Buss 423: Research Methods Question Paper
Buss 423: Research Methods
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2011
FACULTY : BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES
DEPARTMENT : BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
TIME : 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS Answer Question ONE and any Other TWO Questions
Question 1
a) Briefly give an outline of the sampling procedure in research design (5marks)
b) Discuss the different types of variables that one is likely to find in a research study (5marks)
c) Compare and contrast the qualitative and quantitative research designs and explain the situations in which one’s method is preferred to the other (6marks)
d) Briefly describe the criteria for developing a measure by which the job satisfaction of retail sales representatives of a shopping mall would be assessed (6marks)
e) What type of scale would you use in (d) above and why (3marks)
f) Briefly describe the characteristics of a good research hypothesis (5marks)
Question 2
a) Briefly explain the purpose of generating a hypothesis (5marks)
b) Describe the possible errors of hypothesis testing (4marks)
c) Briefly explain “type I” and “type II” errors. Which amongst the two is considered more serious? Explain (6marks)
d) Briefly explain the tasks that must be done before data analysis (5marks)
Question 3
a) Reliability and validity are areas of concern to researchers. Briefly explain the two concepts and discuss their importance to research (10marks)
b) What methods would you use to assess reliability and validity (10marks)
Question 4
a) Conjoint analysis and multi dimensional scaling have been widely used in designing new products. What are the advantages and limitations of these two methods (10marks)
b) Explain how you can use these two methods to radically design “new-to-the-world” products when consumers do not even know what to expect in the new product (10marks)
Question 5
You have submitted a paper to a leading management journal. In your research you used a linear regression model to study the effects of a key independent variable on a dependent variable, based on time series and cross-sectional data. You have just received the reviewers comments. Their major concern is that the effect you have observed may be biased.
Required:
Discuss what is meant by bias. Discuss the potential sources of bias, the consequences of bias in your analysis, the analytical techniques you might use to overcome such biases. (20marks)
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