Stages of the Research Process

Stages in the Research Process

• Process stages:
1. Defining the research objectives
2. Planning a research design
3. Planning a sample
4. Collecting the data
5. Analyzing the data
6. Formulating the conclusions and preparing the
report
• Forward linkage—earlier stages influence later stages.
• Backward linkage—later stages influence earlier stages.
 Managerial Value of Business Research

• There are only a few business orientations:

– Product-oriented
– Production-oriented
– Marketing-oriented
Business Orientations
 Business Research
• Business research is the application of the
scientific method in searching for the truth
about business phenomena.

• The process includes:

– idea and theory development
– problem definition
– searching for and collecting information
– analyzing data
– communicating the findings and their
implications
 The Scientific Method
• The way researchers go about using knowledge
and evidence to reach objective conclusions
about the real world.

• The analysis and interpretation of empirical

evidence (facts from observation or
experimentation) to confirm or disprove prior
conceptions
A Summary of the Scientific Method
 Types of research
BUSINESS RESEARCH

BASIC RESEARCH APPLIED RESEARCH

EXPLORATORY CONCLUSIVE RESEARCH

RESEARCH

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH CAUSAL RESEARCH

Classification of research designs

Research Design

Exploratory Conclusive
Research Research
Design Design

Descriptive Causal
Research Research

Cross –
Longitudinal
Sectional
Design
Design

Single Multiple
Cross – Cross –
Sectional Sectional
Design Design
• Basic business research (also called
pure research)
– conducted without a specific decision in
mind that usually does not address the
needs of a specific organization.
• Attempts to expand the limits of knowledge in
general.
• Not aimed at solving a pragmatic problem.

– Example:
• Does employee tenure with a company
influence productivity?
• Applied business research
–conducted to address a specific
business decision for a specific
firm or organization.

– Example:
• Should McDonald’s add Italian pasta
dinners to its menu?
• Which health insurance plan should a
business provide for its employees?
 Exploratory Research
•The basic objective of the study is to explore and obtain
clarity about the problem situation.

•Allows the researcher to gain a better understanding of the

concept and provides direction in order to initiate a more
structured research.

•Used principally to gain a deeper understanding of

something
•Role is to provide direction to subsequent and more
structured and rigorous research.

•Studies of this nature are less structured (most loosely

structured), simplest, more flexible in approach and are not
conducted to test or validate any preconceived propositions.
•It could lead to some testable hypotheses

•It involves a qualitative investigation in most cases.

•Define and conceptualize the research problem to be
investigated
•Explore and evaluate the diverse and multiple research
opportunities

•Assist in the development and formulation of the research

hypotheses

• Operationalize and define the variables and constructs

under study.
•Identify the possible nature of relationships that might exist between
the variables under study
•Explore the external factors and variables that might impact the
research
•No matter what the scientific orientation and the research objective
might be, the researcher can make use of a wide variety of established
methods and techniques for conducting an exploratory research like
secondary data sources, unstructured or structured observations,
expert interviews and focus group discussions with the concerned
respondent group.

Example
•A review of market opportunities available to a prospective
entrepreneur
•An informal survey conducted to identify the problem in the supply
chain of a product
•Different ways that women professionals adapt to manage work
family conflict.
 Descriptive Research
•More structured and formal in nature
•It provides a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the
phenomena under study

Example
•A marketer to design his advertising and sales promotion campaign
for high-end watches would require a holistic profile of the
population which buys high-end luxury products. Thus a descriptive
study which generates data on the who, what, when, where, why
and how of luxury accessory brand purchase would be the design
necessary to fulfil the research objectives.
•There might be a temporal component to this design that is the
description might be in a stagnant time period or be stretched across
collecting the relevant information in different stages in a stipulated
time period.
•The studies are also carried out to measure the simultaneous
occurrence of certain phenomena or variables.
Based on temporal collection of the research information, descriptive
research is further subdivided into two categories Cross-sectional
studies and longitudinal studies.

Cross-sectional studies
Here, one takes a current subdivision of the population and studies the
nature of the relevant variables being investigated.

It is carried out at a single moment in time and thus the applicability is

most relevant for a specific period. For example, a cross-sectional study
on the attitude of Americans towards Asian-Americans, pre and post
9/11, was vastly different and a study done in 2011 would reveal a
different attitude.

These studies are carried out on a section of respondents from

population units under study.
Conclusive Research

•The findings and propositions developed as a consequence

of exploratory research might be tested and authenticated by
conclusive research.

•This kind of research study is especially carried out to test

and validate formulated hypotheses and specified
relationships.

•It is usually quantitative in nature.

Causal Research
•It explores the effect of one thing on another and more specifically, the
effect of one variable on another.

•They are highly structured and require a rigid sequential approach to

sampling, data collection and data analysis.

•This study establishes the why and the how of a phenomenon.

•To establish a reliable and testable relationship between two or more

constructs or variables, the other influencing variables must be
controlled so that their impact on the effect can be eliminated or
minimized. For example, to study the impact of flexible work policies on
turnover intentions, the other intervening variables such as age, marital
status, organizational commitment and job autonomy would need to be
Multiple cross-sectional studies
here, multiple sub-segments of the population under
study are taken into account because of non-
homogeneous nature of the population and there is a
divergence in the characteristics under study.

Cohort Analysis:
the cross-sectional survey which is conducted on
different sample groups at different time intervals.
Longitudinal Study design
•A single sample of the identified population that is studied
over a stretched period of time is termed as a longitudinal
study design.

•The study involves the selection of a representative panel or

a group of individuals that typically represent the population
under study.

•There is a repeated measurement of the group over fixed

intervals of time, the measurement is specifically made for
the variables under study.
•The number of panel members has to be the same over the
period of the study. In case a panel member leaves the panel
due to some reason, it is critical to replace him/her with a
representative member from the population under study.