1. What is the significance of research in social and business sciences?

Significance of Research in Social and Business Sciences According to a famous Hudson Maxim, All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention. It brings out the significance of research, increased amounts of which makes progress possible. Research encourages scientific and inductive thinking, besides promoting the development of logical habits of thinking and organization. The role of research in applied economics in the context of an economy or business is greatly increasing in modern times. The increasingly complex nature of government and business has raised the use of research in solving operational problems. Research assumes significant role in formulation of economic policy, for both the government and business. It provides the basis for almost all government policies of an economic system. Government budget formulation, for example, depends particularly on the analysis of needs and desires of the people, and the availability of revenues, which requires research. Research helps to formulate alternative policies, in addition to examining the consequences of these alternatives. Thus, research also facilitates the decision making of policy-makers, although in itself it is not a part of research. In the process, research also helps in the proper allocation of a countrys scare resources. Research is also necessary for collecting information on the social and economic structure of an economy to understand the process of change occurring in the country. Collection of statistical information though not a routine task, involves various research problems. Therefore, large staff of research technicians or experts is engaged by the government these days to undertake this work. Thus, research as a tool of government economic policy formulation involves three distinct stages of operation which are as follows: Investigation of economic structure through continual compilation of facts Diagnoses of events that are taking place and the analysis of the forces underlying them; and The prognosis, i.e., the prediction of future developments Research also assumes a significant role in solving various operational and planning problems associated with business and industry. In several ways, operations research, market research, and motivational research are vital and their results assist in taking business decisions. Market research is refers to the investigation of the structure and development of a market for the formulation of efficient policies relating to purchases, production and sales. Operational research relates to the application of logical, mathematical, and analytical techniques to find solution to business problems such as cost minimization or profit maximization, or the optimization problems. Motivational research helps to determine why people behave in the manner they do with respect to market characteristics. More specifically, it is concerned with the analyzing the motivations underlying consumer behaviour. All these researches are very useful for business and industry, which are responsible for business decision making. Research is equally important to social scientist for analyzing social relationships and seeking explanations to various social problems. It gives intellectual satisfaction of knowing things for the sake of knowledge. It also possesses practical utility for the social scientist to gain knowledge so as to be able to

do something better or in a more efficient manner. This, research in social sciences is concerned with both knowledge for its own sake, and knowledge for what it can contribute to solve practical problems.

2. What is the meaning of hypothesis? Discuss the types of hypothesis.

Hypothesis
A supposition; a proposition or principle which is supposed or taken for granted, in order to draw a conclusion or inference for proof of the point in question; something not proved, but assumed for the purpose of argument, or to account for a fact or an occurrence; as, the hypothesis that head winds detain an overdue steamer. A tentative theory or supposition provisionally adopted to explain certain facts, and to guide in the investigation of others; hence, frequently called a working hypothesis.

THE PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF AN HYPOTHESIS

It offers explanations for the relationships between those variables that can be empirically tested. It furnishes proof that the researcher has suffucient background knowledge to enable him/her to make suggestions in order to extend existing knowledge. It gives direction to an investigation. It structures the next phase in the investigation and therefore furnishes continuity to the examination of the problem.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN HYPOTHESIS

It should have elucidating power. It should strive to furnish an acceptable explanation of the phenomenon. It must be verifiable. It must be formulated in simple, understandable terms. It should corresponds with existing knowledge.

TYPES OF HYPOTHESES Hypotheses can be classified in terms of their derivation (inductive and deductive hypotheses) and in terms of their formulation (research - directional and non-directional and statistical or null hypotheses).

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

It is a relationship between variables and indicates the nature of the relationship. If A is valid, B follows ...

If you hit a child with a cain, he/she will cry. Schools in which pupil-teacher relations are open/friendly will have less unrest than comparable schools where pupil-teacher relations are closed/tense.

NULL HYPOTHESIS

"You are wrong, there is no relation; disprove me if you can" (Kerlinger, 1973) There is no difference between pupil-teacher relations in unrest schools and pupil-teacher relations in comparable schools which experience no unrest. NB

An important requirement for hypotheses is TESTABILITY. A condition for testability is CLEAR nad UNAMBIGUOUS CONCEPTS. A research hypothesis (inempirical research) has to do with relationships between empirical phenomena. The concepts in a research hypothesis must posess single references (indicators) or denotations to identifiable phenomena in reality. A central theoretical thesis refers to hypotheses in more theoretical studies.

3. Explain the sampling process

Ans: The sampling process involves the following steps: Step 1. Define the population The primary step is to define the population in terms of 1. The element- it is a basic unit about which information is to be collected like the elements for marketing research studies are the households, shop, family etc. 2. Units: Units of the population are the elements that are available for selection in some stage of the sampling process. like the buying behavior of working women in Delhi the units are the female above 20 years of age in all households. Step 2. Specify sample frame The sample frame is the list of total population available with the researcher like the employee names and address with the employer, the telephone directory for Delhi residents, the students list available with the university etc. but there are chances that the sample frame has many shortcomings for several reasons. Such sample frame is to be specified for the data collection. Step 3. Choosing appropriate sampling design There are several sample designs are available to adopt for processing sampling as guidance and roadmap.

The Appropriate sampling design is chosen among the given sampling designs: Probability sampling method and Non- Probability Random sampling Step 4. Determination of sample size The researchers determine that what proportion or percentage of population would be sufficient to represent the total population in the research conducted. Step 5. Instrument for selecting actual members of sample. The different tools, techniques, questionnaires and variables of data collection are planned and organized for finally collection of data.

Distinguish between Schedules and Questionnaires.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUESTIONNAIRES AND SCHEDULES Both questionnaire and schedule are popularly used methods of collecting data inresearch surveys. There is much resemblance in the nature of these two methodsand this fact has made many people to remark that from a practical point of view the two methods can be taken to be the same. But from the technical point of viewthere is difference between the two. 1.Questionnaire is generally sentthrough mail to informants to beanswered.2.Data collection is cheap.3.Non response is usually high as many people do not respond.4.It is not clear that who replies.5.The questionnaire method is likely to be very slow since many respondents donot return the questionnaire.6.No personal contact is possible in caseof questionnaire. 1.Schedules is generally filled by theresarch worker or enumerator, who caninterpret the questions when necessary.2.Data collection is more expensive asmoney is spent on enumerators.3.Non response is very low because thisis filled by enumerators.4.Identity of respondent is known.5.Information is collected well in time.6.Direct personal contact is established.

5 What are the problems encountered in the interview? Interviewing Problems Interviewing problems include the following and should be avoided: unfamiliarity with the job, premature decisions, emphasis on negative information, personal biases, applicant order, and hiring quotas (Fry, 2011; Yeung, 2011). Each one will be discussed in turn. Unfamiliarity with the Job Interviewers frequently are unfamiliar with the job. When interviewers do not know what the job entails, they do not ask the right questions, interpret the obtained information differently, have faulty

impressions of the information supplied, and spend time discussing matters irrelevant to the job (Fry, 2011). Premature Decisions Interviewers tend to make a decision about an applicant in the first few minutes of the interview before all relevant information has been gathered (Dougherty, Turban, & Callender, 1994). Then they spend the rest of the interview seeking information that confirms their initial impression. Emphasis on Negative Information Interviewers tend to weight negative information supplied by the applicant more heavily than positive information. On occasion, the interviewer may change his or her mind, but the change tends to be from positive to negative rather than vice versa. In fact, in most cases, interviews tend to be a search for negative information (Dougherty, Turban, & Callender, 1994). Personal Biases Some interviewers tend to have preconceptions and prejudices about people. Some examples follow: fat people are lazy; people from the East are unfriendly and arrogant; people from the South are slow; people with low foreheads are stupid. Other biases may reflect negatively against some minority groups or in favor of those candidates who have backgrounds similar to the interviewer(s). As ridiculous as these prejudices may seem, many of these personal biases still exist (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Furthermore, some interviewers are overly impressed with surface signs of composure, manner of speech, and physical appearance (Hosoda, Stone-Romero, & Coats, 2003; Luxen & van de Vijver, 2006). Applicant Order Interviewers ratings of an applicant are influenced by the order in which candidates are interviewed. For example, when an average applicant is interviewed immediately following one or more belowaverage applicants, the average applicant usually tends to be evaluated well above average. A similar process works in reverse. If an average applicant follows an outstanding applicant, the former is rated below average. Hiring Quotas Interviewers who have been given hiring quotas tend to rate applicants higher than interviewers who have not been given quotas. Thus, pressure to hire influences the interviewers judgment of the applicant and thereby diminishes the usefulness of the interview as a selection technique. 6 Write short notes on the following: a. Dispersion b. Mathematical averages

Definition of 'Dispersion'
A term used in statistics that refers to the location of a set of values relative to a mean or average level. Measures of dispersion provide a more complete picture. Dispersion measures include the range, average deviation, variance, and standard deviation.

Range

The simplest measure of dispersion is the range. The range is calculated by simply taking the difference between the maximum and minimum values in the data set. However, the range only provides information about the maximum and minimum values and does not say anything about the values in between.
Average Deviation

Another method is to calculate the average difference between each data point and the mean value, and divide by the number of points to calcuate the average deviation (mean deviation). However, performing this calcuation will result in an average deviation of zero since the values above the mean will cancel the values below the mean. If this method is used, the absolute value of the difference is taken so that only positive values are obtained, and the result sometimes is called the mean absolute deviation. The average deviation is not very difficult to calculate, and it is intuitively appealing. However, the mathematics are very complex when using it in subsequent statistical analysis. Because of this complexity, the average deviation is not a very commonly used measure of dispersion.
Variance and Standard Deviation

A better way to measure dispersion is to square the differences before averaging them. This measure of dispersion is known as the variance, and the square root of the variance is known as the standard deviation. The standard deviation and variance are widely used measures of dispersion.

. Mathematical averages
Mathematical average is a way to know approximately where most of your sample lies. If you have 20 numbers and they are all different, we'd like to know approximately where most of those data points will be, at a minimum of 68% probability.
Average refers to the sum of numbers divided by n. Also called the mean average.

Sums of data divided by the number of items in the data will give the mean average. The mean average is used quite regularly to determine final math marks over a term or semester. Averages are often used in sports: batting averages which means number of hits to number of times at bat. Gas mileage is determined by using averages. Also Known As: Central tendancy. A measure of the middle value of the data set. Examples: If the average temperature this week was 70 degrees, the temperature would have been taken each day over the 7 days. Those temperatures would be added up and divided by 7 to determine the average temperature.