Hallmarks of Scientific

Research
Chapter 02
 Hallmarks of Scientific Research

• The hallmarks or main distinguishing characteristics of scientific research

may be listed as follows:
• 1. Purposiveness
• 2. Rigor
• 3. Testability
• 4. Replicability
 Hallmarks of Scientific Research

• 5. Precision and Confidence

• 6. Objectivity
• 7. Generalizability
• 8. Parsimony
 Hallmarks of Scientific Research

• Each of these characteristics can be explained in the context of a

concrete example.
• Let us consider the case of a manager who is interested in
investigating how employees‘ commitment to the organization
can be increased.
• We shall examine how the eight hallmarks of science apply to this
investigation so that it may be considered ―scientific.
 Purposiveness

• The manager has started the research with a definite aim or

purpose.
• The focus is on increasing the commitment of employees to the
organization.
• It means that a there must be a specific purpose of study or
research.
 Rigor

• Rigor means carefulness, accuracy, it is the degree of accuracy in

research investigations.
• A good theoretical base and a sound methodological design
would add rigor to a purposive study.
 Rigor
• In the case of our example, let us say the manager of an
organization asks 10 to 12 of its employees to indicate what
would increase their level of commitment to it.
• If, solely on the basis of their responses, the manager reaches
several conclusions on how employee commitment can be
increased, the whole approach to the investigation would be
unscientific.
 Rigor

• It would lack rigor for the following reasons:

• The conclusions would be incorrectly drawn because they are
based on the responses of just a few employees whose opinions
may not be representative of those of the entire workforce.
• There might be many other important influences on
organizational commitment that this small sample of
respondents did not or could not verbalize during the interviews,
and the researcher would have failed to include them.
 Testability

• Hypothesis developed for study can be tested by applying certain

statistical tests to the data collected for the study. E.g.
Correlation coefficient, chi square, t test etc.
• The researcher might hypothesize that those employees who
perceive greater opportunities for participation in decision
making would have a higher level of commitment. This is a
hypothesis that can be tested when the data are collected.
 Replicability

• Replicability means that the results of the tests of hypothesis

should be supported again and yet again when the same type of
research is repeated in other similar circumstances.
 Precision and Confidence

• Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to reality based

on a sample.
• In other words, precision reflects the degree of accuracy or
exactitude of the results on the basis of the sample, to what
really exists in the universe.
 Precision and Confidence

• For example
• if I estimated the number of production days lost during the year
due to absenteeism at between 30 and 40, as against the actual
of 35, the precision of my estimation compares more favorably
than if I had indicated that the loss of production days was
somewhere between 20 and 50.
 Precision and Confidence

• Confidence refers to the probability that our estimations are

correct that is to claim confidently that 95% of the time our
results would be true and there is only 5% chance of our being
wrong.
 Objectivity

• The conclusion drawn through the interpretation of the results of

data analysis should be objective that is , they should be based
on the facts of the findings derived from the actual data and not
on our own subjective or emotional values.
 Generalizability

• Generalizability refers to the scope of applicability of the

research findings in one organizational setting to other settings.
• The more generalizable the research is ,the greater is its
usefulness and value.
 Parsimony

• Economy in research models is achieved when we can build into

our research framework a lesser number of variables that would
explain the variance more efficiently than a complex set of
variables .
• Approaches to Research
• Inductive approach
• Deductive approach
 Deduction

• Deduction is the process by which we arrive at a reasoned

conclusion by logical generalization of a known fact.
• For example, we know that all high performers are highly
proficient in their jobs.
• If John is a high performer, we then conclude that he is highly
proficient in his job.
 Deduction

• We know that all Lecturers in Kardan are Afghans.

• If we also know that Ali is lecturer in Kardan
• then we can deduce that Ali is also Afghan.
 Induction

• Its a process where we observe certain phenomena and on this basis

arrive at conclusions.
• In other words, in induction we logically establish a general proposition
based on observed facts.
• For example, we see that the production processes are the prime
features of factories or manufacturing plants. We therefore conclude
that factories exist for production purposes.
 Induction

• All managers that have ever been seen are human beings;
• therefore all managers are human beings.
 Hypothetico Deductive Model
• Hypothetico is derived from the term "hypothetical" which
means academic, imaginary, questionable, theoretical and
unconfirmed.
• Under this method, one tries to list down possible reasons
concerning any problem and finds solutions considering one
reason at one time.
• In this way, all invalid reasons may be eliminated and a valid
reason may come up.
• This is simple but called scientific method as it is a step-by-step
approach.
 Hypothetico Deductive Model
• The Seven-Step Process in the Hypothetico-Deductive Method
• The seven steps involved in the hypothetico-deductive method of research are listed below.
• 1. Observation
• 2. Preliminary information gathering
• 3. Theory formulation
• 4. Hypothesizing
• 5. Further scientific data collection
• 6. Data analysis
• 7. Deduction
 Observation
• Observation is the first stage, in which one senses that certain
changes are occurring, or that some new behaviors, attitudes,
and feelings are evolving in one‘s environment (i.e., the
workplace).
• When the observed phenomena are seen to have potentially
important consequences, one would proceed to the next step.
• For example drop in sales, frequent production interruptions, low
yielding investments, disinterestedness of employees in their
work,.
 Preliminary information gathering

• Preliminary information gathering involves the seeking of

information in depth, of what is observed.
• This could be done by talking informally to several people in the
work setting or to clients, or to other relevant sources, thereby
gathering information on what is happening and why.
• A mass of information is collected through the interviews and
library search.
 Theory Formulation

• Theory formulation, the next step, is an attempt to integrate all

the information in a logical manner, so that the factors
responsible for the problem can be conceptualized and tested.
• In this step the critical variables are examined as to their
contribution or influence in explaining why the problem occurs
and how it can be solved.
 Hypothesizing

• Hypothesizing is the next logical step after theory formulation.

• From the theorized network of associations among the variables,
certain testable hypotheses or educated guesses can be
generated.
 Scientific Data Collection

• After the development of the hypotheses, data with respect to

each variable in the hypotheses need to be obtained.
• In other words, further scientific data collection is needed to test
the hypotheses that are generated in the study.
 Data Analysis
• In the data analysis step, the data gathered are statistically
analyzed to see if the hypotheses that were generated have been
supported.
• For instance, to see if stock levels influence customer
satisfaction, one might want to do a correlational analysis and
determine the relationship between the two factors.
• Similarly, other hypotheses could be tested through appropriate
statistical analysis.
 Deduction

• Deduction is the process of arriving at conclusions by interpreting

the meaning of the results of the data analysis.
• For instance, if it was found from the data analysis that
increasing the stocks was positively correlated to (increased)
customer satisfaction (say, .5), then one can deduce that if
customer satisfaction is to be increased, the shelves have to be
better stocked.
 1.1.Observation
Observation
Broad
Broadarea
areaofof
research
researchinterest
interest
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identified
4.4.
Theoretical
Theoretical
3.3.Problem
Problem Framework
Definition Framework
Definition 5.5. 6.6.
Research
Researchproblem
problem Variables Scientific 7.7.Data
DataCollection
Collection
Variables Generation
Generation Scientific
delineated
delineated clearly Research Analysis,
Analysis,and
and
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identified Design Interpretation
Interpretation
identified Hypothesis
Hypothesis Design
and
and
2.2.Preliminary
Preliminary labelled
labelled
Data
DataGathering
Gathering
Interviewing
Interviewing
Literature
Literaturesurvey
survey

8.8.Deduction
Deduction
Hypotheses
Hypothesessubstantiated?
substantiated?
Research
Research questionanswered?
question answered?
Thank You