Empirical Methods Work:

How it works:
Come up with hypotheses about how different properties of the context are related
Testing the hypotheses against the empirical data

Step 1: Observation:

Motivated Researcher  a new idea comes to life

Personal observation or observation based on previous study

Step 2: Induction

Formulate a hypothesis based on observation

Step 3: Determining the study setting

Indicate the settings in which we are going to collect our data to test the hypothesis

Step 4: Data Collection:

Collect relevant data in support or against the hypothesis

Acceptance / Rejection of a Hypothesis:

We cannot say our hypothesis is proven if it was accepted. Our hypothesis is provisionally
supported by the data we have collected. You could be proven wrong in the future.

In practice of business studies, we do not reject the hypothesis so easily. Instead, we look for
some underlying reasons that made the nine people choose something other than Option 3 ( like
comedy shows)

How do we decided about a good empirical study?

Quality Criteria for a good empirical study:

Reliability: A result is reliable if the study is replicable:

Validity: A result if it reflects the truth of the reality

Construct Validity: The results have construct validity if the study measures the construct
of interest in the hypothesis.
 Internal Validity: The results have internal validity if there is no plausible explanation of
the effect other than the cause.

External Validity: The results are externally valid when testing the hypothesis in a
different dataset gives us the same results.

Cause and Effect:

Causality:

What makes a relation a casual one:

1. The cause and effect must be connected; we must be able to trace the effect to the
cause
2. The cause occurs before the effect in time
3. The cause and effect occur as a pair consistently; by observing the cause, we must
observe the effect
4. The cause and effect must be correlated.

Internal Validity Biases:

Participants:

Maturation:
Occurs when there is an alternative explanation for the effect

Can be mitigated by introducing a control group that is measured in the same

time, but is not exposed to the cause of the hypothesis.

Selection:
Refers to the differences between the participants in the main group under the
study and the control group.

Can be mitigated by randomization

Instruments:

A tool to collect data

3 types of risks:

1. Low Construct Validity: The instrument contains a systematic bias that guides the
participants into a particular answer, or measures another construct or property (not the
one under the study)

2. Instrumentation: Occurs when the instrument of the study changes during the course of
data collection

3. Testing: Occurs when the test used to collect the data plays as an alternative explanation
of the effect.

Artificial Behavior:

A result of the artificial behavior of participants or the researcher who are aware to the
fact that the course of data collection is for a study

Two types of artificial behavior

1. Experimenter Expectancy: Occurs when the researcher looks for the answer, he has in
mind for the research question

2. Demand characteristics: Occurs when the participants do not behave normally because of
the research conditions.

Settings:

Associated with the setting sin which the study occurs

1. Ambiguous Temporal Precedence: Refers to the ambiguity about whether cause

happens before effect.

2. History: Associated with an unfortunate event or a mistaken event that occurs during
the data collection

3. Morality: Refers to the dropout rate among participants from when we start the data
collection to the end.
Variables:
Variables in the scope of Interest are those that focus on our hypothesis.

Construct: Abstract concepts that are being discussed or predicted in a hypothesis; not yet
measured.

Variable: Set of measures for a construct; we operationalize constructs by variables

Constant: Values do not change during the study.

Independent Variables: Variables that operationalize the cause

Dependent Variables: Variables that operationalize the effect.

Variables that are not associated with our hypothesis are outside of the scope

Confounders: Are related to both dependent and independent variables and are partially or
entirely responsible for the relationship between the two variables.

Not measured; cannot identify their actual influence on the relationship under the hypothesis

Control Variables: similar to confounders; but they are measured and kept constant

Background Variables: do not impact the relationship explained in the hypothesis directly.
However, indirectly they might.

Are related to generalizability of the results.