Module 31

Empirical Studies – III

-Dr Rajat Agarwal
Department of Management Studies,
Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee-247664

Welcome friends,

This is the third session in series of Empirical research session. So far we have discussed about basic idea
of empirical evidences. We discussed two types of researches under this umbrella that is exploratory
researches and conclusive researches. We discussed the characteristics of these researches. We need to have
better understanding of the issue. Those researches which come under conclusive researches are easy to
publish, but those which come under exploratory research are difficult to publish. There are many issues
under such as it is a big challenge to write a good paper under exploratory research. Another issue is that it
is more pertinent to Indians who are good in Mathematics and computer processing. So, therefore we must
do conclusive researches where more statistical analysis and more mathematical analysis is required to give
enough leverage in academic writing. In case of exploratory researches, it is more qualitative analysis which
is done and because of variety of issues we may lack qualitative analysis.
So, based on my own experience, I suggest to go for conclusive research activities, which will help us in
publishing in good journals. Now in this particular session, we will discuss that what is the relationship
between the three types of designs which we have discussed.

RELATIONSHIPS AMONG EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, AND CAUSAL RESEARCH:

• When little is known about the problem situation, it is desirable to begin with exploratory
research.
• Exploratory research is appropriate when the problem needs to be defined more precisely,
alternative courses of action identified, research questions or hypothesis developed, and key
variables isolated and classified as dependent or independent.
• Exploratory research can be followed by descriptive or causal research.
---- For example, hypothesis developed in stage 1(Exploratory research) can be statistically tested
using descriptive or causal research in stage 2.

----- Explanation: You can use a structured way of data collection to determine whether this
particular assumption or hypothesis is true for particular population or not. So, exploratory
research can be followed by descriptive or causal research.
 Module 31 : Empirical Studies – III

• It is not necessary to begin every research design with exploratory research. It depends upon the
precision with which problem has been defined and the researcher’s degree of certainty about the
approach to the problem.
------Explanation: If as a researcher you are confident and have sufficient knowledge,
understanding of the problem and what approach and what process, can be adopted for the research.
In that case, there is no need to go for exploratory research.
For example: I want to design a turbine for a new power project, I know which are the parameters
which can affect the design of the turbine so I already know with available literature, documents,
research; that these are parameters which are going to affect the performance of turbine. So I will
design a turbine using all these available literature. I need not go for exploratory research, to
identify the parameters which can affect the design of the turbine.

• Although exploratory research is generally the initial step, it need not be. Exploratory research may
follow descriptive or causal research.
Therefore, we need to know how to use them in a sequence. In some cases, exploratory may be
followed by descriptive or causal or vice-versa. In some cases, only you can require only descriptive
or causal researches, when you have a very good understanding and the certainty that what type of
research process you need to adopt.

So, with this we come to the end of the third session on Empirical Research Discussions.
Thank you very much.

Further Readings:
1. Jeffrey Dubin, Empirical Studies in Applied Economics, 2001, Springer US, ISBN 9780792373957

2. Joe Zhu, Data Envelopment Analysis : A Handbook of Empirical Studies and Applications, 2016,

Springer US, ISBN 9781489976826

MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 31 : Empirical Studies – III

Credits

Course Coordinator
Dr Ajay Semalty
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal), India

Content Writer & Presenter

Dr Rajat Agarwal
Department of Management Studies,
Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee-247664

Content Reviewers
Prof. (Retd.) M.S.M. Rawat
Former Vice Chancellor; HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal)
Advisor-HE, Govt. of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, India

Prof. D.S. Rawat

Department of Chemistry
University of Delhi, India

Technical Reviewer
Dr Ajay Semalty
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal), India

Instructional Designer
Lokesh Adhikari
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal), India

MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India