CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
RESEARCH:

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define
research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific
topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful
investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge.” Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new
knowledge.”

Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the
unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery. Research is an academic activity and
as such the term should be used in a technical sense.

According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems,

formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating
data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the
conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.

D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define

research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of
generalising to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in
construction of theory or in the practice of an art.” Research is, thus, an original
contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement. It is the
pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment. In
short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding
solution to a problem is research. The systematic approach concerning generalization
and the formulation of a theory is also research.

As such the term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating
the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, analysing the facts
and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions(s) towards the
concerned problem or in certain generalizations for some theoretical formulation.
VI.2 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH:

The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application

of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is
hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has
its own specific purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling into a number
of following broad groupings:

1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it

(studies with this object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative
research studies);

2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,

situation or a group (studies with this object in view are known as descriptive
research studies);

3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which

it is associated with something else (studies with this object in view are known
as diagnostic research studies);

4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such

studies are known as hypothesis-testing research studies).

VI.3 TYPES OF RESEARCH:

The basic types of research are as follows:

1. Descriptive vs. Analytical:

Descriptive research includes surveys and fact finding enquiries of different

kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state
of affairs as it exists at present. In social science and business research we
quite often use the term Ex post facto research for descriptive research
 studies. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has
no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what
is happening. Most ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive
studies in which the researcher seeks to measure such items as, for
example, frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data. Ex
post facto studies also include attempts by researchers to discover causes
even when they cannot control the variables. The methods of research
utilized in descriptive research are survey methods of all kinds, including
comparative and correlational methods. In analytical research, on the other
hand, the researcher has to use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

2. Applied vs. Fundamental:

Research can either be applied (or action) research or fundamental (to basic
or pure) research. Applied research aims at finding a solution for an
immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organization,
whereas fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalizations
and with the formulation of a theory. “Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s
sake is termed ‘pure’ or ‘basic’ research.”4 Research concerning some
natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics are examples of
fundamental research. Similarly, research studies, concerning human
behavior carried on with a view to make generalizations about human
behavior, are also examples of fundamental research, but research aimed
at certain conclusions (say, a solution) facing a concrete social or business
problem is an example of applied research. Research to identify social,
economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution or the
copy research (research to find out whether certain communications will be
read and understood) or the marketing research or evaluation research are
examples of applied research. Thus, the central aim of applied research is
to discover a solution for some pressing practical problem, whereas basic
research is directed towards finding information that has a broad base of
 applications and thus, adds to the already existing organized body of
scientific knowledge.

3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative:

Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount.

It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.

On the other hand, Qualitative research, is concerned with qualitative

phenomenon, i.e., phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. This
type of research aims at discovering the underlying motives and desires,
using in depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques of such research
are word association tests, sentence completion tests, story completion
tests and similar other projective techniques. Attitude or opinion research
i.e., research designed to find out how people feel or what they think about
a particular subject or institution is also qualitative research. Qualitative
research is specially important in the behavioral sciences where the aim is
to discover the underlying motives of human behavior. Through such
research we can analyze the various factors which motivate people to
behave in a particular manner or which make people like or dislike a
particular thing. It may be stated, however, that to apply qualitative research
in practice is relatively a difficult job and therefore, while doing such
research, one should seek guidance from experimental psychologists.

4. Conceptual vs. Empirical:

Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. It is

generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones. On the other hand, empirical research relies on
experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and
theory. It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are
capable of being verified by observation or experiment. We can also call it
 as experimental type of research. In such a research it is necessary to get
at facts firsthand, at their source, and actively to go about doing certain
things to stimulate the production of desired information. In such a research,
the researcher must first provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess
as to the probable results. He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove
or disprove his hypothesis. He then sets up experimental designs which he
thinks will manipulate the persons or the materials concerned so as to bring
forth the desired information. Such research is thus characterized by the
experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his deliberate
manipulation of one of them to study its effects. Empirical research is
appropriate when proof is sought that certain variables affect other variables
in some way. Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies
is today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given
hypothesis.

5. Some Other Types of Research:

All other types of research are variations of one or more of the above stated
approaches, based on either the purpose of research, or the time required
to accomplish research, on the environment in which research is done, or
on the basis of some other similar factor. Form the point of view of time, we
can think of research either as one-time research or longitudinal research.
Research can be fieldsetting research or laboratory research or simulation
research, depending upon the environment in which it is to be carried out.
Research can as well be understood as clinical or diagnostic research. Such
research follow case-study methods or indepth approaches to reach the
basic causal relations. Such studies usually go deep into the causes of
things or events that interest us, using very small samples and very deep
probing data gathering devices. The research may be exploratory or it may
be formalized. The objective of exploratory research is the development of
hypotheses rather than their testing, whereas formalized research studies
are those with substantial structure and with specific hypotheses to be
tested. Historical research is that which utilizes historical sources like
 documents, remains, etc. to study events or ideas of the past, including the
philosophy of persons and groups at any remote point of time. Research
can also be classified as conclusion-oriented and decision-oriented. While
doing conclusion oriented research, a researcher is free to pick up a
problem, redesign the enquiry as he proceeds and is prepared to
conceptualize as he wishes. Decision-oriented research is always for the
need of a decision maker and the researcher in this case is not free to
embark upon research according to his own inclination. Operations
research is an example of decision oriented research since it is a scientific
method of providing executive departments with a quantitative basis for
decisions regarding operations under their control.
VI.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may

be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we
study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his
research problem along with the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher
to know not only the research methods/techniques but also the methodology.
Researchers not only need to know how to develop certain indices or tests, how to
calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the standard deviation or chi-square,
how to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of these
methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean
and indicate and why. Researchers also need to understand the assumptions
underlying various techniques and they need to know the criteria by which they can
decide that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable to certain problems
and others will not. All this means that it is necessary for the researcher to design his
methodology for his problem as the same may differ from problem to problem. For
example, an architect, who designs a building, has to consciously evaluate the basis
of his decisions, i.e., he has to evaluate why and on what basis he selects particular
size, number and location of doors, windows and ventilators, uses particular materials
and not others and the like. Similarly, in research the scientist has to expose the
research decisions to evaluation before they are implemented. He has to specify very
clearly and precisely what decisions he selects and why he selects them so that they
can be evaluated by others also.
The scope of research methodology is wider than that of research methods. Thus,
when one talk of research methodology he not only talk of the research methods but
also consider the logic behind the methods he use in the context of our research study
and explain why he is using a particular method or technique and why he is not using
others so that research results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher
himself or by others.

Why a research study has been undertaken, how the research problem has been
defined, in what way and why the hypothesis has been formulated, what data have
been collected and what particular method has been adopted, why particular
technique of analysing data has been used and a host of similar other questions are
usually answered when we talk of research methodology concerning a research
problem or study.
VI.5 MARKET RESEARCH

Market research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of data about
issues relating to marketing products and services. The term is commonly
interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a
distinction, in that market research is concerned specifically with markets, while
marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes.

Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by
target market:

• Consumer marketing research, and

• Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research
-The first is consumer market research. The goal is to study the purchasing habits of
consumers. This can be done by tallying up how much of a product is sold, through
surveys or through other means. The information gathered from consumers can be
used to analyze current marketing campaigns and to create new ones. Consumer
marketing research is a form of applied sociology that concentrates on understanding
the preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in a market-based economy,
and it aims to understand the effects and comparative success of marketing
campaigns. The field of consumer marketing research as a statistical science was
pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of the ACNielsen Company in 1923.

-The second type of marketing research is business to business (B2B) research, which
studies how businesses sell products and services to other businesses. For example,
Company Asells computer equipment to companies B and C. Someone may be
interested in seeing how companies B and C found out about the equipment, how
company A marketed its product and how good the market for that product is.

Marketing research is not the same as market research. Marketing research studies
how and why consumers and businesses buy, and how those sales can be increased
or why they have decreased. It involves in-depth studies into the affect of
advertisements and market conditions on consumers. Market research is the research
that may be done into a single market, focusing on the size and trends in that market.

Market research can also prove helpful if you want to explore business opportunities
in new markets. Market research can be conducted by two methods, primary research
or secondary research.

1. Primary Market Research

Primary research refers to information that is directly collected from the source.
Another simple method of primary research would be to directly talk to your customers
and get their feedback. Primary research can be both qualitative and quantitative.

A. Qualitative Primary Research

Qualitative primary research involves gathering information from interviews or focus

groups.

• Open-ended interviews include questions that cannot be answered with

a yes or no. You can get a lot of information from such interviews and also find
out about the dislikes, likes, requirements, trends and emotional motivators of
your primary market

• A focus group should ideally be led by experienced professionals who

can lead a group of 6 or more people and ask them both general and specific
questions. Since trained professionals are required to handle focus groups,
they are very expensive.

B. Quantitative Primary Research

Quantitative primary research involves the collection of numerical information from
surveys. This information is then analyzed.
• Surveys can provide you with the information you require if the survey
has meaningful questions. More people would be willing to take a survey as it
takes less time. The cheapest and easiest way of conducting a survey is
through the telephone and on the place where your product is being sold.

2. Secondary Market Research

Secondary research is more economical and easier to do when compared to primary

research. Here you will have to analyze the information that has been collected for
some other reason. You can find the data that you require through a set of articles,
demographic/ statistical data, studies etc.

By investing in secondary market research you can analyze your target markets,
evaluate your competitors and assess political, social and economic factors. The
internet has a large number of secondary data sources and most resources,
magazines and press releases are now available online.

VI.6 RESEARCH PROCESS

Research process consists of series of actions or steps necessary to effectively carry

out research and the desired sequencing of these steps. The research process
consists of a number of closely related activities i.e., steps, However, the following
order concerning various steps provides a useful procedural guideline regarding the
research process:

(1) Formulating the research problem;

(2) Extensive literature survey;
(3) Developing the hypothesis;
(4) Preparing the research design;
(5) Determining sample design;
 (6) Collecting the data;
(7) Execution of the project;
(8) Analysis of data;
(9) Hypothesis testing;
(10) Generalizations and interpretation, and
(11) Preparation of the report or presentation of the results, i.e., formal write
up of conclusions reached.

1. Formulating the research problem:

There are two types of research problems, viz., those which relate to states of
nature and those which relate to relationships between variables. At the very
outset the researcher must single out the problem he wants to study, i.e., he
must decide the general area of interest or aspect of a subject-matter that he
would like to inquire into. Initially the problem may be stated in a broad general
way and then the ambiguities, if any, relating to the problem be resolved. Then,
the feasibility of a particular solution has to be considered before a working
formulation of the problem can be set up. The formulation of a general topic
into a specific research problem, thus, constitutes the first step in a scientific
enquiry. Essentially two steps are involved in formulating the research problem,
viz., understanding the problem thoroughly, and rephrasing the same into
meaningful terms from an analytical point of view.

2. Extensive literature survey:

Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary of it should be written down.
It is compulsory for a research worker writing a thesis for a Ph.D. degree to
write a synopsis of the topic and submit it to the necessary Committee or the
Research Board for approval. At this juncture the researcher should undertake
extensive literature survey connected with the problem. For this purpose, the
abstracting and indexing journals and published or unpublished bibliographies
are the first place to go to. Academic journals, conference proceedings,
government reports, books etc., must be tapped depending on the nature of the
 problem. In this process, it should be remembered that one source will lead to
another. The earlier studies, if any, which are similar to the study in hand should
be carefully studied. A good library will be a great help to the researcher at this
stage.

3. Development of working hypotheses:

After extensive literature survey researcher should state in clear terms the
working hypothesis or hypotheses. Working hypothesis is tentative assumption
made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences.

How does one go about developing working hypotheses? The answer is by

using the following approach:

(a) Discussions with colleagues and experts about the problem, its origin
and the objectives in seeking a solution;

(b) Examination of data and records, if available, concerning the problem

for possible trends, peculiarities and other clues;

(c) Review of similar studies in the area or of the studies on similar

problems; and
(d) Exploratory personal investigation which involves original field interviews
on a limited scale with interested parties and individuals with a view to secure
greater insight into the practical aspects of the problem.

4. Preparing the research design:

The research problem having been formulated in clear cut terms, the
researcher will be required to prepare a research design, i.e., he will have to
state the conceptual structure within which research would be conducted. The
preparation of such a design facilitates research to be as efficient as possible
yielding maximal information. In other words, the function of research design is
to provide for the collection of relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of
 effort, time and money. But how all these can be achieved depends mainly on
the research purpose.

5. Determining sample design:

All the items under consideration in any field of inquiry constitute a ‘universe’ or
‘population’. Hence, quite often we select only a few items from the universe for
our study purposes. The items so selected constitute what is technically called
a sample.

The researcher must decide the way of selecting a sample or what is popularly
known as the sample design. In other words, a sample design is a definite plan
determined before any data are actually collected for obtaining a sample from
a given population. Thus, the plan to select 12 of a city’s 200 drugstores in a
certain way constitutes a sample design. Samples can be either probability
samples or nonprobability samples. With probability samples each element has
a known probability of being included in the sample but the nonprobability
samples do not allow the researcher to determine this probability. Probability
samples are those based on simple random sampling, systematic sampling,
stratified sampling, cluster/area sampling whereas non-probability samples are
those based on convenience sampling, judgement sampling and quota
sampling techniques.

6. Collecting the data:

In dealing with any real life problem it is often found that data at hand are
inadequate, and hence, it becomes necessary to collect data that are
appropriate. There are several ways of collecting the appropriate data which
differ considerably in context of money costs, time and other resources at the
disposal of the researcher.

Primary data can be collected either through experiment or through survey. If

the researcher conducts an experiment, he observes some quantitative
measurements, or the data, with the help of which he examines the truth
contained in his hypothesis. But in the case of a survey, data can be collected
by any one or more of the following ways:
 (a) By observation
(b) Through personal interview
(c) Through telephone interviews
(d) By mailing of questionnaires
(e) Through schedules
The researcher should select one of these methods of collecting the data taking
into consideration the nature of investigation, objective and scope of the inquiry,
financial resources, available time and the desired degree of accuracy. Though
he should pay attention to all these factors but much depends upon the ability
and experience of the researcher.

7. Execution of the project:

Execution of the project is a very important step in the research process. If the
execution of the project proceeds on correct lines, the data to be collected
would be adequate and dependable. The researcher should see that the project
is executed in a systematic manner and in time.

8. Analysis of data:
After the data have been collected, the researcher turns to the task of analysing
them. The analysis of data requires a number of closely related operations such
as establishment of categories, the application of these categories to raw data
through coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical inferences. The
researcher can analyze the collected data with the help of various statistical
measures.

9. Hypothesis-testing:
The hypotheses may be tested through the use of one or more of such tests,
depending upon the nature and object of research inquiry. Hypothesis-testing
will result in either accepting the hypothesis or in rejecting it.
10. Generalizations and interpretation:
If a hypothesis is tested and upheld several times, it may be possible for the
researcher to arrive at generalization, i.e., to build a theory. As a matter of fact,
the real value of research lies in its ability to arrive at certain generalizations. If
the researcher had no hypothesis to start with, he might seek to explain his
findings on the basis of some theory.

It is known as interpretation.

11. Preparation of the report or the thesis:

Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report of what has been done by him.
Writing of report must be done with great care keeping in view the following:

1. The layout of the report should be as follows:

(i) the preliminary pages;
(ii) the main text, and (iii) the
end matter.
In its preliminary pages the report should carry title and date followed by
acknowledgements and foreword. Then there should be a table of contents
followed by a list of tables and list of graphs and charts, if any, given in the
report.

The main text of the report should have the following parts: (a) Introduction (b)
Summary of findings (c) Main report (d) Conclusion.

At the end of the report, appendices should be enlisted in respect of all technical
data. Bibliography, i.e., list of books, journals, reports, etc., consulted, should
also be given in the end. Index should also be given specially in a published
research report.

2. Report should be written in a concise and objective style in simple

language avoiding vague expressions such as ‘it seems,’ ‘there may be’, and
the like.
 3. Charts and illustrations in the main report should be used only if they
present the information more clearly and forcibly.

VI.7 RESEARCH DESIGN:

A research design is the detailed blueprint used to guide a research study towards its
objectives. It helps to collect, measure and analysis of data.

The present study seeks to find out the people’s opinion towards demonetization. The
study also aims at findings out the impact of demonetization on individual persons and
also the impact of demonetization on Indian banks, Indian economy and other players
of the macro economy.

Nature of Research

The study on impact of demonetization is quantitative in nature.

It is structured, standardized, question based interview.