The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order

to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Process of conducting a research

1. Selecting the research area. selecting the research area due to professional
and personal interests in the area. choosing a subject that is not too broad nor
too narrow

2. Formulating research aim, objectives and research questions or developing

hypotheses. Depends on research approach. Appropriate research aims and
objectives or hypotheses usually result from several attempts and revisions. It
is critically important to get research questions or hypotheses confirmed
by supervisor before moving forward with the work.

3. Conducting the literature review. Have to check if exactly the same research
problem has been addressed before, have to use a wide range of secondary
data sources such as books, newspapers, magazines, journals, online articles
etc.

4. Selecting methods of data collection. Data collection method(s)need to be

selected on the basis of critically analyzing advantages and disadvantages
associated with several alternative data collection methods.

5. Collecting the primary data. Primary data collection needs to be preceded by

a great level of preparation and pilot data collection may be required in case of
questionnaires. Primary data collection is not a compulsory stage for all
dissertations and you will skip this stage if you are conducting a desk-based
research.

6. Data analysis. Analysis of dataplays an important role in the achievement of

research aim and objectives. Data analysis methods vary between secondary
and primary studies, as well as, between qualitative and quantitative studies.

7. Reaching conclusions. Conclusions relate to the level of achievement of

research aims and objectives. In this final part of your dissertation you will
have to justify why you think that research aims and objectives have been
achieved. Conclusions also need to cover research limitations and suggestions
for future research.
 8. Completing the research. Following all of the stages described above, and
organizing separate chapters into one file leads to the completion of the first
draft. The first draft of your dissertation needs to be prepared at least one
month before the submission deadline. This is because you will need to have
sufficient amount of time to address feedback of your supervisor.

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a

topic. The literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources
relevant to a particular area of research. The review should enumerate,
describe, summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify this previous research. It
should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author)
determine the nature of your research. The literature review acknowledges
the work of previous researchers, and in so doing, assures the reader that your
work has been well conceived. It is assumed that by mentioning a previous
work in the field of study, that the author has read, evaluated, and assimiliated
that work into the work at hand.

A literature review creates a "landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full
understanding of the developments in the field. This landscape informs the
reader that the author has indeed assimilated all (or the vast majority of)
previous, significant works in the field into her or his research.

"In writing the literature review, the purpose is to convey to the reader what
knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their
strengths and weaknesses are. The literature review must be defined by a
guiding concept (eg. your research objective, the problem or issue you are
discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the
material available, or a set of summaries.

The literature review is important because:

it covers all previous research done on the topic and sets the platform on
which the current research is based.

provides a thorough introduction to the reader on the topic and presents all
the analyses and findings of previous studies.
Current researchers use these findings to develop their own research
questions and eventually to create their own hypotheses on the topic that
provides a focus for their explorations and analyses.

The findings of the current research can then be compared and contrasted
with previous findings and used as takeoff point for further research.

• It justifies your proposed methodology.

• It demonstrates your preparedness to complete the research.

3.
Research Strategies (methods)

The 5 basic research strategies are

•the experimental strategy

•the quasi- experimental strategy

•the non-experimental strategy

•the correlational strategy

•the descriptive strategy

4.
A research design is a framework that has been created to find answers to
research questions.

5.
Research report
The research report writers in making the report good qualitative should
remember the saying ‘Try to express, not to impress’.
General types of reports are –
1. Informational
– present information.

2. Analytical

3. Persuasive
- main focus is to sell an idea, a
service, or product.

Components of research report

6.
7.
Qualitative data is known as categorical data. Data that can be arranged
categorically based on the attributes and properties of a thing or a
phenomenon.

interviews, surveys, group discussions, and observations are the most widely
and commonly used qualitative data collection methods. Although there are
few other data collection methods, such as longitudinal studies, document
revision, etc., they are rarely used.

Individual interview:
It is one of the most trusted, widely used, and most familiar qualitative data
collection methods primarily because of its approach. An individual or a face-
to-face interview is a direct conversation between two people that has a
specific structure and purpose. The interview questionnaire is designed in the
manner to elicit interviewee’s knowledge or perspective related to a topic,
program, or issue.
It is focused on understanding the individual’s beliefs, values, understandings,
feelings, experiences, and perspectives of an issue. More often, the
interviewer chooses to ask open-ended questions in individual interviews. It’s
because, if the interviewee selects answers from a set of given options, it
becomes a structured, fixed response, or a biased interview.

Qualitative surveys:
To develop an informed hypothesis, many researchers use qualitative surveys
for qualitative data collection or to collect a piece of detailed information
about a product or an issue. If you want to create surveys for collecting textual
or qualitative data, then ask more open-ended questions. To answer such
questions, the respondent has to write his/her opinion or point of view
concerning a specific topic or issue. Unlike other qualitative data collection
methods, online surveys have a wider reach wherein a large number of people
can provide you quality data that is highly credible and valuable.

Paper surveys
The paper questionnaires are frequently used for qualitative data collection
from the participants. The questionnaire consists of short text questions, which
are often open-ended. The motive of these questions is to collect as much
detailed information as possible in respondents own words. More often, the
survey questionnaires are designed to collect standardized data hence used at
the time of collecting responses from a larger population or large sample size.

Online surveys
An online survey or a web survey is prepared using a prominent online survey
software and either uploaded in a website or emailed to the selected sample
size with a motive to collect reliable online data. Instead of writing down
responses, the respondents use computers and keyboards to type their
answers. With an online survey questionnaire, it becomes easier and smoother
to collect qualitative data. In addition to that, online surveys have a wider
reach, and the respondent is not pressurized to answer each question under
the supervision of the interviewer. The major benefit online surveys are the
flexibility it offers to the respondents for taking the survey on their choice of
devices like desktop, tablet, or mobile.

Focus group discussions:

Focus group discussions can also be considered as a type of interview but it is
conducted in a group discussion setting. Usually, the focus group consists of 8
– 10 people (the size may vary depending on the researcher’s requirement).
The researchers ensure appropriate space is given to the participants to
discuss a topic or issue in a context. The participants are allowed to either
agree or disagree with each other’s comments.

With a focused group discussion, researchers get to know how a particular

group of participants perceives the topic. Researchers analyze what
participants think of an issue, the range of opinions expressed, and ideas
discussed. The data is collected by noting down the variations or
inconsistencies (if any exists) in the participants, especially in terms of belief,
experiences, and practice.

The participants of focused group discussions are selected based on the topic
or issues for which the researcher wants actionable insights. For example, is
the research is about the recovery of college students from drug addiction,
then the participants have to be a college student, studying and recovering
from the drug addiction. Other parameters such as age, qualification, financial
background, social presence, and demographics are also considered but not
primarily, as the group needs to have diverse participants. Frequently, the
qualitative data collected through focused group discussion is more descriptive
and highly detailed.

Observations:
Observation is one of the traditional qualitative data collection method used
by researchers to gather descriptive text data by watching or observing the
people and their behavior at events or in their natural settings. In this method,
the researcher is completely immersed in watching or observing people by
taking a participatory stance to take down notes. Aside from taking notes,
these days, different methods such as videos, photographs, audio recordings,
tangible items like artifacts, mementos are also be used.

There are two main types of observation,

Covert: In this method, the observer is concealed without letting anyone know
that they are being observed. For example, a researcher studying the rituals of
a wedding in nomadic tribes must join them as a guest and quietly observe
everything that goes around him.
Overt: In this method, everyone is aware that they are being observed. For
example, A researcher or an observer wants to study wedding rituals of a
nomadic tribe. To proceed with the research, the observer or researcher can
reveal why he is attending the marriage and even use a video camera to shoot
everything that goes on around him.
Observation is one of the useful qualitative data collection methods, especially
when you want to study the ongoing process, situation, or reactions on a
specific issue related to the people being observed. Even when you want to
understand people’s behavior or their way of interaction in a particular
community or demographic, you can rely on data generated through
observation. Remember, if you fail to get quality data through surveys,
interviews, or group discussions, rely on observation. It is the best and trusted
qualitative data collection method to generate qualitative data as it requires
equal to no efforts from the participants.

8.

9.
10.
Primary research is one that involves the gathering of fresh data, i.e. when
data about a particular subject is collected for the first time, then the research
is known as primary one.
On the contrary, Secondary research is a research method which involves the
use of data, already collected through primary research. The main difference
between primary and secondary research lies in the fact that whether the
research is conducted previously or not.
Primary Research is based on raw data, whereas secondary research is based
on analysed and interpreted information.

The primary research, the data is collected by the researcher himself or by the
person hired by him. As against this, the secondary research, the data
collection is performed by someone else.
The primary research processg is very involved which deeply explores the
topic. Conversely, the secondary research process is fast and easy, which aims
at gaining broad understanding about the subject.
In primary research, as the researcher conducts the research, the data
collected is always specific to the needs of the researcher. As opposed to
secondary research, wherein the data lacks particularity, i.e. it may or may not
be as per the requirements of the researcher.
Primary research is an expensive process; wherein high cost is involved in the
exploration of data and facts from various sources. Unlike Secondary research,
is an economical process wherein the low cost is involved in acquiring
pertinent information because the data is already collected by someone else.
Primary research consumes a lot of time as the research is done from scratch.
However, in the case of secondary research, the collection of data is already
done, the research takes comparatively less time.

11.
List of Most Popular Data Mining Tools and Applications
#1) Rapid Miner
#2) Orange
#3) Weka
#4) KNIME
#4) Sisense
#5) SSDT (SQL Server Data Tools)
#6) Apache Mahout
#7) Oracle Data Mining
#8) Rattle
#9) DataMelt
#10) IBM Cognos
#11) IBM SPSS Modeler
#12) SAS Data Mining
#13) Teradata
#14) Board
#15) Dundas BI

What is Data Mining

Data mining is looking for hidden valid and potentially useful patterns in huge
data sets.
Data mining is all about discovering previously unknown relationships amongst
the data. Also establish relationship to solve problems through data analysis.
Data mining tools allow enterprises to predict future trends.

Benefits of Data Mining

The benefits of Data Mining include:
- Ability to uncover hidden patterns and relationships in data.
- Can be used to make prediction that impact businesses.
- Specific data mining benefits vary depending on the goal and the industry.
- If Sales and Marketing department can mine customer data, mining
information on historical sales patterns and customers behavior then it gives a
new model for future sale.

Practical Uses of Data Mining:

Companies in the financial industry use data mining tools to build risk models.
Industry use data mining tools to improve product safety.
The first step of data mining is gathering relevant data critical for business.
Company data is either transactional, non-operational or meta data.
Transactional data deals with day to day operations like sales, inventory and
cost etc.
Non operation- forecast.
Meta Data – logical data design.
The second step is selecting a suitable algorithm.
The most popular algorithms used for data mining are classification algorithms
and regression algorithms.

Sequence or Path Analysis parameters look for patterns where one event leads
to another later event.
A Classification parameter looks for new patterns, and might result in a change
in the way the data is organized. Classification algorithms predict variables
based on other factors within the database.

Clustering parameters find and visually document groups of facts that were
previously unknown. Clustering groups a set of objects and aggregates them
based on how similar they are to each other.
Fostering parameters within data mining can discover patterns in data that can
lead to reasonable predictions about the future, also known as predictive
analysis.

12.
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves
more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it
portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or
curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story,
highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of
experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.

Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to
portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called
legacy writing.

An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at

times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is
written by the person himself or herself, sometimes with the assistance of a
collaborator or ghostwriter.
13.

Qualitative data is defined as the data that approximates and characterizes.

Qualitative data can be observed and recorded. This data type is non-
numerical in nature. This type of data is collected through methods of
observations, one-to-one interview, conducting focus groups and similar
methods. Qualitative data in statistics is also known as categorical data. Data
that can be arranged categorically based on the attributes and properties of a
thing or a phenomenon.
Qualitative Data Examples

Qualitative data is also called categorical data since this data can be grouped
according to categories.

For example, think of a student reading a paragraph from a book during one of
the class sessions. A teacher who is listening to the reading gives a feedback on
how the child read that paragraph. If the teacher gives a feedback based on
fluency, intonation, throw of words, clarity in pronunciation without giving a
grade to the child, this is considered as an example of qualitative data.

14.
Qualitative data refers to non-numeric information such as interview
transcripts, notes, video and audio recordings, images and text documents.
Qualitative data analysis can be divided into the following five categories:

1. Content analysis. This refers to the process of categorizing verbal or

behavioural data to classify, summarize and tabulate the data.

2. Narrative analysis. This method involves the reformulation of stories

presented by respondents taking into account context of each case and
different experiences of each respondent. In other words, narrative analysis is
the revision of primary qualitative data by researcher.

3. Discourse analysis. A method of analysis of naturally occurring talk and all

types of written text.

4. Framework analysis. This is more advanced method that consists of several

stages such as familiarization, identifying a thematic framework, coding,
charting, mapping and interpretation.

5. Grounded theory. This method of qualitative data analysis starts with an

analysis of a single case to formulate a theory. Then, additional cases are
examined to see if they contribute to the theory.

15.
Types of Coding
Descriptive/Structural Coding:
• Describe characteristics of the data itself
• Answers who, what where, and how the data were collected.
Topic/Thematic Coding:
• Most common kind of coding
• Coding to describe topic; any passage will include several topics
• Creating a category or recognizing one from earlier
Analytic coding:
• Going beyond gathering by topic to analysis
• Pursue comparisons
• Ask yourself “ What is this all about?”

16.
17.

18.
Those are the advantage , that’s why suitable for all types of research

19.
1. Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of
existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new
concepts, methodologies and understandings. This could include
synthesis and analysis of previous research to the extent that it leads to
new and creative outcomes.

Strong communication
From the CEO to the employees - great communication is the blood life of
any succesful organization. Great communication builds trust, trust
increases productivity, and productivity leads to success. Conversely, poor
communication (usually due to a lack of self-awareness) inevitably
demotivates staff and instills a lack of confidence in the organization. It's
never to late to kick it up a notch and become the first-class communicator
you know you can be. It's time to take action!

1) Define goals and expectations

Who are you talking to? What should they expect to have by the end of
your conversation? Are you tailoring your message to them specifically? Let
people know what exactly they should expect from you, what you expect
from them, and how you will achieve this together.

2) Clearly Deliver Your Message

The most compelling messages are clear and simple! Avoid overusing jargon
and unnecessary tangents and make it as easy as possible to understand.

3) Choose your platform wisely

It's not just what you say, but how it's delivered. The message comes across
differently via email than in person, or via powerpoint versus an interactive
showcase. Ask yourself which platform will evoke the result you desire and
choose from there.

4) Keep Everyone Involved

People only know what they can see, so ensure that lines of communication
are kept open at all times. Actively seek and encourage feedback and
project updates, and especially stay connected when dealing with remote
staff.

5) Listen and Show Empathy

Understanding your customers and colleagues is the heart of strong
communication. Before responding, consider your audience's point of view
to build ongoing trust and a unified vision.

Persuasive communication

Know Your Audience

How you craft your message will depend on whether you're sending a
memo to your staff or giving a presentation to the entire company.
Effective persuasive communication addresses the audience's needs, values
and desires. Audiences respond better to persuasive communication when
they feel the person speaking is similar to them in some way, whether it's in
age, occupation or socio-economic status. If you address what's important
to your audience, they'll see you as someone who is similar to them.
Therefore, they should be more receptive to your message, too.

Get the Audience's Attention

Establish Credibility
To persuade an audience, you must demonstrate your credibility and
authority. People are more receptive to someone they view as an authority
figure, whether that person has direct authority over them, such as a boss,
or if the person is an authority in his industry or profession. You should
attempt to persuade others of something you can prove or have first-hand
knowledge of or experience in. Back up your claims with statistics or
examples.

Before you can persuade an audience, you must first grab their attention
and demonstrate why it's worth their time to listen to your idea or
suggestion. Start with an anecdote that illustrates the point you're trying to
make or with a surprising fact that tells them why what you have to say is
important. For example, if you're trying to persuade company management
to adopt a no-smoking policy, begin with a statistic regarding how many sick
days smokers take compared to non-smokers.

Tailor the Message to the Medium

What persuades in writing doesn't necessarily persuade when delivered
verbally. For example, you can include numbers and statistics in a written
document because readers can take their time interpreting the data. But if
you bombard listeners with these same figures during a speech, you may
confuse them and lose their attention. Face-to-face interaction often is
more effective at persuading others because you can create a personal
connection with your audience and use eye contact, gestures and other
nonverbal signals to maintain their attention.

Convey Benefits
It's easier to persuade an audience when you can show them how your
proposal benefits them. If you're asking your staff to work overtime during
a busy season, describe how the extra money generated will fund additional
employee perks or physical improvements to the workplace. If you're trying
to convince your supervisor to let you work from home part time, mention
studies illustrating that employees are more productive when allowed to
telecommute. If you're pitching an idea to a client, explain how using your
idea will improve the company's image and attract more customers.

Use Body Language

With verbal communication, your demeanor influences your ability to
persuade as much as your words. If you cross your arms, your audience may
perceive you as hostile or angry. If you fidget, they may see you as weak or
uncertain. If you rarely make eye contact, they may think you're hiding
something. To sell your message to your audience, connect with them by
maintaining eye contact. Project authority and confidence by standing up

straight. Demonstrate your sincerity and openness by relaxing your arms

and keeping them at your sides – unless you're using them to gesture –
instead of crossing them behind or in front of you.