BUSINESS

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Chapter 4
GENERALISATION
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

 Topics to be covered
 Validity
 Reliability
 Generalisation

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Investigation or research is of two types-

 Applied Research
 Fundamental Research
Applied research is about situation specific;
fundamental research is general and may apply to society in general.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Validity
 Whether we are measuring what we intend to measure
 When we talk about the validity of research, we often refer
to these to the many conclusions we reach about the
quality of different parts of our research methodology.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

'VALIDITY'

the result and culmination of other empirical

conceptions: universal laws, evidence, objectivity,
truth, actuality, deduction, reason, fact and
mathematics.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Scientific Method?
 Collecting and Analyzing Data
 Ensuring Validity and Reliability

 Validity: degree to which a measure truly reflects the

phenomenon being studied

 Reliability: extent to which a measure provides consistent

results

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Validity in Research
 quality of different parts of our research
methodology.
 Descriptive validity,
 Interpretive validity,
 Theoretical validity, etc.
in descriptive and exploratory studies

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Parts forming Validity

in CAUSAL studies

1. Conclusion Validity
2. Internal Validity
3. Construct validity
4. External validity.
They build on one another

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

What you think

Theory
Effect Construct
Cause Construct
Cause Effect Relationship

Operationalize

Programme-outcome relationship
Programme Observations

Observations What you test

Business Research Methodology
Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

 Conclusion validity & Internal validity

the land of observations that is real world.
 Construct validity
the linkage between bottom and top.
 External Validity
the range of theory on the top.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

 Conclusion Validity:
is there a relationship between the two variables?
Example
A relationship between the advertisement and
consumer ‘awareness’
Subjective judgement or

Correlation =
Cov( X , Y )
SDofX * SDofY
Business Research Methodology
Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

 There is no relationship
 There is positive relationship
 There is negative relationship

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Validity….

External Validity: Can we

generalize to other persons,
places, times etc

Construct Validity: Can we

generalize to the constructs?

Internal Validity: Is the

relationship causal?

Conclusion Validity: Is there

relationship between cause and
effect?

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Threats to Conclusion Validity

 Conclude that there is no relationship when in
fact there is.
 Conclude that there is a relationship when in fact
there is not.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Threats to Internal Validity

 Single Group Threat
 Multiple group threats
 Social Threats

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Threats to Internal Validity

 History Threat
 Maturation Threat
 Testing Threat
 Instrumentation Threat
 Mortality Threat
 Regression Threat

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Construct Validity
 construct validity involves generalizing from your
program or measures to the concept of your
program or measures.
(operationalization)

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Construct validity
 Translation validity
 Face validity

 Content validity

 Criterion-related validity
 Predictive validity

 Concurrent validity

 Convergent validity

 Discriminant validity

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Threats to Construct Validity

 Attention and Contact with Participants
 Single Operations and Narrow Stimulus Sampling
 Experimenter’s expectancies
 Cues of the Experimental Situation
 Inadequate Explication of Constructs
 Construct Confounding
 Reactivity to the Experimental Situation

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

External Validity
 External validity is related to generalizing
 External validity is the degree to which the
conclusions in your study would hold for other
persons in other places and at other times.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Threats to External Validity

Three ways you could be wrong, they are
1. people,
2. places or
3. times.

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Reliability
 Reliability means "repeatability" or
"consistency"
 Don't get confused with 'dependence'

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

 Reliability is a ratio or fraction. In layperson

terms we might define this ratio as:

TrueLevelOnmeausure
TheEntireMeasure

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

 correlation:
Co var iance ( X1 X 2 )
SD ( X1 ) * SD ( X 2 )

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva
 Chapter 4
Generalisation

Reliability & Validity

Business Research Methodology

Himalaya Publishing House Dr. J K Sachdeva