Research Methodology - I

Research: Definition and concept of research, objectives of research, importance of research. Types of Research- Descriptive vs Analytical, Applied vs Fundamental, Quantitative vs Qualitative, Conceptual vs Empirical, Historical, Longitudinal Research. Research Approaches, Significance of Research.

Research Design: Meaning, Need and Characteristics of a good research design. Identification of a Research problem. Selection of a Research problem. Hypothesis- Purpose, Characteristics, Types and Criteria of Hypothesis.

Data gathering instruments: Observation, Interview, Questionnaires and Schedules, their construction, Technique of data collection, Scrutiny of data, accuracy of measurements, testing of a questionnaire. Scaling Techniques: Purpose of scaling techniques, Types of scales- Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio scales.

Statistics- Meaning, Importance, Limitations, Classifications and Tabulation of data, Variables- Meaning and Concept, Types of Variables. Frequency Distributions and Cumulative Frequency Distribution, Measure of Central Tendency- Mean, Median and Mode, Geometric and Harmonic Mean their Properties, Merits and Demerits.
Measure of Dispersion- Range, Quartile Deviation, Mean Deviation and Standard Deviation, Coefficient of Variation. Skewness : (their absolute and relative measures)

Correlation Analysis- Definition and Concept, types and measures of studying Correlation (Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation, its assumptions, properties, merits and demerits, Spearman’s Rank correlation & Con-Current Deviation Method)
Regression Analysis- Definition, Concept, Uses and Properties. Least Square Method, Regression Coefficients, Fitting of Regression lines.