INTRODUCTION:

BUSINESS RESEARCH

1
 MEANING OF RESEARCH
Research refers to a search for knowledge.

One can define research as a scientific and systematic search for

pertinent information on a specific topic.

In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.

2
 MEANING OF RESEARCH
The Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Current English defines
research as

“a careful investigation or inquiry especially through

search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”

Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from

the known to the unknown.

It is actually a voyage of discovery.

3
 MEANING OF RESEARCH
D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of Social
Sciences define research as

“the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the

purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify
knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in
construction of theory or in the practice of an art.”

4
 MEANING OF RESEARCH
As such the term ‘research’ refers to

The systematic method consisting of

✓enunciating the problem,

✓formulating a hypothesis,

✓collecting the facts or data,

✓analyzing the facts and

✓Reaching certain conclusions

either in the form of solutions(s) towards the concerned problem or

in certain generalizations for some theoretical formulations.
5
 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the
application of scientific procedures.

The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and
which has not been discovered as yet.

Research objectives may be categorized into the following broad

groups:

1. 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.]
6
 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group. [studies with this object in view are
termed as descriptive research studies.]

2. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with

which it is associated with something else. [studies with this object
in view are termed as diagnostic research studies.]

4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.

[studies with this object in view are termed as hypothesis-testing
research studies.]
7
 BUSINESS RESEARCH DEFINED
Business research is the application of the scientific method in
searching for the truth about business phenomena.

These activities include

➢ defining business opportunities and problems,

➢ generating and evaluating alternative courses of action,

➢ monitoring employee and organizational performance.

8
 BUSINESS RESEARCH DEFINED

Business research is more than conducting surveys.

This process includes

✓ idea and theory development,

✓ problem definition,

✓ searching for and collecting information,

✓ analyzing data, and

✓ communicating the findings and their implications.

9
 BUSINESS RESEARCH DEFINED

● This definition suggests that business research information is

not intuitive or haphazardly gathered.

● The definition also emphasizes that any information

generated should be accurate and objective.

● Definition makes it clear that business research is

designed to facilitate the managerial decision-making process

for all aspects of the business: finance, marketing, human
resources, and so on.
10
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
The basic types of research are as follows:

(i) Descriptive vs. Analytical:

Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding
enquiries of different kinds.

As the name implies, the major purpose of descriptive

research is to describe characteristics of objects, people,
groups, organizations, or environments.

In other words, descriptive research tries to “paint a picture”

of a given situation by addressing who, what, when, where,
and how questions. 11
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
(i) Descriptive vs. Analytical:
This research describes the who, what, when, where, and how
regarding the current economic and employment situation.

Descriptive studies are conducted after the researcher has

gained a firm grasp of the situation being studied.

In analytical research, on the other hand,

the researcher has to use facts or information already

available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of
the material. 12
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
(ii) Applied vs. Fundamental:
Applied research is conducted to address a specific problem
facing a society or an industrial/business organization.

Researches to identify social, economic or political trends that may

affect a particular institution or the marketing research, or
evaluation research are examples of applied research.

Thus, the central aim of applied research is to discover a solution

for some pressing practical problem.

13
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
(ii) Applied vs. Fundamental:

Basic or Fundamental or Pure research, on the other hand,

is conducted without a specific decision in mind, and it

usually does not address the needs of a specific
organization.

It attempts to

expand the limits of knowledge in general, as such it is

not aimed at solving a particular pragmatic problem.
14
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
(ii) Applied vs. Fundamental:
Basic research can be used to test the validity of a general
business theory (one that applies to all business) or to learn more
about a particular business phenomenon.

Basic research is directed towards

• finding information that has a broad base of application

and thus,

• adds to the already existing organized body of scientific

knowledge.
15
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
(iii) Quantitative vs. Qualitative:
Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or
amount.

It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.

Qualitative research, on the other hand, is concerned with qualitative

phenomenon, i.e., phenomena relating to or involving quality or
kind.

This research is especially important in behavioral sciences where the

aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior.
16
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
(iv) Conceptual vs. Empirical:
Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory.

It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new

concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.

Empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often

without due regard for system and theory.

It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are

capable of being verified by observation or experiments.

It is also called experimental type of research.

17
 TYPES OF RESEARCH

(v) Some Other Types of Research:

Causal research:
Causal research seeks to identify cause-and-effect relationships.

If a decision maker knows what causes important outcomes like

sales, stock price, and employee satisfaction, then he or she can
shape firm decisions in a positive way.

Causal inferences are very useful because they lead to greater

control.
18
 TYPES OF RESEARCH

(iv) Some Other Types of Research:

One time research is confined to a single time period, where as

Longitudinal research is carried on over several time periods.

Historical research is that which utilizes historical sources like

documents, etc. to study events ideas of the past, including the
philosophy of persons and groups at any remote point of time.

19
 Types of Research Based on Purpose

According to Zikmund et al. (2008) & Saunders et al. (2003): On

the basis of purposes

Business research can be classified as:

Business
Research

Exploratory Descriptive Causal

Research Research Research

20
 Types of Research Based on Purpose

According to Collis & Hussey, (2009, p.5): On the basis of

purposes

Business research can be classified as:

Business
Research

Exploratory Descriptive Analytical Predictive

Research Research Research Research

21
 Exploratory Research

✓ Is conducted to clarify ambiguous problems

✓ General problems usually known but not sufficiently

understood

✓ The purpose is to get more information, but not to reveal

specific courses of action

✓ Determining a specific course of action to solve a specific

problem is not a purpose of exploratory research!

22
 Descriptive Research

✓ Is conducted to describe the characteristics of a

population or phenomenon.

✓ Seeks to determine the answers to who, what, when,

where, & how questions.

23
 Causal Research

✓ Is conducted to identify cause and effect relationships

among variables.

✓ Is normally led by exploratory and descriptive research

studies.

✓ Often difficult to determine because of the influence of

other variables.

Example: Prediction about price, packaging, advertising

and the like on sales.
24
 Analytical Research
➢ Analytical or Explanatory research is a continuation of descriptive
research.

➢ The researcher goes beyond merely describing the characteristics,

to analysing and explaining why or how the phenomenon being
studied is happening.

➢ The aim of this type of research is to understand phenomena by

discovering and measuring causal relations among them.

➢ A vital aspect of this research is identifying and controlling the

variables in the research activities.
25
 Predictive Research

Predictive research
✓ goes even further than explanatory research and

✓ aims to generalise from the analysis by predicting certain

phenomena on the basis of hypothesized relationships.

In general, exploratory and descriptive research cannot describe

analytically what causes a situation where one variable affects
another in the area under investigation.

26
 Predictive Research

Hence, analytical and predictive research go one step

further, that is, after describing the data,

✓ they investigate analytically why such a pattern

exists, and

✓ what causes the pattern in a causal relation.

27
 Types of Research Based on
Philosophy

1. Positivism
The philosophy of positivism is

Identical to the philosophical stance of the natural

scientist.
Under this philosophical stance,

✓ existing theories guide the generation of research

strategies,

✓ collection of data and

✓ the development of hypotheses.

28
 Types of Research Based on
Philosophy

1. Positivism
✓ These hypotheses will be tested and confirmed, in whole or
part, or refuted, leading to the further development of theory
which then may be tested by further research (Saunders et
al., 2009).

✓ It is assumed here that “the researcher is independent of

and neither affects nor is affected by the subject of the
research” (Remenyi et al., 1998, p.33).

29
 Types of Research Based on
Philosophy

2. Interpretivism
• Interpretivists are critical to the positivism in that the social world of
business and management is too complex to generalize in the same way
as the natural scientists.

• Interpretivism argues that it is crucial for the researcher to understand

differences between humans in their role as social actors (Saunders et al.,
2009).

• The philosophy of interpretivism comes from two intellectual

traditions:

Phenomenology and Symbolic interactionism. 30

 Types of Research Based on
Philosophy

2. Interpretivism
• Phenomenology refers to the way in which we as human being
view the world around us.

• “In symbolic interactionism we are in a continual process of

✓ interpreting the social world around us in that

✓ we interpret the actions of others with whom we interact and

✓ this interpretation leads to adjustment of our own meanings and

actions” (Saunders et al., 2009, p.116).
31
 Types of Research Based on
Philosophy

3. Realism
Realism is another philosophical position which posits that what the
senses show us as reality is the truth: that objects have an existence
independent of the human mind.

There are two types of realism: direct realism and critical realism.

Direct realism advocates that what we observe through our senses

portrays the world accurately.

32
 Types of Research Based on
Philosophy

3. Realism
In contrast, critical realism posits that what we see are sensations,
only the images of the things instead of the things directly.

Dobson (2002) argues that the critical realists’ position is that

the knowledge of reality is a result of social conditioning

and, thus, cannot be understood independently of the
social actors involved in the knowledge derivation process.

33
 Types of Research Based on
Approach

Based on the utilization of theory, there are two alternative

approaches to research – Deductive approach and Inductive
approach.

Deductive approach:
Under the deductive approach,
✓ Hypothesis (or, hypotheses) is (are) developed from the theory and

✓ Then design a research strategy to test the hypothesis (or,

hypotheses).
34
 Types of Research Based on
Approach

Robson (2002) mentioned five sequential steps for research under this
approach. These are:

1. Deducing a hypothesis from the theory;

2. Expressing the hypothesis in operational terms, which propose a

relationship between two specific concepts or variables;

3. Testing this operational hypothesis;

4. Examining the specific outcome of the inquiry;

5. If necessary, modifying the theory in the light of the findings.

35
 Types of Research Based on
Approach

Inductive approach
An alternative approach to conducting research is induction,
where data are generally gathered from small sample,
particularly qualitative in nature to get a feel of what is going
on.

The result of the analysis would be the formulation of a

theory.

36
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

In all of business strategy, there are only a few business

orientations.

A firm can be product-oriented (e.g., the fashion industry makes

cloths in styles and sizes that few can adopt).

A product-oriented firm prioritizes decision making in a way that

emphasizes technical superiority in the product.

Thus, research gathering information from technicians and experts

in the field are very important in making critical decisions.
37
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

A firm can be production-oriented (e.g., U.S. auto industry’s assembly-

line process is intent or reducing costs of production as low as
possible).

Production orientation means that the firm prioritizes efficiency and

effectiveness of the production process in making decisions.

Here, research providing input from workers, engineers, finance, and

accounting becomes important as the firm seeks to drive costs down.

Production-oriented firms are usually very large firms manufacturing

products in very large quantities.
38
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

The third is marketing-oriented (e.g., Well-known hotel chains are

designed to address the needs of travelers, particularly business
travelers).

Marketing-oriented focuses more on how the firm provides value to

customers than on the physical product or production process.

With a marketing-oriented organization the majority of research

focuses on the customer. Research addressing consumer desires,
beliefs, and attitudes become essential.
39
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

The prime managerial value of business research is that

It provides information that improves the decision-making

process.

The decision-making process involves four inter-related stages:

(i) identifying problems or opportunities;

(ii) diagnosing and assessing problems or opportunities;

(iii) selecting and implementing a course of action; and

(iv) evaluating the course of action.

40
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

1. Identifying problems or opportunities

Useful for

▪ Strategy planning,

▪ Analysis of internal and external organizational

environment.

41
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

2. Diagnosing and Assessment of problems and/or opportunities:

➢ Its purpose is to gain insight into the underlying reasons and
causes for the situation.

➢ If there is a problem, it asks what happened and why?

➢ If there is an opportunity, it seeks to explore, clarify and refine

the nature of the opportunity and,

➢ In the case of multiple opportunities, seeks to set priorities

42
 MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

(3) Selection and Implementation of Courses of Action:

➢ After alternative courses of action have been determined, selection
of the best possible course.
➢ An important consideration is the quality of forecasting which is an
essential tool of research

(4) Evaluating the Course of Action:

➢ Business Research Methods are used after a course of action has
been implemented in order to determine whether activities have
been properly implemented and have accomplished what they
intended to do. 43
 Determining When to Conduct
Business Research

Time Availability Nature of Benefits

Constraints of Data the Decision vs. Costs

Is the infor- Does the value

Is sufficient time
mation already Yes
Is the decision
Yes of the research Yes Conducting
available before Yes of considerable
a managerial
on hand
strategic
information Business
inadequate exceed the cost
decision
for making
or tactical
of conducting Research
must be made? importance?
the decision? research?

No No No No

Do Not Conduct Business Research

 Value versus Costs
Potential value of a business research effort should exceed its
estimated costs
 Fields Where Business
Research is Used

General Business Conditions Management and Organizational

and Corporate Research Behavior Research
▪ Short- & Long-Range ▪ Total Quality Management

Forecasting, ▪ Morale and Job Satisfaction

▪ Business and Industry Trends ▪ Leadership Style

▪ Employee Productivity
▪ Global Environments
▪ Organizational Effectiveness
▪ Inflation and Pricing
▪ Structural issues
▪ Plant and Warehouse
▪ Absenteeism and turnover
Location
▪ Organizational Climate
▪ Acquisitions 46
 Fields Where Business
Research is Used
Financial and Accounting
Research
▪ Forecasts of financial interest
rate trends,
▪ Stock,bond and commodity
value predictions
▪ capital formation alternatives
▪ mergers and acquisitions
▪ risk-return trade-offs
Financial and Accounting
Research
▪ portfolio analysis
▪ impact of taxes
▪ research on financial institutions
▪ expected rate of return
▪ capital asset pricing models
▪ credit risk
▪ cost analysis
47
 Fields Where Business
Research is Used
Sales and Marketing Research
▪ Market Potentials
▪ Market Share
▪ Market segmentation
▪ Market characteristics
▪ Sales Analysis
▪ Establishment of sales quotas
▪ Distribution channels
Sales and Marketing Research
▪ New product concepts
▪ Test markets
▪ Advertising research
▪ Buyer behaviour
▪ Customer satisfaction
▪ Website visitation rates
48
 Fields Where Business
Research is Used
Information Systems Research Corporate Responsibility
▪ Knowledge and information needs
Research
assessment
▪ Ecological Impact
▪ Computer information system use
and evaluation ▪ Legal Constraints on ad
▪ Technical suppot satisfaction and promotion
▪ Database analysis ▪ Sex, age and racial
▪ Data mining
discrimination / worker
▪ Enterprise resource planning
equity
systems

▪ Customer relationship management ▪ Social values and ethics

systems 49
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Research methods may be understood as all those

methods/techniques that are used for conduction of research.

Research methods or techniques, thus, refer to the methods the

researchers use in performing research operations.

In other words, all those methods which are used by the researcher during
the course of studying his research problem are termed as research
methods.

50
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Research methods can be put into the following three groups:

1. In the first group we include those methods which are concerned

with the collection of data.

2. The second group consists of those statistical techniques which are

used for establishing relationships between the data and the
unknown.

3. The third group consists of those methods which are used to

evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained.
51
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the

research problem.

It may be understood as a science of studying how research is

done scientifically.

In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a

researcher in studying his research problem along with the
logic behind them.

52
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Researchers not only need to know

➢ how to develop certain indices or tests,

➢ how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median, or the standard
deviation or chi-square,

➢ how to apply particular research techniques, but

They also need to know

✓ which of these methods or techniques are relevant and

✓ which are not, and what would they mean or indicate and why.

53
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Researcher also need to

➢ Understand the assumptions underlying various techniques

➢ Know the criteria by which they can decide that certain

techniques and procedures will be applicable to certain problems and
others will not.

All these mean that it is necessary for the researcher

to design his methodology for his problem as the same may differ
from problem to problem.

54
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Again, a distinction may be made between research techniques and

research methods.

Research techniques refer to the

behavior and instruments we use in performing research

operations such as making observations, recording data,
techniques of processing data and the like.

Research methods refer to

the behavior and instruments used in selecting and

constructing research technique.
55
 RESEARCH METHODS VS. METHODOLOGY

Methods Techniques
Analysis of historical records Recording of notes,
Content analysis, Tape and
Film listening and analysis.

Analysis of documents Statistical compilations and

manipulations, reference
and abstract guides, content
analysis.

56
The End
57