Technical and

Business Writing
Lecture 8
 What is Research Writing
Research writing is writing that uses evidence (from journals,
books, magazines, the Internet, experts, market etc.) to persuade or
inform an audience about a particular point. Research
writing exists in multiple forms.
Steps of the Research Writing Process
How does a research paper grow from a folder of
brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No
two projects are identical, but most projects
follow a series of six basic steps.

1. Choose a topic.
2. Plan and schedule time to research and write.
3. Conduct research.
4. Organize research and ideas.
5. Draft your paper.
6. Revise and edit your paper.
 Types of Research Papers
1. Argumentative papers
2. Analytical papers
3. Definition papers
4. Compare and contrast papers
5. Cause and effect papers
6. Reports
7. Interpretive papers
1. Argumentative Papers

Argumentative papers present two sides of a controversial issue in

one paper.
A good argumentative paper will include in-text citations from
researchers that present logical facts from both sides of an issue,
and will conclude with the author analyzing the pros and cons of
each argument. The confusing element of an argumentative paper
is that the author is expected to favor one side more than the
other on an issue, but the research and analysis must be un-
emotive and factual and include both sides of the argument. For
example, a student may be asked to complete a paper on "The
importance of nature and nurture on a child's predicted teenage
behavior." The author may believe that either nature or nurture
may be more important from their own research on the issue but a
good paper on this topic will include information from researchers
on both sides of the problem, and even in this case information
from researchers that believe both sides are equally important.
 In an argumentative research paper, a student both states the topic they
will be exploring and immediately establishes the position they will argue
regarding that topic in a thesis statement. This type of paper hopes to
persuade its reader to adopt the view presented.
 
• Example: a paper that argues the merits of early exposure to reading for
children would be an argumentative essay.
2.Analytical Papers
Analytical papers also include information from a range of sources
but the focus on this type of research paper is in analyzing the
different viewpoints represented from a factual rather than
opinionated standpoint. The author of an analytical paper may
focus on the findings, methodology or conclusions of other
researchers and will conclude such a paper with a summation of the
findings and a suggested framework for further study on the issue.

An analytical article is a piece of your work that provides an

informal analysis about a topic or idea, for example, your main
topic is deforestation – obviously, such theme is too general
because there are many things to talk about (from the damage it
brings to the different solutions). Thus, the analytical essay asks
you to use critical thinking and strong arguments!
3.Definition Papers
Definition papers are relatively self-explanatory. They describe a
topic from a factual standpoint that is usually devoid of emotion
or the opinion of the author.
Although the definition research paper will include facts from a
variety of sources, this information is left unanalyzed and
contains only actual facts found in another's research paper
findings. While a definition paper might be considered difficult to
write especially by those students who enjoy discussing issues
from their own perspective a good definition paper can provide a
valuable information framework for other argumentative or
analytical reports on the same topic..
4.Compare and Contrast papers
Compare and contrast papers are often used in literature courses
to compare two different authors or stories from a particular genre.
However, they can also be required in social sciences to compare
two different theoretical viewpoints; in philosophy to compare the
thoughts of two philosophical frameworks and even in business
studies where different leadership styles could be compared for
example. The important part of a compare and contrast paper is that
while both elements in the paper need to be described succinctly,
the main part of the paper will be the comparison and contrasting
examples provided by the author to support a thesis.
5. Cause and Effect papers
Cause and effect papers trace the probable or expected results from
a particular action or policy in a logical progression that is easily
followed by the reader. Used in business and education fields, in
particular, a good cause and effect paper will not only outline the
predicted results from the action/situation specified, but also where
applicable show the range of results that could arise from this one
situation through to its logical conclusion.
6. Reports
Reports often follow a memorandum or similar business format
and they are often written to outline a case study situation. For
example, a report could be commissioned by your tutor to describe
the key issues in a workplace scenario - perhaps from a human
resources standpoint. The report would include a summary of the
situation to date; an identification of the main issue or concern; a
breakdown of the elements of this main issue and then
recommendations on how to address the issue based on research on
the topic. While a comparison essay, for example, will use "If…
but" or similar statements, the report will contain short factual
sentences devoid of emotion. Reports usually include an executive
summary that takes the place of an abstract in this type of research
paper, as well as supporting evidence in the form of appendix,
graphs, and tables.
7. Interpretive Papers
Interpretive papers  require the student to use the theoretical
knowledge gained in a course of study to a particular case study
example such as a piece of art or a poem in literary fields; a
business situation in a management course; or a psychological case
profile in either sociology or psychology fields. The key element of
an interpretive paper is evidence that the student has written the
paper based on an established theoretical framework and has
used supporting data to back up the thesis statement and findings of
the paper.
 Types of Research Methods
1. Basic research: A basic research definition is data collected to
enhance knowledge. The main motivation is knowledge expansion.
It is a non-commercial research that doesn’t facilitate in creating or
inventing anything. For example: an experiment to determine a
simple fact.

2. Applied research: Applied research focuses on analyzing and

solving real-life problems. This type refers to the study that helps
solve practical problems using scientific methods. Studies play an
important role in solving issues that impact the overall well-being
of humans. For example: finding a specific cure for a disease.
3. Problem oriented research: 
As the name suggests, problem-oriented
research is conducted to understand the exact
nature of a problem to find out relevant
solutions. The term “problem” refers to multiple
choices or issues when analyzing a situation.
For example, revenue of a car company has
decreased by 12% in the last year. The
following could be the probable causes: there is
no optimum production, poor quality of a
product, no advertising, or economic conditions.
4. Problem solving research: This type of research is conducted by
companies to understand and resolve their own problems. The
problem-solving method uses applied research to find solutions
to the existing problems.

5. Qualitative research: It is a process that is about inquiry. It

focuses on obtaining data through open-ended and
conversational communication. It helps create in-depth
understanding of problems or issues in their natural settings.
This is a non-statistical method.
6. Quantitative research:  Quantitative research is defined as a
systematic investigation of phenomena by gathering
quantifiable data and performing statistical, mathematical, or
computational techniques.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Qualitative research is heavily dependent on the experience of the

researchers and the questions used to probe the sample. The sample
size is usually restricted to 6-10 people. Open-ended questions are asked
in a manner that encourages answers that lead to another question or
group of questions. The purpose of asking open-ended questions is to
gather as much information as possible from the sample.

The following are the methods used for qualitative research:

1. One-to-one interview
2. Focus groups
3. Ethnographic research
4. Content/Text Analysis
5. Process of Observation
6. Case study research
1. One-to-one interview
This is purely a conversational method and invites opportunities to get
details in depth from the respondent.

2. Focus groups
A focus group usually includes a limited number of respondents (6-10)
from within your target market. The main aim of the focus group is to
find answers to the “why” “what” and “how” questions. This method is
very useful when it comes to market research on new products and testing
new concepts.
3. Ethnographic Research
This method requires the researchers to adapt to the target audiences’
environments which could be anywhere from an organization to a city or
any remote location. Here geographical constraints can be an issue while
collecting data.
This research design aims to understand the cultures, challenges,
motivations, and settings that occur. Instead of relying on interviews and
discussions, you experience the natural settings first hand.
4. Content/Text Analysis
This method makes use of the already existing reliable documents
and similar sources of information as the data source. This data
can be used in new research. This is similar to going to a library.
There one can go over books and other reference material to
collect relevant data that can likely be used in the research.

5. Process of Observation
The focus on qualitative observation is the research process of using
subjective methodologies to gather information or data. Qualitative
observation is primarily used to equate quality differences . Qualitative
observation deals with the 5 major sensory organs and their functioning –
sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. This doesn’t involve
measurements or numbers but instead characteristics.
6. Case Study
The case study method has evolved over the past few years and
developed into a valuable qualitative research method. As the name
suggests it is used for explaining an organization or an entity.
This type of research method is used within a number of areas like
education, social sciences and similar. This method may look difficult to
operate, however, it is one of the simplest ways of conducting research as
it involves a deep dive and thorough understanding of the data collection
methods and inferring the data.
 Characteristics of Qualitative research
Qualitative research methods usually collect data at the
sight, where the participants are experiencing issues or
problems. These are real-time data and rarely bring the
participants out of the geographic locations to collect
information.
• Qualitative researchers typically gather multiple forms of
data, such as interviews, observations, and documents,
rather than rely on a single data source.
• This type of research method works towards solving
complex issues by breaking down into meaningful
inferences, that is easily readable and understood by all.
• Since it’s a more communicative method, people can build
their trust on the researcher and the information thus
obtained is raw and unadulterated.
 When to use Qualitative Research
Researchers make use of qualitative research techniques when they
need to capture accurate, in-depth insights. It is very useful to
capture “factual data”. Here are some examples of when to use
qualitative research:

• Developing a new product or generating an idea.

• Studying your product/brand or service to strengthen your
marketing strategy.
• To understand your strengths and weaknesses.
• Understanding purchase behavior.
• To study the reactions of your audience to marketing campaigns
and other communications.
• Exploring market demographics, segments, and customer groups.
• Gathering perception data of a brand, company, or product.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research collects information from existing and
potential customers using sampling methods and sending out
online surveys, online polls, questionnaires, etc., the results of
which can be depicted numerically After careful understanding of
these numbers to predict the future of a product or service and
make changes accordingly . Types of Quantitative researches are:

•Primary quantitative research methods

•Secondary quantitative research methods
1. Primary quantitative research methods
There are four different types of quantitative research methods:

a) Survey Research
i. Cross Sectional Surveys
ii. Horizontal Surveys

b. Co relational Research

c. Causal-Comparative Research

d. Experimental Research
a) Survey Research
This type of research can be conducted with a specific target
audience group and also can be conducted across multiple
groups along with comparative analysis. A prerequisite for this
type of research is that the sample of respondents must have
randomly selected members.
i. Cross Sectional survey
Surveys conducted in situations where the researcher intends to collect data
from a sample of the target population at a given point in time. Researchers
can evaluate various variables at a particular time. Data gathered using this
type of survey is from people who depict similarity in all variables except
the variables which are considered for research. Throughout the survey, this
one variable will stay constant.
•Cross-sectional surveys are popular with retail, SMEs, healthcare
industries.
•Information is garnered without modifying any parameters in the variable
ecosystem.
Using a cross-sectional survey research method, multiple samples can be
analyzed and compared.
•Multiple variables can be evaluated using this type of survey research.
•The only disadvantage of cross-sectional surveys is that the cause-effect
relationship of variables cannot be established as it usually evaluates
variables at a particular time and not across a continuous time frame.
ii. Longitudinal surveys: 
These are also observational surveys but, unlike cross-sectional surveys,
longitudinal surveys are conducted across various time durations to
observe a change in respondent behavior and thought-processes. This
time can be days, months, years, or even decades. For instance, a
researcher planning to analyze the change in buying habits of teenagers
over 5 years will conduct longitudinal surveys.

In cross-sectional surveys, the same variables were evaluated at a given

point in time, and in longitudinal surveys, different variables can be
analyzed at different intervals of time.
Longitudinal surveys are extensively used in the field of medicine and
applied sciences. Apart from these two fields, they are also used to observe
a change in the market trend, analyze customer satisfaction, or gain
feedback on products/services.
In situations where the sequence of events is highly essential, longitudinal
surveys are used.
b. Co relational Research
A comparison between two entities is invariable. Correlation research is
conducted to establish a relationship between two closely-knit entities
and how one impacts the other and what are the changes that are
eventually observed. This research method is carried out to give value to
naturally occurring relationships, and a minimum of two different groups
are required to conduct this quantitative research method successfully.
Without assuming various aspects, a relationship between two groups or
entities must be established.

Example of Co relational Research Questions:

• The relationship between stress and depression.
• The equation between fame and money.
c. Causal Comparative
This research method mainly depends on the factor of comparison. Also called
quasi-experimental research, this quantitative research method is used by
researchers to conclude the cause-effect equation between two or more
variables, where one variable is dependent on the other independent variable.
The independent variable is established but not manipulated, and its impact on
the dependent variable is observed. These variables or groups must be formed
as they exist in the natural set up. As the dependent and independent variables
will always exist in a group, it is advised that the conclusions are carefully
established by keeping all the factors in mind.
• Causal-comparative research is not restricted to the statistical analysis of two
variables but extends to analyzing how various variables or groups change under
the influence of the same changes. This research is conducted irrespective of the
type of relation that exists between two or more variables. Statistical analysis is
used to distinctly present the outcome obtained using this quantitative research
method.
Example of Causal-Comparative Research Questions:
• The impact of drugs on a teenager
• The effect of good education on a freshman.
• The effect of substantial food provision in the villages of Africa.
d. Experimental Research
• Also known as true experimentation, this research method is reliant
on a theory. Experimental research, as the name suggests, is usually
based on one or more theories. This theory has not been proven in
the past and is merely a supposition. In experimental research, an
analysis is done around proving or disproving the statement. This
research method is used in natural sciences. Traditional research
methods are more effective than modern techniques.

• There can be multiple theories in experimental research. A theory is a

statement that can be verified or refuted.
• After establishing the statement, efforts are made to understand
whether it is valid or invalid. This type of quantitative research method
is mainly used in natural or social sciences as there are various
statements which need to be proved right or wrong.
• Traditional research methods are more effective than modern
techniques.
• Systematic teaching schedules help children who find it hard to cope
up with the course.
• It is a trend to have responsible nursing staff for ailing parents.
2. Secondary Quantitative research methods
Research methods that involves using already existing data or secondary data.
Existing data is summarized and collated to increase the overall effectiveness of
research.

a. Data Available on the Internet

b. Government and non-government sources

c. Public Libraries

d. Educational Institutions

e. Commercial Information sources

a. Data available on the internet: With the high penetration
of internet and mobile devices, it has become increasingly
easy to conduct quantitative research using the internet.
Information about most research topics is available online,
and this aids in boosting the validity of primary
quantitative data as well as proving the relevance of
previously collected data.

b. Government and non-government sources: Secondary

quantitative research can also be conducted with the help
of government and non-government sources that deal
with market research reports. This data is highly reliable
and in-depth and hence, can be used to increase the
validity of quantitative research design.
c. Public libraries: Now a sparingly used method of conducting
quantitative research, it is still a reliable source of information
though. Public libraries have copies of important research that
were conducted earlier. They are a storehouse of valuable
information and documents from which information can be
extracted.

d. Educational institutions: Educational institutions conduct in-depth

research on multiple topics, and hence, the reports that they
publish are an important source of validation in quantitative
research.

e. Commercial information sources: Local newspapers, journals,

magazines, radio, and TV stations are a great source to obtain data
for secondary quantitative research. These commercial
information sources have in-depth, first-hand information on
economic developments, political agenda, market research,
demographic segmentation, and similar subjects.
Characteristics of Quantitative Research
Some distinctive characteristics of quantitative research are:

1. Structured tools: Structured tools such as surveys, polls, or questionnaires

are used to gather quantitative data. Using such structure methods helps
in collecting in-depth and actionable data from the survey respondents.
2. Sample size: Quantitative research is conducted on a significant sample
size that represents the target market. Appropriate sampling methods
have to be used when deriving the sample to fortify the research objective
3. Close-ended questions: Closed-ended questions are created per the
objective of the research. These questions help collect quantitative data
and hence, are extensively used in quantitative research.
4. Prior studies: Various factors related to the research topic are studied before
collecting feedback from respondents.
5. Quantitative data: Usually, quantitative data is represented by tables, charts,
graphs, or any other non-numerical form. This makes it easy to understand the
data that has been collected as well as prove the validity of the market research.
6. Generalization of results: Results of this research method can be generalized to an
entire population to take appropriate actions for improvement.
When to use Quantitative Research Methods
1.Collect reliable and accurate data: As data is collected, analyzed, and presented
in numbers, the results obtained will be extremely reliable. Numbers do not lie.
They offer an honest picture of the conducted research without discrepancies and is
also extremely accurate. In situations where a researcher predicts conflict,
quantitative research is conducted.
2.Quick data collection: A quantitative research is carried out with a group of
respondents who represent a population. A survey or any other quantitative
research method applied to these respondents and the involvement of statistics,
conducting, and analyzing results is quite straightforward and less time-consuming.
3.Wider scope of data analysis: Due to the statistics, this research method
provides a wide scope of data collection.
4.Eliminate bias: This research method offers no scope for personal comments or
biasing of results. The results achieved are numerical and are thus, fair in most
cases.
Quantitative research examples

Some examples of quantitative research are:

• If any organization would like to conduct a customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey, a

customer satisfaction survey template can be used. Through this survey, an
organization can collect quantitative data and metrics on the goodwill of the brand
or organization in the mind of the customer based on multiple parameters such as
product quality, pricing, customer experience, etc. This data can be collected by
asking a net promoter score (NPS) question, matrix table questions, etc. that
provide data in the form of numbers that can be analyzed and worked upon.
• Another example of quantitative research is an organization that conducts an
event, collecting feedback from the event attendees about the value that they see
from the event. By using an event survey template, the organization can collect
actionable feedback about satisfaction levels of customers during various phases
of the event such as the sales, pre and post-event, the likelihood of recommending
the organization to their friends and colleagues, hotel preferences for the future
events and other such questions.
THANK YOU