What do Bengaluru committees expect you to say about analysis before you collect data?
More than most scholars write. Three documents set the bar:
- Bangalore University. Appendix 6 of the 2024 regulations gives the research methods part of the synopsis one page. It says plainly that lines like “the use of descriptive/analytical methods” will not suffice. You must say how each research question will be answered, and name the type and sources of data. The part before it wants hypotheses stated as falsifiable propositions. In real terms, that means one line per objective, naming the variables, the design and the test. That’s what an analysis plan is.
- CHRIST. The 2022 regulations set up a pre-doctoral colloquium, usually held within a month of your coursework result. Experts, the RAC and other scholars look at your proposal there. They may suggest changes to the title, scope, methodology and statistical tools. The suggestions are not binding, but you must give them due thought with your supervisor. Bring a written analysis plan, not a list of software.
- VTU. The 2023 regulations expect scholars to keep to the highest ethical standards “in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data”. And each open seminar puts your method in front of the Research Advisory Committee again. So does the pre-submission colloquium.
Bangalore University comes back to it at the end. At the pre-submission colloquium in clause 17.3, you present the method you used and the data you collected and analysed. The same rules (clause 7.17) expect co-supervisors to help with experimental design and data analysis. Does your topic cross fields? Then a co-supervisor with depth in statistics is worth asking for. For the choice of test itself, start with our guide to choosing a statistical test and the one on sample size.
Which ethics committee has to approve your study in Bengaluru, and when?
| Institution | Which committee | When it must clear your study | What ends up in the thesis or file |
|---|---|---|---|
| RGUHS-affiliated colleges | Institutional Ethics Committee at college level, for human subjects or animals | Before your first half-yearly progress report | A log book signed by guide and head, copied with every half-yearly report |
| CHRIST (Deemed to be University) | Research Conduct and Ethics Committee (RCEC); minimal-risk studies may be delegated to a departmental or deanery committee | Before data collection starts; the application asks for your start date | RCEC approval and consent forms, with personal details removed, as compulsory appendices |
| Bangalore University | Ethical guidelines “prescribed by Bangalore University and other relevant authorities” (clause 5.5(d)) | Not fixed in the regulations | Not specified |
CHRIST’s application form for RCEC clearance is a good model even if you’re not at CHRIST. Under “Methods/Methodology” it asks for a summary “including how the research will be analyzed”. Write it so that a reviewer outside your field can follow it. The form also asks if your work deals with vulnerable groups, sensitive topics or a clinical or intervention study. The 2025 thesis format then makes the approval and the consent forms compulsory appendices.
At an RGUHS college, timing is the hard part. Clause 9(c) of the 2021 ordinance wants Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, for human subjects or animals, before your first progress report. Any analysis you plan has to fit the protocol that committee cleared. Add a new outcome measure or subgroup later, and it may need to go back to them. Our guide to research ethics approval shows what these committees look for.
What statistics training do Bengaluru universities build into the PhD?
Enough to show that examiners expect you to follow your own analysis. But it’s rarely enough to run a structural equation model on your own:
- Bangalore University (and Bengaluru City University, which admits under the same regulations): Paper I of coursework is Research Methodology and Publication Ethics. It carries four credits and 48 contact hours, and you finish it within one semester (clause 12). The entrance test’s research methodology half follows the UGC-NET Paper I syllabus. Its data interpretation unit covers data types, sources and graphs, but not inference.
- VTU: Everyone has to take Research and Publication Ethics. Have you not already studied Research Methodology and IPR? Then you must pass it as an extra course before the pre-submission colloquium. It is examined at the research centre (clause 23PHD 6.2(8)). You may take coursework through NPTEL.
- RGUHS: Paper I of the Pre-Ph.D. examination is Research Methodology related to your area. Your guide sets the syllabus, and you need 60% in each paper. Before you sit it, you do an online Research Methodology workshop run by the Government of India, and you show the certificate.
- ISEC: the Ph.D. Programme Rules put Basic Econometrics or Basic Statistics in Part A of coursework for everyone. Econometrics is a must if your master’s is in economics or statistics. Coursework also builds in hands-on use of computer packages.
- CHRIST: coursework covers foundations of research, research methodology, publication ethics and research writing.
What does IISc’s integrity policy say about data and statistics?
IISc has no analysis-chapter template. But section 15.11 of its Student Information Handbook says more about data than any other Bengaluru rule book. It asks you to make experiments and simulations reproducible and statistically sound. It names cherry picking as a breach, which it says means leaving out data points to make a figure look good. It wants primary and secondary data recorded and saved. That means original images, instrument readouts and computer folders. Lab notes go in bound notebooks, with printed page numbers and a date on each page. Making up or falsifying data is listed as cheating. So is changing data that was already evaluated and sending it in again.
It also covers AI. If you use AI tools for anything beyond grammar and clarity, you must say so in your methods or acknowledgements. Name the tools and how far you used them. And sensitive or confidential data must not go into open generative AI tools. Tempted to paste a raw data file into a chatbot to “run the analysis”? That last point is for you.
Working with us from Bangalore
We work with you remotely from Nagercoil. You share the data file, the questionnaire or codebook, and your objectives. Take out names and other personal details first. For an RGUHS or CHRIST study, add the ethics approval reference, so we stay within the approved protocol. A first video call settles the analysis plan before anything is run.
Timing follows your university’s dates. At CHRIST, draft the analysis plan before the pre-doctoral colloquium. Then the panel’s ideas land on a real plan. At Bangalore University, the plan goes in the one-page methods part of the synopsis, and it comes up again at the pre-submission colloquium. At VTU, it helps to walk through the results before each open seminar. We do these walk-throughs by video, with your output open, so you can answer the committee’s questions yourself.
Maybe the design itself still needs work, such as sampling, instruments or sample size. That goes to research methodology consulting first. Our ethics policy covers what we won’t do with data. For SPSS-versus-SmartPLS questions, see AMOS or SmartPLS.
Scope, stages, quality checks, timelines and pricing are the same wherever you are: Statistical Analysis (SPSS, R, AMOS, SmartPLS).
Sources
- Bangalore University 2024 PhD regulations: clauses 5.5, 7.17, 12, 17.3 and the Appendix 6 synopsis format (PDF)
- Bangalore University, research methodology syllabus for the 2026 Ph.D. entrance (UGC-NET Paper I) (PDF)
- VTU PhD regulations (2023): coursework clauses 23PHD 6.1 and 6.2, and scholars’ duties on research data (PDF)
- CHRIST PhD regulation 2022: coursework content and the pre-doctoral colloquium (PDF)
- CHRIST Centre for Research, PhD procedures with the RCEC ethics clearance application (PDF)
- Mandatory thesis appendices (RCEC approval, consent forms), CHRIST thesis format v1.3 of 2025 (PDF)
- RGUHS 2021 PhD ordinance: ethics clearance (clause 9) and the Pre-Ph.D. examination (clause 10) (PDF)
- ISEC PhD programme rules: Part A coursework and the econometrics or basic statistics option (PDF)
- Data and statistics conduct in IISc’s academic integrity policy (section 15.11 of the July 2026 handbook, PDF)
FAQ
Questions scholars in Bangalore ask
The Bangalore University synopsis gives research methods only one page. How much statistics goes in it?
Enough that a reader can see how each research question will be answered. Give the design, the variables, the type and source of data, and the test or model for each objective. Full checks of each assumption belong in the thesis, not the synopsis. A table with one row per objective often fits the page.
My RGUHS college has not yet cleared my ethics application. Can we start?
We can plan the analysis and set up the data file. But data collection has to wait for the Institutional Ethics Committee. The ordinance expects that clearance before your first half-yearly progress report, so apply early.
The CHRIST colloquium panel suggested SmartPLS instead of AMOS. Do I have to switch?
The 2022 regulations say colloquium suggestions need not be adopted absolutely. But you must give them due thought with your supervisor. The choice should follow your research aim. Covariance-based SEM suits testing established theory. PLS-SEM suits models that aim to predict or explore. Either way, we can help you write down your reasons.
I am at ISEC without an economics degree. Which statistics course will I take?
If you have no economics or statistics background, the Ph.D. Programme Rules let you opt for Basic Statistics, in consultation with your centre. That holds even in economics-related centres. Those with an economics or statistics master’s must take Econometrics.
Can you collect or enter the survey data for me?
No. Getting the answers is your part. Making up answers, or filling them in for the people you survey, would be fabrication. We can help before and after you gather the data. We can design the questionnaire and plan the sample. Then we can prepare and screen what you gather, with each change logged.
