RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
(THIRD EDITION)

C R KOTHARI • GAURAV GARG

NEW AGE INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS

 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
(THIRD EDITION)
(In two colour)

C R KOTHARI
Former Principal, College of Commerce
University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Rajasthan (India)

GAURAV GARG
Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Management
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (India)

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N EW AGE
TECH N O
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 Age I n te r n a tio n a l
C o p y r ig h t © 2014, 2 0 0 4 , 1990, 1985, New (P ) L td ., P u b lis h e r s
Published by New Age International (P) Ltd.. Publishers
First Edition: 1985
Third Edition: 2014
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 In loving memory o f
my revered fa th er
(The fountain o f inspiration)

— C.R. KOTHAR1

To my Family

— GAURAV GARG
 Preface to the Third Edition

[ feel privileged to get associated with this popular book as co-author. This third edition is presented
after extensive restructuring and with more details. The revised edition is prepared keeping in mind
the need of advanced data analysis in social science research.
In this edition, old chapters are restructured to m ake the learning more systematic. Some
details, questions, and solved examples are added to old chapters wherever needed. Some old chapters
are renamed, some merged, and some split. Some new chapters are also added in this edition. These
added chapters are mainly on advanced level data analysis. The usage of statistical package SPSS
has also been shown through many examples.

For ancillary matter on this book, click at the follow ing link:
http://www.newagepublishers.com/servlet/nagetbiblio7bnoi000896

I am thankful to New Age International Publishers for giving me the opportunity of getting
associated with this book. I also look forward for your suggestions and feedbacks so that the text can
be improved further.

GAURAV G A R G
 Preface to the Second Edition

I feel encouraged by the widespread response from teachers and students alike to the first edition. I
am presenting this second edition, thoroughly revised and enlarged, to my readers in all humbleness.
All possible efforts have been made to enhance further the usefulness of the book. The feedback
received from different sources has been incorporated.
In this edition a new chapter on “The Computer: Its role in Research ” have been added in
view of the fact that electronic computers by now, for students of economics, management and other
social sciences, constitute an indispensable part of research equipment.
The other highlights of this revised edition are (i) the subject contents has been developed,
refined and restructured at several points, (ii) several new problems have also been added at the end
of various chapters for the benefit of students, and (iii) every page of the book has been read very
carefully so as to improve its quality.
I am grateful to all those who have helped me directly and/or indirectly in preparing this
revised edition. I firmly believe that there is always scope for improvement and accordingly I shall
look forward to received suggestions, (which shall be thankfully acknowledged) for further enriching
the quality of the next.

Jaipur C .R . K O T H A R I
May 1990
 Preface to the First Edition

Juite frequently these days people talk of research, both in academic institutions and outside. Several
esearch studies are undertaken and accomplished year after year. But in most cases very little
m ention is paid to an important dimension relating to research, namely, that of research methodology.
The result is that much o f research, particularly in social sciences, contains endless word-spinning
ind too many quotations. Thus a great deal of research tends to be futile. It may be noted, in the
:ontext of planning and development, that the significance of research lies in its quality and not in
quantity. The need, therefore, is for those concerned with research to pay due attention to designing
ind adhering to the appropriate methodology throughout for improving the quality of research. The
methodology may differ from problem to problem, yet the basic approach towards research remains
he same.
Keeping all this in view, the present book has been written with two clear objectives, viz., (i)
to enable researches, irrespective of their discipline, in developing the most appropriate methodology
for their research studies; and (ii) to make them familiar with the art of using different research-
m o th o d a a n d te c h n iq u e s . I t is h o p e d th a t th o h u m b l e e f f o r t m a d e in th e f o r m o f th i s b o o k w ill a s s is t in
the accomplishment of exploratory as well as result-oriented research studies.
Regarding the organization, the book consists o f fourteen chapters, well arranged in coherent
manner. Chapter One is an introduction, presenting an overview o f the research methodology. Chapter
Two explains the technique of defining a research problem. Chapter Three dwells on various research
designs, highlighting their main characteristics. Chapter Four presents the details of several sampling
designs. Different measurement and scaling techniques, along with multidimensional scaling, have
been lucidly described in Chapter Five. Chapter Six presents a comparative study of the different
methods of data collection. It also provides in its appendices guidelines for successful interviewing as
well as for constructing questionnaire/schedules. Chapter Seven deals with processing and analysis
of data. Sampling fundamentals, along with the theory o f estimation, constitutes the subject-matter of
Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine has been exclusively devoted to several parametric tests of hypotheses,
followed by Chapter Ten concerning Chi-square test. In Chapter Eleven important features of ANOVA
and ANOCOVA techniques have been explained and illustrated. Important non-parametric tests,
 xii Preface to the First Edition

generally used by researchers have been described and illustrated in Chapter Twelve. In Chapter
Thirteen, an effort has been made to present the conceptual aspects and circumstances under which
various multivariate techniques can appropriate be utilized in research studies, specially in behavioural
and social sciences. Factor analysis has been dealt with in relatively more detail. Chapter Fourteen
has been devoted to the task of interpretation and the art of writing research reports.
The book is primarily intended to serve as a textbook for graduate and M.Phil. students of
Research Methodology in all disciplines of various universities. It is hoped that the book shall provide
guidelines to all interested in research studies of one sort or the other. The book is, in fact, an
outgrowth of my experience of teaching the subject to M.Phil. students for the last several years.
1 am highly indebted to my students and learned colleagues in the Department for providing
the necessary stimulus for writing this book. I am grateful to all those persons whose writings and
works have helped me in the preparation of this book. I am equally grateful to the reviewer of the
manuscript of this book who made extremely valuable suggestions and has thus contributed in enhancing
the standard of the book. I thankfully acknowledge the assistance provided by the University Grants
Commission in the form of ‘on account’ grant in the preparation of the manuscript of this book.
I shall feel amply rewarded if the book proves helpful in the development of genuine research
studies. I look forward to suggestions from all readers, specially from experienced researchers and
scholars for further improving the subject content as well as the presentation of this book.

C.R. K O TH VRI
 Contents

Preface to the Third Edition vii

Preface to the Second Edition ix
Preface to the First Edition xi

1. Research Methodology: An Introduction 1

I. I Meaning of Research 1
1.2 Objectives of Research 2
1.3 Types of Research 2
1.4 Research Approaches 4
1.5 Significance of Research 5
1.6 Research Methods versus Methodology 6
1.7 Research and Scientific Method 8
1.8 Research Process 9
1.9 Criteria of Good Research 19
1.10 Problems Encountered by Researchers in India 20

2. Defining the Research Problem 22

2. 1 W hat is a Research Problem? 22
2.2 Selecting the Problem 23
2 .3 Necessity o f Defining the Problem 24
2.4 Technique Involved in Defining a Problem 25
2.5 An Illustration 27
2.6 Conclusion 28