 Describe and define business research

 Business research can be described as a systematic and organized effort to investigate a specific
problem encountered in the work setting, which needs a solution.
 the first step in research is to know where the problem areas exist in the organization
 Once the problem is clearly defined, steps can be taken to determine the factors that are
associated with the problem, gather information, analyze the data, develop an explanation for
the problem at hand and then solve it by taking the necessary corrective measures.

 The role of theory and information in research

• The term ‘theory’ can mean a lot of different things, depending on whom you ask. Many people
use the word ‘theory’ to mean an idea or hunch that someone has. a theory is any
concept, instrument, model, or framework that helps them to think about or solve a
problem, to describe a phenomenon, or to better understand a topic of interest, such as
competitive advantage, portfolio management, or the sociology of Canadian donut
shops.
 Monograph
 What is a research paper?


“A systematic process of collecting and analyzing data for some purpose
The word monograph is derived from the Greek "mono" (single) and grapho (to write),

meaning "writing on a single subject. A Monograph has some common characteristics

with books and review (survey) papers. A monograph is a special type of book written on
a single specialized topic, devoted mainly for research works; could pose some unsolved
problems and may provide detained explanation of some research papers. So, it is like a
big survey paper, but it does not appear in journals.

 Research and the manager

 In business, research is usually primarily conducted to resolve problematic issues in, or
interrelated among, the areas of accounting, finance, management, and marketing.

 In accounting, budget control systems, practices, and procedures are frequently examined.

 In finance, the operations of financial institutions, optimum financial ratios, mergers and
acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, the behavior of the stock exchange, the influence of psychology
on the behavior of financial practitioners and the subsequent effect on markets, and the like,
become the focus of investigation.
 In Management research could encompass the study of employee attitudes and behaviors,
human resources management, the impact of changing demographics on management
practices, production operations management, strategy formulation, information systems, and
the like.
 In Marketing research could address issues pertaining to consumer decision making, customer
satisfaction and loyalty, market segmentation, creating a competitive advantage, product image,
advertising, sales promotion, marketing channel management, pricing, new product
development, and other marketing aspects.

 The nature of business and management research

 Managers draw on knowledge from other disciplines, Managers are more likely to allow
access if they see commercial or personal advantage, Managers now tend to be as
educated as the researchers; Managers require research to have some practical
consequence.

 Distinguish between applied and basic research, giving examples, and

discussing why they fall into one or the other of the two categories

 TYPES OF BUSINESS RESEARCH: APPLIED AND BASIC

 Research can be undertaken for two different purposes.

 Applied research

 One is to solve a current problem faced by the manager in the work setting, demanding a timely
solution. For example, a particular product may not be selling well and the manager might want
to find the reasons for this in order to take corrective action. Such research is called applied
research. Applied research is designed to answer specific questions aimed at solving
practical problems. New knowledge acquired from applied research has specific
commercial objectives in the form of products, procedures or services
 Basic research
 The other is to generate a body of knowledge by trying to comprehend how certain problems
that occur in organizations can be solved. This is called basic, fundamental, or pure research .
 Basic research does not have immediate commercial objectives and although it certainly
could, it may not necessarily result in an invention or a solution to a practical problem.

 Qualitative vs. quantitative

 Quantitative data refers to any information that can be quantified, counted or
measured, and given a numerical value. Qualitative data is descriptive in nature,
expressed in terms of language rather than numerical values.

 Research process?

Defining and refining the problem

 The broad problem area?

 What is problem?
 A “problem” does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong with a current
situation that needs to be rectified immediately. A problem could also indicate an interest in an
issue where finding the right answers might help to improve an existing. Problem can define as
any situation where a gap exists between an actual and a desired ideal state.
 Preliminary Information Gathering
 Preliminary research should help the researcher to gain a better understanding of the problem
and to narrow the problem down to a researchable topic for study. Preliminary research should
help the researcher to find answers to questions such as:
 “What is the problem?”;
 “Why does the problem exist?”;
 “Is the problem important?”;
 And “What are the benefits of solving the problem?”
 Although the exact nature of the information needed for this purpose depends on the type of
problem one is addressing, it may be broadly classified under two headings .

1. Background information of the problem. (Why this problem?)

2. Prevailing knowledge on the topic. (How)

1. Background information of the problem.

 The background of the problem is established before the statement of the problem to
provide readers/researchers a compelling understanding of the context of the problem
as in what research has been conducted on this problem.
 Step 1
 Broadly, one component of this discussion will identify fundamental problem areas.
 Why this problem?
 Define its job research
 Define interest (how interest is going on)
 Hot topic( magazine, newspaper, and article)

2. Prevailing knowledge on the topic. (How)

 The relevant findings from previous research in context of problem also known as a
literature review.
 Step 2
 Literature review
 A good literature survey Ensures that important variables are not left out of the study. It
helps the development of the theoretical framework and hypotheses for testing it
Ensures that the problem statement is precise and clear. And Enhances testability and
replicability of the findings to Reduces the risk of “reinventing the wheel”. And also
confirms that the problem is perceived as relevant and significant.

a) Data sources
 The data sources are included in Textbooks, Academic and professional journals, Theses,
Conference proceedings, Unpublished manuscripts, Reports of Government
departments and corporations, Newspapers, The Internet

b) Searching for literature

 Most libraries have the following electronic resources at their disposal:
 Electronic journals, Full-text databases, Bibliographic databases, Abstract databases.

c) Conducting The Literature Review

 The literature review needs to be done in three (3) steps process.
 The First step in this process involves identifying the various published and unpublished
materials that are available on the topics of interest, and gaining access to these.
 The Second step is gathering the relevant information either by going through the
necessary materials in a library or by getting access to online sources.
 The Third step is writing up the literature review.

 Defining The Problem Statement

 After the interviews and the literature review, the researcher is in a position to narrow
down the problem from its original broad base and define the issues of concern more
clearly.
 What makes a good problem statement?
 The problem statement introduces the key problem that is addressed in the research
project. Problem statement is a clear, precise, and short statement of the specific issue
that a researcher wishes to investigate.
 There are three key criteria to assess the quality of problem statement :
 It should be relevant
 It should be feasible
 It should be interesting

 Types of research questions

 There are three basic types of questions that research projects can address:

1. Exploratory research

 Exploratory research often relies on qualitative approaches to data gathering such as

informal discussions (with consumers, employees, and managers), interviews, focus
groups, and/or case studies. As a rule, exploratory research is flexible in nature.

2. Descriptive. 

 When a study is designed primarily to describe what is going on or what exists. Public
opinion polls that seek only to describe the proportion of people who hold various
opinions are primarily descriptive in nature. For instance, if we want to know what
percent of the population would vote for a Democratic or a Republican in the next
presidential election, we are simply interested in describing something.

3. Causal.

 When a study is designed to determine whether one or more variables (e.g., a program
or treatment variable) causes or affects one or more outcome variables. If we did a
public opinion poll to try to determine whether a recent political advertising campaign
changed voter preferences, we would essentially be studying whether the campaign
(cause) changed the proportion of voters who would vote Democratic or Republican
(effect).

 The Research Proposal

 introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Research Gap
1.3 Problem Statement
1.4 Research Objectives
1.5 Research Questions
1.6 Significance of Research

 Literature Review
 2.1 Operational definitions of variables
2.2 relationships among variables
2.3 Overarching theory
2.4 Hypotheses Statements
2.5 Conceptual / Theoretical Framework
 3.Research Methodology
3.1 Research Setting
3.2 Procedure of data collection
3.3 measures
3.4 Population and Sampling
3.4.1 Sample Size
3.4.2 Sampling technique
3.5 Analytical technique