Page 15 - RESEARCH HANDBOOK FOR LL.M. AND PHD

Research questions could be helpful where the researcher does not have sufficient idea of the work done
in that area or the nature of issues under research are only evolving. Example:
Does child labour has anything to do with the education? or;
Does the type of parenting has any association with the indulgence of a child in to labour situation?
(a) Coverage & Scope The duration or number of cases and nature of cases studied; or any
geographical region (city, villages etc.) or any institution (like case study of Economic Offence
Wing etc.) studied.
(b) Sample: normally in non-doctrinal studies. Mention the sampling method used.
(c) Data Collection: All kinds of research (doctrinal or non-doctrinal) require some kind of data.
Make a mention of sources and nature of data collected and utilized in the report. It may include
the following:
Primary Data collection
If the study involves data collection from the respondents, following is the scheme:
Universe of the study (state the source/estimated number of total population of units)
Sampling design (method of sampling to extract the required number of sample)
Tools used ( the ways to collect the required data like interview schedule, questionnaire, participant
observation, case study)
Techniques (any scale, measurement etc.)
Statistical consideration/ software applications.
Nature of data that are proposed to be collected should be specifically mentioned. The sources for each
type of data and the tools and techniques that will be used for collecting different types of data should
also be specifically mentioned. For questionnaire and/or interview schedule to be used, the following
should be indicated:
(a.) Nature and coverage of the questionnaire or interview schedule to be used for different
sections of respondents.
(b.) Number of questions to be asked from each respondent
(c.) Scaling technique proposed to be included, if any
(d.) Projective tests incorporated in the questionnaire/interview schedule, if any
(e.) Coding plan (e.g., whether the questions/ responses/ items will be pre-coded or not; if coding
is required, mention whether it is to be done in computer or manually)
(f.) In case, interview technique is being adopted, please mention about how they are to be
conducted, including the particular characteristics of the interviews/ interviewers
(g.) In case of observation technique, mention type of observation, participants, quasi-participants,
non-participants; units of observation; or other techniques, if any.

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