Application of Business Research

MBA-W-4 Fall
 Research
Research as Uncountable noun
• Research is work that involves studying something and trying to discover facts
about it.

Example:
• 65 percent of the 1987 budget went for nuclear weapons research and production.
• ...his researches into which kinds of flowers bees get their best honey from.
Synonyms: investigation, study, inquiry, analysis   

Research as Verb
Example:
• If you research something, you try to discover facts about it.
• So far we haven't been able to find anything, but we're still researching. 
 BASIC Concepts
Defining Research

• Word research is derived from the  Research Modern Definition: Systematic

Middle French “Reserche”
means “Go about seeking”.
The term itself is being derived from old French ‘R
ecerchier’ a compound word from Re+Cerchier, th
e use of term was in 1577
• The term ‘Research’ consists of two words:
Research = Re + Search ‘Re’ means again and
again and ‘Search’ means to find out something
• According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary Research is: “A careful investigation
or inquiry especially through search for new
facts in any branch of knowledge.”
investigative process employed to increase or
revise current knowledge by discovering new
facts. It starts from observation and
identification of problem.
 
Research originates with at least one question
about one phenomenon of interest. For
example, what competencies might inhibit or
enhance the accession of women into senior
leadership positions? or What leadership
factors might influence the retention choices of
registered nurses? (Williams, 2005)
 BASIC Concepts

Business Research:
Types Business Research
Basic Research
We can now define business research as an organized, Applied Research
systematic, data-based, critical, objective, scientific inquiry
or investigation into a specific problem, undertaken with Methods & Approaches Employed for
the purpose of finding answers or solutions to it. (Uma
Sekran)
Research

In essence, research provides the needed information that Methods we can employ are
guides managers to make informed decisions to successfully  Deductive
deal with problems. The information provided could be the
result of a careful analysis of data gathered firsthand or of  Inductive and
data that are already available (in the company, industry,  Abductive
archives, etc.).

Data can be quantitative (as generally gathered through Approaches we can employ are
structured questions) or qualitative (as generated from the  Quantitative
broad answers to specific questions in inter- views, or
from responses to open-ended questions in a
 Qualitative
questionnaire, or through observation, or from already  Pragmatic (Mixed) and
available information gathered from various sources).  Advocacy
Induction Model
Deduction Model
Abduction Model
Practical Research Model (Old)
Practical Research Model (New)
 Research

• Research is defined as a careful consideration of

study regarding a particular concern or a problem
using scientific methods.

• According to the American sociologist Earl Robert

Babbie, “Research is a systematic inquiry to
describe, explain, predict and control the observed
phenomenon.

Methods of Research
• Research involves inductive and deductive and
abductive methods
 Characteristics of Research

1. Starts with A Question

2. Systematic Approach (Rules and procedures ethics
and code of conduct)
3. Logical Reasoning (Includes Both Inductive and
Deductive Methods)
4. Data or Knowledge Derived (Includes Real Data in
Natural Environment)
5. Accuracy
6. In-Depth Analysis of Collected Data
7. Path for New Research Questions (New Research
Opportunities)
8. Analytical In Nature (Use all the Available Data)
9. Research Is Cyclical
 Device Your Topic

• Discipline (Your Own Desciplien of Research Journal)

• Field (Scope)

• Sub-Field (Area)

• Subject (Interest Domain, Broad Problem Area )

• Topic (Through Literature Review and GAP)

 Indexing and Indexed Journals

• Indexation of a journal is considered a reflection

of its quality. Indexed journals are considered to
be of higher scientific quality as compared to
non-indexed journals. 

• Indexation of a journal is considered a reflection

of its quality. Indexed journals are considered to
be of higher scientific quality as compared to
non-indexed journals
 Indexing and Indexed Journals

• A related and equally controversial issue is that

of impact factor (IF).

• IF is used as a proxy for the relative importance

of a journal within its field. IF is awarded to the
journals indexed in Thomson Reuters Journal
Citation Reports.
 Criticism on Indexing of Journals

• IF has been criticized for manipulation and incorrect

application.

• There are multiple factors that could bias the calculation

of the IF.

• These include coverage and language preference of the

database, procedures used to collect citations, algorithm
used to calculate the IF, citation distribution of journals,
online availability of publications, negative citations,
preference of journal publishers for articles of a certain
type, publication lag, citing behavior across subjects, and
possibility of exertion of influence from journal editors.
 Issue Researchers Face

• Interestingly, IF is not available for all indexed

journals. In fact, not all journals indexed even in
Index Medicus/MedLine/PubMed are indexed
in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation
Reports.

• Similarly, not all journals indexed in Thomson

Reuters Journal Citation Reports and
consequently have an IF are listed in Index
Medicus/PubMed/MedLine
 Criticism on Indexing of Journals
• IJIFACTOR
Here are some of the most popular • Index Copernicus
journal indexing agencies where you
can check the indexing and apply for
it.

• Google scholar
• Scopus
• PubMed
• EBSCO • Open J Gate
• EMBASE • Ulrich’s International Periodical
• DOAJ Directory
• ISI Indexing • BASE
• SCIE
 Make Your Topic Narrow
• Aspect -- choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or
look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South
Asian religious rituals, study the role of food in Hindu ceremonies, or, the
role of one particular type of food among several religions].

• Components -- determine if your initial variable or unit of analysis can be

broken into smaller parts, which can then be analyzed more precisely [e.g., a
study of tobacco use among adolescents can focus on just chewing tobacco
rather than all forms of usage or, rather than adolescents in general, focus on
female adolescents in a certain age range who choose to use tobacco].

• Methodology -- the way in which you gather information can reduce the
domain of interpretive analysis needed to address the research problem [e.g.,
a single case study can be designed to generate data that does not require as
extensive an explanation as using multiple cases].

• Place -- generally, the smaller the geographic unit of analysis, the more
narrow the focus [e.g., rather than study trade relations in West Africa, study
trade relations between Niger and Cameroon as a case study that helps to
explain problems in the region].
 Make Your Topic Narrow
• Relationship -- ask yourself how do two or more different perspectives
or variables relate to one another. Designing a study around the
relationships between specific variables can help constrict the scope of
analysis [e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, contemporary/historical,
group/individual, male/female, opinion/reason, problem/solution].

• Time -- the shorter the time period of the study, the more narrow the
focus [e.g., study of trade relations between Niger and Cameroon during
the period of 2010 - 2018].

• Type -- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people,

places, or phenomena [e.g., a study of developing safer traffic patterns
near schools can focus on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the
timing of traffic signals in the area].

• Combination -- use two or more of the above strategies to focus your

topic very narrowly
The Research Process
 Role of Statistics Research
• One of the most important aspects of research is the
statistics associated with it, conclusion or result. It is
about the “Thought” that goes behind the research.
Research is conducted with a purpose to
understand:

• What do organizations or businesses really want to

find out?

• What are the processes that need to be followed to

chase the idea?

• What are the arguments that need to be built

around a concept?

• What is the evidence that will be required that

people believe in the idea or concept?
 Research Misconducts
•Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.

•Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or

changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately
represented in the research record.

•Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or

words without giving appropriate credit. Moreover Research misconduct does not
include honest error or differences of opinion.

•Ethics should be applied on all stages of research, such as planning, conducting

and evaluating a research project. The first thing to do before designing a study is
to consider the potential cost and benefits of the research. (o) Research - Cost and
Benefits-Analysis. We evaluate the cost and benefits for most decisions in life,
whether we are aware of it or not. Ethics should be applied on all stages of
research, such as planning, conducting and evaluating a research project.

 
 
 Phenomenology

• The goal of phenomenological studies is to describe the meaning that

experiences hold for each subject.

• This type of research is used to study areas in which there is little

knowledge (Donalek, 2004).

• We are surrounded by many phenomena.

 Phenomenology

Examples of Studies
• We know that lots of people are counselors. But what does
“Counseling” actually mean and what is it like to be a
counselor?

• What is it actually like to live with back pain? What are the
effects on peoples‟ lives? What problems does it cause? A
phenomenological study might explore, for example, the
effect that back pain has on sufferers‟ relationships with other
people by describing the strain it can cause in marriages or
the effect on children of having a disabled parent
 Phenomenology

• Finally we can say that wherever is a gap in our

understanding and that clarification or explanation will be
needed there the phenomenological research can begin in
a systematic way with the full confident

• Necessarily provide definitive explanations but it does raise

awareness and increases insight about the phenomena

• Creswell (2007) lists the following procedural steps

involved in conducting a Phenomenological study
 Phenomenology

a) An understanding of the philosophy of phenomenology, including the concept of

bracketing, is needed.

b) Research questions are developed that are focused on having the participants
describe their experiences.

c) Interviews are conducted with 5-25 participants who have experienced the
phenomenon being investigated. The questions asked focus on how they have
experienced the phenomenon and what contexts affect their experiences.

d) The data are analyzed, typically by first dividing the transcripts into specific
statements, clustering the statements based on psychological concepts, and then
bringing these clusters together to create a general description of the experience.

e) The final description of the experience provides an understanding of the

underlying, invariant structure that is common for all instances of the experience.
 Ethnographic Studies

• Ethnographic studies involve the collection and analysis of

data about cultural groups.

• Agar (1986) described ethnography as “encountering alien

worlds and making sense of them” (p. 12).

• According to Leininger (1985), ethnography can be defined as

“the systematic process of observing, detailing, describing,
documenting, and analyzing the lifeways or particular patterns
of a culture (or subculture) in order to grasp the lifeways or
patterns of the people in their familiar environment” (p. 35).
 Ethnography

• Social science that studies the origins and social relationships of human
beings is known as Anthropology.

• Ethnography is a branch of Anthropology that provides scientific

description of individual human societies.

According to Van Maanen

"Ethnography fieldwork usually means living with and living like those
who are studied. In its broadest, most conventional sense, fieldwork
demands the full-time involvement of a researcher over a lengthy period
of time (typically unspecified) and consists mostly of ongoing interaction
with the human targets of study on their home ground".
 Ethnography

• Ethnography analysis of data adopts an “Emic” approach.

• In the Emic approach, researcher attempts to interpret data from the

perspective of the population under study.

• The results are expressed as though they were being expressed by

the subjects themselves, often using local language and terminology
to describe phenomena.

• Ethnographic research can be problematic when researchers are not

sufficiently familiar with the social mores of the people being
studied or with their language.
 Grounded Theory Studies

• Grounded theory is a qualitative research approach developed by

two sociologists, Glaser and Strauss (1967). Grounded theory
studies are studies in which data are collected and analyzed and
then a theory is developed that is grounded in the data.

• The grounded theory method uses both an inductive and a

deductive approach to theory development. According to Field
and Morse (1985), “Constructs and concepts are grounded in the
data and hypotheses are tested as they arise from the research” (p.
23).
 Grounded Theory

• The Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967).

• To move away from the traditional scientific method, Glaser and Strauss
suggested gathering data through systematic methodological procedures
and developing theories from research that is grounded in the data

• Grounded theory is primarily a data analysis technique and some of its key
are:  

 Data collection and analysis occur simultaneously. As analysis occurs,

missing elements are identified, which become targets for further data
collection.
 Grounded Theory

 Data analysis proceeds through the constant comparative method, in which

interview statements are coded, categorized and grouped to develop a
theory.

 Data collection proceeds until the categories are “saturated,” that is, until
no new information is obtained with further data collection.

 The theory developed is not necessarily high level theory. It is often what
Creswell calls a “substantive-level theory”, which applies to the specific
setting or context in which the data was collected.
 Case Studies

• Case studies are in-depth examinations of people or groups of people.

• The case method has its roots in sociology and has also been used a great
deal in anthropology law, and medicine.

• In medicine, case studies have frequently been concerned with a particular

disease.

• In nursing, the case study approach might be used to answer a question

such as “How do the nurse and patient manage nausea associated with
chemotherapy?”
 Case Study

• A case study is characterized by in-depth study of a bounded

system. The boundaries of the case may be defined in terms of
time, space or participants (Merriam, 2002).

• For example, a case may be a classroom, a particular event or an

organization. Within this broad definition of a case study, there are
many possible approaches that can be taken, depending on the
overall purpose of the study.

• For example, Stake (2005) identifies three different types of case

studies.
 Case Study

• The intrinsic case study has as its focus an in-depth

understanding of that particular case.

• The instrumental case study is chosen to provide insight into a

more general phenomenon

• Collective Case Studies are the study of several cases that, taken
together, provide insight into the general phenomenon.

• Punch (1998) lists four characteristics of a case study (p. 153)

 Case Study

i. The case has boundaries. Even if the boundaries are not obvious,
the researcher needs to define boundaries to limit the case.

ii. The case is a particular example of something.

iii. In analysis the researcher attempts to maintain the case as a

single unit. At the same time however, there is often a focus on
particular aspects of the case.

iv. A variety of data types and data collection methods are used.
 Action Research

• Action research is associated with investigation on changes.

• Cunningham (1993) suggested that action research comprises a

continuous process of research and learning in the researchers
long-term relationship with a problem.

• The intention of action research is to institute a process of change

and then draw a conclusion based on this process.

• Generally, in the field of Information and Communication

technology, technologies associated with ICT facilitate changes.
 Action Research

• Therefore, action research is an appropriate methodology to

conduct investigation in ICT. There are 4 stages in the action
research cycle (Susman & Evered, 1978)

For Example

• For example, a system administrator employed action research in

his organization to investigate the relationship between the
introduction of groupware into an organization and its implications
towards individual work habits and the structure of enterprise
architecture (Olesen and Myers, 1999)
 Marching Towards Literature Review

• As we grasped much about Research, Synopsis,

Dissertation and Research Paper. Thus

• We also needs to know the formation of these through

proper steps and doing this we came to know this there is
Difference between Research Conduction and Research
Writing.

• Research Writing Compromises of different aspects and

among these one has been covered effectively i.e.
Introduction (with all the Sub-Divisions) and Now we are
moving towards Literature Review
 Literature Review

1. Select a review topic (focus! manageable!)

2. Search the literature

3. Gather, read and analyzing the literature

4. Write the review

5. References
 Literature Review

• Methodological Review A review

does not always focus
on what someone said [content],
but how they said it [method of
analysis].

• This approach provides a framework

of understanding at different levels (i.e.
those of theory, substantive fields,
research approaches and data
collection and analysis techniques)
 Literature Review

• Theoretical Review The purpose of this form is to

concretely examine the corpus of theory that has
accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory,
phenomena.

• The theoretical literature review help establish what

theories already exist, the relationships between them,
to what degree the existing theories have been
investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be
tested.

• Often this form is used to help establish a lack of

appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are
inadequate for explaining new or emerging research
problems. The unit of analysis can focus on a
theoretical concept or a whole theory or framework.
 Literature Review

• Integrative Review: Considered a form of

research that reviews, critiques, and
synthesizes representative literature on a
topic in an integrated way such that new
frameworks and perspectives on the topic
are generated.

• The body of literature includes all studies

that address related or identical
hypotheses. A well-done integrative review
meets the same standards as primary
research in regard to clarity, rigor, and
replication.
 Literature Review

• Historical Review Few things rest in

isolation from historical precedent. Historical
reviews are focused on examining research
throughout a period of time, often starting
with the first time an issue, concept, theory,
phenomena emerged in the literature, then
tracing its evolution within the scholarship of
a discipline.

• The purpose is to place research in a

historical context to show familiarity with
state-of-the-art developments and to identify
the likely directions for future research.
 Literature Review

• Argumentative Review: This form examines literature

selectively in order to support or refute an argument,
deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem
already established in the literature. The purpose is to
develop a body of literature that establishes a
contrarian viewpoint.

• Given the value-laden nature of some social science

research [e.g., educational reform; immigration control],
argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature
can be a legitimate and important form of discourse.

• However, note that they can also introduce problems of

bias when they are used to make summary claims of
the sort found in systematic reviews.
 Literature Review

• Systematic Review This form consists of an

overview of existing evidence pertinent to a
clearly formulated research question, which
uses pre-specified and standardized
methods to identify and critically appraise
relevant research, and to collect, report, and
analyze data from the studies that are
included in the review.

• Typically it focuses on a very specific

empirical question, often posed in a cause-
and-effect form, such as "To what extent
does A contribute to B?"
 Literature Review

• Meta-analysis is a form of systematic review. It combines the findings of multiple

scientific studies and statistically analyzes them.

• This method is based on a premise that similar studies will have a common truth,
but that individual studies have a degree of error. Therefore, by combining the
studies and applying statistic methods, you reach a higher statistical power than
you would with a single study.

• For this type of analysis, studies that fit the research question are identified. The
studies in a meta-analysis are usually quantitative in design, with a preference for
randomized-controlled trials. It is important that the studies in a meta-analysis are
very similar in their topic, hypothesis and design, so they can be aptly compared.

• Once determined the identified studies are synthesized, codified and entered into
a quantitative database for statistical analysis. The result of the meta-analysis
can, for instance, tell us about the efficacy of a certain approach or treatment.
 Research Methodology

The process used to collect information and data for the purpose of making
business decisions.

The methodology may include publication research, interviews, surveys and

other research techniques, and could include both present and historical
information.
Calculation of Sample Size
Calculation of Sample Size
Calculation of Sample Size
Calculation of Sample Size