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Prepared By: M. Khurram Siddiqui Mba 3 Semester (Finance) Short Notes Research Methods (STA 630) Lesson No.1
Prepared By: M. Khurram Siddiqui Mba 3 Semester (Finance) Short Notes Research Methods (STA 630) Lesson No.1
Khurram Siddiqui
MBA 3
rd
Semester (Finance)
Short Notes
esearch Methods (S!A "3#)
$esson No.%
Introduction, Definition, & Value of Research
& 'hat is research and 'hat(s the )a*ue o+ research,
So*ution
Research is something to do with the laboratory where scientists are apparently doing
some experiments / the process of finding solutions to a problem after through studying and
analyzing the situational factors. It is gathering information needed to answer a uestion, and
thereby help in sol!ing a problem.
-a*ue o+ esearch.
"he nature of research problems could !ary. #roblems may refer to some undesirable situation
or these may refer to simply a snooping of the research that may be agitating his or her mind.
$or example, in a recent %&/%' examination of the #un(ab )ni!ersity *+ percent of the students
failed. "hat is a colossal wastage of the resources, hence an undesirable situation that needs
research to find a solution. "he researchers may come up with a !ariety of reasons that may
relate with the students, the teachers, the curricula, the a!ailability of boo,s, the examination
system, the family en!ironment of the student, and many more. 'o a study may be carried out
diagnose the situation, and the recommendations to be applied to o!ercome the undesirable
situation of mass failure of students.
"he !alue of research for policy ma,ers, planners, business managers, and other sta,eholders
is that it reduces uncertainty by pro!iding information that impro!es the decision ma,ing
process. Decision ma,ing process associated with the de!elopment and implementation of a
strategy in!ol!es four interrelated stages,
Identifying problems or opportunities
Diagnosing and accessing problems or opportunities
'electing and implementing a course of action
-!aluating the course of action
$esson No./
'cientific .ethod of Research & Its 'pecial $eatures
0hat is Scienti+ic method and 'rite do'n its +eatures or characteristics,
So*ution
'cience is a way to produce ,nowledge, which is based on truth and attempts to be uni!ersal.
'cience is a method or procedure to produce ,nowledge, which could be used for the solution
of problems as well as for the generation of uni!ersal theories, principles and laws through the
process of obser!ation and re obser!ation. /bser!ation here means that scientists use 0sensory
experiences1 for the study of phenomenon. "hey not only do the obser!ation of a phenomenon
but also repeat the obser!ation se!eral time because they want to definite and positi!e about
their findings, rather the results are organized, systematized, and made part of the existing body
of ,nowledge, all this procedure for the creation of ,nowledge is called 0scientific method1.
1mportant Features or 2haracteristics o+ Scienti+ic Method
3mpirica*2 'cientific method is concerned with the realities that are obser!able through
sensory experience and generates ,nowledge which !erifiable by experience or obser!ation.
'ome of the realities could be obser!ed directly but some are not obser!ed directly but
researchers ha!e designed ways to obser!e these indirectly.
-eri+iab*e2 3nowledge obser!es through scientific method again !erified by the same
researcher or other using senses to confirm, and place more faith and confidence in those
findings or conclusions, If similar findings emerge on the basis of data collected by other
researchers using the same method. "hey will gain confidence in the scientific nature of our
research.
2umu*ati)e2 prior to the start of any study the researchers try to scan through literature and
see that their study is not a repetition in ignorance. Instead of rein!esting the wheel the
researchers ta,e stoc, of the existing body of ,nowledge and create a lin,age between the
present and pre!ious body of ,nowledge has to be established and that is how the ,nowledge
accumulates.
4eterministic2 'cience is based on the assumption that all e!ents ha!e antecedent causes
that are sub(ect to identification and logical understanding. "he scientific researchers try to
explain the emerging phenomenon by identifying its reasons. "he researcher tries to narrow
down the large number of reasons which implies the explanation with the minimum number of
!ariables that are responsible for an undesirable situation in such a way some action could
ta,en.
3thica* and 1deo*o5ica* 6b7ecti!ity2 "he conclusions drawn though interpretation of the results
of data analysis should be ob(ecti!e that is they should be based on the facts of the finding
deri!ed from actual data and not on our emotional !alues. &ny interference of their personal
li,ings and dis li,ing in their research can contaminate the purity of data, which ultimately can
affect the predictions made by the researcher.
Statistica* 8enera*i9ation2 4eneralizability refers to the scope of the research findings in one
organization setting to other settings. $or wider 4eneralizability, the researcher sampling design
has to be logically de!eloped and a number of other details in the data collection methods need
to be carefully followed. 5ere the use of statistics becomes !ery helpful in ma,ing
generalizations which is one of the goals of scientific method because it is a de!ice for
comparing what is obser!ed and what is logically expected.
3:p*anation2 'cience is fundamentally a explanation acti!ity and scientific explanation must
ma,e sense.
1nducti)e $o5ic2 /ne starts from obser!ed data and de!elops a generalization which explains
the relationships between the ob(ects obser!ed.
4educti)e $o5ic2 /ne starts from some general law and applies it to a particular instance.
Important features of scientific method say that there are two po'er bases o+ scienti+ic
;no'*ed5e 6i7 -mpiricism such as 'ensory -xperience or /bser!ation and 6ii7 Rationalism such
as the logic explanations for regularity and then conseuence ional argumentation for ma,ing
generalizations.
3:perimenta* 4esi5n2 & study design in which the researcher might create &n artificial setting,
control some !ariables and manipulates the independent !ariable to establish cause8and8effect
relationship is called -xperimental Design.
9esson :o. ;
<lassification of Research
0hat is e:p*oratory research and 'rite do'n 5oa*s o+ this research and a*so 'rite about
sources used by e:p*oratory research +or co**ection o+ in+ormation,
So*ution
If the issue was new or the researcher has written little on it, you began at the
beginning, this is called 0exploratory research1.
Its may be the first stage in a seuence studies, and useful preliminary step for new
researcher=s. -xploratory research rarely yields definiti!e answers. It addresses the 0what1
uestion i.e. what is this social acti!ity really about, and difficult to conduct because there are
few guidelines to follow.
8oa*s o+ 3:p*oratory esearch
De!elop well grounded picture of the situation.
Determine the feasibility of conducting the study.
%ecome more familiar with the facts, setting, and concerns.
$ormulate uestions and refine issues for more systematic inuiry.
De!elop tentati!e theories, generate new ideas.
3:p*oratory esearch used +o**o'in5 sources < too*s +or co**ectin5 in+ormation.
-xperience 'ur!eys. In experience sur!ey the researcher tries to contact indi!iduals who
are ,nowledgeable about a particular research problem.
'econdary Data &nalysis. ¬her economical and uic, source of bac,ground
information is secondary data analysis. It is preliminary re!iew of data collected for
another purpose to clarify issues in the early stages of a research effort.
<ase 'tudies. "he purpose of case study is to obtain information from one or a few
situations that are similar to the researcher=s problem situation.
#ilot 'tudies. & pilot study implies that some aspect of the research is done on a small
scale.
0hat is 4escripti)e esearch and 'rite do'n its 5oa*s and a*so 'rite its sources +or
co**ection o+ data.
So*ution
& research that presents a picture of specific details of a situation, social setting, or
relationship is called 0descripti!e research1.
"he ma(or purpose of descripti!e research is to describe characteristics of a population or
phenomenon, and see,s to determine the answers to who, what, when, where, and how
uestion. $or examples labor force sur!eys, population census, and educational census. It
offers to the researcher a profile or description of rele!ant aspects of the phenomenon.
8oa*s o+ 4escripti)e esearch
<larify seuence, set of stages.
#resent bac,ground information.
4i!e a !erbal or numerical picture of the situation.
<reate a set of categories or classify the information.
$ocus on who, what, when, where, and how, but not why>
4escripti)e esearch used +o**o'in5 sources < too*s +or co**ectin5 in+ormation.
Data 4athering "echniues li,e 'ur!eys.
$ield Research
<ontent &nalysis.
0hat is e:p*anatory research and 'rite do'n its 5oa*s,
So*ution.
?hen we encounter an issue that is already ,nown and ha!e a description of it, we
might begin to wonder why things are the way they are. "he desire to ,now 0why1 to explain is
the purpose of explanatory. It builds on exploratory research and descripti!e research and loo,s
for causes and reasons. $or example why parents abuses their children.
-xplain things not (ust reporting such as 0?hy1>
-laborate and enrich a theory=s explanation.
Determine which of se!eral explanations is best.
&d!ance ,nowledge about underlying process.
%uild and elaborate or enrich a theory=s predictions or principle.
!ypes o+ App*ied esearch
Ma7or types o+ app*ied research used by practitioners are
Action esearch2 "he applied research that treats ,nowledge as a form of power and
abolishes the line between research and social action is called 0action research1. It
incorporates ordinary or popular ,nowledge li,e it focuses on power with a goal of
empowerment see,s to increase awareness and tied directly to political action. &ction
researchers assume that ,nowledge de!elops from experience, particularly the
experience of social political action.
1mpact Assessment esearch2 its purpose is to estimate the li,ely conseuences /
assessment of a planned change and ma,ing choices among alternati!e policies. 'uch
as assessment of %asha dam on the en!ironment.
3)a*uation esearch2 it addresses the uestion 0did it wor,1, the process of
establishing !alue (udgment based on e!idence about the achie!ement of the goals of a
program. It measures the effecti!eness of a program or policy and uses se!eral research
techniues li,e sur!ey, field research. "wo types of e!aluation research are
o $ormati!e -!aluation Research2 It is built in monitoring or continuous feedbac,
on a program used for program management.
o 'ummati!e -!aluation Research2 9oo,s at final program outcomes
2ompared Basic esearch 'ith App*ied esearch,
So*ution
@. %asic Research2 "he scientific community is the primary consumer of basic
research.
&pplied Research2 "he consumers of applied research findings are practitioners
such as teachers, counselors, and casewor,ers etc.
A. %asic Research2 basic researchers emphasize high standards and try to conduct
near perfect research.
&pplied Research2 &pplied researcher ma,e more trade offs.
;. %asic Research2 5igh standards applied
&pplied Research2 Buic, and dirty may not meet high standards.
C. %asic Research2 9ogic and rigorous research design
&pplied Research2 &pply to areas of interest of sponsors
D. %asic Research2 'uccess results published impact on other scientists.
&pplied Research2 'uccess results are used by sponsors.
9esson :o. C
"heory and Research
o*e o+ !heory.