CHAPTER 8

RESEARCH DESIGN

1
WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN?
 Research design is the blueprint for fulfilling research
objectives and answering investigative questions.
 Its essentials include

1) an activity and time-based plan,

2) a plan based on the research questions,

3) a guide for selecting sources and types of information,
4) a framework for specifying the relationships among the
study’s variables, and
5) a procedural outline for every research activity.

© 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. 4-2

RESEARCH DESIGN CONTENT
 Types of Research: Exploratory, Descriptive or
Causal
 Target Respondent:

 Sampling Design:

 Measurement Scales

 Instrument development

© 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. 4-3

TYPES OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
 Exploratory
 Descriptive

 Causal

4–4
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
 Exploratory Research
 Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas
that may be potential business opportunities.
 Initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature of a
problem.
 Does not provide conclusive evidence
 Subsequent research expected

4–5
CUTE, FUNNY, OR SEXY? WHAT
MAKES A MASCOT TICK?
 Exploratory research is
helpful in answering
these questions.
 Mr. Peanut gets positive
comments…unless he has
on Bermuda shorts!
 M&M characters are
referred to by their color,
so they don’t need names.
 Women want a sexy
Brawny man!
4-6
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
 Describes characteristics of objects, people, groups,
organizations, or environments.
• Addresses who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.
• Considerable understanding of the nature of the problem exists.
• Does not provide direct evidence of causality.

 Diagnostic analysis
• Seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes and focuses
specifically on the beliefs and feelings consumers have about
and toward competing products.

4–7
CAUSAL RESEARCH
 Research conducted to identify cause and effect
relationships (inferences).
 Evidence of causality:
 Temporal sequence—the appropriate causal order of events.
 Concomitant variation—two phenomena vary together.
 Nonspurious association—an absence of alternative plausible
explanations.

4–8
 EXHIBIT 4.2 THE SPURIOUS EFFECT OF ICE
CREAM

4–9

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RESEARCH STRATEGIES
 Research strategies that are commonly used are mainly
based on their own uniqueness and prevalence; these include
experiments, survey research, observation, case studies,
grounded theory, action research, and mixed methods.
 Experimental research is an endeavour by the
researcher to keep control over all elements that may
influence the consequence of an experiment.
 Survey research is a frequently used technique for
systematically gathering data about a population of
interest. It is used for generating quantitative descriptors
or descriptive and analytic statistics of the attributes of a
population based on selected samples.
 Participant observation is a variant of the observations
where the researcher joins and becomes actively
involved in the research process, aiming to assess the
profound knowledge, understanding and evaluative
insight into participants’ situations and lives.
 Case study research is a research strategy that can help
in analysing a complex issue or question and can stretch
out experience or add quality to what is already known
through past studies. For research involving questions
like “how” and “why” about which the researcher has
minimal control over the event, and when the attention is
on a contemporary issue within a real-life context, a case
study may be an ideal choice of research strategy.
 Grounded theory is a qualitative exploration approach
that was created by Glaser and Strauss in the 1960s. The
self-characterised aim for grounded theory is to create
hypotheses about a research interest. It is not simply
abstract conjecturing; rather, the hypothesis should be
grounded or established in observation.
 Action research consists of a group of research
approaches which seek action and research results
simultaneously, and which usually involves resembling a
consultancy project or change agency and field research.
 Mixed methods research is more particular in that it
incorporates the blending of qualitative and quantitative
information, strategies, approaches, and/or ideal models
in a research study.
UNIT OF ANALYSIS
 The unit of analysis is the most crucial aspect of any
research project, as the wrong identification of a unit of
analysis in research will lead to invalid conclusions. The
unit of analysis is the real entity that a study is
analysing. It could be individuals, groups, artefacts,
geographical units (town, census tract, state) and social
interactions (dyadic relations, divorces, arrests).
CROSS-SECTIONAL VERSUS LONGITUDINAL
STUDIES
 The cross-sectional research design is the most commonly used
research design to gather data and information from a
population at one point in time, and it is identical to a survey
design. A single cross-sectional design includes one wave or
round of information-gathering – data and information are
gathered from a sample on one occasion.
 Longitudinal research includes gathering data and
information from the same sample (of people or
associations, for instance) on more than one occasion for
recognition of the pattern of change. The changes could be
social, demographic, political, economic, cultural or
technological.