ARM Lecture 3

Developing Ideas, Research Topics &

Objectives
Decision Science: A Problem Statement
• Identification of Problem / Decision to be taken
the undesirable conditions or situations that prevent the business from fully
achieving its business purpose, goals, objectives and policies.
Problem identification is the process of defining differences between an
existing
situation and a desired
“Correct identification situation.
is crucial – if incorrect leads to wastage of time & money”

• Problem audit and problem definition

What is the problem?
What are the various aspects of the problem? What information is
needed?
• Conceptualization and operationalization
How exactly do we define the concepts involved?
How do we translate these concepts into observable and measurable
behaviors?
Decision Science: A Problem Statement
• Problem Recognition or Opportunity Identification
– External (Changing market trends)
– Internal (Sales or market share decline, poor customer service)

• Symptoms
– Phenomenon occurs because of existence of some thing else like poor sales,
increase in customer complaints etc
“Iceberg Principle: focusing on what you can see (symptoms) & not the deeper
problem”
bl ”

• Management Decision Problems

– A statement specifying the type of managerial action required to solve the
problem
“Do out‐of‐home media research affect people as effectively as investments in
televisions, radio & print advertising”
Selecting a Research Topics/Problem
Some approaches to find a suitable research problem
are:
• Just take a few minutes and write quickly some research ideas you have been
carrying around based on your experience.

• Many times in our practice as a professional, questions present themselves to us.

What would happen if I taught reading using this new approach? How effective is
this new problem solving approach to learning the addition and subtraction facts?
Selecting a Research Topics/Problem
Some approaches to find a suitable research problem
are:
• Page through recent issues of your favorite, research based, professional journal.
You can use the idea of an already published study for a research problem of
your own. This is called "replication" (repeating a study in a different context to
see if the results hold in the new situation).
For example,l as you might i imagine,
i I am
it quite interested
i in computer
b d based
education, or research based more broadly on the use of technology in education.
I could probably get an idea for a research topic by skimming through the last
three or four issues of the Journal of Research on Computing in Education.
• State some research problems, gauge your research question/ problem
submitted and write down three to five possible research topics. Then you can
think about these topics as proceed.
Characteristics of Good Research Topics
• There are several characteristics of a good research question. Foremost among
these:
– is it interesting to you?
– Research is a time‐consuming, detail‐oriented process in which there are often
routine tasks that are generally not emotionally fulfilling or intellectually
stimulating but still need to be performed.
– It then becomes all the more important that you are genuinely curious
about
the question you are investigating, so that you can stay motivated when you
need to do something that is ordinary but necessary to the successful
completion of your study.
– Curiosity is also an asset in terms of stimulating questions for future studies.

The problem is "researchable" ‐ it is a problem that can be investigated through

the collection and analysis of data.
Attributes Required for Research Topic

• Capability: is it feasible?
‐ Budget?

‐ Time frame?
‐ Other resources?
‐ Enough knowledge and skills?
‐ Access to data?

• Appropriateness: is it worthwhile?
‐ Clear link to theory or business objectives/vision/goals?
‐ Will the research be worth for the business?
‐ What will be the benefits from research?
Attributes Required for Research Topic

• SSources fofidideas
f for a research
h t i topic:
‐ Researcher’s own strengths
‐ Discussion & Decision Problems in Businesses
‐ Searching the literature, Scanning the media

• Breadth of research questions

– Is there enough substance to your topic?
Research Question?
A research question provides a general indication, and is not intended to be specific.
Often, a researcher will use a research question when they are unsure about the
problem that they are researching. It helps them begin to focus on the problems
and identify what can be measured.

Some questions to ask for developing a Research Question

– Is the question right for the subject?
– Is the question doable?
– Does the question get the tick of approval from those in the know? Like
approval from higher management in an organization, and from teacher
or supervisor in academics
Attributes of Writing Research Question

• Writing research questions

‐ too big research question – requires a lot of resources
‐ too small – insignificant

• Writing
W iti researchh questions
ti
Wording:
‐ Why do companies examine the level of satisfaction of their customers?
‐ What factors influence customer satisfaction?
‐ How can customer satisfaction be measured?
‐ How does customer satisfaction influence repeat purchase
behaviour?
‐ How
H does
d customer
t satisfaction
ti f ti influence
i fl the
th financial
fi i l results
lt off companies?
i ?
‐ Can satisfied customers be transformed into loyal customers?
Research Objectives

“ something that one

's efforts or actions
s efforts are intended
or actions are intended
to attain or accomplish; purpose; goal; target”
Define objectives and priorities. Your objectives should address the problems
identified or decision to be taken to achieve business goal and targets. The
objectives of a research project summarize what is to be achieved by the
study.
d

Writing research objectives –

they flow from the research questions, a reflection of research topic.
Research Objectives

The formulation of objectives will help to:

• Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials);

• Avoid the collection of data which are not strictly necessary for understanding and
solving the problem you have identified;
• Organize the study in clearly defined parts or
phases.
“Properly formulated, specific objectives will facilitate the development of
your research methodology and will help to orient the collection,
analysis,
analysis interpretation and utilization
u ilization of data
data.”
”
Research Objectives

Stating Research Objectives

It is important that your objectives are stated in a good way;
• Cover the different aspects of the problem and its contributing factors in a
coherent way and in a logical sequence;
• Are clearly phrased in operational terms, specifying exactly what you are
going to do, where, and for what purpose;

“Keep in mind that when the project is evaluated, the results will be
compared to the objectives. If the objectives have not been spelled out
clearly, the project cannot be evaluated.”
Attributes for Research Objectives
SMART objectives Examples:
‐ Why do companies examine the level of satisfaction of their customers?
→ To identify the practical reasons why companies examine the satisfaction of
their customers

‐ What factors influence customer satisfaction?

→ To analyse the critical factors that influence customer
satisfaction
‐ How can customer satisfaction be measured?
→ To develop a methodological framework for customer satisfaction
measurement
‐ How does customer satisfaction influence repeat purchase behaviour?
→ To investigate the relationship between the level of satisfaction of customers and
their intentions for repeat purchases
Attributes for Research Objectives

SMART objectives Examples:

‐ How does customer satisfaction influence the financial results of ‐
companies?
→ 1) To critically evaluate the impact of customer satisfaction to company’s bottom line;
2) To develop a methodology to measure the impact off customer satisfaction to
company’s bottom line

‐ Can satisfied customers

be transformed into loyal
customers?
→To determine the ways for
transforming satisfied customers
into loyal customers

‐ Can the explanations be

generalised?
→ To develop a explanatory theory about customer satisfaction, the factors that influence it
and its relationships with customer loyalty and company’s financial results
 Cycles of Research
Question Development
 Lecture Summary – An Example

Decision Problem / Problem Statement

“Should we invest out‐of‐home media to reach our target audience”
“Do out‐of‐home media research affect people as effectively as
televisions, radio & in
investments print advertising”

Research Statement
“To explore the impact of of
out‐of‐home media on target” market

Research Question
“What is the impact of out‐of‐media advertisement on our target market”

Research Objective(s)
“To determine target audience recall of advertisements via bill boards
“T i t h f f t d etc.”
d t i bill b d ki k d d
“To measure impact on purchase of featured products via bill boards, kiosk ads,
and mobile / vehicle advertisement displays”
“To establish the target audience media habits”
“To decide whether to invest on out‐of‐home media to reach our target audience”
THNX! For stening with Patience

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Development of Hypothesis
Significance of Literature Review