Chapter 5: The research process: elements of research design
1. Which of the following is most suitable when there is little to no insight in a certain problem
or when there is no information available on how similar problems or research issues have
been solved in the past?
*a. Exploratory research.
b. Descriptive research.
c. Causal research.
d. Experimental research.
2. What cannot be seen as purpose of a causal study?
a. Understanding the dependent variable.
b. Predicting the dependent variable.
*c. Making sure that all relevant variables are included in the study.
d. Explaining variance in the dependent variable.
3. If a bank manager wants to analyze the relationship between interest rates and bank deposit
patterns of clients, a ‘field study’ is the most suitable method of investigation.
*a. T
b. F
4. A marketing manager aims to investigate the relationship between customer satisfaction
and store loyalty among British consumers. For this purpose, data will have to be collected
from British stores and the ‘unit of analysis’ is the country.
a. T
*b. F
5. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a multinational corporation wants to know the profits
made during the past 5 years by each of the subsidiaries in England, Germany, France, and
Spain. It is possible that there are many regional offices of these subsidiaries in each of these
countries. The profits of the various regional centers for each country have to be aggregated
and the profits for each country for the past 5 years provided to the CFO. Hence, the ‘unit of
analysis’ is the country.
*a. T
b. F
6. Studies, when data on the dependent variable are gathered at two or more points in time to
answer the research question, are called:
a. Cross-sectional studies.
*b. Longitudinal studies.
c. Exploratory studies.
d. Case studies.
7. Experimental designs invariably are longitudinal studies since data are collected both before
and after a manipulation.
*a. T
b. F
8. Which of the following studies is a causal study?
The researcher tries to find out:
a. What percentage of the population thinks commercials are annoying compared to 10 years
ago.
*b. Why unemployment in Europe is higher than in Asia.
c. If smoking is related to cancer.
d. All the above answers are correct.
9. A bank manager wants to determine the cause-and-effect relationship between interest rate
and the inducements it offers to clients to save and deposit money in the bank. What is the
appropriate study setting?
a. A field study.
*b. A field experiment.
c. A lab experiment.
d. None of the above.
10. The goal of a _____________ study, hence, is to offer to the researcher a profile of the
phenomena of interest from an individual, organizational, industry-oriented, or other
perspective.
a. Exploratory.
*b. Descriptive.
c. Causal.
d. Experimental.
11. ____________ studies are also necessary when some facts are known, but more
information is needed for developing a viable theoretical framework.
*a. Exploratory.
b. Descriptive.
c. Causal.
d. Experimental.
12. Whether a study is a causal or a correlational one depends on the type of research questions
asked and how the problem is defined.
*a. T
b. F
13. The extent of interference by the researcher with the normal flow of work at the workplace
has a direct bearing on whether the study undertaken is causal or correlational.
*a. T
b. F
14. A causal study is conducted in the natural environment of the organization with minimum
interference by the researcher with the normal flow of work.
a. T
*b. F
15. In studies conducted to establish cause-and-effect relationships, the researcher tries to
manipulate certain variables so as to study the effects of such manipulation on the
dependent variable of interest.
*a. T
b. F
16. Correlational studies are invariably conducted in contrived settings, whereas most rigorous
causal studies are done in non-contrived lab settings.
a. T
*b. F
17. The unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation of the data collected during the
subsequent data analysis stage.
*a. T
b. F
18. Our research question determines the unit of analysis.
*a. T
b. F
19. A study can be done in which data are gathered just once, perhaps over a period of days or
weeks or months, in order to answer a research question. Such studies are called:
*a. Cross-sectional studies.
b. Longitudinal studies.
c. Exploratory studies.
d. Case studies.
20. A marketing manager is interested in tracing the pattern of sales of a particular product in
four different regions of the country on a quarterly basis for the next 2 years. This is an
example of a:
a. Cross-sectional study.
*b. Longitudinal study.
c. Exploratory study.
d. Case study.
21. Knowledge of research design details also helps managers to study and intelligently
comment on research proposals.
*a. T
b. F
22. Methodological rigor increases as we move progressively from an exploratory study to a
hypothesis-testing study, and with this, the costs of research also increase.
*a. T
b. F
