Business research slides

1. Alpha University
Business Research Methods

2. Business Research Methods
Part I
The fundamentals of Business
Research

3. Content of the lecture
1. Introduction to Research
2. Philosophical Foundations of Research
3. Definitions of Business research
4. Goals of Business Research
5. Motivation of Business Research
6. Classifications of Research
7. Research ethics

4. Introduction- why research?
 Scientific research methods are central parts of
the social sciences.
 The study of research methods provides you
with the knowledge and skills you need to solve
the problem and facilitate decision making
 What constitutes a ‘science’, the nature of its
methods and the types of data which it should
collect are open to dispute.

5. Introduction- why research?
 In general, the role of science is to
 understand and explain social phenomena,
 focus attention on particular issues and
 challenge conventionally held beliefs about the
social and natural worlds.
 Research is more than a reflection of our opinions
and prejudices.

6. Introduction- why research?
 Research substantiates, refutes, organizes or
generates theories and evidence which may
challenge not only our own beliefs, but also those
of the society in general.
 Social research, however, does differ from natural
sciences.
 Most social science research is concerned with
people and their life contexts.

7. Introduction- why research?
 Social science research differs from research in the
natural sciences as a result of its focus on people –
individuals and groups – and their behaviour that
vary widely.
 So, the methods of the social sciences are
fundamentally different from, but not inferior
to, the natural sciences.
 But, the social sciences are more complicated than
the natural sciences.

8. What is Research?
 Research is simply the process of finding solutions
to a problem after thorough study and analysis of
the situational factors.
 However:
 The general image of research is that it has
something to do with the laboratory where
scientists are supposedly doing some
experiments.
 When most people think about research, they
think about some guy in a white lab coat
working at a lab bench mixing up chemicals.

9. What is Research?
 But, somebody who is interviewing consumers to
find out their opinion about a new product is also
doing research.
 Research may be considered as an organized,
systematic, data based, critical, objective, scientific
inquiry or investigation into a specific problem,
undertaken with the purpose of finding solutions to
it.
 It is the systematic approach to obtain and
confirm new and reliable knowledge.

10. What is Research?
 A research project has a well-known structure: a
beginning, middle, and an end.
 Research provides the needed information that
guides the policy makers to make informed
decisions.
 Research reduces uncertainty for decision
makers.
 Hence, research can be used to raise income,
reduce social problems, improve public health, sell
products, improve workers’ efficiency, etc.

11. What is Research?
 Research means finding answers to the questions.
 It is a systematic search for truth.
 Through research, new and original information,
ideas about the world we live in, are obtained.
 Research is search for knowledge.
 Research is defined as a scientific and systematic
search for information on a specific topic.

12. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 At the heart of all research, is an
endeavour to find out, to investigate,
confirm, probe, test, see or view, measure,
correlate, compare, evaluate, find meaning,
gain understanding, or to discover new
emerging properties.
 Mouton (1996:28) simply states that: the
predominant purpose of all research is to
arrive at results that are as close to the
truth as possible.

13. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Every research is based on some kind
of philosophical stance.
 The philosophical foundation is
commonly known as paradigm
 Paradigm is the theoretical framework
within which the research takes place
 Paradigms differ by their ontology-
epistemology-methodology-methods

14. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Ontology
 Concerned with ‘Being’
 How do you look at reality?
 What is the nature of social reality?
 Ontology is the study of beings or their being –
–
‘what is’
 It is concerned with the nature of existence and
structure of reality
 A dictionary definition of the term may describe
it as the image of social reality upon which a
theory is based.

15. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Ontological assumptions:
 Are assumptions about the nature of reality
 There is a reality that can be apprehended.
 We can determine “the way things are”
 Often discover the cause effect relations
behind social reality.
 At the least, we can find meaningful
indicators of what is “really” happening.
 Ontology is the starting point of all
research processes and activities

16. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Major ontological (philosophical) assumptions
tend vary on a continuum from extreme
realism to idealism (relativism)
 Realism/Objectivism
 Idealism/Relativism
 claims and assumptions that are made about
the nature of social reality, claims about what
exists, what it looks like, what units make it up
and how these units interact with each other.

17. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Epistemology
 Branch of philosophy concerned with the origins,
nature, methods and limits of knowledge?
 How do we gain knowledge of the world around
us?
 What can be known?
 What type of knowledge is legitimate?
 the possible ways of gaining knowledge of social
reality, whatever it is understood to be. In short,
claims about how what is assumed to exist can
be known.

18. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 What type of knowledge is legitimate?
 Empiricism: use the senses to “know” the
world
 Empiricism is a view in the theory of
knowledge which focuses on the role of
experience, especially experience based
on perceptual observations by the
 Rationalism is the epistemological view that
reason is the chief source of knowledge and
the main determinant of what constitutes
knowledge

19. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 What is a paradigm?
 Each paradigm is guided by specific
ontology and epistemology, and has
its own “rules”
 A paradigm is a fundamental image of
the knowledge and subject matter
within a science
 Includes theoretical and
methodological “rules” for working
within that particular paradigm

20. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 A paradigm
 is the broadest unit of consensus within a science
 serves to differentiate one scientific community
from another
 defines
 what should be studied
 what questions should be asked
 how they should be asked
 what rules should be followed in interpreting the
answers obtained

21. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Types of paradigms
 Positivism (Objectivist thinking)
 Constructionism (Interpretivism)
 Pragmatism (Mixed position)
 In positivism, the composition of reality is
from observable material objects
 Positivism focuses on objectivity and evidence
 It works most in natural sciences
 It adopts quantitative approach

22. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Constructionism focuses on
perceptions and interpretations of the
world around us to know our world.
 Knowledge is individually and socially
constructed
 Reality is subjective
 Facts and values are not distinct
 Works in the social sciences
 It adopts qualitative approach

23. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Pragmatism (mixed views)- focuses
on strong sides of positivism and
constructionism
 Holds that ‘whatever works is better’
 It avoids methodological ‘monoism’
 It adopts mixed research approach
(mix of quantitative and qualitative)

24. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Ontology:
 Assumptions about the nature of reality
 Epistemology:
 How the researcher comes to know that
reality
 Methodology
 How the researcher access and report
what is learned about the reality

25. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Methodology – the strategy, plan of
action, process or design lying
behind the choice and use of
particular methods and linking the
choice and use of methods to
desired outcomes.

26. Philosophical Foundations of Research
 Methods – the techniques or
procedures used to gather and
analyze data related to some
research question of hypothesis

27. Summary
Ontology Epistemology Methodology Methods Sources
What’s out
there to
know?
What and
how can
we know
about it?
How can we
go about
acquiring
knowledge?
What
procedures
can we use
to acquire it?
Which
data can
we collect?
Adapted from Hay, 2002, pg. 64

28. Scientific Approaches:
Deductive and Inductive Thinking
 The modern method of science is broadly of two
types: Induction and Deduction.
 Deductive reasoning works from the more
general to the more specific.
 Also called a "top-down" approach.
 begin with a theory – to specific hypotheses –
into observations.
 test the hypotheses with specific data- a
confirmation (or not) of our original theories.

29. Deductive Reasoning

30. Scientific Approaches:
Deductive and Inductive Thinking
 Inductive reasoning works the other way, moving
from specific observations to broader
generalizations and theories.
 this a "bottom up" approach.
 Grounded theory
 we begin with specific observations and measures,
begin to detect patterns and regularities,
formulate some tentative hypotheses, and finally
end up developing some general conclusions or
theories.

31. Inductive Thinking

32. Deductive and Inductive process
 Deductive
 scientific principles
 moving from theory to data
 the need to explain causal
relationships between variables
 the collection of quantitative data
 the application of controls to
ensure validity of data
 the Operationalization of concepts
to ensure clarity of definition
 a highly structured approach
 researcher independence of what is
being researched
 the necessity to select samples of
sufficient size in order to generalize
conclusions
 Inductive
 gaining an understanding of the
meanings humans attach to
events
 a close understanding of the
research context
 the collection of qualitative data
 a more flexible structure to
permit changes of research
emphasis as the research
progresses
 a realization that the researcher
is part of the research process
 less concern with the need to
generalize

33. Summary

34. Reading Assignment
 Identify What is not research?

35. Definitions of Business research
 Is the systematic and objective process of generating
information for aid in making business decisions.
 Involves systematic gathering , recording and analyzing
data to provide information to guide business decisions
 Business research is the application of the scientific
method in searching for the truth about business
phenomena.

36. Definitions of Business research
 Business 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).

37. Why is it important for managers to
know about research?
 Helps solve problems
 It is a decision making tool
 Helps win competition
 Helps take calculated risk
 Helps determine feasibility of investment
 Hire researchers and consultants more
effectively

38. Goals of Business Research
 To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new
insights into it (studies with this object in view are
termed as exploratory or formulative research studies);
 To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group (studies with this object
in view are known as descriptive research studies);
 To determine the frequency with which something occurs
or with which it is associated with something else
(studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic
research studies);
 To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables (such studies are known as hypothesis-testing
research studies).

39. Goals of Business Research
 Research can be carried out:
 To identify and find solutions to the problems
 To develop new concepts, theories, etc.,
 To find alternate business strategies
 To test new products and services
 To better understand shifts in consumer attitudes and tastes.
 to help improve practice;
 to bridge the gap between theory and practice;
 For managers, the ultimate goal of research is to supply accurate
information that reduces the uncertainty in managerial decision making.

40. Motivation to conduct RESEARCH?
What makes people to undertake research? The possible
motives for doing research may be either one or more of the
following:
Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential
benefits;
Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved
problems,
Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;
Desire to serve to society;
Desire to get respectability.

41. WHO DOES RESEARCH?
 A very wide array of organizations and individuals do research. The
following is just a small sample of the kinds of organizations and
individuals who conduct research:
 Government departments
 Manufacturing or service companies
 Research companies
 Consultancy companies
 Academics
 Voluntary organizations
 Advertising agencies
 Market research companies , etc.

42. Classifications of Research
 The characterization of thoughts, actions, and
processes into some general types help us make
distinctions.
 There are different criteria on which to base the
classification of research activities.
 The classification may be in terms of:
 methods employed,
 the time dimension,
 research environment or
 data used.

43. Classifications of Research
Descriptive versus Analytical Research
 The purpose of descriptive research is
description of the state of affairs as it exists at
present.
 The main characteristics of this method are that
the researcher has no control over the variables.
 The researcher can only report what has
happened or what is happening.
 Example; the frequency of shopping by
people, the preference of people, the number
of employed workers in a factory, etc.

44. Classifications of Research
 Analytical studies go beyond simple description
in their attempt to model empirically the social
phenomena under investigation.
 In analytical research the researcher has to use
facts or information and analyze these to make
a critical evaluation of the material.
 It asks “why” or “how” and tries to find the answer
to a problem.

45. Classifications of Research
Applied versus Basic research:
 Research may be undertaken either to understand
the fundamental nature of a social reality (basic
research) or to apply knowledge to address
specific practical issues (applied research).
 Applied research aims at finding solution for
an immediate pressing problem facing a
society or an industrial or business
organization.

46. Classifications of Research
 Theory is less central in applied research.
 Basic research is mainly concerned with
generalizations and with the formulation of a
theory.
 It is primarily concerned with the
understanding of the fundamental nature of
social reality.
 It is the source of most scientific ideas and
ways of thinking about the world.
 It is mostly exploratory in nature.

47. Classifications of Research
Quantitative vs Qualitative Research
 Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantitative figure or quantity
or amount.
 applicable to phenomenon that can be
expressed in terms of quantity.
 Most often we collect data and see whether a
hypothesis is consistent with the data
 Methodology is simpler than qualitative research
 But it often takes longer time and is expensive.

48. Classifications of Research
 Qualitative Research
 Qualitative research is concerned with
subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions,
and behavior.
 It generates results, which are not subjected
to rigorous quantitative analysis.
 Generally group interviews, projective
techniques and in depth interviews are used.
 Qualitative research is particularly important in
the behavioral sciences.

49. Classifications of Research
 BUT, social research is essentially pluralistic:
 researchers often combine quantitative and
qualitative research methods within the
same study.
 Mixed-method research strategies are
particularly effective in policy-oriented research
and the contribution that qualitative research
can make to policy evaluation is increasingly
being recognized.

50. Classifications of Research
Disciplinary, subject matter, and problem solving
research
 Disciplinary research is designed to improve a
discipline.
 Dwells on theories fundamental relationships, and
analytical procedures and techniques within a discipline.
 Subject matter research is research on a subject
of interest.
 Follows subject matter boundaries within a
discipline (e.g., marketing, human resource,
finance, etc.)

51. Classifications of Research
 Problem solving research is designed to solve
specific problem for a specific decision maker.
 Like subject matter research it is multidisciplinary
in nature.
 Directly linked to a particular decision process.
 It is also holistic i.e. uses all available
information.
 Note that disciplinary research is more
reductionist.

52. Classifications of Research
Other types of researches
 Research
 Can be one time or longitudinal research,
 can be field setting or laboratory based or
simulation research,
 Can be inferential, experimental or
simulation studies,
 can also be clinical or diagnostic research,
etc.

53. Time Dimension in Research
 Quantitative research may be divided into two
groups in terms of the time dimension
 A single point in time (cross sectional)
 Multiple points research (longitudinal research)
 Cross –sectional research takes a snapshot
approach to social world.
 This is the simplest and less costly research
approach.
 Limitation – it cannot capture social processes
or changes.

54. Time Dimension in Research
 Longitudinal research examines features of
people or other units more than one time.
 It is usually more complex and costly than cross
sectional research but is also more powerful
especially with respect to social changes.
 Time series research – this is longitudinal study
on a group of people or other units across multiple
periods (e.g. time series data on exports of
coffee).

55. Time Dimension in Research
 The panel study – the researcher observes
exactly the same people group or organization
across time periods, each time using the
snapshot approach.
 In panel study the focus is on individuals or
households.
 Example: interviewing the same people in
1991, 1993, 1995, etc, and observing the
change is an example of panel data set.

56. Time Dimension in Research
 A cohort Analysis – is similar to the panel
study, but rather than observing the exact
same people, a category of people who share
similar life experience in a specified period is
studied.
 Hence the focus is on group of individuals
not on specific individuals or households.

57. Characteristics of a good research
1. Purposiveness.
2. Rigor.
3. Testability.
4. Replicability.
5. Precision and confidence.
6. Objectivity.
7. Generalizability.
8. Parsimony.

58. 1. Problem Identification
2. Problem Definition
3. Literature review
Familiarize yourself with existing
research and theory on the topic
4. Redefine the problem
(Based on evidence from
literature)
5. Formulate Hypothesis
What do you intent to test?
6. Select a Research Design
Choose one or more research methods
Census, survey, experiment,
observation sampling design.
7.Carryout the Research.
-Gathering data
-Processing data
-Analyzing data
8. Interpret Results
Work with implications of the data
collected and analyzed.
9. Report Research Findings
-What is the significance
-How do they relate to previous
finding and/or existing theory)
Stages in the Research
Process

59. Research ethics
 Researchers, subjects, funding bodies and
society may have conflicting incentives in
research.
 Researcher to researcher conflict
 Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is the unauthorized use of
someone else's thoughts or wording either
by
 incorrect documentation, failing to cite
your sources altogether, or
 simply by relying too heavily on external
resources.

60. Research ethics
• Whether intentional or inadvertent some or
all of another author's ideas become
represented as your own.
 Plagiarizing undermines your academic
integrity.
• It betrays your own responsibilities as a
student writer, your audience, and the very
research community you were entering by
deciding to write a research paper in the
first place.
 Peer reviews

61. Research ethics
 Researchers-society
 Falsifying data
 Irresponsible policy advise
 Waste of research fund
 Funding bodies-researchers
 Fund allocations directing research
 i.e. ‘money buying research results’?

62. Research ethics
 Therefore, some important shared values for
the responsible conduct of research include:
 HONESTY — conveying information
truthfully and honoring commitments,
 ACCURACY — reporting findings precisely
and taking care to avoid errors,
 EFFICIENCY — using resources wisely and
avoiding waste, and
 OBJECTIVITY — letting the facts speak for
themselves and avoiding improper bias.

63. Research ethics
Researcher-subjects
1. Harm to participants
 Physical harm, humiliation, embarrassment,
loss of trust, harm to participant’s
development, loss of self-esteem, stress, etc.
 Maintaining confidentiality
 Anticipating harm to participants is difficult

64. Research ethics
2. Lack of informed consent
 Participants should be given as much
information as needed to make decision on
participation
 But researchers do not know all the risks
 Difficult to present ALL information to
participant/s and can be counter-productive to
the research
 Covert research avoids reactivity but may
violate informed consent

65. Research ethics
3. Invasion of privacy
 Privacy of participants should be protected
 Participants may refuse to address specific
questions even though they have agreed to
participate
 Covert research usually violates privacy
4. Protecting research subjects
 Legal protection
 Professional associations and universities
(ethics committees)

66. Research ethics
5. Deception
 When researchers present their research as
something other than what it is
 Researchers usually want to limit participants
understanding so that they act naturally
 Debriefing: to get subjects interpretation of the
research; with deception, handle debriefing
with sensitivity.