1st chapter

Business Research Method

By Venkatesh.N Koshys Institute of Management St

udies

1.1What is research?

Research is the process of finding solutions to a problem after a thorough study and analysis of the situational factors.

1 Introduction to Research

1.2.What is business research?

• Research provides the needed information that guides managers to make informed decisions to successfully deal with problems.

• The information provided could be the result of a careful analysis of data gathered firsthand or of data that are already available (in the company).

Objectives of research

The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be achieved by the study. These objectives should be closely related to the research problem.

The general objective of a study states what researchers expect to achieve by the study in general terms. It is possible (and advisable) to break down a general objective into smaller, logically connected parts.

These are normally referred to as specific objectives. Specific objectives should systematically address the various research questions. They should specify what you will do in your study, where and for what purpose.

Why should research objectives be developed? The formulation of objectives will help you to:

Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials); Avoid the collection of data which are not strictly necessary

for understanding and solving the problem you have identified;

Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases. Properly formulated, specific objectives will facilitate the

development of your research methodology and will help to orient the collection, analysis, interpretation and utilization of data.

How should you state your objectives?

It is important that your objectives are stated in a good way. Take care that the objectives of your study:

Cover the different aspects of the problem and its contributing factors in a coherent way and in a logical sequence;

Are clearly phrased in operational terms, specifying exactly what you are going to do, where, and for what purpose;

Are realistic considering local conditions;

Contd…

Use action verbs that are specific enough to be evaluated (Examples of action verbs are: to determine, to compare, to verify, to calculate, to describe, and to establish). Avoid the use of vague non-action verbs (Examples of non-action verbs: to appreciate, to understand, or to study).

Keep in mind that when the project is evaluated, the results will be compared to the objectives. If the objectives have not been spelled out clearly, the project cannot be evaluated.

Introduction Research approaches

The clear identification of the approaches to the re search can be made only by analyzing the different

types of research The very basic purpose of conducting the descript

ive (straightforward) research work is to analyze t he facts and investigate the existing situation.

It focus mainly on the different dimension of the pr oblems under study.

The researcher doesn’t have any control over the v ariable(unpredictable) associated with research. H

e uses these variables to find solution for the existi ng problems

Applied research

The purpose of applied research is to find a sol ution to the immediate problems faced by the

society. It is action oriented research study. Pure Research - : the pure research aim at findi

- ng some thing to the society . it is an in depth s cientific research focused in developing knowl

edge to the society. It is also called as fundamental research brings

new ideas, to the existing body of the knowledge.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research is based on the qua lity or the amount. The outcome of the st udy is presented through monetary or nu

merical terms. The qualitative approaches are popularly

used to find the behavior of the people un der study.

Quantitative approach If the sales of the company is connected with the pr

ofit for the previous years, it is clearly gives the con fidence to the researcher to draw the conclusion th

at sales and income or profit are directly related to each other, and when the sales is increases, profit o

f the company is increases . The quantitative approaches of analysis used regul

arly the different types of qualitative analysis. The a nalysis will be based on the numerical , percentage

and in the monetary terms. Further quantitative research also consists of usage

of many statistical tolls like arithmetic mean, media n, mode, standard deviation percentage etc….

Qualitative Approach

It is based on subjective examination of behavi or, attitude, opinions, behavior impressions etc

….the simplification of research support are m ainly made on the basis of non qualitative term

s, in other wards, by adopting group discussion -, group interviews, projective techniques, in de

pth interviews of the respondents etc..

Exploratory or Formulative researchExploratory research is preliminary study of an unfamiliar problems about which the researcher has little or no knowledge. It is similar to a doctors initial investigation of a patient suffering from an unfamiliar malady for getting some clues for identifying it.

1.3.Types of Business research.

1.Applied research Is to solve a current problem faced by the manager in

the work setting, demanding a timely solution. 2.Basic research (fundamental, pure) Is to generate a body of knowledge by trying to

understand how certain problems that occur in organizations can be solved.

The findings of such research contribute to the building of knowledge in the various functional areas of business.

Why is it important for managers to know about research?

Solve problems Decision making tool Competition Risk Investment Hire researchers and consultants more effectively

2 Scientific Investigation

1 Observation 2 Identification of problem area 3 Theoretical framework 4 Hypotheses 5 Research design 6 Data collection 7 Data analysis 8 Data interpretation 9 Implementation

1.Observation –

2. Identification of problem area

3. Theoretical framework

4 Hypotheses—

5 Research design-

6 Data collection-

7 Data analysis-

8 Data interpretation-

9 Implementation-

4. Hypotheses- Definition: A hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.(unpredictable)

A hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in your study.

For example, a study designed to look at the relationship between sleep deprivation(loosing something) and test performance might have a hypothesis that states,

"This study is designed to assess the hypothesis that sleep deprived(loss) people will perform worse on a test than individuals who are not sleep deprived."

The seven-step process in the Hypothetico-Deductive method

1 Observation 2 Problem identification

preliminary information gathering 3 Theoretical framework

theory formulation 4 Hypothesizing 5 Research design

further scientific data collection 6 logical analysis 7 Deduction

The seven-step process

problem statement is a clear, defined, and brief statement of the question or issue that is to be investigated with the goal of finding an answer or solution.

Theoretical framework is the foundation on which the entire research project is based. It is logically developed,described,and elaborated network of associations among the variables relevant to the problem situation.

A hypothesis is a tentative(uncertain) statement that proposes a possible explanation to some phenomenon or event. A useful hypothesis is a testable statement which may include a prediction. A hypotheses should not be confused with a theory.

.

Contd….

Data analysis: the data gathered are statistically analyzed to see if the hypotheses that were generated have been supported.

Measurement is the process observing and recording the observations that are collected as part of a research effort.

Deduction is the process of arriving at conclusions by interpreting the meaning of the data analysis results

What is meant by approach? It is the whole design including; assu

mptions, the process of inquiry, the t ype of data collected and the measur

ing of findings.

Split the overall research design into the following parts:

(a) sampling design the method of selecting items to be observed;

(b) observational design the conditions under which the observations are to be

made; (c) statistical design

the question of how many items are to be observed an d how the information and data gathered are to be anal

ysed; (d) operational design

the techniques by which the procedures specified in th e sampling, statistical and observational designs can b e carried out.

45/42

The important features of a research design (i) a plan

specifies the sources & types of information relevant to the research problem

(ii) a strategy which approach will be used for gathering and

analyzing the data. (iii) the time and cost budgets

most studies are done under these two constraints

46/42

Research design must, at least, contain— (a) a clear statement of the research problem;

(b) procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information;

(c) the population to be studied; (d) methods to be used in processing and analyzing data

Researchers work in graphic form

Searching for scientific problem

Review of literature

H y p o t h e s i s

Aims of research

M e t h o d s

Plan of research

Research

ResultsAztec Pyramide

The Research process

The research process should be understood as one of ongoing

planning, searching, discovery, reflection, synthesis, revision, and learning, as shown in the figure

The Research Cycle

The Research Cycle QUESTIONING

PLANNING GATHERING SORTING & SIFTING SYNTHESIZING EVALUATING REPORTING*

Information needs in business

Almost every organization has to engage in research at some level to stay competitive.

Companies gather data both from within and outside the organization.

The methods used to gather,analyze,and synthesize information from the external and internal environments are becoming increasingly complicated to the huge scope of computer technology.

Computer Technology and Business

ICT Information Communication Technology

The research process

1 Observation 2 Data gathering 3 Problem definition 4 Theoretical framework (variables identified) 5 Hypotheses 6 Research design 7 Data collection,analysis,interpretation 8 Deduction 9 Report writing 10 Report presentation 11 Managerial decision making

Research design

Purpose of the study: Exploratory (Investigating) study

Is undertaken when no information is available on how similar problems or research issues have been solved in the past

Descriptive (straight forward)study Is to able to describe the characteristics of the variables of

interest in a situation.

Contd….

Hypotheses testing Is undertaken to explain the difference in the dependent

variable (changeable) or to predict organizational outcomes

Case studies

Research design can be thought of as the structure of research -- it is the "glue" that holds all of the elements in a research project together

Data collection methods

Data can be collected in a variety ways ,data sources can be primary or secondary.

Data collection methods such as: interview(face-to-face,telephone,computer-assisted

interviews), Questionaires Observation Motivational techniques

Sampling

A sample is a subset of the population. Sample is the process of selecting a sufficient number of

elements from the population. Studying a sample rather the entire population is

sometimes to lead to more dependable results, mostly because fatigue(energy) is reduced, resulting in fewer errors on collection data. (time, cost, human resources)

Surveys are useful and powerful in finding answers to research question but if data are not collected from the people or objects that can provide the correct answers to solve the problem, the survey will be in ineffective.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

The data analysis involves three major steps, done in approximately this order:

Cleaning and organizing the data for analysis (Data Preparation)

Describing the data (Descriptive Statistics)

Testing Hypotheses and Models (Inferential Statistics)

Statistics methods

Central tendency

The Research Report

Researh proposal

Research report

Research presentation

Research report articles vary in how they are organized, :

Abstract (theoretical) - Brief summary of the contents of the article (peace of writing)

Introduction - A explanation of the purpose of the study, a statement of the research question(s) the study intends to address

Literature review - A critical assessment of the work done so far on this topic, to show how the current study relates to what has already been done

Methods - How the study was carried out (e.g. instruments or equipment, procedures, methods to gather and analyze data)

Contd…

Results - What was found in the course of the study Discussion - What do the results mean

Conclusion - State the conclusions and implications of the results, and discuss how it relates to the work reviewed in the literature review; also, point to directions for further work in the area

Research Method v/s Research Methodology

We can say that research methodology has ma ny dimensions & research method do constitut

e a part of the research methodology The scope of research methodology is wider th

an that of research methods. Researchmet hodol ogy i s a way t o syst emat i cal l y sol

ttt tttttttt ttttttt t. It may be understood as a science of studying

how research is done scientifically

Contd…

In it we study the various steps that are g enerally adopted by a researcher in study

ing his research problem along with the lo gic behind them

R. Method v/s R. Methodology

• Research method are the methodology which you conducted research in to a subject or a topic.

• Research of experiment tests surveys and the like.

• Research methodology explains the methods by which you may proceed with your research.

• Research methodology involves the learning of the various techniques that can be used in the conducted of research & in the conduct of tests, experiment , surveys , critical studies search

Contd…

• Research methods aim at finding solutions to research problems.

• If the subject for research is employment of figure of speech in English literature

• Research methodology aim at the employment of the correct procedure to find out solution.

• If the subject for research is employment of figure of speech in English literature

Contd…

• Then the research method that are involved are study of various works of the different poets & the understanding of the employment of figure of speech in their works

• Than the research methodology pertaining to the topic mentioned above involves the study about the tools of research, collation of various manuscripts related to the topic, techniques involved in the critical edition of these manuscripts and the like

Contd…• If the subject into which

you conduct a research is a scientific subject or topic.

• Then the research methods include experiment, tests, study of various other results of different experiment performed earlier in relation to the topic or the subject & the like

• If the subject into which you conduct a research is a scientific subject or topic.

• The research methodology pertaining to the scientific topic involves the techniques regarding how to go about conducting the research, the tools of research , advance techniques that can be used in the conduct of the experiment and the like

Research Proposal

Title Page Abstract (on a separate single page) The Body (no page breaks between sections in the body)

Introduction (2-3 pages) Methods (7-10 pages)

Sample (1 page) Measures (2-3 pages) Design (2-3 pages) Procedures (2-3 pages)

Results (2-3 pages) Conclusions (1-2 pages)

Contd….

References Tables (one to a page) Figures (one to a page) Appendices

Question?

How can you solve business problem? Why do you need to know how to write the research propos

al? Do you understand the research process? Do you know why do you have to identify problem stateme

nt clearly before doing research? Do you know why sampling and statistics are important to t

he research result? Why do you have to identify the limitation of your study? Why the research report and presentation are important? Do you know how to apply the steps of the research process

?

Questions

1.If you want to set up a coffee shop near the university and school, what is your research topic?

2.Identify the problem statement. 3.Identify the objectives 4.The hypotheses 5. The research methodology. 6. The examples of the questionnaireใ

Any Questions