be properly worded, simple, clear and not vague. It can be closed ended or
open ended. Sequence of questions is important. Lead questions should create interest. Difficult
questions in the end. Personal questions in the end. They should be in a logical order.

8.1. Techniques for constructing questionnaires

The key point to remember about questionnaire design is to make the interview possible for all
those using the document. It has to have the following characteristics:

A Logical Sequence: This is important as the questions much follow on logically. If they do, the
interviewer will establish and maintain a rapport and collect the data required without
interruptions caused by inappropriate construction or repetitive questions.

Good Wording: The successful questions or the questions that ensure that a survey is
successful are those that are shortly, specific, clear and unambiguous. Try to help the informant
by specifying clearly what you want to evaluate and where possible show examples an
illustration with detailed descriptions.

Write a clear layout: A questionnaire is working document. A question, the possible list of a
answers preceded in the questionnaire, the instructions to the interviewers, and the
analysis instructions all have to be clear so the interviewer does not get confused or reads out
the wrong words.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
A reasonable length: A Street or doorstep interview should not last more than ten minutes. An
in-home interview should be no more than one hour. A shop or trade interview or business-to
business interview should not last more than 45 minutes. A questionnaire which is of a
reasonable length is one which is sufficiently long to collect the required information.

Attitudes, opinions and image are generally measured by developing scale. Verbal scales are
mere easily understood than numerical scales or making a rating which takes a score out of ten.
There are also different options for scales:
 Unipolar scales. A five-point scale from ‘good’ to ‘not very good’
 Bipolar scale. A five-point scale from ‘very good’ to ‘very bad’
 Rating scale base on getting some type of agreement to statements. ‘Agree strongly,
agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and disagree strongly provides this analysis.

8.2. Types of questions

a) Close Ended: Question in which respondent selects one or more options from pre-
determined set of responses YES or NO

(a) Two choices

(b) Multiple choices a/b/c/d etc.
(c) Scale (Likert): here the amount of agreement or disagreement is shown
(d) Semantic differential: a scale given between 2 words and respondent shown his opinion
(e) Important scale
(f) Rating scale
(g) Intention to buy scale.

b) Open Ended: Questions in which the respondent answers in his own

words.

8.3. Questionnaire construction

Conceptual framework questionnaire:

 Structured/unstructured
 Language
 Type of questions
 Administration
a) Questionnaire content to be kept in mind:
 Wording of questions
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  General to specific (inverted funnel approach)
 Sequence of questions
 Easy question formats
 Personal questions at the end
 Double barrel question should be avoided
 Questions should be helpful in tabulations and analysis
 Questionnaire items
b) Questionnaire layout:
 Keep questionnaire short if possible, but too short may mute needed information
 Do not over crowd questionnaire
 Provide decent margin space
 Use multiple grid layouts for questions with similar responses
 Use booklet from if possible
 Carefully craft the questionnaire title:
1. Captures respondent’s interest
2. Shows importance of the study
3. Shows interesting nature of the study

c) Some key points to be remembered:

Overcome the inability to answer can the respondent remember?
Example:
(Incorrect) How many gallons of hard drinks did you consume during the last 10 weeks?
(Correct) How often do you consume hard drinks in a typical week?
1. Less than once week
2. 1-3 times per week
3. 4-6 times per week
4. 7 or more time per week
Choose the question wording- use ordinary words.
Example:
(Incorrect) Do you think the distribution of hard drinks is adequate?
(Correct) Do you think the hard drink are readily available when you want to buy them/
Choose the question wording- use unambiguous words.
Example:
(Incorrect) In typical month, how often do you show in malls?
1. Never
2. Occasionally
3. Sometimes
4. Often
5. Regularly
(Correct) In a typical month, how often do you shop in malls?
1. Less than once
2. 1 or 2 times
3. 3 or 4 times
4. More than 4 times

8.4. Questionnaire development

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Note:

Questionnaire should be brief to the point and as small as possible. It should meet the desired
objectives. A good questionnaire is one which examines the habits, awareness,
attitudes and needs of an informant and how all of these relate. In this way consumer behaviour
can be analysed, understood and even simulated to predict now it could change. Questionnaire
design is an art and not a science, and therefore, it depends on an individual’s creative power to
get it right.
9. Methods and techniques of data collection

9.1. Introduction

Once the researcher has decided the ‘Research Design’, the next job is of data collection for
data to useful, our observations need to be organized so that we can pick out patterns and
come to logical conclusion. Statistical investigation requires systematic collection of data so that
all relevant groups are represented in the data.

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Depending upon the sources utilized whether the data has come from actual observations or
from records that are kept for normal purposes, the statistical data can be classified into two
categories. These categories are:
Primary Data: Primary data is one which is collected by the investigator himself for the purpose
of a specific inquiry or study. Such data is original in character and is generated by surveys
conducted by individual or research institutions.

Secondary Data: When an investigator uses the data which has already been collected by
others, such data is called secondary data. This data is primary data for the agency that
collected it and becomes secondary data for someone else who uses this data for his own
purposes. The secondary data can be obtained from journals, reports, government publications,
publication of professional and research organization and so on. For example, if a researcher
desires to analyse the weather conditions of different regions, he can get the required
information or data from the records of the meteorology department.

9.2. Methods of Data collection

A. Observation: Observation is one way to collect primary data. Observation

is a purposeful, systematic and selective way of watching and listening to an interaction
or phenomenon as it takes place. There are many situations in which observation is the
most appropriate method of data collection; for example, when you want to learn about
the interaction in a group, study the dietary patterns of a population, ascertain the
functions performed by a worker , or study the behaviour or personality traits of an
individual.

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 B The Interview: Interviewing is a commonly used method of collecting
information from people. In many walks of life we collect information through different forms
of interaction with others. Any person-to- person interaction between two or more individuals
with a specific purpose in mind is called an interview. On the other hand, interviewing can be
very flexible, when the interviewer has the freedom to formulate question as they come to
mind around the issue being investigated; and on the other hand, it can be inflexible, when
the investigator has to keep strictly to the questions decided beforehand. Interviews are
classified according to the degree of flexibility as in follow:

I. Unstructured Interviews: The strength of unstructured interviews is the almost complete

freedom they provide in terms of content and structure. You are free to order these in
whatever sequence you wish. You also have complete freedom in terms of the wording you
use and the way you explain questions to your respondents. There are several types of
unstructured interviewing, for example: in-depth interviewing, focus group interviewing
narratives and oral histories.

II. In-depth Interviews: According to Taylor and Bogdon, in-depth interviewing is, ‘repeated
face-to-face encounter between the researcher and informants directed towards
understanding informants’ perspectives on their lives, experiences, or situations as
expressed in their own worlds’.

III. Focus Group Interviews: The only difference between a focus group interview and an
in-depth interview is that the former is undertaken with a group and the latter with an
individual. In a focus group interview ; your explore the perceptions, experiences and
understandings of an group of people who have some experience in common with regard to
a situation or event.

IV. Narratives: The narrative technique of gathering information has even less structure that
the focus group. Narratives have almost no predetermined contents expect that the
researcher seeks to near the personal experience of a person with an incident of happening
in her/his life. Essentially, the person tells his/her story about an incident or situation and
you, as the researcher, listen passively. Basically, you let the person talk freely and without
interrupting.

V. Oral Histories: Oral histories, like narratives, involve the use of both
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 passive and active listening. Oral histories, however, are more commonly used for learning
about a historical even or episode that took place in the past of for gaining information about
a cultural, custom or story that has been passed from generation to generation. Narratives
are more about a person’s personal experiences whereas, historical, social or cultural
events are the subjects of oral histories.

C Structured Interviews: In a structured interview the researcher asks a

predetermined set of question, using the same wording and order of questions as specified
in the interview schedule. An interview schedule is a written list of question, open-ended or
closed-ended, prepared for use by an interviewer in a person-to-person interaction (this may
be face-to-face, by telephone or by other electronic media). Note that an interview schedule
is research tool/instrument for collecting data, whereas interviewing is a method of data
collection.

10. Data processing

10.1. Introduction

Data interpretation is a crucial step in research. Data should not be studies in isolation of all
factors which might influence the origin of the data. Any decision taken needs a holistic
overview of paraphernalia factors associated with the subject in concern.
The data which is collected for the purpose of the study itself cannot several any things. This
being a raw data it is required to process and analysed in order to have desired result. The data
which is collected cannot be directly use for making analysis. Before analysis data requires to
be processed.

10.2. Data processing

Data processing is a crucial stage in research. After collecting the data from the field, the
researcher has to process and analyse them in order to arrive at certain conclusion which may
confirm or invalidate the hypothesis which he had formulated towards the beginning of his
research worth. The mass of data collected during the field work is to be processed with a view
to reducing them to manageable proportions. The processing of data includes editing, coding,
classification and tabulation. The data which is collected is analysed with an object checking of
data, and reducing this data into manageable proportions. Data collected should be organized in
such way so that table charts can be prepared for presentation.

A. Editing: The process of examining the collected data is called editing. This includes
inspection and schedule. There is possibility of error and omission in the on the part of
investigator so the editing help us to minimise such correctness. Editing is done at the
time of collecting data.
B. Coding: It is the process of assignment numerals or other symbols to answers so that
responses can be put into a limited number of categories or classes.

C. Classification: It is the process of arranging data in groups or classes or the basis of

common characteristics. Due to this process data having common characteristics are
placed in one class and in this way the entire data get divided into number of groups or
classes.

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 D. Tabulation of data: Tabulation comprises sorting of the data into different categories
and counting the number of cases that belong to each category. The simplest way to
tabulate is to count the number of responses to one question. This is also called
univariate tabulation. Where two or more variables are involved in tabulation, it is called
bivariate or multivariate tabulation in marketing research, projects generally both types of
tabulation are used.

E. Data analysis: The data collected may or may not in numerical form. Even if data is not
in numerical form still we can carry out qualitative analysis based on the experiences of
individual participants. When data is collected in numerical form than through descriptive
statistics findings can be summarised. This includes measure of central tendency like
mean range etc. Another way to summarised finding is by means of graphs and charts.
Analysis involves estimating the values of unknown parameters of the population and
testing hypothesis for drawing inferences. The common types of analysis are:

Qualitative Analysis: It is less influenced by theoretical assumption. Qualitative analyses are

carried out in several different kinds of study like interview, case studies and observational
studies.

Content Analysis: Content analysis is used where originally qualitative

information is reduced to numerical terms. It is a method of analysis media output includes
articles published in new papers, speeches made in radio, television and various type of
propaganda. This method of analysis is applied to all most all form of communications.

Quantitative Analysis: The numerical data collected in study through descriptive statistics
analysis can be conducted through measure of central tendency.

Descriptive Analysis: This analysis of one variable is called one dimensional analysis. This
analysis measures condition at particular time.

Bivariate Analysis: The analysis in respect of two variables is called bivariate

analysis. In this analysis collected data in placed into tabular form, so that the meaning of the
data can be derived. In this method simple dimensional data is developed and put into two or
more categories.

Sequential Analysis: When only factor is revel in the table at one time, this type of analysis is
called sequential analysis. It is concerned with study of one variable affecting another one.

Multivariate Analysis: With an advancement of compute application there is fast development

of multivariate analysis, in which statistical method simultaneously analyses more than two
variables.

Inferential Analysis: In order to decide the validity of data to indicate conclusion this analysis is
concerned with tests for significance of hypothesis. One the basis of inferential analysis the task
of interpretation is performed by estimating the population values.

11. Quantitative tools

11.1. Measure of Central tendency

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In the study of a population with respect to one in which we are interested we may get a large
number of observations. It is not possible to grasp any idea about the characteristics when we
look at all the observations. So it is better to get one number for one group. That number must
be a good representative one for all the observations to give a clear picture of that
characteristic. Such representative number can be a central value for all these
observations. This central value is called a measure of central tendency or an average or a
measure of locations. There are five averages. Among them mean, median and mode are called
simple averages and the other two averages geometric mean and harmonic means are called
special averages.

a. Arithmetic Mean

The arithmetic mean is the average of all the values of the

variate in the sample. If x, x2, x3, xn are the n values of the variate x
in the sample, then their Arithmetic Mean is given by:

If n occurs of times x2 occurs f2 times etc. and lastly xn occurs fn

times, there being (n) observation altogether

Where, f stands for frequency of the variate.

X stand for the variate

N= f, referring to the total number of items.

Example:

The following data indicate daily income of 50 workers in a construction company

Daily income (Usd) 2 3 4 5 6 7

Number of workers 10 12 8 10 5 5

Calculate the average income per worker

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Average income per worker is 4.06 USD

Short-cut method of computing mean: The direct method of computing means as shown above
is used only when the items are not very large and their values are also small. If, however, the
series is large and or the values are big, them a short-cut method may be resorted to minimise
the calculate task.

In the short cut method, try to adopt the usual procedure of calculating mean by abbreviating the
given data, on the basis of the deviation of the mid-point (m) of class intervals in a given
frequency distribution from an arbitrary chosen value of (m) as a starting point
designated as (a)

In the short cut method, a is adopted as an arbitrary starting point for computation work. Many
statisticians refer as guess mean or assumed mean. The following formula is used:

Where
x = mean
a = assumed mean
f = frequencies
d = (m-a) i.e. deviations of mid-point value from the value of arbitrary origin and n   f (number
of items) Needless to say that in the case of discrete distribution,
D=x–a
Where, x is the variate
Applying into the example:

Solution:

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 b. Median

Median is value of item that goes to divide the series into equal pasts. It may be defined as the
value of that item which divides the series into two equal parts one half containing values
greater than it and the other half containing values less than it. Therefore the series has to be
arranged in ascending or descending order before finding the median. When all the
observations are arranged in ascending or descending order, then the median is the magnitude
of the middle case, if has half the observation above it and half below it.

If there are ‘n’ observations of the variate and they are arranged in ascending order then is
given by:

If the value ‘n’ is odd on the other hand if ‘n’ is even the median is taken as the average

Example:
The following are the marks obtained by 9 students. Find out the median marks.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Solution:
Before calculation of median, the above number i.e. marks will be arranged in ascending order
and then median will be calculated as follows.

Find out the median from the following:

c. Mode

Mode is the value of variable which is repeated the greatest number of times in the series. It is
the usual and not casual size of item in a series. It lies at the position of greatest density. Mode
is the value that occurs most frequently, in a frequency histogram or frequency polygon, it is the
observed value corresponding to the high point of the graph. However, the mode is not a rigidly
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defined measure. In fact mode is the most unstable average and its true value is difficult to
determine.
For example, the recorded observations are:
(a) 2, 3, 2, 4 ,5, 2, 7, 6, 2, 4, 2
Here, 2 occurs most frequently,
Hence mode = 2

(b) 4, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 2
In this case 2 and 3 both occur equal number of times, hence there are two modes.

Relationship between Mean, Median and Mode

Mean, Median and Mode have their distinct role in statistical analysis. In no case they can be
substituted for on another.

11.2. Measures of dispersion

The word dispersion, literally, means deviation, difference or spread over of certain values from
their central value. Further, the word measure means a method of measuring or ascertaining
certain values. Thus the phrase measures of dispersion means the various possible methods of
measuring the dispersions or deviations of the different values from a designated value of a
series.
The designated value may be an average value or any other extreme value.
The main objects of measuring dispersion are as:

i) To determine the reliability of an average.

ii) To serve as a basis for the control of variability
iii) To compare two are more series with regard to their variability.
iv) To facilitate other statistical computation.

a) Range

Range is the simplest method of calculating dispersion. It is defined as the difference between
the largest and the smallest values of the data.

Range = Largest Value – Smallest Value R=L–S

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Example:
The following are the marks obtained by six students in English. Calculate the range and the
coefficient of range of marks.

b. Quartile Deviation

It is nothing but a ‘semi-inter quartile range’. With some modification, it is similar to the range. In
the distribution, we consider Q3 as the largest value and Q, as the smallest. It means
the items below the lower quartile and the items above the upper quartile are not at all included
in the computation. Thus we are considering only the middle half portion of the data.
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Thus the Quartile deviation measures the difference between the values of Q, and Q3 it is
denoted symbolically by ‘Q.D’.

Example:
Calculate the quartile deviation and its coefficient from the following figures of daily expenses of
seven boys Rs. 18, 20, 35, 41, 25, 15, 13.

Solution:
Arrange the data in ascending order: 13, 15, 18, 20, 28, 35, 41.

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 d. Mean Deviation

The range and quartile deviation are not based on all

observations. They are positional measures of dispersion. Mean Deviation (M.D) is
the arithmetic mean of the deviation of a series computed from any
measure of central tendency (mean, median or mode). All the
deviations are taken as positive i.e. (+) and (-) sign are ignored.

Example:

Calculate the Mean Deviation and its coefficient from the following data.

Salaries in USD: 150, 210, 240, 280,300, 330, 360.

First locate the median and then take the deviation of each value
from the median with positive sign. The median of the series is 280.

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 e. Standard Deviation

Of all the measures of dispersion, standard deviation is the most important. it is based upon all
observations and hence, is more reliable than any other. It is
defined as the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations from the
mean, sometimes it is therefore, called the root mean square deviation. It is denoted by 
symbolically. If is the mean of the n observation xi , then:

f. Coefficient of Variation

The standard deviation as defined above is an absolute measure of dispersion. Though it shows
the variability of actual values from their arithmetic mean of the data, it can hardly be used
comparing the variability of different groups. For comparison we need a relative measure. For
the matter, one way of achieving a pure number would be to find the ratio of standard deviation
to the mean. This is called “The coefficient of standard deviation”.

A still better way to compare the variability of different groups is to express this ratio in
percentage. This is called coefficient of variation.

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Example:

From the following data calculate the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation.
Students’ marks in Research Methodology: 40, 48, 50, 53, 58, 60, 66, 70, 72, 73.

11.3. QUANTITATIVE TOOLS (Correlation and Regression Analysis)

Correlation means “the study of existence and the magnitude and direction of variation
between two or more variables”.
Most of the variables in practice are correlated. If we can find the degree and direction of
correlation between such variables, it can help us to predict to control and to plan our
activities for future. Thus, correlation helps:

1. To predict: If we know that two variables are correlated and if we

know the relationship between them, we can estimate the value of
one of them when that of the other is known.
2. To control: Knowledge of correlation between two variables also
enables us to control a phenomenon.

3. To plan: Knowledge of correlation also helps us in planning.

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 Correlation may be classified as

1. Positive and Negative

2. Linear and Non-linear

1. Positive and Negative Correlation:

The distinction between the positive and negative correlation depends upon the direction of
change of two variables. If both the variables change in the same direction i.e. if one
variable increase, the other also increases one as one variable decreases the other
also decreases, the correlation is called positive. If on the other hand the variable change in
opposite direction i.e. if as one variable increases, the other decreases the vice-versa, then
the correlation is called negative.

2. Linear or Non-Linear Correlation:

This distinction is based upon the nature of the graph of the relation between the variables.
If the graph is a straight line the correlation is called linear and if the graph is not a straight
line but a curve if it called non-linear correlation.

One of the simplest methods of studying correlation between two variables is to construct a
scatter diagram.

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 Note:
To obtain a scatter diagram, one variable is
plotted along the x axis and the other along the
y axis, on a graph paper. By plotting
data in this way, we get the points which are
generally scattered but which show a pattern.

a. Karl Person’s coefficient of correlation

The method of scatter diagram is descriptive in nature and gives only a general idea of
correlation. The most commonly used method which gives a mathematical expression for
correlation is the one suggested by Karl Person.

But this will depend upon the units of x and y. To find a ratio which is independent of these
units, we divide it by the quantities of the same order that is by x. y with this view in mind Karl
Person suggested in 1890 the following coefficient of correlation between x
and y.

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Example:

Calculate Karl Person’s coefficient of correlation by direct method.

Capital 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Profit 2 4 8 5 10 15 14 20 22 30

It is assumed that capital = x series and profit = y series

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Karl Person’s coefficient of correlation application

or

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 b. Regression

Regression means returning of stepping back to the average value with the help of values of
one variable we values of one variable we can establish most likely values of other variable.
On the basis of two available correlated variables, we can forecast the future data or events or
values. In statistics, the term ‘regression’ means simply the average relationship. We can
predict or estimate the value of dependent variable from the given related value of independent
variable with the help of regression technique.

Example:

Find the angle between the lines of regression using the following data:
n=10, 𝐸𝑥 = 270 𝐸𝑦 = 630 𝑥 = 4 𝑦 =5 µ𝑥𝑦 = 0.6

The angle between the lines of regression is given by:

Putting the given values:

c. Time series analysis

A time series is set of ordered observation of a quantitative variable taken at successive point in
time in terms of year, month, weeks, day or hours e.g. annual data of a company
production in a country.

A time series is influences by a variety of forces which operate continuously at recurring

intervals or at random. The data of the series we decomposed to study each of these influences
in isolation. This study is known as time series analysis.

This analysis identifies four kinds of charge or variation in the given phenomenon-

1. Secular trend (T)

2. Cyclical fluctuation (C)
3. Seasonal variation (S)
4. Irregular variation (I)

The combined influence of all the four components is often represented by a multiplicative
model.

Y = T  C  S  I or Y=T+C+S+I

The time series analysis aims at measuring each of this kind of variation. When one kind of
variation is measured, the other kinds are eliminated from the series.

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 d. Trend Analysis

Of the four kinds of variation in time series the secular trend represents its long-term direction.
The past trend may be used to evaluate the success or failure of a policy or program, and also
to predict the future patterns. A trend may be lines, curvilinear or straight line.

There are various methods of isolating the trend from the given series, viz, the free hand
method, semi-average method, moving average method and the method of least squares.
The last two methods are more important.

The Moving Average Method: This method of measuring trend is based upon the idea that
if the value of that if the values of the series for a sufficient period of time are averaged, the
influence of shorter-term fluctuations will be eliminated. This is one of the methods aiming at
elimination of seasonal variations.

A moving average is computed by adding the values for number of year both before and after to
the value for the year for which the average is being obtained and then dividing the total
value by the total number of years included. The curve joining the point shows the rising or
declining trend.
See the following table.

In this case there is a rising trend in production over the year

Method of Least Squares: This method is the most popular method of computing the secular
trend in a time series. This is used far fitting a line cove of best fit. The least squares method
gives a formula for getting the straight line that will best fit the data the equation of straight line
is expressed:
Where:

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 11.4. Hypotheses

The important function in research is formulation of hypothesis. The entire research activity is
directed towards making of hypothesis. Research can begin with well formulated hypothesis
or if may be the end product in research work. Hypothesis gives us guidelines for an
investigation to the basis of previous available information. In absence of this research will be
called underquired data and may eliminate required one. Thus hypothesis is an assumption
which can be put to test to decide its validity.

Hypothesis testing is a systematic method. It is used to evaluate the data collected. This serve
as aid in the process of decision making, the testing of hypotheses conducted through several
steps which are given below.

a. State the hypotheses of interest

b. Determine the appropriate test statistic
c. Specify the level of statistical significance.
d. Determine the decision rule for rejecting or not rejecting null hypotheses.
e. Collect the data and perform the needed calculations.
f. Decide to reject or not to reject the null hypotheses.

Stating the Hypotheses

In statistical analysis of any research study it includes at least two hypotheses one is null
hypotheses and another is alternative hypotheses. The hypothesis being tested is referred as
the null hypothesis and it is designated as HO. It is also referred as hypotheses of difference. It
should include a statement which has to be proved wrong.

The alternative hypothesis presents the alternative to null hypotheses. It includes the statement
of inequality. The null hypotheses are and alternative hypotheses are complimentary. The null
hypothesis is the statement that is believed to be correct through analysis which is based on
these null hypotheses. For example, the null hypotheses might state the average are for
entering management institute is 20 years. So average age for institute entry = 20 years

Determining Appropriate Test Statistic

The appropriate test statistic which is to be used in statistic, which is to be used in statistical
hypotheses testing, is based on various characteristics of sample population of interest
including sample size and distribution.

The statistical test can assume many numerical values. As the value of statistical test has
significant on decision one must use the appropriate statistic in order to obtain meaningful
results.
The formula to be used while testing population means is.
Z - Test statistic,
x - Mean of sample
 - mean of population,
 - Standard deviation,
n – Number of sample

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The Significance Level

As already explain, null hypothesis can be rejected or fail to reject null hypotheses. A null
hypothesis that is rejected may in really be true or false. A null hypothesis that fails to be
rejected may in reality be true or false. The outcome that a researcher desires is to reject false
null hypotheses or fail to reject true null hypotheses. However there is always possibility of
rejecting a true hypotheses or failing to reject false hypotheses.

Type I and Type II Errors

Type I: error is rejecting a null hypotheses that is true

Type II: Error is failing to rejected a false null hypotheses

The probability of committing a type I error is termed as A and Type II error is termed as B.

Decision Rule

Before collection and analyses of data it is necessary to decide under which conditions the null
hypotheses will be rejected or fail to he rejected. The decision rule can be stated in terms of
computed test statistics or in probabilistic terms. The same decision will he applicable any of the
method so selected.

Data Collection and Calculation Performance

In research process at early stage method of data collection is decided. Once the research
problem is decided the decision in respect to type and sources of data should be taken.
The decision will provide base for processing and analysing of data. It is advisable to make use
of approved methods of research for collecting and analysing of data.

Decision on Null Hypotheses

The decision regarding null hypotheses is an important step in the process of the decision rule.
Under the said decision rule one has to reject or fail to reject the null hypotheses. If null
hypothesis is rejected than alternative hypotheses can be accepted. If one fails to reject null
hypotheses one can only suggest that null hypotheses may be true.

Two Failed and One Failed Tests

In the case of testing of hypotheses, above referred both terms are quite important and they
must be clearly understood. A two failed test rejects the null hypotheses if the sample mean is
significantly higher or lower than the hypothesized value of mean of the population.
Such a test is appropriate, when the null hypotheses is some specified value and the alternate
hypotheses is a value not equal to the specified value and the alternative hypotheses
is value not equal to the specified value of null hypotheses.

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Hypothesis testing procedures

a. Setting up of Hypotheses
This step consists of hypotheses setting. In this step format statement in relation to hypotheses
in made. Hypotheses should be clearly stated in respect of the nature of the research problem.
There are hypotheses are Null hypotheses and Alternative hypotheses.
Acceptance or rejection of hypotheses is based on the sampling information. Any sample which
we draw from the population will vary from it therefore it is necessary to judge
whether there difference are statistically significant or insignificant. The formulation of
hypotheses is an important step which must be accomplished and necessary care should be
taken as per the requirement and object of the research problem under
construction. This should also specify the whether one failed or two failed test will be used.

b. Selecting Statistical Technique

In this stage we will make selection of statistical technique which are going to be used. There
are various statistical tests which are being used in testing of hypotheses. There tests are
Z – Test
T – Test
F – Test
X2 (Chi-Square) –Test
It is the job of the researcher to make proper selection of the test.
Z- Test is used when hypotheses is related to a large sample. (30 or more)
T- Test is used when hypotheses is related to small sample (Less than 30).
The selection of test will be dependent on various considerations like, variable involved, sample
size, type of data and whether samples are related or independent.

c. Selecting a level of significance

This stage consists of making selection of desired level of significance. The researcher should
specify level of significance because testing of hypotheses is based on pre-determined level of
significance. The rejection or retention of hypothesis by the
researcher is also based on the significance level. The level of significance is generally
expressed in percentage from such as 5% or 1%, 5% level of significance is
accepted by the researcher; it means he will be making wrong
decision about 5% of time. In case if a hypothesis is rejected at this level of 5% he will be
entering risk hypotheses rejection out of 100 occasions.

d. Determining Sampling Distribution

The next step after deciding significance level in testing of hypothesis is to determine the
appropriate sampling distribution. It is, normal distribution and ‘t’ – distribution in which choice
can be excised.

e. Selecting Sample and Value

In this step random sample is selected and appropriate value is computed from the sample data
relating to the test statistic by utilizing the relevant distribution.

f. Performance Computation
In this step calculation of performance is done. The calculation includes testing statistics and
standard error. A hypothesis is tested for the following four possibilities that the hypotheses is:

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 - True, but test lead to its rejection
- False, but test lead to its acceptance
- True, but test lead to its acceptance
- False, but test lead to its rejection
- Out of the above four possibilities the first and the second lead to wrong
decision. In this case the first leads to Type I error and, the second leads to Type II error.

g. Statistical Decision
This is the step in which we have to draw statistical decision involving the acceptance or
rejection of hypotheses. This will be dependent on whether the calculated value of
the test falls in the region of acceptance or in the region of rejection at given significance level.
If a hypothesis is tested at 5% level and observed set recorded the possibilities less than 5%
level than we considered difference between hypothetical parameter and sample statistics is
significant.

11.5. Testing of hypothesis using various distribution test

A. The Parametric Tests:

The test of significance used for hypothesis testing is of two types the parametric and non-
parametric test. The parametric test is more powerful, but they depend on the parameters or
characteristics of the population. They are based on the following assumptions.
- The observations or values must be independent.
- The population from which the sample is drawn on a random basis should be normally
distributed.
- The population should have equal variances.
- The data should be measured at least at interval level so that arithmetic operations can
be used.

1. The Z – Test

It is based on the normal distribution. It is widely used for testing the significance of several
statistics such as mean, median, mode, coefficient of correlation and others. This test is used
even when binominal distribution or t distribution is applicable on the presumption that such a
distribution lends to approximate normal distribution as the sample size (n) become larger.

2. The T – Test

The T – Test is also known as student’s t – test. It is suitable for testing the significance of a
sample man or for judging the significance of difference between the mams of two samples,
when the samples are less than 30 in number and when the population variance is not known.
When two samples are related, the paired t – test is used. The t – test can also be used for
testing the significance of the coefficient of simple and partial correlation. In determining
whether the mean of a sample drawn from a normal population deviates significantly from a
stated value when variance of population is unknown, we calculate the statistic.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Example:
Ten oil tins are taken at random from an automatic filling machine the mean weight of the 10
tins is 15.8 kg and standard deviation 0.5 kg. Does the sample mean differ significantly from the
intended weight of 16 kg? (Given for   9, to 0.05 – 2.26)

Let us make the hypothesis that the sample mean does not differ significantly from the intended
weight of 16 kg applying t – test.

(For v: consult the table value for t-test and find the related T-value)

3. The f- test

The f – test is based on f – distribution (which is a distribution skewed to the right, and tends to
be more symmetrical, as the number of degrees of freedom in the numerator and
denominator increases) The f- test is used to compare the variances of two independent sample
means at a time. It is also used for judging the significance of multiple correlation coefficients.

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 B. The Non-parametric Tests

The non-parametric tests are population free tests, as they are not based on the characteristics
of population. They do not specify normally distributed population or equal variances. They are
easy to understand and to use. The important non- parametric tests are:

- The chi-square test

- The median test
- The Mann-Whitney U test
- The sign test
- The Wilcoxin matched –Paris test
- The Kolmogorow Smornov test.

The Chi-Square Test (x2)

The Chi-Square test is the most popular non-parametric test of significance in social science
research. It is used to make comparisons between two or more nominal variables. Unlike the
other test of significance, the chi-square is used to make comparisons between frequencies
rather than between mean scares. This test evaluated whether the difference between the
observed frequencies and the expected frequencies under the null hypothesis can be attributed
to chance or actual population differences. A chi-square value is obtained by formula.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Example

The weight of 7 persons is given below:

In this information we can say, variance of distribution of sample of 7 persons was drawn is
equal to weight of 30 kg. Test this at 5% of 1% level of significance.

Above information we will work out variance of sample data.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 12. Report writing

12.1. Introduction

A research report is a formal statement of the research process and its results. It narrates the
problem studied, methods used for studying it and the findings and conclusions of the study.
The purpose of a research report is to communicate to interested persons the methodology and
the results of the study in such a manner as to enable them to understand the research process
and to determine the validity of the conclusions. The aim of the report is not to convince the
reader of the value of the result, but to convey to him what was done, why it was done, aid what
was its outcome. It is so written that the reader himself can reach his own conclusions as to the
adequacy of the study and the validity of the reported results and conclusions.

12.2. Functions of a research report

A well written research report performs several functions:

1. It serves as a means for presenting the problem studied methods and techniques used for
collecting and analysing data, the findings, conclusions and recommendations, in an
organised manner.

2. It serves as a basic reference material for future use in developing research proposals in the
same or related area.

3. A report serves as a means for judging the quality of the completed research project.

4. It is a means for evaluating the researcher’s ability and competence to do research.

5. It provides factual base for formulating policies and strategies relating to the subject matter
studied.
6. It provides systematic knowledge on problems and issues analysed.

12.3. Types of reports

Research reports may be classified into (a) technical report (b) popular report, (c) interim report,
(d) summary report, (e) research abstract, and (f) research article.
These types of reports vary from one another in terms of the degree of formality, physical form,
scope, style and size.

12.4. Planning report writing

After the data analysis is over, report writing cannot be started abruptly. It requires careful
preplanning. This planning process involves the following considerations and steps.
As a research report is a means of communication we have to consider some basic questions,
which determine the effectiveness of communication, namely, ‘who’ says ‘what’ to whom in
which was with what effect.

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 A. The target Audience:
The first step in planning report writing is to determine the target audience. The form and style
of reporting and other aspects depend upon the type of the reader, for whom the report is
intended. The identification of the target audience depends on who is the researcher and what
is his intention. The target audiences may be classified into (1) the academic (scientific)
community (2) the sponsors of research, and (3) the general public.

The academic or scientific community will be the primary target audience in the following
cases: (1) When the research is undertaken as an academic exercise for a master’s degree or
M. Phil. Degree or Ph.D. degree (in this case the thesis evaluation committee members will be
the immediate target audience), (2) when a research student or social scientist plants to publish
his research output in the form of a research monograph: (3) when a researcher plans to write
research articles based on his research for publication in professional journals. (in the last two
cases, the references, and the fellow scientists interested in the study will be
the target audience).
The sponsors of research may consist of two categories: (1) research promotion bodies like
Indian Council of Social Science Research, the University Grants Commission; and educational
foundations which provide Financial support to social scientists working in universities and
colleges for undertaking research with a view to encouraging them to do research; and (2)
government department, industrial and other organization which sponsor research for their own
use in policy making and the like.

If the research is sponsored by a research promotion organization, the reporting has to follow its
prevalent norms. In general, a full-fledged technical report is expected, along with an
abstract of the report. When the research is sponsored by an organization for its own use, it has
to be reported according to its requirements. It is to be written as a private document
emphasizing the findings and recommendations rather than methodology.

The general public is viewed as a cross-section of the society. This lay audience may be
interested in the broad findings and the implications of research studies on socio-economic
problems. The reporting for his audience may be in the form of a summary report or an article
written in non-technical journalistic language.

B. The communication characteristics of the audience

The second step in planning report writing is to consider the selected

audience’s communication characteristics. What is their level of knowledge and understanding?
What is the gap in knowledge on the subject between the readers and the writer? The greater
the knowledge gap, the more difficult it is to convey the full findings
meaningfully and concisely. What is the kind of language- scientific or journalistic that which the
readers are accustomed? What do they need to know about the study? or, what is likely to be of
interest to them? How can the needed information be presented best-verbal, a combined
tabular or pictorial presentation? These questions determine the scope, form and style of
reporting. The underlying purpose of a report should be noted. The purpose of report is not
communication with oneself but communication with the target audience. Hence, we must
constantly keep in mind the needs and requirements of the target audience.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
 C. The intended purpose of the Report:
What is the intended purpose of the report? Is it meant for evaluation by expects for the award
of a degree or diploma? It is to be used as a reference material by researchers and fellow
scientists? Or it is meant for implementation by a user organization? This intended purpose also
determines the type of the report and its contents and form of presentation.

D. The type of report:

With reference to the intended use, the type of report to be prepared should be determined.
When the research is undertaken to fulfil the requirements of a degree or
diploma or funded by a research promotion agency, the report is prepared as a comprehensive
technical report. When it is sponsored by a user organization, it is written as a popular or
summary report.

E. The scope of the report:

The next step is to determine the scope of the contents with reference to type of the report and
its intended purpose. For example, a research thesis or dissertation to
be submitted for award of a degree or diploma should narrate the total research process and
experience the state of the problem. A review of previous studies objectives of the study
methodology, findings, conclusions and recommendations.

F. The style of Reporting:

What should be the style of reporting? Should it be simple and clear or elegant and pompous?
Should it be technical or journalistic?

G. The format of the report:

The next step is to plan the format of the report, which varies according to the type of report.

H. Outline/table of controls:
The final step in planning report writing is to prepare a detailed outline for each of the proposed
chapters of the report. An outline lends cohesiveness and direction to report writing wok. Until
an outline is prepared the researcher does not know that he has to do and how to organise the
presentation.

12.5. Research Report format

(A) PREFATORY ITEMS

Title Page: The title page is the first page of a research report. It carries (1) the title of the study
(2) the name of the degree for which it is submitted (3) the name of the author, (4) the name of
the institution on which the report is submitted and the data of presentation.

Researcher’s Declaration: In the case of a research undertaken by a student in fulfilment of the

requirements of a degree, he may be required to make a declaration.

Research Supervisor’s Certificate: In the case of a student’s research’s work , his research
supervision has to certify that is was a record of independent research work done by the
students.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
Acknowledgement: In this section, the researcher acknowledges the assistance and support
received from individuals and organizations in conducting the research. It is thus intended to
show his gratitude. Good taste calls for acknowledgements to be expressed simply and
nicely. In the case of a research undertaken by a non-student researcher, acknowledgements
may be made in the preface itself, where a brief background of the study is given.

Table of contents: A table of contents gives an outline of the contents of the

report. It contains a list of the chapters and their sub-titles with page numbers. It facilitates ready
location of topics in the report. The chapter headings may be typed in capital letters and be the
subtitles in small letters.

List of tables: This comes after the table of contents. It is presented in the
following format:

Table number the title of the table page

All the tables may be numbered serially as 1,2,3,4 in one continuous series, or tables in each
chapter may be given a separate serial order as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 for tables in chapter 1;2, 1,2,2, 2.3,
2.4 for tables in chapter 2: and so on.

Body of the Report: After the prefatory items, the body of the report is presented.
It is the major and main part of the report. It covers the formulation of the problem studied,
methodology, findings and discussion and a summary of the findings and recommendations. In
a comprehensive report the body of the report will consist of several chapters.

1. Introduction:
This is the first chapter in the body of a research report, it is devoted for introducing the
theoretical background of the problem, its definition and formulation. It may consist of the
following sections.

(a) Theoretical background of the topic: The first task is to introduce the background and the
nature of the problem so as to place into a larger context to enable the reader to know its
significance in a proper perspective. This section summarises the theory or conceptual frame
work within which the problem has been investigated.

(b) The statement of the problem: In this section, why and how the problem was selected are
stated, the problem is clearly defined and its facets and significance are pointed out.

(c)Review of Literature: This is an important part of the introductory chapter. It is devoted for
making a brief review of previous studies on the problem and significant writings on the topic
under study. This review provides summary of the current state of knowledge in the area of
investigation. Which aspects have been investigated, what research gaps exist and how the
present study is an attempt to fill in that gap are highlighted. Thus the underlying purpose is to
locate the present research in the existing body of research on the subject and to point out what
it contributes to the subject.

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(d) The scope of the present study: The dimensions of the studying terms of the geographical
area covered the designation of the population being studied and the level of generality of the
study is specified.

(e) The objectives of the study: The objectives of the study and the investigative questions
relating to each of the objectives are presented.

(f) Hypotheses: The specific hypotheses to be tested are stated. The sources of their
formulation may be indicated.

(g) Definition of concepts: The reader of a report is not equipped to understand the study unless
he can know what concepts are used and how they are used. Therefore, the
operational definitions of the key concept and variables of the study are presented giving
justifications for the definitions adopted. How those concepts were defined by earlier writers and
how the definitions of the researcher were an improvement over earlier definitions may be
explained.
(h) Models: The models, if any, developed for depicting the relationships between variables
under study are presented with a review of their theoretical or conceptual basis. The underlying
assumptions are also stated.

2. The study design

This part of the report is devoted for the presentation of all the aspects of the methodology and
their implementation viz. overall typology methods of data collection sample design data
collection instruments, methods of data processing and plan of analysis much of his material is
taken from the research proposal plan. The revisions, if any made in the initial design and the
reasons therefore should be clearly stated. If pilot study was conducted before designing the
main study the details of the pilot study and its outcome are reported. How the outcome of the
pilot study was utilised for designing the final study is also pointed out. The detail of the study’s
design should be so meticulously stated as to fully satisfy the criterion of replicability. That is
how it should be possible for another researcher to reproduce the study and test its conclusions.

(a) Methodology: In this section, the overall typology of research (i.e. experimental, survey, case
study or action research) used, and the data collection methods (i.e. observation,
interviewing or mailing) employed are described. The sources of data the sampling plan and
other aspects of the design may be presented under separate subheadings as described below.

(b) Sources of Data: the sources from which the secondary and or primary data were gathered
are stated in the case of primary data. The universe of the study and the unit of study are clearly
defined. The limitations of the secondary data should be indicated.

(c) Sampling Plan: The size of the universe from which the sample was drawn, the sampling
methods adopted and the sample size and the process of sampling are described in this
section. What were originally planned and what were actually achieved and
the estimate of sampling error are to be given. These details are crucial for determining the
limitations of generalisability of the findings.

(d) Data-collection Instruments: The types of instruments used for data collection and their
contents, scales and other devices used for measuring variables, and the procedure of
establishing their validity and reliability are described in this section.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
(e) Field work: When and how the field work was conducted, and what problems and difficulties
were faced during the field work are described under this sub-heading. The description of field
experiences will provide valuable lessons for future researches in organising and conducting
their field work.

(f) Data processing and analysis plan: The method manual or mechanical adopted for data
processing, and an account of methods used for data analysis and testing hypotheses must be
outlined and justified. If common methods like chi-square test, correlation test and analysis of
variance were used, it is sufficient to say such and such methods were used. If an unusual or
complex method was used. It should be described in sufficient detail with the formula to enable
the reader to understand it.

(g) An overview of the report: The scheme of subsequent chapters is stated and the purpose of
each of them is briefly described in this section in order to give an overview of the presentation
of the result of the study.

(h) Limitations of the study: No research is free from limitations and weaknesses. These arise
from methodological weaknesses, sampling, imperfections, non-responses, data inadequacies,
measurement deficiencies and the like. Such limitations may vitiate the conclusions and their
generalisability. Therefore, a careful statement of the limitations and weaknesses of
the study should be made in order to enable the reader to judge the validity of the conclusions
and the general worth of the study in the proper perspective. A frank statement of limitations is
one of the hallmarks of an honest and competent researcher.

Summary Conclusions and Recommendations: The presentation on analysis and results is

followed by a separate final chapter. This chapter is more extensive than the abstract give in the
beginning of the report. This chapter should be a self-contained summary of the whole report,
containing a summary of essential background information, findings and inclusions and
recommendations. After a brief statement of the problem, the purpose of the study and the
methodology used in the investigation the findings and conclusions are presented. This
summary may be more or less a reproduction of the topical sentences of the various findings
and conclusions presented in the main body.

(B)TERMINAL ITEMS

Bibliography: This is the first of the terminal items presented at the end of
the research report. The bibliography lists in alphabetical order all published and unpublished
reference used by the writer in preparing the report. All books articles and reports and other
documents may be presented in one common list in the alphabetical order of their authors
alternatively bibliography may be classified into three or four sections: (a) books (b) articles (c)
reports, and (d) other documents, and in each section relevant references may be arranged in
alphabetical order.

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Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe
References

1. Bushueva, L. I., Karmanov, M. V., & Kuznetcov, V. I. (2022). About manipulation of

statistical data. КОРПОРАТИВНОЕ УПРАВЛЕНИЕ И ИННОВАЦИОННОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ
ЭКОНОМИКИ СЕВЕРА, 93.
2. Cronk, B. C. (2017). How to use SPSS®: A step-by-step guide to analysis and
interpretation. Routledge.
3. Day, T. (2018). Success in academic writing. Bloomsbury Publishing.
4. Disman, D., Ali, M., & Barliana, M. S. (2017). The use of quantitative research method
and statistical data analysis in dissertation: an evaluation study. International Journal of
Education, 10(1), 46-52.
5. Lacort, M. O. (2014). Descriptive and Inferential Statistics-Summaries of theory and
Exercises solved. Lulu. Com.
6. Lindsay, D. (2020). Scientific writing= thinking in words. Csiro Publishing.
7. Street, B. V. (2015). Academic Writing: Theory and Practice. Journal of Educational
Issues, 1(2), 110-116
8. Walter, M., & Andersen, C. (2016). Indigenous statistics: A quantitative research
methodology. Routledge.

51 | P a g e Course notes for B-Tech_RP_IPRCKigali

Lecturer: Assiel Mugabe