Q. Explain Research Terminology?
Research Terminology - Independent and Dependent variables: There are many practical problems in which the values of one variable depend upon the values of another variable and the change in the value of one variable is related to the change in the value of the other variable. - Moderating Variable: A moderating variable is one that is responsible for a change in the relationship between the independent and the dependent variables. It influences the form of the relationship between these two variables. - Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an assumption based upon partial information. It is a statement of how the independent variables and the dependent variables are related. Data is collected and studied and based upon the results of such study, a decision is made whether to accept the assumption as being correct or reject the assumption as being incorrect and make alternate assumptions. - Types of Research Designs: A research design is set of procedures used to test the relationships among various variables. A formulation of research design would include the relevant variables under consideration as to their definition, measurements and relationship to one another. Each design has its own strengths and weaknesses and a design can be selected which most suitably reflects the relationship of the variables. There are four general types of research designs. That is often used in the field of organizational behaviour. These are Case Study: A case study involves detailed informal as well as formal information gathering about an aspect of operation through a review of records, interviews and observations. The case study method is an effective research technique for the analysis of organisational behaviour, and is highly adaptable to many situations generally existing in organisations. - Surveys: Surveys are often used to gather data about organisational behaviour. They rely on a set of questions, oral or written, through personal interviews or by mail, designed to solicit people's responses to a subject of interest. A random and representative sample from the entire group is selected for the purpose of study and analysis and the responses are considered as the responses of the entire group. The primary purpose of the survey is to find out how people feel and think about certain issues of interest. - Laboratory Experiments: Laboratory Experiments involve creating an artificial setting which is similar to real life situations and the researcher can observe the effect of changes in same variables in the study, while keeping their variables constant, and by manipulating the changes in some variables the researcher can examine their effect on the variables. The researcher has the most control for he can decide which variable to choose and how to manipulate them. - Field Experiment: A field experiment is similar to laboratory experiment except that it is conducted in a real life organisational setting. Similar to laboratory experiments, the researcher manipulates one or more independent variables and studies the changes in the dependent variables in order to assess the correlation between independent and dependent variables so that a cause and effect phenomenon can be established.