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MPC-05 RESEARCH METHODS

COURSE CODE:  MPC  02       2022

Note: This TMA consists of ten questions, out of which you have to attempt any five. The question carries 20 marks each and should be answered in about 500 words. Send your TMA to the Coordinator of your Study Centre.

 

 

NOTE: All questions are compulsory.

 

SECTION – A

 

Answer the following questions in 1000 words each.

 

 

Answer the following questions in 1000 words each. 3 x 15 = 45 marks

 

 

 

RESEARCH METHODS

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

Course Code: MPC 005

 

Assignment Code: MPC 005/ASST/TMA/2021-22

Marks: 100

 

 

NOTE: All Questions Are Compulsory

 

Section A

 

Answer the following question in about 1000 words each:               Marks 15×3=45

 

1. Discuss the nature, types and steps of case study. Describe the criteria and misconceptions of case

 

2. Explain the method, steps, relevance and implications of grounded theory. Describe the types of coding in grounded theory.

 

3. Elaborate the assumptions, approaches, steps, issues and implications of discourse

 

Section B

 

Answer the following questions in about 400 words each:                Marks 5×5=25

 

4. Explain the methods of estimating

 

5. Explain the different types of variables.

 

6. Discuss the various types of

 

7. Describe the importance and types of
8. Discuss the types, advantages and limitations of factorial research

 

Section C

 

Answer the following in about 50 words each:                         Marks 10×3=30

 

9. Content of research
10. Objectivity safeguards in research
11. Types of
12. Quota
13. Advantages and disadvantages of survey
14. Differences between Ex-post Facto and Experimental
15. Criteria for a good research
16. Quasi-experimental research
17. Advantages of correlational research design .

 

 

 

ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE MATERIAL (2021-22)

MPC-05 RESEARCH METHODS

 

 

Section A

 

Answer the following question in about 1000 words each: Marks 15×3=45

 

Q1. Discuss the nature, types and steps of case study. Describe the criteria and misconceptions of case studies.

 

Ans. The case studies in general are classified as descriptive research types. They have sometimes been conducted for the purpose of hypothesis testing and taken the form of experimental research. Many case studies, for example, were conducted to investigate the effects of operant conditioning on human behaviour. In a typical study, as reported by Ary et at. (1972, p. 288), the researcher identifies a specific behaviour in his subject and systematically records the frequency of this behaviour. Then he introduces an operant conditioning treatment and records the frequency of the specified behaviour during treatment. When a change is observed in the behaviour of the subject as a result of operant conditioning, the researcher begins reversal conditioning, i.e. he uses operant conditioning to change the behaviour back to what it was before the original conditioning was instituted.

 

The case study method was originally used in medicine to examine the patient’s previous development, his health and physical state from the beginning and many other factors in the past, besides making a careful study of the patient’s present condition and symptoms. Sigmund Freud used case study method to assist his subjects in solving their personality problems. The published detailed accounts of his interviews with patients and his interpretations of their thoughts, dreams and actions provide excellent examples of case studies.

 

Different types of case studies are as follows:

 

• Illustrative Case Studies: Illustrative case studies are primarily descriptive studies. They typically utilise one or two instances of an event to show what a situation is like. Illustrative case studies serve primarily to make the unfamiliar familiar and to give readers a common language about the topic in question.

 

• Exploratory (or pilot) Case Studies: This type of case studies performed before implementing a large-scale investigation. Their basic function is to help identify questions and select types of measurement prior to the main investigation. The primary pit fall of this type of study is that initial findings may seem convincing enough to be released prematurely as

 

 

• Cumulative Case Studies: These serve to aggregate information from several sites collected at different times. The idea behind these studies is the collection of past studies will allow for greater generalisation without additional cost or time being expended on new, possibly repetitive

 

• Critical Instance Case Studies: These examine one or more sites for either the purpose of examining a situation of unique interest with little to no interest in generalisability, or to call into question or challenge a highly generalised or universal This method is useful for answering cause and effect questions.

 

Q2. Explain the method, steps, relevance and implications of grounded theory. Describe the types of coding in grounded theory.

 

Ans. Grounded theory is an approach for looking systematically at (mostly) qualitative data (like transcripts of interviews or protocols of observations) aiming at the generation of theories.

 

Methods of Grounded Theory

 

Grounded theorists do not believe in collecting data through taping and transcribing interviews, as it is believed to be a waste of time in grounded theories. The process of grounded theories is far quick and faster as the researcher delimits the data by field-noting interviews and soon after generates concepts that fit with data, are relevant and work in explaining what participants are doing to resolve their main concern. Discussing about the theory before it is written up drains the researcher of motivational energy. Discussions and talks can either render praise or criticism, and both diminish the motivational drive to write memos that develop and refine the concepts and the theory (Glaser, 1998). Data is a fundamental property of the grounded theory, which means that everything that gets in the researcher’s way when studying a certain area is data. Not only interviews or observations but anything is data that helps the researcher generating concepts for the emerging theory. Field notes can come from informal interviews, lectures, seminars, expert group meetings, newspaper articles, internet mail lists, even television shows, conversations with friends, etc. It is even possible, and sometimes a good idea, for a researcher with much knowledge in the studied area to interview own self, treating that interview like any other data, coding and comparing it to other data and generating concepts from it. Interviewing one’s own self helps in gaining an insight from the knowledge that the researcher has at the conceptual level and grounded theory deals with nothing but the conceptual level data.

 

Steps of Grounded Theory: The steps of grounded theory are as follows:

 

• Memoing: The first objective of the researcher is to collect data in the form of Memos are a form of short notes that the researcher writes and prepares. These memos act as a source of data, which is further put in other processes of analysis and interpretation. These short notes or memos can be prepared in the following three ways:

 

• Theoretical Note: This form of note contains the details regarding how a textual database is related to the existing literature of the concerned study. The note consists of about one to five pages. Anyhow, the final theory and report consists of an integration of several such theoretical notes.

 

 

• Field Note: Field notes consist of the notes prepared when the researcher actively participates with the population or culture or the community under study. It can be the observations of behaviours, interactions, events or situations that occur on the spot and it also contains the causal notes behind such actions.

 

• Sorting in Grounded Theory: Once the short notes or the memos are prepared, the collected information (or the data) is sorted in order to organise them in proper order. Sorting helps in putting all the data in proper order, which leads to proper linkage of information and The researcher may also get an insight of some more relevant information and ideas, which were not revealed during the preparation of memos.

 

• Writing in Grounded Theory: The ground theorist arranges, relates and puts the collected information into Therefore, in this step, the researcher tries to give a shape as well as meaning to the relevant data. This may be said to be a crucial stage, as it is this stage in which the researcher interprets the information on the basis of his own perspectives. The collected information is also linked with the existing relevant literature in order to put the theory in a scholarly context.

 

Q3. Elaborate the assumptions, approaches, steps, issues and implications of discourse analysis.

 

Ans:- Assumptions of Discourse Analysis: Theoretically, discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary approach and has been widely used by the social scientists and cognitive psychologists. Some of the basic assumptions of this approach are as follows:

 

• According to psychologists, the human behaviour can only be studied with objectivity, i.e. without involvement of any biasness or subjectivity of the researcher as well as the subject/people under However, this has been disputed people, including researchers, cannot be objective. A researcher is very likely to hold some position (expectation, belief or set of cultural values) discourse analysis when they are conducting their research. Those expectations may be revealed while interpreting and explaining the events and experiences.

 

• The approach also assumes that reality is socially constructed. It is assumed in a scientific research that ‘reality’ can be The constructs generally used by psychologists like personality, intelligence and thinking are explained as real and naturally occurring categories or events. However, the assumption ignores the fact that it is language, which gives a shape to the categories and constructs we use. Since language is a social and cultural thing, our sense of reality is socially and culturally constructed.

 

• It is also assumed that people are the result of social interaction. In the scientific approach, it is assumed that many of the constructs used are ‘inner essences’. That is to say that personality, anxiety, drives and so on exist somewhere within our heads and our bodies and are revealed only when the individual socially interacts with others. However, it may be the case that many of these so-called essences are actually the products of social interaction.

 

Some of the famous theories of discourse analysis are as follows:

 

• Modernism: Modern theorists were focussed on achieving progress and believed in the existence of natural and social laws which could be used universally to develop

 

 

knowledge and thus a better understanding of society. Modernist theorists were preoccupied with obtaining the truth and reality and sought to develop theories which contained certainty and predictability. Modernist theorists therefore viewed discourse as being relative to talking or way of talking and understood discourse to be functional. Discourse and language transformations are ascribed to progress or the need to develop new or more “accurate” words to describe new discoveries, understandings, or areas of interest. In modern times, language and discourse are dissociated from power and ideology and instead conceptualised as “natural” products of common sense usage or progress. Modernism further gave rise to the liberal discourses of rights, equality, freedom, and justice; however, this rhetoric masked substantive inequality and failed to account for differences, according to Regnier.

 

• Structuralism: Structuralist theorists, such as Ferdinand de Saussure and Jacques Lacan, argue that all human actions and social formations are related to language and can be understood as systems of related elements. This means that the “…individual elements of a system only have significance when considered in relation to the structure as a whole, and that structures are to be understood as self-contained, self-regulated, and self-transforming ” In other words, it is the structure itself that determines the significance, meaning and function of the individual elements of a system. Structuralism has made an important contribution to our understanding of language and social systems. Saussure’s theory of language highlights the decisive role of meaning and signification in structuring human life more generally.

 

• Postmodernism: Unlike the approaches of the modern theory, the postmodern theorists examined and investigated the variety of experiences of individuals and groups and emphasised more on differences over similarities and common Postmodern researchers insisted more upon analysing discourses as texts, language, policies and practices. In the field of discourse analysis, the most prominent figure was Michel Foucault. Foucault (1977, 1980) has defined discourse as “systems of thoughts composed of ideas, attitudes, courses of action, beliefs and practices that systematically construct the subjects and the worlds of which they speak”. He emphasised that the discourse analysis has a significant role in social processes of legitimating and power. Discourses can help researchers in emphasising the construction of current truths, how they are maintained and what power relations they carry with them. He later added that discourse is a channel through which power relations (for example, power relation between boss and subordinate, professor and students) produce speaking subjects and that power is an inevitable or unavoidable aspect. Foucault (1977, 1980) argued that power and knowledge are inter-related, and therefore, every human relationship is a struggle and negotiation of power. Discourse, according to Foucault (1977, 1980, 2003), is related to power as it operates by rules of exclusion. Postmodernism was one of the mid to late 20th century development and believes that the human mind is free from the constraints of tradition, belief, faith and tries to explore the furthermost horizons of human development.

 

Section B

 

Answer the following questions in about 400 words each: Marks 5×5=25 Q4. Explain the methods of estimating reliability.

 

 

Ans:- Methods of Estimating Reliability: Several methods exist for determining the reliability of a measuring instrument. These methods may be divided into two broad categories: external consistency procedures, and internal consistency procedures.

 

• External Consistency Procedures: The external reliability of a measure refers to the degree of consistency, which compares findings from two independent processes of data collection with each other as a means of verifying the reliability of the Two methods of external consistency procedures are as follows:

 

(i)    Test Re-test Reliability: This type of external consistency procedure is used to find the reliability of a test by repeating the same test on same sample, on two different time periods. The reliability coefficient in this case would be the correlation between the score obtained by the same person on two administrations of the test. Test-Retest reliability is estimated, when same test is administered on same sample. Therefore, it refers to the consistency of a test among on two different time periods with different administrations. The assumption behind this approach is that there will be no substantial changes in the measurement of the construct in question, upon administration on separate occasions. The time gap that is given between measures is of critical value, the shorter the time gap, higher the correlation value and vice versa. If the test is reliable, the scores that are attained on first administration should be more or less equal to those obtained on second time also. The relationship between the two administrations should be highly positive.

 

• Internal Consistency Procedures: Internal reliability is particularly important in connection with multiple-item It raises the question of whether each scale is measuring a single idea, and hence, whether the items that make up the scale are internally consistent. A number of procedures for estimating internal reliability exist. In other words, the idea behind internal consistency procedures is that items measuring same phenomena should produce similar results. Following internal consistency procedures are commonly used for estimating reliability:

 

• Split Half Reliability: One of the most common methods of internal consistency procedures is split-half. In this method, we randomly divide all items that intend to measure same construct into two sets. The complete instrument is administered on sample of people and total scores are calculated for each randomly divided half; the split half reliability is then, simply the correlation between these two scores.

 

Problem in this Approach: When the tests are shorter, they run the risk of losing reliability and it can most safely be used in case of long tests only. It is, hence, more useful in case of long tests as compared to shorter ones. However, to rectify the defects of shortness, Spearman-Brown’s formula can be employed, enabling correlation as if each part were full length:

r = (2rhh) / (1 + rhh)    (where, rhh is correlation between two halves)

 

Q5. Explain the different types of variables.

 

Ans:- Types of Variables: There are various types of variables, as follows:

 

• Stimulus, Organism and Response Variables: Today, various psychologists are interested in studying the behaviour or causes of behaviour as Many psychologists

 

 

have adopted a theoretical viewpoint or model called the S-O-R model to explain all behaviour.

 

Here, S is the symbol of stimuli, and the category may be referred to in general as stimulus variables. A stimulus variable is some form of energy in the environment, such as light, to which the organism is sensitive. O is the symbol for organism variables that is the changeable physiological and psychological characteristics of the organisms being observed. Examples of such variables are anxiety level, age, heart rate, etc. Finally, R is the symbol for response and, in general, response variables, which refer to some behaviour or action of the organism like pressing a lever, and reaction to any stimulus, are the examples of responses variables.

 

 (2) Independent and Dependent Variables: An independent variable or stimulus variable allows us to control some of the research environment. It is that factor manipulated or selected by the experimenter in Underwood’s attempt to ascertain its relationship to an observed phenomenon.

 

Dependent upon the mode of manipulation, some experts have tried to divide the independent variable into ‘Type E’ independent variable and ‘Type S’ independent variable (D’Amato, 1970). Type E independent variable is one of which is directly or experimentally manipulated by the experimental and type S independent variable is one which is manipulated through the process of selection only.

 

(3)      Extraneous       and       Confounding        Variables:        Extraneous        variables are undesirable variables that influence the relationship between the variables that an experimenter is examining. This type of variable may directly affect the dependent variable or may combine with the independent variable to produce an effect. Therefore, extraneous variables must be controlled so that the experimenter can determine whether the dependent variable changes in relation to variation in the independent variable. Extraneous variables are relevant in nature, and in experimental studies, they belong to three major types, i.e. organismic variables, situational variables and sequential variables. The subject-related variables include age, sex, intelligence, personality, etc. are organismic variables. The situational variables include environmental variables operating in the experimental setting (e.g. noise, temperature, humidity) and variables related to the experimental task. The sequence related variables deal with sequence effects.

 

Q6. Discuss the various types of validity.

 

Ans:- Types of validity: Following are various types of validity:

 

• Face Validity: This type of validity refers to whether a technique looks as if it should measure the variable it intends to measure. For example, a method where a participant is required to click a button as soon as a stimulus appears and this time is measured appears to have face validity for measuring reaction time.

 

• Content Validity: It is ensured by the process through which the measure is According to McBurney and White (2007), “Content validity is the notion that a test should sample range of behaviour that is represented by the theoretical concept being measured.” Content validity is a non-statistical type of validity with involvement of assessment of the content of the test to ascertain whether it includes the sample representative of the behaviour that is intended to be measured. When a test has content validity, the items

 

on the test represent the entire range of possible items the test should cover. For instance, if researcher wants to develop an achievement test of spelling for the third grade children then a researcher could identify nearly all the possible words that third grade children should know. Individual test items may be taken from a huge group of items that include a broad range of items.

 

 (3)     Construct Validity: This is whether the measurements of a variable in a study behave in exactly the same way as the variable itself. This involves examining past research regarding different aspects of the same variable. There are several ways to determine whether a test generate data that have construct validity.

 

• The test should actually measure whatever theoretical construct it supposedly tests, and not something else. For example, a test of leadership ability should not actually test

 

• A test that has construct validity should measure what it intends to measure but not measure theoretically unrelated constructs. For example, a test of musical aptitude should not require too much reading ability.

 

 (4)      Criterion- related Validity: A test is said to have criterion-related validity when the test has demonstrated its effectiveness in predicting criterion or indicators of a construct. There are two different types of criterion validity:

 

Q7. Describe the importance and types of hypotheses.

 

Ans. A hypothesis is a preliminary or tentative explanation or postulate by the researcher of what the researcher considers the outcome of an investigation will be. It is an informed/educated guess. It indicates the expectations of the researcher regarding certain variables. It is the most specific way in which an answer to a problem can be stated.

 

“It is a proposition which can be put to test to determine validity” (Goode and Hatt).

 

“A hypothesis is a question put in such a way that an answer of some kind can be forth coming” (Rummel and Ballaine).

 

There are two categories of a hypothesis, i.e. null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis. These types of hypothesis are as follows:

 

• Null Hypothesis: In tests of hypothesis, we always begin with an assumption or hypothesis (i.e. assumed value of a population parameter). This is called null hypothesis. The null hypothesis asserts that there is no (significant) difference between the sample statistic and the population parameter and whatever the observed difference is there, is merely due to fluctuations in sampling from the same Null hypothesis is usually denoted by the

 

symbol

H0 .

R.A. Fisher defined null hypothesis as, “the hypothesis which is tested for

 

possible rejection under the assumption that it is true”. In other words, the hypothesis (regarding some characteristics of population) which is to be verified with the help of a random sample or the hypothesis, which is under test is called null hypothesis. For example,

 

if we want to test the hypothesis that the mean of the population to be taken as null hypothesis (H0 ) is  m= m0 .

m0 ,

then the

 

Q8. Discuss the types, advantages and limitations of factorial research design.

 

Ans. A factorial design is often used by scientists wishing to understand the effect of two or more independent variables upon a single dependent variable. The different types of factorial design are as follows:

 

• Within Subject Factorial Design: In 1975, Godden & Baddeley want to study the effect of context on They hypothesised that memory should be better when the condition at test are more similar to the conditions experienced during learning. To operationalise this idea, Godden and Baddeley decided to use a very particular population, i.e. deep-sea divers. The divers were asked to learn a list of 50 unrelated words either on the beach or under 10 feet of water. The divers were then tested either on beach or under sea. The divers were tested in both the environment in order to make sure that any effect observed could not be attributed to a global effect of one of the environment. The first independent variable is the place of learning. It has two levels (on the beach and under the sea). The second independent variable is the place of testing. It has two levels (on the beach and under the sea).

 

• Between Subject Factorial Design: A between subject factorial design is presented in The example is 2×2 design. Separate groups of six experiences each condition, thus requiring 24 subjects to get six responses to each of four conditions.

 

Factor – A

 

Factor – B	A1	A2
	S1	S13
	S2	S14
B1	S3 S4	S15 S16
	S5	S17
	S6	S18
	S7	S19
	S8	S20
	S9	S21
B2	S10 S11	S22 S23
	S12	S24

 

• Mixed Factorial Design: Sometimes, the researcher uses mixed factorial Researcher has two independent variable A and B. Variable A is the within subject variable and variable B is the between subject variable. Subject either experiences B1, once with A1 and also with A2; or they experience B2 once with A1 and also with A2. For example, we want to study the effect of gender and alcohol on risk taking while driving. Here we have two independent variables gender (A) and alcohol level (B). Suppose we have decided to operationalise the independent variable ‘alcohol level’ by having four concentration levels. We decide to have each subject observed in each alcohol condition. The order of

 

administration of each condition will be randomised for each subject. The measures are non- repeated for the factor (A) gender and repeated for the factor (B) alcohol level.

 

Section C

 

Answer the following in about 50 words each: Marks 10×3=30 Q9. Content of research report.

Ans. The contents of a research report are as follows:

 

• Title Page: The title page should indicate the topic of research and the name(s) of the researchers(s) (authors). Secondly, it should indicate the name of the organisation where the report has been prepared and for what programme; if it is research project ordered or demanded by a company or any other organisation, the company’s or organisation’s name should also appear on the title page. Moreover, if the project has received any financial help from an institute other than the school or university, this name should also appear on the title

 

• Table of Content: The table of contents lists the contents of the report with page Here, the headings and subheadings are presented. The reader should be able to differentiate the headings and subheadings both in the table of contents and in the report. The table of contents should also include tables as well as figures with page numbers.

 

 (3) Executive Summary: A summary provides the important aspects of each part of the report. It is often stated that a summary should be self-sufficient because most of the readers, especially business executives, often read only the summary (Churchill, 1999). The summary thus should highlight the whole report.

 

Q10. Objectivity safeguards in research process.

 

Ans:- Objectivity Safeguards in Research Process: In research process, the objectivity safeguards consist of procedural safeguards, standardisation, operationalisation and avoiding of bias.

 

Procedural safeguards: Since subjectivity must be minimised in the data collection and analysis phases of scientific research, procedural safeguards are used to increase objectivity. These safeguards begin with keeping complete records of observations and data analysis in a form that other researchers can understand and evaluate. As a result, most scientific reports are written in a similar form and published by organisations of scientists. These reports communicate ideas to the entire scientific community and open those ideas to criticism.

 

Standardisation: Standardisation means using uniform, consistent procedures in all phases of data collection. All subjects should receive the same instructions and be treated in the same way. By applying a standard treatment for all participants in the course of study, researchers ensure they will have the same basic experience.

 

Q11. Types of constructs. Ans:- Types of Constructs

 

• Intervening Variables: An intervening variable is construct, which is utilised as a summary term for a group of other construct. It has no meaning apart from context in which it is utilised. Clark Hull utilised intervening variables in the formation of the learning theory. Hull defined reaction potential as the combination of habit strength and drive (Hilgard & Bower, 1966). Reaction potential is an intervening variable, since it only summarises other constructs (habits, strength and drive) and has meaning only in relation to them. An example of intervening variable is hostility which is inferred from hostile and aggressive

 

• Hypothetical Constructs: A hypothetical construct can be defined as an abstract concept used in a particular theoretical manner to relate different behaviours according to their underlying features or causes. This means that it is a term that is considered to reflect a combination of behaviour or terms. It means hypothetical construct is a theoretical term, which is employed to describe something “real”.

 

Q12. Quota sampling.

 

Ans:- The quota sampling is also one of the commonly used method in which samples are to be selected on the basis of some parameters such as age, sex, geographical region, education, income, occupation, etc. in order to make them as representative samples. The investigators, then, are assigned fixed quotas of the sample meeting these population characteristics. The purpose of quota sampling is to ensure that various sub-groups of the population are represented on pertinent sample characteristics to the extent that the investigator desires. The stratified random sampling also has this objective but should not be confused with quota sampling. In the stratified sampling method, the researcher selects a random sample from each group of the population, whereas, in quota sampling, the interviewer has a quota fixed for him/her to achieve.

 

Q13. Advantages and disadvantages of survey research.

 

Ans.   Advantages: The advantages of survey research method are as follows:

 

• It is a versatile method, which can be applied to almost all types of research, including market research, political research, psychological and social research.

 

• It enables the analysis of data to be based on the laws of mathematics and statistics, arguably reducing the likelihood that ill-considered conclusions will be drawn from the

 

• It enables the analysis of data to be based on the laws of mathematics and statistics, arguably reducing the likelihood that ill-considered conclusions will be drawn from the

 

• It is a cost-effective method for finding out about large

 

• It can be administered in a variety of different ways, enabling geographically scattered respondents to answer the same

 

Q14. Differences between Ex-post Facto and Experimental research.

 

Ans.   The difference between an experimental and ex-post facto research are as follows:

 

Table: Experimental Research Vs Ex-post facto Research

 

	Experimental Research	Ex-post Facto Research
Control over Ind ependen t Variable	In an experimental research, the researcher can directly manipulate the independent variable/s (that is, the cause) in order to examine its effect on the dependent variable (that is, the effect).	In an ex-post facto research, the research cannot directly manipulate the indepen-dent manipulate the independent variable/s (that is, the cause) as s/he predicts the cause on the basis of dependent variable (that is, the effect).

 

 

 

 

P r i n c i p l e o f Randomisation	The researcher can use the principle of randomisation in an experimental research on the basis of which they can conclude or infer that other things remaining equal/ constant/controlled the effect is a result of mani-pulation of the cause.	The researcher cannot use the principle of randomi-sation in an ex-post facto research as the researcher has no direct infer over the cause and so they infer the possibilities of the causes on basis of the existing effect.
Manipulation of Variables	The   researcher   can   mani- p ul a t e v a r i abl es in an experimental research.	Th e res ea rc h er c a nnot manipulate variables in an ex-post facto research.
Interpretation	It is easier to interpret or infer relationships between the independent and dependent variables as they can manipulate the independent variable and see its effect on dependent variable.	It is difficult to interpret or infer relationship between the in d e p e n d e n t a n d dependent variables as there c a n b e mo re t h a n on e possibilities or cause for a particular effect.

 

Q15. Criteria for a good research design.

 

Ans:- Criteria for a Good Research Design: For research design to be considered good, we must ask the following questions?

 

• Does the design give specific answer to the research question?

 

• Does the design adequately test the hypothesis?

 

• Does the design present the appropriate question/problem?

 

• Does the design adequately control the extraneous independent variable?

 

• Can we generalise the results of a study to other subjects?

 

• Does the design give the internal and external validity?

 

Q16. Quasi-experimental research design.

 

Ans:- Quasi experimental designs are sometimes called ex-post facto design or after the fact experiment, because the experiment is conducted after the groups have been formed. The independent variable has already occurred and hence, the experimenter studies the effect after the occurrence of the variable. For example if we are interested in gender differences in verbal learning figures we would have to conduct a quasi experiment because we cannot assign participant to the two conditions male and female. We cannot create groups of males and females but instead select members from preexisting groups. In other words, we can say that in quasi experiments we do not manipulate variables but we observe categories of subjects. Matching instead of randomisation is used.

 

Q17. Advantages of correlational research design .

 

Ans:- Advantages: Following are the advantages of correlational design:

 

• The correlational designs are used in many cases because available data makes it easy to use. Some more careful researchers use the result of correlational studies to formulate new hypothesis which they can test later using more rigourous research design rather than test hypothesis about cause and effect directly.

 

• Correlational design is used as the foundation for other designs that permit more certain causal inferences to be drawn from

 

• It usually does not involve repeated administration of a behavioural measure, thus avoiding pretest sensitisation.

 

Q18. Ethnography

 

Ans:- Ethnography is a qualitative design in which the researcher describes and interprets the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviours, beliefs and language of a culture-sharing group (Harris, 1968). As a process, ethnography involves extended observations of the group, most often through participant observation, in which the researcher is immersed in the day-to- day lives of the people, observes and interviews the group participants.