University of Mumbai, Maharashtra (Mumbai University), Finance Semester 4, Business Research Methods Syllabus

UNIT-1 Introduction to business research methods
• Meaning and objectives of the research
• Types of research– a)Pure, Basic and Fundamental b) Applied,
c)Empirical d) Scientific & Social e)Historical f) Exploratory g) Descriptive h)Causal
• Concepts in Research: Variables, Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• Stages in the research process.
• Characteristics of Good Research
• Hypothesis-Meaning, Nature, Significance, Types of Hypothesis, Sources.
• Research design– Meaning, Definition, Need and Importance, Steps in research design, Essentials of a good research design, Areas / Scope of research design and Types-Descriptive, Exploratory and causal.
• Sampling–
a) meaning of sample and sampling,
b) methods of sampling-i)Non Probability Sampling–
Convenient, Judgment, Quota, Snow ball
ii) Probability– Simple Random, Stratified, Cluster, Multi Stage.

UNIT-2 Data collection and Processing
• Types of data and sources-Primary and Secondary data sources
• Methods of collection of primary data
a) Observation- i)structured and unstructured, ii) disguised and undisguised, iii)mechanical observations (use of gadgets)
b) Experimental i)Field ii) Laboratory
c) Interview – i) Personal Interview ii)focused group, iii) in-depth interviews -Method,
d) Survey– Telephonic survey, Mail, E-mail, Internet survey, Social media, and Media listening.
e) Survey instrument– i) Questionnaire designing.
f) Types of questions– i) structured/ close-ended and ii) unstructured/ open ended, iii) Dicotomous, iv) Multiple Choice Questions.
f) Scaling techniques-i) Likert scale, ii) Semantic Differential scale

UNIT-3 Data analysis and Interpretation
• Processing of data– i) Editing- field and office editing, ii)coding– meaning and essentials, iii) tabulation – note
• Analysis of data-Meaning, Purpose, types.
• Interpretation of data-Essentials, importance and Significance of processing data
• Multivariate analysis– concept only
• Testing of hypothesis– concept and problems– i)chi square test, ii) Zandt-test (for large and small sample)

UNIT-4 Advanced techniques in Report Writing
• Report writing – i) Meaning, importance, functions of reports, essential of a good report, the content of the report, steps in writing a report, types of reports, Footnotes and Bibliography
• Ethics and research
• Objectivity, Confidentiality and anonymity in Research
• Plagiarism