Research Methodology (SPM7002A)

What is Research Methodology:

“Research is the process which includes defining and redefining problems, formulating
hypothesis or suggested solutions or tentative solution; collecting, organizing and
evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully
testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.”

-Clifford Woody.

-Research Methodology –C. R. Kothari 2e

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“The manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of
generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that
knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art.” –
D. Slesinger and M.Stephenson

“Search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of

finding solutions to a problem is research” - C.R.Kothari

-“a careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts
in any branch of knowledge” – Advanced learner’s dictionary of Current english
-Research Methodology –C. R. Kothari 2e p1
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What is business research ?

“Business research is a systematic inquiry whose

objective is to provide information to solve managerial
problems.”

- Cooper & Schindler

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Method
Vs
Methodology

• Methodology is the science of methods

• Procedural framework
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Why study Business Research Methods?

RESEARCH MOTIVES

 Inquisitiveness (Jidnyasa)
 Uncomfortable with uncertainness
 Sustainable growth of business
 Academic and career excellence
 Desire to accept Challenges
 Satisfy creativity
 Service to society
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Why study Business Research Methods?

Objectives of Research

√ To Solve management dilemma related to functional areas like

marketing, HR, Finance, System, Operations etc.

√ To understand formulative or descriptive characteristics of the

elements involved in decision making, frequency of their occurrence and
associative or causal relationship amongst them.
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Why study Business Research Methods?

Objectives of Research

 To know and understand a phenomenon.

 To know characteristics of a situation

 To know frequency and association between two or more

entities or events

 To know the causal relationship between two or more entities

or events
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Why study Business Research Methods?

Utility of research :

√ Inculcation of scientific, logical and inductive thinking.

√ Basis for governmental policies,

√ Solving operational and planning problems of business and

industry,

√ Seeking answers to social problems.

√ Useful for academicians, consultants etc.

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What is good research?

Features of a Good Research Study:

• Must have clearly stated purpose

• Objectives, scope, variables, constructs, operational definition must be explained precisely.

• Must follow systematic and detailed plan (Research Design)

• Logical justification for sampling plan, data collection and analysis techniques

• Must be presented in unbiased, objective and neutral manner

• Must maintain the highest ethical standards

• Reliable and replicable

Ref.: Chawala D., Sondhi N.(2011), “Research Methodology”, Vikas Publishing House pvt ltd., p17
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Decision Support System(DSS)

“A computer based system that helps decision makers confront problems

through direct interaction with databases and analytical software programs”
-Zikmund et al, BRM, Cenage, 8e, p 23
Purpose of DSS
To store data and transform them into organized information that is
easily accessible to managers.

Modern DSS facilitates CRM (CRM is part of DSS)

Brings together information about – sales data, market trends, marketing
promotions and the way consumers responds to them, customer
preferences etc
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Major sources of input for DSS
Source Data
Internal Records Customer profiles, previous orders, inventory, product
sales history
Proprietary Marketing Survey findings, test market results, new product
Research forecast
Salespersons input Customer complaints and comments, changes in
competitors’ goods and services
Behavioral tracking Scanner data(PoS data), click-through sequence, GPS
system records, automated customer counts
Web tracking Social networking sites, internet blogs, chat
Out side vendors and external Industry sales trends, competitors’ market shares,
distributors demographics

-Zikmund et al, BRM, Cenage, 8e, p 25-26

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Business Intelligence

Data and Information are often used interchangeably.

“Data are simply facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena
(things or events)”

“Information is data formatted (structured) to support decision making or

define the relationship between two facts”

“Business intelligence is the subset of data and information that actually

has some explanatory power enabling effective managerial decisions to be
made”
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Data, Information and Intelligence
2.
1. PoS data recorded by
• Inventory system use data to
scanner
create information
• The information tells manager
what items need to be stocked
• The information also generates
and can even place orders to
vendors/suppliers
3. Analysts analyze the data statistically
and write research reports addressing
important questions such as
• What type of trends exists in customer
purchases, and are there regional
differences?
• Where should new store be located?
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Characteristics of useful data

Not all data are valuable to decision makers

1. Relevance - The characteristics of data reflecting how pertinent

these particular facts are to the situation at hand.
Whether the data/facts are logically connected with the situation?
2. Quality – The degree to which data represent the true situation.
Is the data Accurate, valid and reliable?
3. Timeliness - the data are current enough to still be relevant
4. Completeness – Having the right amount of information
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Application of Research in Functional Areas of Business:

Marketing

Productio
n& BR HR
Operation

Finance
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Marketing
a) Continuously declining sales

b) Ever changing customer preferences

c) Customer perceptions about the company & its products

d) Factors responsible for increasing market share

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Finance
a) Raising of funds from various sources

b) Investment analysis

c) Equity research

d) Analysis of performance for various Mutual Fund schemes

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Human Resource
a) Employee retention policy

b) Job satisfaction

c) Tools for motivating employees

d) Employee fitment to job profile

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Research Process
Steps in research :

1. Define research problem – What is to be found out ?

2. Literature Review: Review concepts/theory, Review previous

research finding: -- What research work has been done so far ?

3. Formulate hypotheses – What is the likely out come ? or

researcher’s learned opinion ?

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Steps in research :

4. Research design –
What information is needed ? Who will give the information ?
from how many to collect the information ? how to collect and
analyze the information ?

5. Data collection – What is the response to the questions ?

6. Data analysis and interpretation – Do the hypotheses test positive or

otherwise ?

7. Report – how to present the findings, conclusions and suggestions ?

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Ethics in Research:

Ethics are broadly the set of rules, written and unwritten, that govern our expectations
of our own and others’ behavior.

Research ethics are the set of ethics that govern how scientific and other research is
performed at research institutions such as universities, and how it is disseminated.
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client ‘s
ethics

Ethics

Supplier’s Respondent’s
ethics ethics
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Research Ethics:

Information should not be misused (C & S)

 No badgering (to R) (S)
 Confidentiality (C & S)
 Appointment of appropriate trained field staff (S) (feminine)
 Accurate report (S)
 Respondents ethics & rights-
 ethics-
 Participate on own’s free will
 Provide honest & truthful answer
 No falsifying of answer, better do not answer
Rights-
 Privacy
 Safety
 To know true purpose of research, research result
 To decide which questions to answer
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Plagiarism:

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to

"plagiarize" means:

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source
• to commit literary theft
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing
source
• In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone
else's work and lying about it afterward.
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Plagiarism
All of the following are considered plagiarism:

• turning in someone else's work as your own

• copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
• failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
• giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
• changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving
credit
• Using an image, video or piece of music in a work you have produced without
receiving proper permission or providing appropriate citation is plagiarism.
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Plagiarism

How to avoid???

Give proper citation

Intext citation
References
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Examples

• Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M.

(2013). Business research methods. Cengage learning.
• Zikmund, W. G., & Babin, B. J. (2015). Essentials of marketing
research. Cengage Learning.
• Gupta, O. J., & Singh, A. (2019). Consumer animosity towards
chinese products: a case of India. Sumedha Journal of
Management, 8(1), 43-57.
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Citation style:

APA 6th edition

MLA

Chicago
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How to do citations

In-Text Citations: Parenthetical Versus Narrative

• Parenthetical:

• Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public’s perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler, 2016).

• Narrative:

• Koehler (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines.
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APA:
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples