Assignment 1st_524_Business Reserach

7/30/2019 Assignment 1st_524_Business Reserach

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Department of Business AdministrationBlock No. 13, Sector H-8,Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad.

Business Research Methods (524)

Assignment No. 01

Submitted to:Dr. Syed Hassan Raza

Director / Focal Person Wafaqi Mohtasib Cell,Block 25, Second (2nd) Floor,Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU)Sector H-8, ISLAMABAD(0334-512 5050)

Submitted by:Muhammad Hammad Manzoor

MBA (HRM) 2nd Semester

Roll No. 508195394

508, 5th Floor, Continental Trade Centre (CTC)

Block 08, Clifton, KARACHI


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(0321-584 2326, 0322-555 5901)

2By: M. Hammad Manzoor, MBA HRM-II, 508, 5th Floor, Continental Trade Centre (CTC), Clifton 08,

Karachi. (Roll No. 508195394)


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Q. No. 01 For a marketing manager of broadcasting sector,

why is it necessary to have knowledge of business research? Explain

in detail.

Answer:

Business Research Methods

Business research method is a careful and diligent study of a market, an industry ora particular company's business operations, using investigative techniques to discover

facts, examine theories or develop an action plan based on discovered facts.

OR

Business research is a systematic and organized effort to investigate a specificproblem encountered in the work setting that needs a solution.

The research provides the needed information that guides managers to makeinformed decisions to successfully deal with problems.

Why Marketing Research is Important for Managers

Just the phrase marketing research can make people feel overwhelmed, byunderstanding what it is and why it's important can relieve that tensions. There is adifference in market research and marketing research, let me explain.

Market research is when you have narrowed down a specific "target" and you aredelving into the behavior of that target. In other words, it's research into a verynarrow group of consumers.

Marketing research is different. Different because it's dealing with a broader rangeof consumers. Marketing research includes "market" research, but it also delves intonew product research and distribution methods. The best way to differentiate thetwo is to understand that marketing research is really about researching the

marketing process of a company, not just who they are targeting.

Marketing research will include the following steps for Marketing Managers inbroadcasting sector:

1. Problem Definition: The problem is the focus of your research. Example:Why are sales soaring in the midwest, but dismal in other parts of the country?




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2. Data Collection Method and Needs: How will you collect the data thatyou will need to solve the problem? Will you use surveys, telephone calls or focus

groups on the internet?

3. Determine Sample Method: What sampling method will you use?

Sampling represents those you will collect information from. Will it be a randomsampling, a sampling that contains a similar element or a natural sampling?

4. Data Analysis: How will you analyze the data? Will you use software or doit by hand? How accurate do the results need to be?

5. Determine Budget and Timeframe: How much are you willing to spendon the research and how soon must the research be complete?

6. Data Collection: Proceed in data collection based on answers in Steps 1- 5.

7.Analysis of the Data: Conduct the analysis of the data that has beencollected in previous Step.

8. Error Check: Check for errors in data. It is not uncommon for errors to befound in data collected. Errors can be in the sampling method, data collectionsas well as just analytical mistakes.

9. Create Your Report: The final step of marketing research is to draft areport on your findings. Your report should contain tables, charts, and ordiagrams. It's important that your report clearly communicate the results thatyou found in your research. Your findings should lead to a solution to the

problem you identified in Step 1.

Market Research Is An Essential Management Tool for Broadcasting

Marketing Manager:

Market research consists of a plan that charts how relevant data is to be collected

and analyzed so that the results are useful and relevant for making marketing

decisions. Once the research and the related analysis are complete, the results are

communicated to management. This provides management with in-depth information

regarding crucial factors that have an impact on the target market and existing

marketing mix. Market research allows management to make the changes necessary

for better results through adopting a proactive approach.




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Market Research - Importance, Goals and Methods:Market research is a continuing exercise to collect and analyze environmental,

consumer, competitor and industry information to make marketing decisions less

risky.

Marketing managers have to make decisions about products, pricing, promotional

tactics and distribution channels in a complex environment. General economic

conditions, technology, extent and strength of competition and political conditions

can affect the market for their products. And the behavior of their consumers is

influenced by numerous factors. It is continuing market research that helps

marketing managers take sound decisions in such an environment.

Information Provided by Market Research

Market research should provide marketing managers a clear picture of the market,including:

Customer information, such as their locations, age, gender, buying behaviorand motivations

Competitor information, such as their identity, marketing network, customerfocus and scale of operations

Product information, such as how customers talk about it, and likely impact oftechnology developments

Industry information, such as volumes of demand and supply, trend of sales,seasonal demand patterns

Competitive opportunities, such as under-served consumer segments andunmet consumer needs.




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Q. No. 02- Being an external researcher at a cellular company with

low market share, how would you design the exploratory research?

Explain with example.

Exploratory research

Exploratory research is conducted into an issue or problem where there are few or

no earlier studies to refer to. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for

later investigation. Secondly, descriptive research describes phenomena as they

exist. Here data is often quantitative and statistics applied.

It is used to identify and obtain information on a particular problem or issue. Finally

causal or predictive research seeks to explain what is happening in a particular

situation. It aims to generalize from an analysis by predicting certain phenomena on

the basis of hypothesized general relationships.

OR

Exploratory research is a type ofresearch conducted for a problem that has not

been clearly defined. Exploratory research helps determine the

best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects.

It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Given its

fundamental nature, exploratory research often concludes that a perceived problem

does not actually exist.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research


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Why Conduct Exploratory Research?

Diagnose a situation

Screening of alternatives

Discover new ideas

Categories of Exploratory Research

Experience surveys

Secondary data analysis

Case studies

Pilot studies

Experience Surveys

If you wish to know the road up the mountain, you must ask theman who goes back and forth on it.

Zenrinkusi

Ask knowledgeable individuals about a particular research problem - most are quite

willing.

Secondary Data Analysis Data collected for a purpose other than the project at hand

Economical

Quick source for background informationCase Study Method

Intensely investigates one or a few situations similar to the problem

Investigate in depth

Careful study

May require cooperation

Pilot StudyAny small scale exploratory study that uses sampling

Focus Group Interviews

Projective Techniques In-Depth Interviews




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Being an External Researcher at a Cellular Company:

Purpose of Research

The purpose of the research is to determine the market and marketing strategy for a

new low share cellular company which is to launch its brand in the market.

Applied research is directed towards gaining knowledge or understanding necessary

for determining the means by which current need may be met. In cellular industry,

applied research includes investigations directed to the discovery of new specific

knowledge having specific commercial objectives with respect to products,

processes, or services.

Development is the systematic utilization of the knowledge or understanding gained

from research toward the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or

methods, including design and development of prototypes and processes.

Research Flow Chart



Formulating Marketing Strategy

Data Collection

Market Identification

MarketSelection

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Market Selection and Identification

First a market research should be conducted to determine a Target market for the

company. Being a low market share holder the company cannot entertain a broad

target market, thus would select a small user market but that market should be a

well defined class in a society for example: students, young professionals, frequent

travelers, executives, entrepreneurs, or teenagers, and even gender specific social

class like working women etc.

Data Collection

Data should be collected to know requirements and features needed by that target

market. This would help in gaining popularity easily and to shape the brand

according to the target markets requirement. This data can be collected by

distributing questionnaires, creating forums on internet interviewing people and

collecting statistics from previous researches.

Formulating Marketing Strategies

On the basis of the findings and results of the collected data a marketing strategy

can be formulated which can bring people to start using the product. These

strategies should be made carefully keeping in mind the target market, their

requirements, portraying actual features and properties of brand, cultural values of

the society and in accordance with the law of the land. The marketing should not be

too strenuous as the budget and market share plays a big role in its success. As the

brand in discussion has a small market share, the marketing strategy should only hit

the specific targets for which it has been launched. For example: if the company is

bringing the product for youth or students, it should advertise and market it in the

place where they are available and they could relate to it like universities, market

places where there in more influx of young people, broadcast advertisement on TV

and Radio channels that are more popular among them, and launch marketing

campaigns allowing them to learn about the product in a fun way like sponsor

festivals competitions, concerts etc.




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Q. No. 03-In Pakistan food inflation is very high, let us suppose government hiresyou as a researcher, how would you decide the sample size for thisresearch, research design as well as implementation of research? Alsoexplain the limitations of this research.

Answer:

FOOD INFLATION

In the recent years, food price inflation has risen very sharply at global level.According to Commodity Research Bureau (2009), the overall and food inflation ratesat global level stand at 16.5 and 30.2 percent respectively by November 06, 2007.

Food inflation has increased the living cost of households especially in developing

countries like Pakistan. Because of higher food inflation, households have to makereductions in some areas of food consumption leading to malnutrition. Malnutritionresults in productivity losses of up to 10 percent of lifetime earnings and GDP losses of2-3 percent in the worst affected countries (Alderman, 2005). High inflation erodesthe benefits of growth and leaves the poor worse off (Esterly and Ficsher, 2001).

It hurts the poor more, since more than half of the budget of low wage earners goestoward food. It redistributes income from fixed income groups to the owners of assetsand businessmen and increases the gap between rich and poor (Khan et al, 2007).

There are many factors contributing towards food inflation in Pakistan. Our domestic

consumption is increasing because of growth in population and per capita income.There is lack of cold storages and proper marketing of perishable goods, therefore, ifthere is increase in demand or shortage in supply, prices will increase.

A variety of agricultural and nonagricultural commodities is traded illegally at Pak-Afghan and Pak-Iran borders which creates substantial monetary loss to theGovernment of Pakistan in terms of public revenues which might be collected in theform of duties and taxes (Sharif et al. 2000).

In Pakistan, food inflation remained 9.9 % on average during the study period (1972-2008) and below 10 % during 1997-08 to 2003-04. It started to accelerate after 2003-

04 and increased up to 12.5% in 2004-05. It was 17.5 % and 26.6 % in 2007-08 and2008-09 respectively. This sudden rise in food inflation was because of shortages ofwheat, increase in the support price of wheat, increase in prices of some food itemssuch as rice, edible oil, meat, pulses, tea, milk, fresh vegetables and fruit and a risein international prices of food items along with the oil prices (Government ofPakistan, 2007, 2009). This high food inflation is a matter of great concern for policymakers.




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ROLE AS A GOVT. HIRED RESEARCER:

In the present paper both the monetarist and structuralist point of view has beenconsidered together to explore the factors affecting food inflation in Pakistan.

METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES

Economic literature on inflation provides some models that incorporate the demandand supply side factors (Hassan et al., 1995; Khan and Qasim, 1996; Callen andChang, 1999; Bokil and Schimmelfennig, 2005 and Khan and Schimmelfennig, 2006).Following Khan and Schimmelfennig (2006), the stylized hybrid monetarists-structulists model given below is formulated to capture the effect of certain demandand supply side factors of food price inflation in Pakistan.

t t-1 FPI f (FPI ,M2G ,PGDP ,ASP ,FX ,FM ) (1)

Where

t= 1, 2, 3, ., 37. (time period ranging from 1972-2008)FPIt = Food Price Inflation (CPI food as proxy of Food Price Inflation) in time tFPIt 1= One year lag of FPIt (as proxy of inflation expectations)M2Gt = Growth Rate of Money Supply (M2) in time tPGDPt = Per Capita GDP (in Pak rupees) in time t

ASPt = Agriculture Support Price (rupees/40kg of wheat) in time tFXt = Food Export (as percentage of merchandise export) in time tFMt= Food Import (as percentage of merchandise imports) in time t.

Equation (1) can be rewritten for estimation purposes as follows:t 0 1 t-1 2 t 3 t 4 t 5 t 6 t t

FPI FPI M2G PGDP ASP FX FM (2)

Where 0 is intercept and 1 2 3 4 5 , , , , , and 6 are the coefficients of FPIt ,M2Gt ,PGDPt ,ASPt ,FXt and FMt respectively. t is identically and independently distributederror term and t as defined in equation (1).

(A) Stationarity and Non-stationarityIn real life, most of the macroeconomic time series variables like income,consumption, money, prices and trade are non-stationary. Philips (1986) points outthat if we treat the nonstationary series with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), theresults will be misleading for economic analysis.

The model can lead to the problem of spurious regressions with very high Rsquared




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(C) Data SourcesAnnual data from 1972 to 2008 of concerned variables has been used bin this study.CPI food has been used as a proxy of food price inflation (FPI).

Data of CPI food has been collected from various issues of Pakistan Economic Survey.Data of wheat support price as proxy agricultural support prices (ASP) has also beencollected from various issues of Pakistan Economic Survey. Data of per capita grossdomestic product (PGDP), growth rate of money supply (M2G), food exports (FX) andfood imports (FM) have been taken from World Development Indicators (WDI) online

database by World Bank (2009).

ESTIMATION OF THE MODEL AND EMPIRICAL RESULTS

Time series data covering the period of 1972 to 2008 has been used for the analysis.Before we proceed for co-integration and short run dynamics of food price inflationand its determinants, it is necessary to check the stationarity of data to determinethe order of integration of concerned variables.

STATIONARITY OF DATA

In this study, ADF unit root test has been used to check the stationarity and order ofintegration of time series data of the variables of our interest. Schwarz Information

Criterion has been used for maximum lag selection for applying ADF unit root test.The results of ADF test are presented in table-1.




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The results displayed in table-1 show that all the variables are nonstationary at levelbecause t-statistics of ADF tests for all variables are statistically insignificant.However all variables are stationary at their first differences at 5% level ofsignificance. Order of integration is also determined by unit root tests. Resultsindicate that all variables are integrated of order one I (1) as they are stationary atfirst difference.

DIAGNOSTIC TESTSWe applied the necessary diagnostic tests on our model to check the problems ofnormality, serial correlation, heteroskedasticity and model specification. The resultsof these tests are reported in table. 02




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Table No: 02 Diagnostic Tests (Long Run Model)

CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONSIn the recent years, food price inflation has risen very sharply at global level. It hasincreased the living cost of households especially in developing countries like Pakistanwhich results in malnutrition and, therefore, productivity losses. It hurts the poormore because they spend more than half of their budget on food. In Pakistan, foodinflation remained 9.9 % on average during the study period (1972-2008), some timeas high as 34.7 % in 1974 and 26.6 % in 2008-09.

The results revealed that both demand and supply side factors determined food price

inflation in Pakistan. However, on the basis of empirical results we may conclude thatfood price inflation is not a monetary phenomenon in Pakistan (money supply growthis statistically insignificant). While the supply side factor or structural factors havedominant role in determining the food prices.

Support prices are the second major source of food price inflation in Pakistan.Government should pursue a moderate policy in raising support prices. Alternative tosupport price policy, government may provide subsidies on inputs as on fertilizers,pesticides, diesel and electricity.

Government should also encourage and support farmers to adopt modern technology

for higher production with lower production cost. Economic growth (increase in percapita GDP) is also contributing towards food price inflation according to this study. Itis because the percentage share of services and manufacturing sectors to GDP isgrowing rapidly as compared to agricultural sector in Pakistan. Government shouldformulate proper policy for agriculture sector to fill the output gap.

Sufficient credit facilities should be provided through formal and informal channel.Government should take measures to improve infrastructure, agriculture markets and




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land ownership system. Modern technology should be introduced to improve theproduction of food grains, meat, poultry and dairy products.

According to our analysis, imports of food items are also inflationary because ofhigher prices of food item at global level and exchange rate depreciation. As a policy

measure, we need to exploit our unrealized yield potential in production of fooditems as God has gifted us with all necessary resources.

This study reveals that food exports affect food price inflation positively not only inthe long run but also in the short run. Government should ban the exports of fooditems until they are over and above the domestic needs. For price stability in thecountry, buffer stocks of essential food items like wheat, sugar and pulses should bemaintained. There should be maximum control on smuggling of wheat, rice and livestock to neighboring countries.

Empirical results of this study prove that growth in money supply or expansionary

monetary policy does not affect food price inflation significantly in Pakistan. In thissituation it is suggested that government should encourage the expansion in privatesector credit, especially towards the agricultural and its related sectors. There shouldbe the availability and easy access of loans for all farmers for all types of their needssuch as expenditure on the use of modern technology, inputs, marketing and storagefacilities. Increase in public expenditures on the provision of infrastructure for ruralareas will also be helpful for optimal utilization of the potential of agriculture sector.




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Q. No. 04- Discuss the importance of measurement and scaling in

relation to business research. Give the comparison with two suitable

examples.

Answer:

Measurement

The process of describing some property of a phenomenon of interest, usually by

assigning numbers in a reliable and valid way.

OR

Measurement is the process of assigning numbers or labels to objects, persons,

states, or events in accordance with specific rules to represent quantities or qualities

of attributes.

We do not measure specific objects, persons, etc., we measure attributes or

features that define them.

Ex., What defines the person Brent Wren? What is a students level of

education? How customer oriented is our company?

Overriding Goal: To provide a valid and reliable description or enumeration of

the person, objects, issue, etc.

Four Basic Scales of Measurement




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Scales

A device providing a range of values that correspond to different values in a concept

being measured.

NOMINAL SCALES

Nominal scales focus on only requiring a respondent to provide

some type of descriptor as the raw response.

Example. Please indicate your current martial status.

__Married __ Single __ Single, never married __ Widowed

ORDINAL SCALES

Ordinal scales allow the respondent to express relative

magnitude between the rawresponses to a question

Example.

Which one statement best describes your opinion of an Intel PC

processor?

__ Higher than AMDs PC processor

__ About the same as AMDs PC processor

__ Lower than AMDs PC processor

INTERVAL SCALESInterval scales demonstrate the absolute differences between

each scale point

Example.

How likely are you to recommend the Santa Fe Grill to a friend?

Definitely will not Definitely will

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

RATIO SCALES

Ratio scales allow for the identification of absolute differencesbetween each scale point, and absolute comparisons between

raw responses

Example 1.

Please circle the number of children under 18 years of age currently

living in your household.




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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (if more than 7, please specify ___.)

LIKERT SCALE

A Likert Scale is an ordinal scale format that asks respondents toindicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with a series of

mental or behavioral belief statements about a given object.

SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALE

A Semantic Differential Scale is unique bipolar ordinal scale format

that captures a persons attitudes and/or feelings about a given object.

BEHAVIORAL INTENTION SCALE

A behavioral intention scale is a special type of rating scale

designed to capture the likelihood that people will demonstrate some

type of predictable behavior intent toward purchasing an object or

service in a future time frame.

OTHER RATING SCALES




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Noncomparative Rating Scales

Format that requires a judgment without reference to

another object, person, or concept

Comparative Rating Scales

Format that requires a judgment comparing one object,

person, or concept against another on the scale

Graphic Rating Scale

DISCRETE MEASURES

Discrete measures are those that take on only one of a finite number

of values. A discrete scale is most often used to represent aclassification variable. Therefore, discrete scales do not represent

intensity of measures, only membership.

Common discrete scales include any yes-or-no response, matching,

color choices, or practically any scale that involves selecting from

among a small number of categories.

Thus, when someone is asked to choose from the following responses

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

The result is a discrete value that can be coded 1, 2, or 3, respectively.

This is also an ordinal scale to the extent that it represents an ordered




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arrangement of agreement. Nominal and ordinal scales are discrete

measures.

Continuous Measures

Measures that reflect the intensity of a concept by assigning values

that can take on any value along some scale range.




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Q. No. 05- Give the comparison of primary data and secondary data.

Also give ten situations where it would be more beneficial to use

primary data sources for research and five situations where it would be

more beneficial to use secondary data sources for research.

Answer:

DataData is important in computer science. Numbers, images and figures incomputer are all data.

Types of Data

Primary Data:Primary data are data that you collect yourself

Data that has been collected from first-hand-experience is known asprimary data. Primary data has not been published yet and is morereliable, authentic and objective. Primary data has not been changedor altered by human beings; therefore its validity is greater thansecondary data.

Importance of Primary Data:Importance of Primary data cannot be neglected. A research can beconducted without secondary data but a research based on onlysecondary data is least reliable and may have biases becausesecondary data has already been manipulated by human beings. In



Types of Data

Primary Data Secondary Data


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statistical surveys it is necessary to get information from primarysources and work on primary data: for example, the statistical recordsof female population in a country cannot be based on newspaper,magazine and otherprinted sources.

One such sources are old and secondly they contain limitedinformation as well as they can be misleading and biased.

Validity:Validity is one of the major concerns in a research. Validity is thequality of a research that makes it trustworthy and scientific. Validity isthe use of scientific methods in research to make it logical andacceptable.

Using primary data in research can improves the validity of research.First hand information obtained from a sample that is representative ofthe target population will yield data that will be valid for the entiretarget population.

Authenticity:Authenticity is the genuineness of the research. Authenticity can be atstake if the researcher invests personal biases or uses misleadinginformation int he research. Primary research tools and data canbecome more authentic if the methods chosen to analyze and interpretdata are valid and reasonably suitable for the data type. .

Primary sources are more authentic because the facts have not beenoverdone. Primary source can be less authentic if the source hidesinformation or alters facts due to some personal reasons. There aremethods that can be employed to ensure factual yielding of data fromthe source.

Reliability:Reliability is the certainty that the research is enough true to betrusted on. For example, if a research study concludes that junk foodconsumption does not increase the risk of cancer and heart diseases.

This conclusion should have to be drawn from a sample whose size,sampling technique and variability is not questionable. Reliabilityimproves with using primary data.

In the similar research mentioned above if the researcher usesexperimental method and questionnaires the results will be highlyreliable. On the other hand, if he relies on the data available in books




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and on internet he will collect information that does not represent thereal facts.

Sources of Primary Data:Sources for primary data are limited and at times it becomes difficultto obtain data from primary source because of either scarcity ofpopulation or lack of cooperation. Regardless of any difficulty one canface in collecting primary data; it is the most authentic andreliable data source. Following are some of the sources of primarydata.

Experiments:Experiments require an artificial or natural setting in which to performlogical study to collect data. Experiments are more suitable formedicine, psychological studies, nutrition and for other scientificstudies. In experiments the experimenter has to keep control over theinfluence of any extraneous variable on the results.

Survey:Survey is most commonly used method in social sciences,management, marketing and psychology to some extent. Surveys canbe conducted in different methods.

Questionnaire: is the most commonly used method in survey.Questionnaires are a list of questions open-ended or close -endedfor which the respondent gives answers. Questionnaire can beconducted via telephone, mail, live in a public area, or in aninstitute, through electronic mail or through fax and othermethods.

Interview: Interview is a face-to-face conversation with therespondent. In interview the main problem arises when therespondent deliberately hides information otherwise it is an indepth source of information. The interviewer can not only recordthe statements the interviewee speaks but he can observe thebody language, expressions and other reactions to the questionstoo. This enables the interviewer to draw conclusions easily.

Observations: Observation can be done while letting theobserving person know that he is being observed or without




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letting him know. Observations can also be made in naturalsettings as well as in artificially created environment.

Secondary Data:Data collected from a source that has already been published in any

form is called as secondary data. The review of literature in nayresearch is based on secondary data. Mostly from books, journals andperiodicals.

Importance of Secondary Data:Secondary data can be less valid but its importance is still there.Sometimes it is difficult to obtain primary data; in these cases gettinginformation from secondary sources is easier and possible. Sometimesprimary data does not exist in such situation one has to confine theresearch on secondary data. Sometimes primary data is present butthe respondents are not willing to reveal it in such case too secondarydata can suffice: for example, if the research is on the psychology oftranssexuals first it is difficult to find out transsexuals and second theymay not be willing to give information you want for your research, soyou can collect data from books or other published sources.

Sources of Secondary Data:Secondary data is often readily available. After the expense ofelectronic media and internet the availability of secondary data hasbecome much easier.

Published Printed Sources:

There is variety of published printed sources. Their credibility dependson many factors. For example, on the writer, publishing company andtime and date when published. New sources are preferred and oldsources should be avoided as new technology and researches bringnew facts into light.

Books: Books are available today on any topic that you want toresearch. The uses of books start before even you have selectedthe topic. After selection of topics books provide insight on howmuch work has already been done on the same topic and you canprepare your literature review. Books are secondary source butmost authentic one in secondary sources.

Journals/periodicals: Journals and periodicals are becomingmore important as far as data collection is concerned. The reasonis that journals provide up-to-date information which at times bookscannot and secondly, journals can give information on the very




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specific topic on which you are researching rather talking aboutmore general topics.

Magazines/Newspapers: Magazines are also effective but notvery reliable. Newspaper on the other hand is more reliable and in

some cases the information can only be obtainedfrom newspapers as in the case of some political studies.

Published Electronic Sources:As internet is becoming more advance, fast and reachable to themasses; it has been seen that much information that is not available inprinted form is available on internet. In the past the credibility ofinternet was questionable but today it is not. The reason is that in thepast journals and books were seldom published on internet but todayalmost every journal and book is available online. Some are free andfor others you have to pay the price.

E-journals: e-journals are more commonly available than printedjournals. Latest journals are difficult to retrieve withoutsubscription but if your university has an e-library you can viewany journal, print it and those that are not available you canmake an order for them.

General Websites; Generally websites do not contain very reliableinformation so their content should be checked forthe reliability before quoting from them.

Weblogs: Weblogs are also becoming common. They are actuallydiaries written by different people. These diaries are as reliable touse as personal written diaries.

Unpublished Personal Records:

Some unpublished data may also be useful in some cases. Diaries: Diaries are personal records and are rarely available but

if you are conducting a descriptive research then they might bevery useful. The Anne Franks diary is the most famous exampleof this. That diary contained the most accurate records

of Nazi wars.

Letters: Letters like diaries are also a rich source but should bechecked for their reliability before using them.

Government Records:Government records are very important formarketing, management, humanities and social science research.

Census Data/population statistics




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Health records

Educational institutes records

Public Sector Records: NGO's survey data

Other private companies records




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M. Hammad Manzoor

508195394

# 508, 5th Floor,

Continental Trade Centre,

Clifton - 08, KARACHI. (0321-

Business Research

52401

Dr. Syed Hassan Raza

Director / Focal Person

Wafaqi Mohtasib Cell,

ISLAMABAD. (0334-

Assignment 1st_524_Business Reserach

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