Business Research

Methods
 Chapter One

Introduction to Research
 Research

Defining Research

Research is simply the process of finding solutions to a

problem after a through study and analysis of situation
factors.
Research is a systematic process of identifying the
problems, defining the problems, identifying the
variables/ indicators to address these problems,
collecting, compiling, processing and analyzing data
to assess the inherent characteristics of the
phenomenon under study and to arrive at a
correct/reliable decision.
 Definition of Business Research

Business research is an organized, systematic ,data-

based scientific inquiry or investigation into a
specific problem, undertaken with purpose of finding
answers or solutions to it.
Need /Importance for Business Research

Business Competition: organisations wanted to know

about their customers, their needs, their
preference, their future requirements. Research help
us to find out the factors which are significant for
increasing customer loyalty and adding new
customers.
 Research helps you to know customers need and in
turn is used to develop new product. To decide
about product pricing, packaging, branding, sales
promotion, we need to carry out business research.

 Industry competition: You need to know what other

companies are doing to increase their market share.
 Some Commonly Researched Areas in Business

1. Employee behaviours such as performance,

absenteeism and turnover

2. Employee attitudes such as job satisfaction, loyalty

and organizational commitment.

3. Performance appraisal systems

 Research : a way of examining your
practice

More than a set of skills, research is a way of thinking :

examining critically the various aspects of your day-
to-day professional work . It is a habit of questioning
what you do and a systematic examination of the
observed information to find answers.
Assume you work in the area of marketing.
The list of questions that may come to your mind can
be endless.
The types of questions and the need to find answers to
them will vary with the level at which you work in the
organisation.
(for example monthly fluctuation, strategic plan to
compete for a greater share)
 What are the best strategy to promote the sale of a
particular product?
 How many salespersons do I need?
 What is the effect of a particular advertising campaign on
the sale of this product?
 How satisfied are the consumers with this product?
 How much are consumers prepared to spend on this item?
 What do consumers like or dislike about this product?
 What training do the salespersons need to promote the sale
of this product?
 What are the attributes of a good salesperson?
 Consumer questions.

 How effective is the service I am receiving?

 Am I getting value for money?
 How well-trained are the service providers?

 Research is one of the ways to help you to answer

such questions.
 Research helps you to know customers need and in
turn is used to develop new product. To decide
about product pricing, packaging, branding, sales
promotion, we need to carry out business research.

 Industry competition: You need to know what other

companies are doing to increase their market share.
 Research Methodology

Research Methodology is a wider term. It consists of

three important elements:

(i) Theoretical perspectives or orientation that guide

research and logic of enquiry,

(ii) Tools and techniques of data collection

(iii) Methods of data analysis

Research Methods, comprises of research
techniques and tools.

Research techniques/tools/methods refer to the

instruments that are used for data collection and its
Analysis.
Data collection tools includes Questionnaires,
Census and survey methods.

Data analysis includes various methods like,

correlation ,regression, mean ,median mode etc..
 TYPES OF RESEARCH

The basic types of research are as follows:

I) Descriptive Vs Analytical

II) Applied Vs Fundamental

III) Quantitative Vs Qualitative

 Descriptive Vs Analytical Research

Descriptive research describes a situation, events or social

systems.

 Surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds

are part of descriptive research.

 A survey of socio-economic conditions of rural /

u r b a n labour is an area of descriptive research.
Another example, market potential for a product( normal
vs branded product or service) by studying the attitudes
i.e likes and dislikes of consumers’ who buy the product.
 Analytical research, aims at establishing the cause
and effect relationship.
 Here searcher uses the facts or information already
available to analyse and make a critical evaluation of
the detail information.
 An example of analytical research is: 'whether
increase in agricultural productivity is explained by
improved rural roads?'.
 More Examples

 Relationship between stressful living and incidence

of heart attack.

Impact of an advertising campaign on sale of a

product.

Impact of incentives on the productivity of workers.

 A list of important topics of research on finance

1.Impact of privatization on profitability and efficiency of

banks

2. Targeting consumer segment: A sustainable growth for

mutual funds
3.Effects of mergers and acquisition in banking sector of
(country name)
4.A study on relationship between stock market
development and economic growth in (country name)
5. Factor influencing individual investor behavior
6.Analysis of profitability of banks: comparative study of
domestic & foreign banks in (country name)
7. Comparison of micro finance institutions
 Applied (or action) Vs
Fundamental(basic or pure) Research

‘Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed

pure or basic research.’
 Fundamental (or basic) research mainly concerns
with formulation of theory without concern for its
practical use.
 Applied research, On the other hand, aims at finding a
solution for a problem facing a society or
industry/business organisation.
It is thus applied to practical situations or contexts.

 It is useful to test the theories developed empirically.

 Illustrations of applied research in economics

can be measurement of poverty, employment, rural
development etc.
Concept

Variable

Quantitative Qualitative
 For instance, yield of an agricultural output,
height/weight of individuals, etc, can be measured
and expressed in quantitative terms.

 On the other hand, characteristics like one's feelings

or opinion (e.g., good or bad, agreeing/disagreeing,
yes/no, etc.) are attributes on which a choice can be
expressed depending on the possible alternatives or
choices.
 Thus, variables like the performance of an artist,
respondent's gender, etc. on which responses can
only be categorised or grouped are 'qualitative
variables'.

 From this angle, variables on which data can be

collected and expressed in quantified terms may be
called as 'quantitative variables'.
Quantitative and Qualitative Research

 Quantitative research is based on the measurement

of quantity or amount. It is applicable to
phenomenon that can be expressed in terms of
quantity.

Ex: determining the purchase potential for a product

based on average monthly household income.
 In contrast, in qualitative research is concerned with
qualitative phenomenon

 It helps to study human behaviour

 The type of research would also vary depending on
the objectives of the study.
 Research design varies with the type of research one
likes to pursue. With this background, we can now
proceed to know how to formulate the research
problem.
 Significance of Research

‘’ All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better

than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and
inquiry leads to invention.’’
 Role of Research

Decision making may not be the part of research but research

certainly facilitates the decisions of the policy maker.

Research study is helpful to improve the productivity

of an organization.

From the point of view of government, research is

necessary i) with regard to allocation of resources.

ii) For collecting information on the economic and social

structure of the nation.
Collecting such a information indicates what is
happening in the economy and what changes are
taking place.

Collecting such statistical information by no means a

routine task, but it involves varieties of research
Problem.
These days nearly all governments maintain large staff
of research technicians or experts to carry on this
work.
Thus, in context of government, research as a tool of
economic policy has three phases:
i) Collecting information on economic structure
through compilation of facts.
ii) Diagnosis ( finding causes and analysing them)
iii) Prognosis ( the prediction o future developments)
Research has its special significance in solving
various operational and planning problems of
business and industry.

Research with regard to demand has great utility

in business. Given knowledge of future demand,
it is generally not difficult for a firm or industry
to
adjust its supply schedule within the limit of its
capacity.
Business calculate their projected profit or loss on the
Basis of estimated sales which in turn depends on
business research.

Research is equally important for scientist. It provides

the intellectual satisfaction of knowing a few things
just for the sake of knowledge and contribute that for
practical utility.
With this background, we can now proceed to know
what are the steps involved in research process.
 A diagrammatic presentation of
Research Process
Design the
research
Information
need felt
Collect data

Define the Tabulation and

research Analysis
objective

Interpretation,
Report Writing and
Presentation
 Information Need

This is the need for information that initiates a

research project.

For example, an expensive advertising campaign

which has been running on television for three weeks ,
may not have produced expected jumps in sales in
some of the major sales territories.
Second Example, Suppose a popular channel
on television wants to know which of its show is
mostly watched. In this situation the channel a
Marketing research agency to do that.
 Defining the Research Problem

A research problem, in general, refers to some

difficulty which a researcher experiences in the
context of either a theoretical or practical situation
and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
For example, a study could have the following as
objective ‘ the determination of customer satisfaction
with a brand of new frost-free refrigerator launched
by our company.’

This research objective can be met by undertaking

a survey of customers who have bought the new brand.
 How to select the problem?

 The research topic undertaken for study must be

carefully selected.

However, the following points may be observed by a

researcher in selecting a research problem or a subject
for research.
i) Subject which is overdone should not be normally
chosen, for it will be difficult task to throw any light
in such a case.
ii) Controversial subject should not become the choice
of an average researcher.
iii) Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.
iv) The subject selected for research should be familiar
and feasible so that the related research material or
sources of research are within one’s reach.
v) The importance of the subject, the qualifications
and training of a researcher, the costs involved, the time
factor are some other factors that must also be
considered
in selecting a problem.
 Formulation of the Problem

 Steps involved in defining a problem are:

 Statement of the problem in a general way

 Understanding the nature of the problem thoroughly.
 Surveying the available literature
 Developing the idea through discussion

 Expressing the same research problem into meaningful

terms from an analytical point of view.
 Research Design

• The research design is the master plan specifying

the methods and procedures for collecting and
analyzing the needed information.

• A plan for gathering data for answering specific

research questions.
 Need for Research Design

 Research design is needed because it facilitates the

smooth sailing of the various research operations ,
therefore, making research as efficient as possible
yielding maximum information by spending minimum
time, effort and money.
 Types of Research Design

• Three traditional categories of research design:

• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal
• The choice of the most appropriate design
depends largely on the objectives of the research.
 Research Design: Some Observations

• The overall research design for a project may

include one or more of these three designs as
part(s) of it.
• Further, if more than one design is to be used,
typically we progress from Exploratory toward
Causal.
Basic Research Objectives and Research
Design

Research Objective Appropriate

Design

To gain background /preliminary information, to define terms, to clarify

Exploratory
problems and develop hypotheses.

To describe a event or situation or characteristics of individual

or group of individuals at a point in time i.e. market share,
size and attitude of customer.
Descriptive

To determine causality, test hypotheses, to make “if-then” Causal

statements, to answer questions
Research Design: Exploratory Research

• Exploratory research is most commonly

unstructured, “informal” research that is
undertaken to gain background information about
the general nature of the research problem.
• Exploratory research is usually conducted when
the researcher does not know much about the
problem and needs additional information or
desires new or more recent information.
Research Design: Exploratory Research

• Exploratory research is used in a number of

situations:
• To gain background information
• To define terms
• To clarify problems and hypotheses
Research Design: Exploratory Research

• A variety of methods are available to conduct

exploratory research:

• Literature Survey
• Experience Surveys
• Case Analysis
 Descriptive Research

 Several methods are available for collecting

descriptive information such as observation,
questionnaires, interviewing, examination of
records etc.
 Research Design: Causal Research

• Causality may be thought of as understanding a

phenomenon in terms of conditional statements
of the form “If x, then y.”
• Causal relationships are typically determined by
the use of experiments, but other methods are
also used.
 Collecting the Data

Primary Data can be collected through surveys:

In case of a survey, data can be collected by any of the

following ways:
i) By observation
ii) Through personal interviews
iii) Through telephonic interviews
iv) By mailing of questionnaires
v) Through schedules.
 Analysis of the data

 Coding

 Editing

 Tabulation
 Preparation of the Report

The layout of the report should be as follows:

i) The preliminary pages

ii) The main text

iii) The end matter

 In its preliminary pages the report should carry title
and date followed by acknowledgements.
 Then there should be a table of contents followed by
a list of tables, graphs and charts.
 The main text of the report should have the
following parts:
 Introduction: mention clearly your objective,
methodology adopted, scope and limitations.

 Summary of findings

 Main report

 Conclusions
 At the end of the report, bibliography i.e . list of
books, journals etc consulted should be given. tables,
graphs should be attached at the end. Index
should also be given specially in a published
research report.