Dr. Ashraf Elsafty
Research Methods
ESLSCA 40 C
Final Exam
Part ONE
Q
1
2
Part 1:
Develop a conceptual model for the scenario below:
Incidence of smoking in movies has started to increase again, after having
declined for several decades. According to the National Cancer Institute smoking
is seen in at least three out of four contemporary box-office hits. What’s more,
identifiable cigarette brands appeared in about one-third of all movies in 2008.
Exposure to smoking in movies is an important predictor of adolescent smoking
initiation: smoking in movies has been shown to affect adolescents’ intentions to
start smoking. In turn, the intentions to start smoking are determined by a more
positive attitude toward smoking after seeing a film character smoke. Recent
research has revealed that the relationship between seeing a film character
smoke and the attitude toward smoking is stronger when a person’s identification
with a film character increases. These findings are consistent with social learning
theory, which predicts that attitudes and behaviors are modeled by observing the
behaviors of others.
What are the basic research design issues? Describe them in some detail.(2
paragraphs)
3
“An exploratory study is just as useful as a predictive study”. Discuss this
statement. (2 Paragraphs)
4
Discuss the inter-relationships among: non-contrived setting, purpose of
the study, type of investigation, researcher interference, and time horizon of
the study.
5
Why is the unit of analysis an integral part of the research design? (1-2
paragraphs)
6
Why is the ratio scale the most powerful of the four scales? (1 paragraph,
use example)
7
Below are three scenarios. For each, indicate how the researcher should
proceed with the following, giving reasons covering:
The purpose of the study
The type of investigation
The extent of researcher interference
The study setting
The time horizon for the study
The unit of analysis.
Scenario A: Ms. Joyce Lynn, the owner of a small business (a woman’s dress
boutique), has invited a consultant to tell her how she is different from similar small
businesses within a 60-mile radius, in regard to her usage of the most modern
computer technology, sales volume, profit margin, and staff training.
Scenario B: Mr. Paul Hodge, the owner of several restaurants is concerned about
the wide differences in the profit margins of the various restaurants. He would like
to try some incentive plans for increasing the efficiency levels of those restaurants
that are lagging behind. But, before he introduces this, he would like to be sure that
the idea will work. He asks a researcher to help him on this issue.
Scenario C: A manager is intrigued why some people seem to derive joy from work
and get energized by it, while others find it troublesome and frustrating.
8
From your text book:
Exercise 4.6
Variable
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Moderating variable
9
Exercise 4.7
Situation 1
Situation 2
Situation 3
10
Exercise 4.8
Variable
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Intervening variable
Moderating variable
11
Write a full research proposal, using the book studied examples and guided
by the sample thesis provided, for “the current Egyptian problem of the
referendum” , it is of your selection to set the whole story to guide your
proposal or to define the context to support developing a clear research
proposal. (Should cover all topics studied within research methods,
mention the item on the left and your answer on the right, and within 1 or 2
pages length only).
Broad Problem :
Problem Definition:
Research Objective
Theoretical Frame work
Variables
Independent
Dependant
Moderating
Research Questions
.
Hypothesis:
Research Methodology
Purpose
investigation type
The extent of researcher interference
The study setting
The unit of analysis
Time horizon
Data collection methods
Sampling
Sampling method
Sampling Criteria
Sample Size
Data analysis method
Answer
smoking in
adolescents' smoking
intiation (DV)
Cigarette Brand
appeared (IV)
seeing the Film
character smoking
(Mediating Variable)
person's identification
with film character (IV)
more positive attitude twords
smoking (Moderating Variable )
observing the behaviors of
adolesecent start smoking (DV)
The research design selection is the step that comes after generating hypothesis which
includes identifying the problem’s Variable. The extent the scientific rigor in a research study
depends on how carefully the researcher chooses the appropriated design taking into
consideration type, purpose, time frame, scope and environment. It is important to note that
the more sophisticated and rigorous the research design is, the greater the time, cost, and other
resources expended on it will be
According to the selected strategy the below aspects could be applied accordingly:
1-Discuss the purpose of the study (exploratory, descriptive, hypothesis testing)
2-Determine the types of investigation (establish relationships: causals, correlation, group
difference, ranks, etc. ).
3-The extent of researcher interference (minimal: study events as they normally occurred,
manipulating and/or control and/or simulate).
4-The study setting: where the research will conducted (contrived: research done in artificial
environment or noncontrived : in which research can be done in the natural environment).
5-The unit of analysis: the level of aggregation of the data collected (population to be studied:
individuals, dyads, groups, organization, Machines, etc.)
6-Time horizon of the study (one shot (cross-sectional), longitudinal)
7-Measurement: how variables will be measured (operational definition, Items, Scaling,
Categorizing, coding)
8-Data collection methods (how the data will be collected: Interviewing, questionnaire
Observation, Unobtrusive methods)
Both exploratory study and predictive (descriptive) study are useful as each one of them has its
role, contribution, and application in research.
An exploratory study is undertaken when not much is known about the situation at hand, or No
information is available on how similar problems or research issues have been solved in the
past. They are also necessary when some facts are known, but more information is needed for
developing a viable theoretical framework. In such cases, extensive preliminary work needs to
be done to gain familiarity with the phenomena in the situation, and understand what is
occurring, before we develop a model and set up a rigorous design for comprehensive
investigation, exploratory studies in qualitative in nature.
While predictive studies or descriptive is undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to
describe the characteristics, Quite frequently, descriptive studies are undertaken in
organizations to learn about and describe the characteristics of a group of employees.
The goal of the descriptive study is to offer the researcher a profile or to describe relevant
aspects of the phenomenon of interest from different perspectives. Descriptive study is
quantitative in nature where data gathered through questionnaires and data will be in terms of
Non-contrived setting, purpose of the study, type of investigation, researcher interference, and
time horizon of the study are the basic factors or aspects of research design and they are
related to each other according to the purpose of the research.
So in case the setting is non-contrived where researches done in the natural environment
where work proceed normally and the purpose of the study has to be reviewed to know
whether it is exploratory, descriptive or hypothesis testing.
According to the selection of the study purpose understanding of the relationship that exists
among variables should be established by correlation investigation which is conducted in the
natural environment of the organization with the minimal interference by the researcher with
the normal flow of work or cause-and-effect relationships investigation where the researcher
tries to manipulate certain variables to study the effects of such manipulation on the
dependent variable of interest.
Time horizon of a study has a relationship with all the mentioned factors above, as to answer
the research question a research may collect fact once in a particular time and find out the
answer for the question or he may require collecting facts in different time period to answer
the questions on the basis of the time involved to answer the research questions. We can
divided the time horizon studies into two categories namely, cross-sectional or longitudinal
studies. Where Cross-sectional study is a study can be done in which data are gathered once in
order to answer a research question. Or the other category is longitudinal study where some
research questions may requires studying the people or phenomena at more than one point of
time in order to answer the questions. Example: study on employee’s behavior before & after a
change in top management.
Unit of analysis is the integral Part in the research design that comes after choosing the
purpose of the study, selecting type of investigation and decide at which extent the researcher
will interfere with the study and select which the setting will be applied and then comes the
unit of analysis at which researcher will work on the level of aggregation of data collected
during the subsequent data analysis stage. The unit of analysis could be of different units types
like: Individual, Dyads, Groups, Organizations and Culture The research question determines
the unit of analysis type. As our research question addresses issues that move away from the
individual to dyads, and to groups, organizations, and even nations, so also does the unit of
analysis shift from individuals to dyads, groups, organizations, and nations. The characteristics
of these “levels of analysis” are that the lower levels are subsumed within the higher level.
Hence, the nature of information gathered and the level at which data are aggregated for
analysis is integral to decisions made on the choice of the unit of analysis. Also, it is necessary
to decide the unit of analysis to formulate the research question, the data collection methods,
sample size, and the variables included in the framework. For example if the problem
statement focuses on how to raise the motivational level of employees in general then we are
interested in individual employee and have to find out what we can do to raise their motivation
in this case the unit of analysis is individual.
Looking at the data gathered from each individual and treating each employee’s response as an
individual data source. However, if we are interested in studying two person interactions then
several dyads will become the unit of analysis such as husband and wife interaction analysis in
families, and supervisor and subordinate relationship in workplace. On the other hand, if the
problem statement is related to group effectiveness then the unit of analysis will be at the
group level. Even though we may gather data from all individuals comprising groups we
There are four basic types of scales: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. The degree of
sophistication to which the scales are fine-tuned increases progressively as we move from the
nominal to the ratio scale. That is, information on the variables can be obtained in greater
details when we employ an interval or a ratio scale than the other two scales. As the calibration
or fine-tuning of the scale increases in sophistication, so does the power of the scale. With
more powerful scales, increasingly sophisticated data analyses can be performed, which, in
turn, means that more meaningful answers can be found to our research questions. However,
certain variables lend themselves with greater ease to more powerful scaling than others
The ratio scale overcomes the disadvantage of the arbitrary origin point of the interval scale, in
that it has an absolute (in contrast to an arbitrary) zero point, which is a meaningful
measurement point. Thus, the ratio scale not only measures the magnitude of the differences
between points on the scale but also taps the proportions in the differences. It is the most
powerful of the four scales because it has a unique zero origin (not an arbitrary origin) and
subsumes all the properties of the other three scales. The weighing balance is a good example
of a ratio scale; it has an absolute (and not arbitrary) zero origin calibrated on it, which allows
us to calculate the ratio of the weights of two individuals. For instance, a person weighing 250
pounds is twice as heavy as one who weighs 125 pounds. Note that multiplying or dividing
both of these numbers (250 and 125) by any given number will preserve the ratio of2:1. The
measure of central tendency of the ratio scale may be either the arithmetic or the geometric
mean and the measure of dispersion may be either the standard deviation, or variance, or the
coefficient of variation.
A-The purpose of the study: Descriptive study as it aims to study MS Joyce business position
in the market by studying some factors and aspects that make her different from other similar
businesses such as the usage of computer technology, sales volume, profit margin, and staff
training.
B- The type of investigation: Correlation investigation as she investigates the variables that
would have an effect on her position the market. This is considered co-relational investigation.
(correlation between her position in the market and their positions by identifying the
important factors associated with this case).
C- The extent of researcher interference: Minimal intervention, as the consultant role is
administering questionnaires and conducting interviews.
D-The study setting: Non-contrived field study as the study is conducted in the natural
environment of the organization
E-The time horizon for the study: cross sectional study as the data are gathered just once to
answer the research question.
F-The unit of analysis: Organization is the unit of analysis as the study will be done to analysis
A-The purpose of the study: the study would be hypothesis testing as the owner aims to
study the impact of introducing incentives to the different lagging restaurant the environment
variables. The researcher goes beyond description of variables (i.e. efficiency level, incentive
plans, and profit margin) to understand the relationship between them.
B- The type of investigation: Causal investigation as he is trying to identify the cause and
effect relationship
C- The extent of researcher interference: moderate as researcher might have to deliberately
manipulate some variables in order to study the effects of such manipulation on the
relationship.
D-The study setting: it is a field experiment so it is non-contrived setting research will be
conducted using same natural environment.
E-The time horizon for the study: Longitudinal study as the data will be collected before and
after applying incentive systems to check the impact on efficiency and accordingly the profit
margin.
A-The purpose of the study: Exploratory study, as the manager needs to know more
information on which bases the derivation of joy from work
B- The type of investigation: Correlation investigation as the study aims to identify the
important factors associated with the two cases the manager has ,get energized and get
frustrated from derive joy from work
C- The extent of researcher interference: Minimal interference as the study is conducted in
the natural environment of the employees by applying questionnaires in the workplace.
D-The study setting: Non-contrived field setting since the study took place in the natural and
normal environment at which employee is working.
E-The time horizon for the study: Cross sectional study as the data will be collected once at a
time to answer the research question to study how to derive joy from work to get energized
and why find it frustrating.
F-The unit of analysis: Individual unit of analysis as researcher will look to the data gathered
from each employee and treating each one response as an individual source
Intensity of e-business adoption
Sales Performance
Market uncertainty
motivation is Independent Variable that affect the Performance level which Dependent
Variable
Resecher believes that employee motivation level will impact his level of performance
Resercher belives that employee’s performance level is positively associated with taking
training courses. and strenthen by motivation
Training courses is independent variable , employee’s performance level is dependant while
the motivation is Moderating
employee’s loyalty to organization will lead the organization to achieve its goals by taking
timely motivation.
employee’s
loyalty is Independent Variable , the organization's Goals is dependant variable
while Motivation is Mediating variable
immense confusion and a number of problems for the organization
Failure to follow accounting principles
Timely corrective actions
experience in bookkeeping
After 25 of JAN revolution 2011 Egypt has to form the new Constitution that would govern the
new Egypt .Temporary constitution has been formed by the armed force and On 19 March
2011, a referendum was held in Egypt asking Voters to vote whether they support or oppose
the changes that has been done on the old constitutional president selection articles and
regarding electing a Constituent Assembly for the permanent constitution formulation.
Constituent Assembly was originally elected by Parliament in March 2012, before being
dissolved by a court in April after it was deemed unconstitutional.
A second Assembly was elected by Parliament during the summer; however, high scale of
incompatibility appeared between them which led considerable members including the
representatives of the Coptic Church drop out from it in the final weeks of drafting. These
members had been replaced by another were not supposed to be in.
On 15 and 22 December 2012, the permanent constitutional referendum was held in Egypt
asking voter the
if they
support thereferendum
new incompatible
constitution
oppose.
Considering
constitutional
that was
held on 15or
and
22 December 2012 , Due
to the incompatible assembly that produced on 30 November 2012 a 234 article draft
constitution after it approved each article individually during a 19 hour meeting starting on 29
November.The draft supporter is claiming it is a step forward for the democracy in Egypt while
its critics saying it failed to protect individual rightsTherefore, the problem is what is the
most probable scenario to support or oppose the constitution?
The Research main objective is to investigate and find out the most important factors that
affect the voters’ decision towards the constitution to determine the most probable scenario.
We have voters that are directly affected by the Egyptian constitution articles. However, there
are some variables which have strong contingent effect on the relation between voter
perspective and constitution articles which are Gender, Education level, Socioeconomic Level,
Residence, Age, and Religion
Egyptian constitution articles acceptance
voter perspective (support or oppose) the interest of the research
Gender, Education, Socioeconomic Level, Residence, Age and Religion.
1-Does the gender influence the relationship between constitution acceptance and voter
perspective?
2-Does the Education level influence the relationship between constitution acceptance and
voter perspective?
3-Does the Socioeconomic Level influence the relationship between constitution acceptance
and voter perspective?
4-Does Residence areas influence the relationship between constitution acceptance and voter
1-Gender does not influence the relationship between constitution acceptance and voter
perspective
2- Education level influences the relationship between constitution acceptance and voter
perspective?
3- Residence area influences the relationship between constitution acceptance and voter
perspective?
4- Socioeconomic Level influence the relationship between constitution acceptance and voter
.
Descriptive
Correlation
minimal interference
Non-Corntived
Individuals
Cross-sectional
Questionnair
Probability Sampling
Stratified Random Sampling
depends on the confidence interval (precision desired85%) and the confidence level
(acceptable
7%)
The
data willrisk
be analyzed
based on demographic analysis for the sampling populations based
on the age, gender, Education level, Socioeconomic Level, residential area, and religious
A noncontrive
d
setting
simply
indicates
that the
research
is
conduct
ed
where
the flow
of
events
normally
takes
place –
i.e. in
the
natural
system.
Such
research
could
be
either
`