UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2018/2019
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY/ BACHELOR OF BUSINESS IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT 2209: RESEARCH SKILLS AND DESIGN
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: DECEMBER, 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE
(a) Define the term research (2 Marks)
(b) Discuss five purposes of conducting research (5 Marks)
(c) Define the term problem statement (1 Mark)
(d) Describe three properties of a good problem statement (3 Marks)
(e) Define the term literature review (2 Marks)
(f) State and explain five reasons why it is important to carry out the literature review.
(5 Marks)
(g) Discuss main sections or contents of literature review chapter in a proposal document
(4 Marks)
(h) Discuss four sources of literature that you are likely to contact when reviewing your
literature. (4 Marks)
(i) Define the following terms commonly used in the research design context. (4 Marks)
i. Population
ii. Sample
QUESTION TWO
a) Briefly explain the meaning of the term ‘ Data collection’ (2 Marks)
b) Explain four reasons for collecting data (4 Marks)
c) State and explain any five sources of research ideas to a prospective researcher (5 Marks)
d) Write the difference between ‘primary data’ and ‘secondary data’. Give one example for each
case (3 Marks)
e) Discuss two main types of primary data at the disposal of a researcher in the process of an
investigation and methods that can be used to collect each type of data. Use examples to
illustrate your answers. (6 Marks)
QUESTION THREE
a) Define what a research proposal is. (2 Marks)
b). You are required to conduct a research on “Internet access in KCA University”
Write a brief research proposal discusses with the following subtopics:
i) Problem statement of the study (2 Marks).
ii) Main objective of the study (2 Marks).
iii) Three specific objectives of the study (3 Marks).
iv) Significance of the study (3 Marks).
iv)An appropriate sampling method (3 Marks)
v) An appropriate method of collecting the data in this study (3 Marks)
vi) Target population of this study (2 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR
a) By use of relevant examples distinguish between the following pair of research terms
(8 Marks)
i) Case study and survey
ii) Null hypothesis and alternate hypothesis
b) Briefly explain characteristics of a good research (4 Marks)
c) Write short notes on the following sampling techniques. Use examples for illustrating your
answer in each case.
i) Systematic Sampling (4 Marks)
ii) Stratified Sampling (4 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE
(a)Define the term research design (2 Marks)
(b) Describe four types of reliability in the context of evaluating data collection instruments
(4 Marks)
(c) Describe four types of validity in the context of evaluating data collection instruments
(4 Marks)
(d) State and discuss the following sampling techniques (4 Marks)
i. Random sampling
ii. Stratified sampling
(e) Consider the frequency table below and answer the questions that follow
Score (x) Frequency (f)
30 3
40 3
45 2
50 6
60 2
80 3
90 1
i. Complete the table so that you can be able to do part (ii) and (iii) (2 Marks)
ii. Calculate the variance (2 Marks)
iii. calculate the standard deviation (2 Marks)
