The Scientific approach and

alternative approaches to
investigation
The Scientific approach and
alternative approaches to
investigation
• Scientific research focuses on solving problems and
pursues a step-by-step logical, organized, and rigorous
method to identify the problems, gather data, analyze
them, and draw valid conclusions from them. Scientific
researched is not based on hunches, experience, and
intuition, but is purposive and rigorous, because of the
rigorous way it enables all those who are interested in
researching and knowing about the same of similar issue to
come up with comparable findings when the data are
analyzed. It also helps researchers to state their findings
with accuracy and confidence. Scientific investigation tends
to be more objective than subjective, and help managers
to highlight the most critical factors at the workplace that
need specific attention so as to avoid, minimize, or solve
problems
SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
• Make an observation or observations. Form a hypothesis — a tentative description
of what's been observed, and make predictions based on that hypothesis. Test the
hypothesis and predictions in an experiment that can be reproduced.Analyze the
data and draw conclusions; accept or reject the hypothesis or modify the hypothesis
if necessary.Reproduce the experiment until there are no discrepancies between
observations and theory. "Replication of methods and results is my favorite step in
the scientific method," Moshe Pritsker, a former post-doctoral researcher at
Harvard Medical School and CEO of JoVE, told Live Science. "The reproducibility of
published experiments is the foundation of science. No reproducibility — no
science."
 • Scientific research pursues a step-by-step,
logical, organized, and rigorous method to
find a solution to a problem. The scientific
method was developed in the context of
the natural sciences, where it had
been the foundation of many important
The discoveries. Although there have been
numerous objections to this method and
hypothetical- to using it in social and business research,
it is still the predominant approach for
deductive generation knowledge in natural, social,
method and business sciences. The hypothetic
deductive method is a typical version of
the scientific method, provides a useful,
systematic approach for generation
knowledge to solve basic and managerial
problems.
The seven-step process in the hypothetic-
deductive method
• 1. Identify a broad problem area
• 2. Define the problem statement: Scientific research starts with a
definite aim to purpose. To find solutions for identified problems, a
problem statement that includes the general objective and
research should be developed. Gathering initial information about the
factors that are possibly related to the problem will help us to narrow
the broad problem area and to define the problem statement. This
could be done by a literature review or by talking to several people in
the work setting, to clients, or to other relevant recourses.
The seven-step process in the hypothetic-
deductive method
• 3. Develop hypotheses: Variables are examined to ascertain their contribution or
influence in explaining why the problem occurs and how it can be solved. The
network of associations identified among the variables is then theoretically woven,
together with justification as to why they might influence the problem. For a
theorized network of associations among the variables, certain hypotheses or
educated conjectures can be generated. The first criterion is that the hypothesis
must be testable, the second criterion, and one of the central tenets of the
hypothetic-deductive methods, is that a hypothesis must also be falsifiable
hypothesis cannot be confirmed.
• 4. Determine measures: Unless the variables in the theoretical framework are
measured in some way, we will not be testing our hypotheses. To test the hypothesis
that unresponsive employees affect customers switching, we need to operationalize
unresponsiveness and customer switching
The seven-step process in the hypothetic-
deductive method
• 5. Data collections: After we have determined how to measure our variables,
data with respect to each variable in the hypothesis need to be obtained. 
• 6. Data analyses: The data gathered are statistically analyzed to see if the
hypotheses that were generated have been supported. 
• 7. Interpretation of data: Now, we must decide whether our hypotheses are
supported or not by interpreting the meaning of the results of the data analysis.
Another inference from this data analysis is that responsiveness of our
employee’s accounts for 9% of the variance in customer switching based
on these deductions, we are able to make recommendations on how the
“customer switching” problem may be solved; we have to train our employees to
be more flexible and communicative. Hypotheses that are not supported our
research effort has still been worthwhile