BUSINESS RESEARCH

(BA 501)

The Research Problem

Introduction to Research Problem
Tracy (2013) gives some useful advice on this, suggesting that there are
a number of ways for students to generate their research ideas. For
example, ideas may stem from:
1) the student’s personal life – such as family, work, political beliefs
and travel
2) current societal problems or organizational dilemmas – such as
the cost of food waste, or issues relating to ethnicity and employment
3) current events – such as societal needs or policy debates
4) current research debates – as expressed, for example, in the Point
Counterpoint, papers in the Journal of Management Studies or in review
papers on a particular topic, such as in the International Journal of
Management Reviews.
How the research relates to previous work in the field

-At every level – undergraduate, postgraduate and

doctorate – there will generally be an expectation of
evidence that the student has an understanding of what
literature already exists on a particular subject.
-to reflect on whether the research proposal would
convince someone with a good knowledge of the area
that the individual has a sufficiently good grasp of the
relevant current literature and the boundaries of that
knowledge to claim that the topic warrants further
research.
 The impact and engagement agenda
-linking of research to societal needs or challenges
is becoming an irresistible pressure within
management and business research
-valuing the perspective of practitioners and
focusing on problems that really matter to them
-can both write scholarly papers and at the same
time create ‘useful’ knowledge
 Considerations in selecting a research problem
1. Interest – a research endeavor is usually time consuming, and involves
hard work and possibly unforeseen problems.
2. Magnitude – should have sufficient knowledge about the research
process to be able to visualize the work involved in completing the
proposed study. Narrow the topic down to something manageable,
specific and clear. It is extremely important to select a topic that you can
manage within the time and with the resources at your disposal.
3. Measurement of concepts – use a concept in your study (in quantitative
studies), make sure you are clear about its indicators and their
measurement. For example, if you plan to measure the effectiveness of a
health promotion program, you must be clear as to what determines
effectiveness and how it will be measured.
 Considerations in selecting a research problem
4. Level of expertise – Make sure you have an adequate level of expertise for the
task you are proposing. Allow for the fact that you will learn during the study and
may receive help from your research supervisor and others, but remember that you
need to do most of the work yourself.
5. Relevance – Select a topic that is of relevance to you as a professional. Ensure
that your study adds to the existing body of knowledge, bridges current gaps or is
useful in policy formulation. This will help you to sustain interest in the study.
6. Availability of data – If your topic entails collection of information from
secondary sources (office records, client records, census or other already-published
reports, etc.) make sure that this data is available and in the format you want before
finalizing your topic.
7. Ethical issues – How ethical issues can affect the study population and how
ethical problems can be overcome should be thoroughly examined at the problem-
formulation stage.