Business research methods

Business research methods analysis

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Part One

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS RESEARCH

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Chapter One

RESEARCH IN BUSINESS

What is Business Research?

• A systematic Inquiry whose objective is

to provide information to solve managerial problems

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Why Study Research?

• Research provides you with the

knowledge and skills needed for the fast-paced decision-making

environment

Why Managers need Better Information

• Global and domestic competition is

more vigorous

• Organizations are increasingly

practicing data mining and data warehousing

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The Value of Acquiring Research Skills

• To gather more information before

selecting a course of action

• To do a high-level research study

• To understand research design

• To evaluate and resolve a current

management dilemma

• To establish a career as a research

specialist

Types of Studies Used to do Research

• Reporting

• Descriptive

• Explanatory

• Predictive

What is Good Research?

• Following the standards of the scientific method

– Purpose clearly defined – Research process detailed – Research design thoroughly planned – Limitations frankly revealed

– High ethical standards applied

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What is Good Research? (cont.)

• Following the standards of the scientific method (cont.)

– Adequate analysis for maker’s needs

decision-– Findings presented unambiguously – Conclusions justified

– Researcher’s experience reflected

The Manager-Researcher Relationship

• Manager’s obligations

– Specify problems

– Provide adequate background information

– Access to company information gatekeepers

• Researcher’s obligations

– Develop a creative research design

– Provide answers to important business questions

When Research Should be Avoided

• When information cannot be applied to

a critical managerial decision

• When managerial decision involves little risk

• When management has insufficient

resources to conduct a study

• When the cost of the study outweighs

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Part One

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS RESEARCH

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Chapter Two

APPLYING SCIENTIFIC

THINKING TO MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

Sources of Knowledge

• Empiricists attempt to describe, explain, and make predictions through

observation

• Rationalists believe all knowledge can

be deduced from known laws or basic truths of nature

• Authorities serve as important sources

of knowledge, but should be judged on integrity and willingness to present a

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The Essential Tenets of Science

• Direct observation of phenomena

• Clearly defined variables, methods, and procedures

• Empirically testable hypotheses

• Ability to rule out rival hypotheses

• Statistical justification of conclusions

• Self-correcting process

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Important Arguments in Research

• Deduction is a form of inference that

purports to be conclusive

• Induction draws conclusions from one

or more particular facts

The Building Blocks of Theory

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Understanding Concepts

• A concept is a bundle of meanings or characteristics associated with certain events, objects, conditions, situations, and behaviors

• Concepts have been developed over time through shared usage

Understanding Concepts

• The success of research hinges on:

– how clearly we conceptualize – how well others understand the concepts we use

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What is a Construct?

• A construct is an image or idea

specifically invented for a given research and/or theory-building purpose

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The Role of the Hypothesis

• Guides the direction of the study

• Identifies facts that are relevant

• Suggests which form of research design

is appropriate

• Provides a framework for organizing the conclusions that result

What is a Good Hypothesis?

• A good hypothesis should fulfill three conditions:

– Must be adequate for its purpose – Must be testable

– Must be better than its rivals

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The Value of a Theory

• Narrows the range of facts we need to study

• Suggests which research approaches will yield the greatest meaning

• Suggests a data classification system

• Summarizes what is known about an object of study

• Predicts further facts that should be

found

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved

Part One

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS RESEARCH

Chapter Three

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Working with the Hierarchy

• Management Dilemma

– The symptom of an actual problem – Not difficult to identify a dilemma, however choosing one to focus on may be difficult

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Working with the Hierarchy

• Management Question Categories

– Choice of purposes or objective – Generation and evaluation of

solutions – Troubleshooting or control situation

Working with the Hierarchy

• Fine tune the research question

– Examine concepts and constructs – Break research questions into specific second-and-third-level questions

– Verify hypotheses with quality tests – Determine what evidence answers the various questions and hypothesis

– Set the scope of your study

question

Working with the Hierarchy

• Measurement Questions

– The questions we actually ask or extract from respondents

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Other Processes in the Hierarchy

• Exploration

– Recent developments – Predictions by informed figures about the prospects of the technology

– Identification of those involved in the area

– Accounts of successful ventures and failures by others in the field

Research Process Problems

• The Favored Technique Syndrome

• Company Database Strip-Mining

• Unresearchable Questions

• Ill-Defined Management Problems

• Politically Motivated Research

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Designing the Study

• Select a research design from the large variety of methods, techniques,

procedures, protocols, and sampling plans

Resource Allocation & Budgets

• Guides to plan a budget

– Project planning – Data gathering – Analysis, interpretation, and reporting

• Types of budgeting

– Rule-of-thumb – Departmental or functional area

Contents of a Research Proposal

• Statement of the research question

• Brief description of research methodology

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Data Collection

• Characterized by

– abstractness – verifiability – elusiveness – closeness to the phenomenon

• Types

– Secondary data – Primary data

Final Steps in Research

• Data analysis

• Reporting the results

– Executive summary – Overview of the research – Implementation strategies for the recommendations

– Technical appendix

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Part One

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS RESEARCH

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Chapter Four

THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Purpose of the Research Proposal

• To present the question to be

researched and its importance

• To discuss the research efforts of others who have worked on related questions

• To suggest the data necessary for

solving the question

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The Research Sponsor

All research has a sponsor in one form

or another:

• In a corporate setting, management

sponsors research

• In an academic environment, the

student is responsible to the class instructor

What are the Benefits of the Proposal

to a Researcher?

• Allows the researcher to plan and

review the project’s steps

• Serves as a guide throughout the

investigation

• Forces time and budget estimates

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Types of Research Proposals

• Internal

• External

Proposal Complexity

3 levels of complexity:

• The exploratory study is used for the

most simple proposals

• The small-scale study is more complex

and common in business

• The large-scale professional study is

the most complex, costing millions of

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How to Structure the Research Proposal?

• Create proposal modules

• Put together various modules to tailor

your proposal to the intended audience

Modules in a Research Proposal

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What to include in the Appendices?

• A glossary of concepts, constructs, and definitions

• Samples of the measurement

instrument

• Other materials that reinforce the body

of the proposal

Evaluating the Research Proposal

• Proposal must be neatly written in

appropriate writing style

• Major topics should be easily found and logically organized

• Proposal must meet specific guidelines set by the sponsor

• Technical writing style must be clearly

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Part One

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS RESEARCH

5-3

Chapter Five

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH

What are Research Ethics?

• Ethics are norms or standards of

behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others

• The goal is to ensure that no one is

harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities

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Ethical Treatment of Participants

• Begin data collection by explaining to

the participant the benefits expected from the research

• Explain to the participants that their

rights and well-being will be adequately protected, and say how this will be done

• Be certain that interviewers obtain the informed consent of the participant

Deception

• The participant is told only part of the truth or when the truth is fully

compromised

• To prevent biasing the participants

before the survey or experiment

• To protect the confidentiality of a third party

Ethical Issues related to the Client

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Ethics Related to Sponsor

• Sometimes researchers will be asked by

sponsors to participate in unethical behavior

• To avoid coercion by sponsor the researcher should:

– Educate sponsor to the purpose of research

– Explain researcher’s role – Explain how distortion of the truth leads to future problems

– If necessary, terminate relationship with sponsor

Ethical Issues related to

Researchers and Team Members

• Safety

• Ethical behavior of assistants

• Protection of anonymity

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Part Two

THE DESIGN OF RESEARCH

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Chapter Six

DESIGN STRATEGIES

What is Research Design?

• A plan for selecting the sources and

types of information used to answer research questions

• A framework for specifying the

relationships among the study variables

• A blueprint that outlines each procedure from the hypothesis to the analysis

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Classifications of Designs

• Exploratory study is usually to develop

hypotheses or questions for further research

• Formal study is to test the hypotheses

or answer the research questions posed

Methods of Data Collection

• Monitoring, which includes

observational studies

• Interrogation/communication studies

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Power to Produce Effects

• In an experiment, the researcher

attempts to control and/or manipulate the variables in the study

• In an ex post facto design, the

researcher has no control over the variables; they can only report what has happened

Purpose of the Study

• Descriptive study tries to explain

relationships among variables

• Causal study is how one variable

produces changes in another

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The Time Dimension

• Cross-sectional studies are carried out

once and represent a snapshot of one point in time

• Longitudinal studies are repeated over

an extended period

The Topical Scope

• Statistical studies attempt to capture a

population’s characteristics by making inferences from a sample’s

characteristics

• Case studies place more emphasis on a

full contextual analysis of fewer events

or conditions and their interrelations

A Participant’s Perceptions

• Usefulness of a design may be reduced when people in the study perceive that research is being conducted

• Participants’ perceptions influence the outcomes of the research

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Why do Exploratory Studies?

• Exploration is particularly useful when researchers lack a clear idea of the

problems

Data Collection Techniques

• Qualitative techniques

• Secondary data

• Focus groups

• Two-stage design

Causal Study Relationships

• Symmetrical

• Reciprocal

• Asymmetrical

Achieving the Ideal Experimental Design

• Control

– Random Assignment

– Matching

• Randomization

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Part Two

THE DESIGN OF RESEARCH

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Chapter Seven

SAMPLING DESIGN

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What is a Good Sample?

• Accurate: absence of bias

• Precise estimate: sampling error

Types of Sampling Designs

• Probability

• Nonprobability

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Steps in Sampling Design

• What is the relevant population?

• What are the parameters of interest?

• What is the sampling frame?

• What is the type of sample?

• What size sample is needed?

• How much will it cost?

Concepts to Help Understand

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Probability Sampling Designs

• Simple random sampling

• Systematic sampling

• Stratified sampling

– Proportionate – Disproportionate

• Cluster sampling

• Double sampling

Designing Cluster Samples

• How homogeneous are the clusters?

• Shall we seek equal or unequal

clusters?

• How large a cluster shall we take?

• Shall we use a single-stage or

multistage cluster?

• How large a sample is needed?

Nonprobability Sampling

• Convenience Sampling

• Purposive Sampling

– Judgment Sampling – Quota Sampling

• Snowball Sampling

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Part Two

THE DESIGN OF RESEARCH

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Chapter Eight

MEASUREMENT

Measurement

• Selecting observable empirical events

• Using numbers or symbols to represent aspects of the events

• Applying a mapping rule to connect the

observation to the symbol

Characteristics of Data

• Classification

• Order

• Distance (interval between numbers)

• Origin of number series

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Data Types

Order Interval Origin

Ordinal yes unequal none

Interval yes equal or none

Sources of Measurement Differences

• Construct Validity

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved

Part Two

THE DESIGN OF RESEARCH

Chapter Nine

MEASUREMENT SCALES

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What is Scaling?

• Scaling is assigning numbers to

indicants of the properties of objects

Types of Response Scales

• Rating Scales

• Ranking Scales

• Categorization

Rating Scale Errors to Avoid

• Leniency

– Negative Leniency – Positive Leniency

• Central Tendency

• Halo Effect

Dimensions of a Scale

• Unidimensional

• Multidimensional

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved

Part Three

SOURCES AND COLLECTION OF DATA

Chapter Ten

EXPLORING SECONDARY DATA

Levels of Information

• Primary sources

• Secondary sources

• Tertiary sources

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Types of Information Sources

• Indexes and Bibliographies

• Dictionaries

• Encyclopedias

• Handbooks

• Directories

Secondary Sources by Type

• Indexes and Bibliographies

– to find or locate books or articles – to find authors, topics to use in online searches

Secondary Sources by Type

Secondary Sources by Type

• Directories

– To identify influential people and organizations

– to find addresses, e-mail, other contact info

on these people and organizations

Evaluating Sources

• Purpose

– What the author is attempting to accomplish

• identify hidden agenda(s)

• identify direction of bias – Seek both biased and unbiased sources

Evaluating Sources

• Authority

– Identify background of author

• Credentials: educational, professional

• Experience: duration, setting, level – Identify the level of scholarship in

content

• footnotes, endnotes

Evaluating Sources

• Format

– Order of content – Versatility of use

• Indexed?

• Searchable?

• Downloadable?

Searching Databases

Construct a search query

 Boolean Operators

OR - for plurals, synonyms spelling variations (woman OR women)

AND - narrows your search

advertising AND bibliography

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Searching Databases

Construct a search query

 Boolean Operators (cont.)

award NOT trophy

ADJ - order key terms within your

search

assisted ADJ living