Course Year

: J0582 - Research Method : 2010

The Research Process 03-04

Broad Problem Area

1. Problem currently existing in an organizational setting that need to be solved 2. Areas that manager believes need to be improved in the organization 3. A conceptual or theoretical issue that needs to be tightened up for the basic researcher to understand certain phenomena 4. Some research questions that a basic researcher wants to answer empirically
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Example of broad problem areas that a manager could observe at the work place are as follows:
1. Training programs are perhaps not as effective as anticipated. 2. The sales volume of a product is not picking up. 3. Minority group members in organizations are not advancing in their careers. 4. The anticipated results of a recent merger have not been forthcoming. 5. Inventory control is not effective. 6. The management of a complex, multipartmental team project is getting out of hand in the R&D department of a firm.
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Literature Review
A good literature review : 1. Important variables that are likely to influence the problem situation are not left out of the study. 2. A clearer idea emerges as to what variables would be most important to consider (parsimony), why they would be considered important, and how they should be investigated to solve the problem. Thus, the literature survey helps the development of the theoretical framework and hypotheses for testing. 3. The problem statement can be made with precision and clarity
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4. Testability and replicability of the findings of the current research are enhanced. 5. One does not run the risk of reinventing the wheel that is, wasting efforts on trying to rediscover something that is already known. 6. The problem investigated is perceived by the scientific community as relevant and significant

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Identifying the relevant Sources

Basically, 3 forms of databases come in handy while reviewing the literature, as indicated below : 1. The bibliographic databases, which display only the bibliographic citations, that is, the name of the author, the title of the article (or book), source of publication, year, volume, and page numbers. These have the same information as found in the bibliographic index books in libraries, which are periodically updated, and include articles published in periodicals, newspapers, books, and so on.
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2. The abstract databases, which in addition provide an abstract or summary of the articles. 3. The full text database, which provide the full text of the article.

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Theoretical Framework
After conducting the interviews, completing a literature review, and defining the problem, one is ready to develop a theoretical framework. A theoretical framework is a conceptual model of how one theorizes or makes logical sense of the relationships among the several factor that have been identified as important to the problem

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Variables
A Variable is anything that can take on differing or varying values. The values can differ at various times for the same object or person, or at the same time for different objects or persons. Example of variables are production units, absenteeism, and motivation

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Types of Variable
4 types of variables : 1. The dependent variable Dependent Variable is the variable of primary interest to the researcher. 2. The independent variable An independent variable is one that influences the dependent variable in either a positive or negative way.

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3. The moderating variable The moderating variable is one that has a strong contingent effect on the independent variabledependent variable relationship. 4. The intervening variable An interviewing variable is one that surfaces between the time the independent variables start operating to influence the dependent variable and the time their impact is felt on it.

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The Components of the Theoretical Framework

A good theoretical framework identifies and labels the important variables in the situation that are relevant to the problem defined. There are 5 basic features that should be incorporated in any theoretical framework. 1. The variables considered relevant to the study should be clearly identified and labeled in the discussions. 2. The discussions should state how two or more variables are related to one another. This should be done for the important relationships that are theorized to exist among the variables.
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3. If the nature and direction of the relationships can be theorized on the basis of the findings of previous research, then there should be an indication in the discussions as to whether the relationships would be positive or negative. 4. There should be a clear explanation of why we would expect these relationships to exist. The arguments could be drawn from the previous research findings. 5. A schematic diagram of the theoretical framework should be given so that the reader can see and easily comprehend the theorized relationships.
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Hypothesis Development
A hypothesis can be defined as a logically conjectured relationship between 2 or more variables expressed in the form of a testable statement. Relationships are conjectured on the basis of the network of associations established in the theoretical framework formulated for the research study. By testing the hypotheses and confirming the conjectured relationships, it is expected that solutions can be found to correct the problem encountered.
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Elements of Research Design

Having identified the variables in a problem situation and developed the theoretical framework, the next step is to design the research in a way that the requisite data can be gathered and analyzed to arrive at a solution.

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