Empirical Research

Relying on experience or observation alone often

without due regard for system or theory
Facts from observation or experimentation


Although commonsense can come up with some possible
clues to answer the questions posed, most often, however,
such inquiries cannot be based on commonsense only since
it is itself based on what is familiar to the inquirer and
hence likely to be not only of very limited scope, but also to
lead, at times to erroneous results.
Thus, understandably, conclusions based on common sense
only are usually either more than or less than what is
justified.
The inadequacy of commonsense approach in providing
answers to inquiries leads to the needs of the scientific
methods of research with maximum possible accuracy, and
clearly, commonsense would, almost certainly, have failed
to produce.
Physical and natural sciences deal with inanimate objects
which does not change over time.
Social science deals with human behavior which is
contemporaneously affected by a number of diverse
influences, e.g.
Socio-economic, cultural, environmental, psychological, temporal, etc.
The interplay of such a large number of influences that are
themselves vulnerable to change, contributes to continuous
change in human behavior .
The behavior of an individual may be idiosyncratic and
erratic and hence unpredictable, regularities exist in social
life and therefore, group behavior can be predicted with a
high degree of accuracy.
Scientific methods, therefore, can be applied in social
science, since pattern and regularity exist for the group.
Research (Social)
A systematic approach towards intellectually answering
questions related to the knowable universe. Social research
is concerned with Exploring, Describing, Explaining social
phenomenon involving human behavior.
Research (Marketing)
A systematic and objective approach to the development
and provision of information for the marketing
management decision making process.
Marketing research is the function which links the
consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through
information information used to identify & define
marketing opportunities & problems; generate, refine, &
evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing
performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a
process.
Exploratory Research: Undertaken when the researcher has little or
no knowledge about the situation under investigation, or when
s/he is unaware of the specific aspects of a general problem; such
studies helps to investigate more in-depth investigations,
develop hypotheses, gain familiarity with potentially significant
factors to be dealt subsequently in greater detail with more
structural investigations, & so on;
e.g., Swine flu scenario in Bangladesh, Earthquake preparedness
for the people.
Descriptive Research: Describes situations and events, and are
undertaken when much is known about the problem under
investigation ;
e.g., a national population census, or a report that families having
greater number of child deaths also have greater number of
children ever born than families with fewer or no child deaths.
Explanatory/ Causal Research: Undertaken to explain events;
e.g., a report on why families with more child deaths have greater
number of children ever born.
Basic (Pure or Fundamental) research: Seeks to extend the
boundaries of knowledge regarding some aspects of the
marketing system. These studies tend to be less
organization specific, broader in purpose, guided by
marketing hypotheses and theory.
Applied research: Concerned with assisting managers in
making better decisions. These studies are directed toward
the organizations specific situation and guided by the
requirements of the decision making process

Highly interrelated and continuously overlapped
Difficult to correspond to a prescribed definite
pattern
Still following major steps are common in research
Formulation of research problem
Overview of relevant literature
Operationalization of variables
Population and sample determination
Methods of data collection
Processing and data analysis
Interpretation of results and conclusions
How to choose a research problem
All social/marketing problems are not researchable
Guided by the researchers own intellectual orientation,
training, experience, etc.
Theoretical & practical considerations
Practical problems facing the society/product
Once the general area of research is chosen, it becomes
important to identify clearly and sharply a specific
problem
Discussing with persons with rich practical experience and
knowledge
Reviewing what is already known to pinpoint the gaps
Identification of researchable problem leads to research
objectives, hypotheses, definition of key variables and
their measurements.
Conditions for a researchable problem
A perceived discrepancy between what is & what should be
A question about why the discrepancy exists
At least two possible and plausible answers to the question
Once a problem is identified, it needs to be defined &
justified by asking what is already known about it
(Literature review, Expert opinion, etc.):
How widespread is the problem?
How often does it occur?
What geographic areas & population groups are affected
What are the probable reasons and solutions
What are the related questions regarding the problem that seems not
have been answered?
What aspects of the problem needs to be researched further?
Justification of research as it involves a considerable
amount of time, money & efforts
Is the problem current & timely
How widespread is the problem
Whether many people and many areas are affected
Whether it affects special group of people
Whether the problem is related to ongoing program
activities
Whether the top executives/officials are concerned with the
problem
Whether the problem is related to broad social & economic
issues.
Objectives
Objectives should follow from a well defined problem
Objectives describe the expected contributions of the research
Provide hints as to which variables are to be measured in the process
of the research
Two types of Objectives
Broad (Ultimate): Overall expectation from the research
Specific (Immediate): Objectives that will help to answer the broad
objective of the research
Hypotheses
From choosing the research problem and objectives the researcher
proceeds to formulate hypotheses
Researchers suggested solutions to the problem framed into
propositional forms
RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES

HYPOTHESES
(Starting the Research)

PARAMETERS
(Broad Items of Analysis)

COMPLEX
VARIABLES
(Complex Unit of Analysis)

SIMPLE
VARIABLES
(Simple Unit of Variable)

VALUES
(Unit of Measurement)

CATEGORY OF
INFORMATION



PRIMARY DATA TERTIARY DATA SECONDARY DATA
PARAMETER
COMPLEX
VARIABLE
SIMPLE
VARIABLE
VALUE Q. NO.
Means of
communicatio
n
Mass Media Published materials
Training Program
Demonstration plot
Yes/no
Frequency of
activity
Personal
Communicatio
n
Friends
Relations
Neighbors
CD Workers
Head of the village
Religious leaders
Traders
Other
Yes/no
Frequency
Flow of
Communicatio
n
One-way communication
Two-way communication
Chance to
consult or
communicate
with others
PARAMETER
COMPLEX
VARIABLE
SIMPLE
VARIABLE
VALUE Q. NO.
Means of
communicatio
n
Mass media Newspaper
Radio
TV
Published materials
Training Program
Demonstration plot
Yes/no
Frequency of
activity
Personal
communication
Friends
Relations
Neighbors
CD Workers
Head of the village
Religious leaders
Traders
Others
Yes/no
Frequency of
contact
Flow of
communicatio
n
One-way
communication
Two-way
communication
Chance to consult or
communicate with others
Frequency
PARAMETER
COMPLEX
VARIABLE
SIMPLE
VARIABLE
VALUE Q. NO.
Means of communication Mass media Newspaper
Reading intensity
Radio broadcast
Listening habit
TV Program
Viewing habit
Published materials
Training Program
Demonstration plot
Frequency of activity 19
Personal communication Friends
Relations
Neighbors
CD Workers
Head of the village
Religious leaders
Traders
Others
Yes/no
Frequency of contact
20
21
Individuals in
same cluster
same village
study area
project area
outside study and
project area
Frequency 22
Flow of communication One-way communication
Two-way communication
Three-way communication
Chance to consult or
communicate with others
Identification of steps
Frequency
Checklist
23
PARAMETER COMPLEX VARIABLE SIMPLE VARIABLE VALUE Q. NO.
Means of
communication
Information through mass media Newsprint Checklist of items 27
Reading intensity Frequency checklist
28
Radio broadcast Checklist of items 29
Listening habit Frequency checklist
30
TV program Checklist of items 31
Viewing habit Frequency checklist
32
Personal communication with
individual
In same cluster Friends
Relatives
Neighbors
CD Workers
Head of the village
Religious leaders
Traders
Others
33
34 In same village
In study area
In project area
Outside study and project area
Published materials Frequency of exposure Checklist 35
Training programs Frequency of participation Checklist 36
Demonstration plot Frequency of visit Checklist 37
Flow of information One step Identification Checklist 38
Two steps Identification of step 1
Checklist
39
40 Identification of step 2
Three steps Identification of step 1
Checklist
41
42
43
Identification of step 2
Identification of step 3
Opportunity to consult with each
other
Active involvement Checklist 44
Passive involvement Checklist 45
Sampling is the process of selecting a subset of individuals
from a large group of individuals (Population/ Universe), with a
view to drawing inferences about the larger group on the basis
of the information obtained from the subset.
Advantages
Time (Saves time)
Cost (Economical)
Accuracy (Sampling is more accurate than Census)
Destructive Nature

Non Probability Sampling
Is a sample drawn from a population in which there is no
known specified probability for each element to be
included in the sample.
Probability Sampling
Is a sample which is drawn in such a way that every
element in the population has a known non-zero
probability of being included in the sample.
The likelihood for a sample to be representative of the
parent population is higher because of its unbiased
character
Convenient/ Accidental
Chosen from anyone in sight in a street, market place, bus
station, etc.
Judgmental/ Purposive
Uses the experience to select the elements that best will
best serve the purpose of the research.
Quota
Based on the prior knowledge about the population the
quotas for various segments of the population are
specified.
Snow Ball
Hardly anything is known about the population. From
the indication of very few picked up samples, the
sampling procedures moves further, and likewise goes
on.

Simple Random Sampling
Every element in the population has an equal chance of being
included
Systematic Sampling
Well organized population
Stratified Sampling
Population is divided into a number of mutually exclusive non-
overlapping groups (strata) which are homogenous within the strata
but heterogeneous among themselves and samples are selected from
those groups
Cluster Sampling
Clusters are groups which are heterogeneous within the strata but
homogenous among themselves and samples are selected from some
of these groups


Element: An unit of a population about which information or
data are to be collected in a particular research.
Population: Aggregate of all the elements of the research topic/
Area.
Sampling Unit: An element or a collection of a number of
elements (Multistage Sampling).
Sampling Frame: Actual list of all sampling units.
Multistage Sampling: Selecting a sample in different stages,
e.g., to draw a national sample of households at three stages
First stage: Select few provinces from all provinces (Primary sampling
unit)
Second stage: Select few districts from all districts (Secondary
sampling unit)
Third stage: Select few households from all households (Ultimate
sampling unit)
n = (Nz
2
pq)/(Nd
2
+ z
2
pq) = (z
2
pq)/d
2

where,
n: Sample Size
N: Population size
z: Reliability (depends on level of significance)
d: Precision
p: proportion (0.5 for maximum variance)
q: 1 p