Business Research Methods

SECTION A (60%)

Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1) The first step of the research process is to

a) Develop data collection instruments.

b) Identifying the research problem

c) Development of the theoretical framework

d) Collecting data from people

2) Basic Research Findings:

a) Are of practical relevance and value to managers in organizations.

b) Are limited to the problem being investigated.

c) Are of significance and value to society in general.

d) Are negotiated with the originator.

3) Tom says that according to his literature review, there is a lack of research performed in UK on the impact of green accounting practices on corporate performance compare to the rest of the world. According to Miles (2017), This is an example for;

a) Methodological Gap

b) Population Gap

c) Evidence Gap

d) Theoretical Gap

4) Anne identified that in her research field, most researchers have followed a quantitative approach than a qualitative approach. According to Miles (2017), This is an example for;

a) Methodological Gap

b) Population Gap

c) Evidence Gap

d) Theoretical Gap

5) The belief that there is one objective truth and that research should rely on data is a stance within:

a) Ontology.

b) Epistemology.

c) Axiology.

d) Methodology.

6) Which research philosophy is characterized by the belief in an external, real, and independent reality?

a) Positivism

b) Interpretivism

c) Critical Realism

d) Postmodernism

7) A variable that modifies the relationship between independent and dependent variables is called as;

a) Mediator Variable

b) Exogenous variable

c) Moderator variable

d) Intervening Variable

8) Mohan found that the academic performance of school children increases if teachers are highly experienced. He further identified that experienced teachers create team synergy which leads to the improvement of the academic performance of school children. In this scenario mediating variable is;

a) Teachers experience

b) Team Synergy

c) Academic Performance

d) School Children

9) A group of researchers are discussing their views on reality in a research context. Whose statement aligns with critical realism?

a) Alex states, "We must measure and observe facts to understand the singular objective reality."

b) Jamie remarks, "Our research should interpret the meanings individuals or groups assign to their experiences."

c) Taylor asserts, "Reality has different layers; what we see is just the surface, and there are deeper underlying mechanisms to discover."

d) Morgan claims, "We should focus on deconstructing narratives to understand the power structures that shape knowledge."

10) Penny found out that green accounting practices increase the corporate image of a firm. Further, she found that an increased corporate image leads to a higher share price. The relationship between corporate image and share price was different by the industry type. In this scenario industry type is a;

a) Mediator Variable

b) Independent Variable

c) Moderator variable

d) Dependent Variable

11) A probable answer to research questions is called as;

a) Research objective

b) Research Problem

c) Hypothesis

d) Problematic situation

12) At a research methodology conference, four scholars describe their approach to research. Whose statement best represents the pragmatism philosophy?

a) Lee claims, "Our research must objectively measure and quantify phenomena to produce valid results."

b) Quinn suggests, "We should delve into the cultural and social meanings behind the data we collect."

c) Avery advocates, "The merit of research lies in its practical applications and how it addresses real-world problems."

d) Jordan argues, "It is critical to deconstruct societal narratives to reveal the power structures within knowledge."

13) On which of the following occasions should you use non directional hypothesis?

a) Literature shows that female academic achievement is higher than male academic achievement.

b) Higher job satisfaction reports lower job stress.

c) Literature provides mixed evidence about the relationship between workplace flexibility and work-life balance.

d) According to previous studies emotional labour negatively affects job satisfaction.

14) In a study exploring how employees perceive their work environment, the lead researcher states, "To truly understand employee satisfaction, we need to explore how each employee personally experiences and interprets their workplace." This approach aligns with which research philosophy?

a) Positivism

b) Interpretivism

c) Critical Realism

d) Pragmatism

15) If you collected data from all possible elements in the population. It is called as

a) Random sampling

b) Snow Balling

c) Census

d) Quota sampling

16) Sampling Frame is

a) All elements in the population

b) All elements in the target population

c) No of people in a sample

d) Theoretical framework used in sampling

17) You are going to study the impact of sustainability accounting on corporate image. Your sample should ideally include;

a) Managers in a single company

b) Finance department of a single company

c) Set of organizations belong to one industry

d) Set of organizations representing several industries

18) Assume you are following a systematic sampling method to decide your sample. Your population is 1000 students, and the sample size is 250 students. And your random number is 3. How do you select participants if you have given a list of students arranged in alphabetical order

a) 3 students from Each letter in the alphabet

b) Select 3rd student from the list then select 7th, 11th, 15th….

c) Select 4th student from the list then select 7th,11th,15th…

d) Select 4th student from the list then select 7th,10th,13th…

19) Which philosophy is most related to deduction?

a) Positivism

b) Interpretivism

c) Critical Realism

d) Postmodernism

20) Which ethical principle emphasizes the need for researchers to provide complete and honest information about the study to participants?

a) Informed Consent

b) Privacy

c) Confidentiality

d) Fidelity

21) You divide your entire target population into homogenous groups and then select 20 elements from each homogenous group randomly. This method is…

a) Simple random sampling

b) Cluster sampling

c) Stratified random sampling

d) Quota sampling

22) Which of the following sampling methods is suitable if you are doing a quantitative study?

a) Quota Sampling

b) Snowball Sampling

c) Convenience Sampling

d) Stratified random sampling

e)

23) The right of participants to discontinue their involvement at any stage of the research without any penalty is protected under which ethical principle?

a) Voluntary nature of participation and right to withdraw

b) Ensuring confidentiality of data

c) Compliance in data management

d) Informed consent

24) You are doing a study to determine the effect of celebrity endorsements on brand loyalty. Your population in 10000 customers and you are expected to collect data from 370 customers. Experts says expected response rate would 40%. Actual sample size should be;

a) 4000

b) 370

c) 800

d) 925

25) Sampling method that focusses on unusual or special cases is known as;

a) Quota sampling

b) Cluster sampling

c) Deviant sampling

d) Heterogenous sampling

26) Aron conducted a study on stress levels in the workplace and published the results with participant names attached to specific data points, assuming that the mere participation implied consent for such disclosure. This practice directly contravenes which ethical principle in research?

a) Ensuring the well-being of the researcher

b) Informed Consent

c) Voluntary nature of participation and right to withdraw

d) Ensuring confidentiality of data and maintenance of anonymity

27) Martin studied the behaviour of drug addicts when it comes to social interactions. He recruited his sample through finding initial contact and then getting to know others in that persons network. This is

a) Self-selection sampling

b) Snowball sampling

c) Theoretical sampling

d) Convenience sampling

28) In studying the effects of a new teaching method, Researcher C realizes that there is a need for a different research method to truly capture the experiences of students. According to Miles (2017), this requirement points to a:

a) Empirical Gap

b) Methodological Gap

c) Practical-Knowledge Gap

d) Knowledge Gap

29) You want to measure the perceived service quality of customers quantitatively which of the following question type would be most suitable?

a) List question

b) Likert questions

c) Open ended questions

d) Ranking questions

30) Jhon asked same set of questions from all interviewees in his data collection stage. This is an example for;

a) Structured interview

b) Dialogic Interview

c) In-depth interview

d) Focus group

31) Kalin conducts research by systematically reviewing empirical papers published on workplace bullying and employee stress levels, selecting papers through known databases and a strict search protocol. This is an example of:

a) Systematic Review

b) Empirical Study

c) Experimental Study

d) General Review

32) Nina gave her questionnaire to a set of experts to check whether it is understandable and meaningful. This is a measure to ensure;

a) Content Validity

b) Predictive Validity

c) Convergent Validity

d) Discriminant Validity

33) Penny found out that green accounting practices increase the corporate image of a firm. Further, she found that an increased corporate image leads to a higher share price. The relationship between corporate image and share price was different by the industry type. In this scenario industry type is a;

a) Mediator Variable

b) Independent Variable

c) Moderator variable

d) Dependent Variable

34) Neil gave the same questionnaire twice to the same respondents. This is called as;

a) Internal validity

b) Internal consistency

c) Test-retest reliability

d) Alternative reliability

35) Which of the following is an example of a quantitative data collection method?

a) In-depth interviews

b) Focus groups

c) Surveys with closed-ended questions

d) Participant observation

36) Ben wants to study how gender dynamics has affected the language use in marketing materials using a qualitative approach. Most suitable analysis method for this project would be;

a) Narrative analysis

b) Discourse analysis

c) Grounded theory

d) Regression

37) According to thematic analysis, themes are set of;

a) Similar words

b) Interrelated codes

c) Set of related data points

d) Answers given to same question by the respondents

38) Which of the following example is related to grounded theory?

a) Tony studied how the life of World War II veterans changed in different stages of in their life

b) Michel studied how use gendered words in government policy documents.

c) Abdulla developed a theoretical model to explain how employees get depressed through after hour e-mails through interviewing 30 employees from different companies.

d) Dilan studied the relationship between job performance and supervisory relationship using leader member exchange theory.

39) Rearranging the data that were fragmented during open or initial coding into a new hierarchical structure is known as

a) Open coding

b) Axial coding

c) Focused coding

d) Narrative coding

40) On which of the following occasions should you use the non-directional hypothesis?

a) Literature shows that female academic achievement is higher than male academic achievement.

b) Higher job satisfaction reports lower job stress.

c) Literature provides mixed evidence about the relationship between workplace flexibility and work-life balance.

d) According to previous studies emotional labour

SECTION B (40 marks)

Answer both questions

A researcher conducted a survey using a random sample of 334 employees. The employees completed a questionnaire that asked about their age, gender, designation, department, approximate weight, approximate height and their mode of transport. The data obtained are stored in the file EmployeeQuestionnaire. The information about each variable in the file is given below:

Note: The data in the excel file only contain

Age Age (Years)

Gender Gender

(1= Male; 2= Female)

Department Department in the company

(1=HR; 2=Marketing; 3=Finance; 4= Other)

Designation Employee designation

(1=Supervisor; 2=Assistant Manager; 3=Manager; 4=Vice President)

Kilos Weight (Kilogrammes)

Metres Height (Metres)

Mode of Transport Do you use your own transport to come to office? (1=Yes; 2=No)

Based on the previous information and data, attempt following two questions.

th

2

- End of Paper -