Business Research Methods - Introduction

Introduction, Meaning, Types of Research, Importance of Research, Criteria for good research, Steps in Research process

1. MR.T.SOMASUNDARAM
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
KRISTU JAYANTI COLLEGE, BANGALORE.Unit 1 –Introduction 1Mr. T.Somasundaram

2. UNIT –I
INTRODUCTION
Meaning,Objectives,Criteriafora
GoodResearch,TypesofResearch,
ResearchMethodsVsResearch
Methodology,StepsinResearch
Process,BusinessResearch–Nature
andScope.
Unit 1 –Introduction 2Mr. T.Somasundaram

3. WHAT IS RESEARCH?
Unit 1 –Introduction 3Mr. T.Somasundaram

4. Meaning:
Researchinsimpleterms“Re–Search”.
Researchreferstosearchforknowledge.
Researchisascientificandsystematicsearchforinformationon
aparticulartopicorissue”.
Researchisasystematizedefforttogainnewknowledge.
Definition:
“Researchcomprisesdefiningandredefiningproblems,
formulatinghypothesisorsuggestedsolution;collecting,
organizingandevaluatingdata;makingdeductionsandresearch
conclusions;andatlastcarefullytestingtheconclusionsto
determinewhethertheyfittheformulatinghypothesis.”
-Cliffordwoody,
RESEARCH
Unit 1 –Introduction 4Mr. T.Somasundaram

5. ObjectivesofResearch:
Themainobjectiveofresearchare-
Itisatoolforbuildingknowledgeandforfacilitatinglearning.
Itmeanstounderstandvariousissuesandincreasepublic
awareness.
Itisanaidtobusinesssuccess.
Itisawaytoproveliesandtosupporttruths.
Itisaseedtodoreading,writing,analysing,andsharing
valuableinformation.
Todiscoveranswerstoquestionsthroughtheapplicationof
scientificprocedures.
Tofindoutthetruthwhichishiddenandwhichhasnotbeen
discoveredasyet.
6Mr. T.Somasundaram

6. ObjectivesofResearch:
Togainfamiliaritywithaphenomenonortoachievenew
insightsintoit(thisisrelatedtoexploratoryorformulative
research).
Todescribeaccuratelythecharacteristicsofaparticular
individual,situationorgroup(thisisrelatedtodescriptive
research).
Todeterminethefrequencywithwhichsomethingoccursorwith
whichitisassociatedwithsomethingelse(thisisrelatedto
diagnosticresearch).
Totestahypothesisofacasualrelationshipsbetweenvariables
(thisisrelatedtohypothesis–testingresearch).
6

7. CharacteristicsofaResearch:
SomeofthemajorcharacteristicsofaResearchare-
Originateswithaquestionorproblem.
Requirescleararticulationofagoal.
Followsaspecificplanorprocedure.
Oftendividesmainproblemintosubproblems.
Guidedbyspecificproblem,question,orhypothesis.
Acceptscertaincriticalassumptions.
Requirescollectionandinterpretationofdata.
Cyclical(helical)innature.
Unit 1 –Introduction 7Mr. T.Somasundaram

8. SignificanceofaResearch:
Itinculcatesscientificandinductivethinkinganditpromotes
thedevelopmentoflogicalhabitsofthinkingandorganization.
Theroleofresearchinseveralfieldsofappliedeconomics,
whetherrelatedtobusinessortotheeconomyasawhole,has
greatlyincreasedinmoderntimes.
Researchprovidesthebasisfornearlyallgovernmentpoliciesin
oureconomicsystem.
Researchhasitsspecialsignificanceinsolvingvarious
operationalandplanningproblemsofbusinessandindustry.
Researchisequallyimportantforsocialscientistsinstudying
socialrelationshipsandinseekinganswerstovarioussocial
problems. 8Mr. T.Somasundaram

9. Inadditiontowhathasbeenstatedabove,thesignificanceofresearch
canalsobeunderstoodkeepinginviewthefollowingpoints:
(a)tothosestudentswhoaretowriteaMaster’sorPh.D.thesis,
researchmaymeanacareerismorawaytoattainahighpositionin
thesocialstructure.
(b)toprofessionalsinresearchmethodology,researchmaymeana
sourceoflivelihood.
(c)tophilosophersandthinkers,researchmaymeantheoutletfor
newideasandinsights.
(d)toliterarymenandwomen,researchmaymeanthedevelopment
ofnewstylesandcreativework.
(e)toanalystsandintellectuals,researchmaymeanthe
generalizationsofnewtheories.
9

10. How to Conduct Research?
Importanceofknowinghowtoconductresearch:
i)itprovidestrainingtonewresearchers&enablestodo
researchproperly.
ii)itinculcatestheabilitytoevaluateandutilizethe
researchfindingswithconfidence.
iii)itequipstheresearcherwiththetoolsthathelpto
makeobservation.
iv)ithelpstheresearchconsumerstoevaluateresearch
andmakerationaldecisions.
v)itdevelopdisciplinedthinkingora‘bentofmind’to
observethefield.

11. 11
BUSINESS RESEARCH
Definition:
Businessresearchmaybedefinedasthe“systematic
andobjectiveprocessofgathering,recordingandanalyzing
dataforaidinmakingbusinessdecisions”.
-Zikmund
“Itisthesystematicprocessofcollectingandanalyzing
information(data)inordertoincreaseourunderstandingof
thephenomenonaboutwhichweareconcernedorinterested.”
“Itissystematicnessandobjectivityareits
distinguishingfeaturesofbusinessresearch,whichis
importanttoolformanagersanddecision-makersincorporate
andnon-corporateorganizations.”

13. NATURE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
Someofthenatureofbusinessresearchare–
1.Empirical-basedonobservationsandexperimentationon
theories.
2.Systematic-followsorderlyandsequentialprocedure.
3.Controlled-allvariablesexceptthosethataretested/
experimenteduponarekeptconstant.
4.Employshypothesis-guidestheinvestigationprocess.
5.Analytical-thereiscriticalanalysisofalldatausedsothatthere
isnoerrorintheirinterpretation.
6.Objective,unbiased,&logical-allfindingsarelogicallybased
onempirical.
7.Employsquantitativeorstatisticalmethods-dataare
transformedintonumericalmeasuresandaretreatedstatistically.

14. a)Productionmanagement:
Itperformsanimportantfunctioninproductdevelopment,
diversification,introducinganewproduct,product
improvement,processtechnologies,choosingasite,new
investmentetc.
b)Personnelmanagement:
Itworkswellforjobredesign,organizationrestructuring,
developmentofmotivationalstrategiesandorganizational
development.
c)Financialmanagement:
Itcanbeusefulforportfoliomanagement,distributionof
dividend,capitalraising,hedgingandlookingafter
fluctuationsinforeigncurrencyandproductcycles.
SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

15. d)Marketingmanagement:
Itperformsanimportantpartinchoiceandsizeoftargetmarket,
theconsumerbehaviourwithregardstoattitudes,lifestyle,and
influencesofthetargetmarket.itistheprimarytoolin
determiningpricepolicy,selectionofchannelofdistributionand
developmentofsalesstrategies,productmix,promotional
strategies,etc.
e)Materialsmanagement:
Itisutilizedinchoosingthesupplier,makingthedecisions
relevanttomakeorbuyaswellasinselectingnegotiation
strategies.
f)Generalmanagement:
Itcontributesgreatlyindevelopingthestandards,objectives,
long-termgoals,andgrowthstrategies.
SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

16. Itisoneofthemosteffectivewaystounderstandcustomers,the
marketandcompetitors.
Ithelpscompaniestounderstandthedemandandsupplyofthe
market.
Ithelpbusinessesreducecosts,andcreatesolutionsorproductsthat
aretargetedtothedemandinthemarketandthecorrectaudience.
Itenablesthecompanytotrackitscompetitorsandhencecangive
youtheupperhandtostayaheadofthem.
Itwillhelpunderstandthebrandvalueandmeasurecustomer
satisfactionwhichisessentialtocontinuouslyinnovateandmeet
customerdemands.
Ithelpthecompanygrowitsrevenueandmarketshare.
Ithelpsrecruitidealcandidatesforvariousrolesinthecompanyby
conductingsuchresearchacompanycancarryoutaswotanalysis.
IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

17. AdvantagesofBusinessResearch:
•Ithelpstoidentifyopportunitiesandthreats.
•Ithelpsidentifyproblemsandusingthisinformation,wise
decisionscanbemadetotackletheissueappropriately.
•Ithelpstounderstandcustomersbetterandhencecanbe
usefultocommunicatebetterwiththecustomersor
stakeholders.
•Risksanduncertaintiescanbeminimizedby
conductingbusinessresearchinadvance.
•Financialoutcomesandinvestmentsthatwillbeneededcan
beplannedeffectivelyusingbusinessresearch.
•Ithelptrackcompetitioninthebusinesssector.
•Itcanenableacompanytomakewisedecisionsastowhere
tospendandhowmuch.

18. AdvantagesofBusinessResearch:
•Itcanenableacompanytostayup-to-datewiththemarket
anditstrendsandappropriateinnovationscanbemadetostay
aheadinthegame.
•Ithelpstomeasurereputation.
DisadvantagesofBusinessResearch:
•Itcanbeahigh-costaffair.
•Mostofthetime,businessresearchisbasedonassumptions.
•Businessresearchcanbetime-consuming.
•Businessresearchcansometimesgiveyouinaccurate
information,becauseofabiasedpopulationorasmallfocus
group.
•Businessresearchresultscanquicklybecomeobsoletebecause
ofthefast-changingmarkets.

19. Researchisexpectedtosatisfythefollowingcriteria:
Theaimoftheresearchshouldbeclearlymentioned,along
withtheuseofcommonconcepts.
Theproceduresusedintheresearchshouldbeadequately
described,inordertopermitanotherresearchertorepeatthe
researchforfurtheradvancement,whilemaintainingthe
continuityofwhathasalreadybeendone.
Researchproceduraldesignshouldbecarefullyplannedto
obtainresultsthatareasobjectiveaspossible.
Flawsintheproceduraldesignshouldbesincerelyreported
bytheresearchertocorrectlyestimatetheireffectsuponthe
findings.
CRITERIA FOR GOOD RESEARCH

20. Researchisexpectedtosatisfythefollowingcriteria:
Dataanalysisshouldbeadequatetorevealits
significance.
Methodsusedduringtheanalysisshouldbeappropriate.
Reliabilityandvalidityoftheconcerneddatashouldbe
checkedcarefully.
Conclusionsareneededtobeconfinedandlimitedto
onlythosedata,whicharejustifiedandadequately
providedbytheresearch.
Researcherisexperiencedandhasagoodreputationin
thefieldofresearch,greaterconfidenceinresearchis
warranted.
CRITERIA FOR GOOD RESEARCH

21. Inotherwords,wecanstatethequalitiesofagoodresearch
asfollowing:
1)Systematic-theresearchisstructuredwithsome
specifiedsteps,whicharetobefollowedinaspecified
sequence,accordingtothewelldefinedsetofrules.
2)Logical-theresearchisguidedbytherulesoflogical
reasoning,andthatthelogicalprocessofinductionand
deductionareessentialwhileconductingaresearch.
3)Empirical-theresearchisbasicallyrelatedtooneor
moreaspectsofarealsituation,itdealswiththeconcrete
data,whichprovidesabasefortheexternalvalidityof
researchresults.
4)Replicable-theresearchresultsshouldbeallowed
verificationbyreplicatingtheirstudy,tothusbuildasound
basisfordecisions.

22. Unit 1 –Introduction 38Mr. T.Somasundaram

23. 1.DescriptiveResearch:
“Itincludessurveysandfact-findingenquiriesof
differentkinds.itdescribethestateofaffairsasitexists
atpresent.”
-Itisalsotermedas“expostfactoresearch”.
-Ithasnocontrolovervariables.
(E.g.)Frequencyofshopping,preferencesofpeople,
effectivenessoftrainingprogram,customer
behavior…….
2.Analyticalresearch:
“Theresearcherhastousefactsorinformation
alreadyavailableandanalyzethesetomakeacritical
evaluationofthematerial.”
Unit 1 –Introduction 39Mr. T.Somasundaram

24. 3.Applied(orAction)Research:
“AppliedResearchaimsatfindingasolutionforan
immediateproblemfacingasocietyoranindividual.”
-Itreferstoscientificstudyandresearchthatseekstosolve
practicalproblems.
(E.g.)Marketingresearch,Evaluationresearch,Solutionsto
everydayproblems,cureillness……
4.Fundamental(orBasicorPure)Research:
“Fundamentalresearchismainlyconcernedwith
generalizationsandwiththeformulationofatheory.”
-Itistofindinformationthathasabroadbaseandaddedto
alreadyexistingbodyofscientificknowledge.
(E.g.)Researchonpuremathematics,naturalphenomenon,
humanbehaviors.
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25. 5.Quantitativeresearch:
“Quantitativeresearchisbasedonthe
measurementofquantityoramount.itisapplicable
tophenomenathatcanbeexpressedintermsof
quantity.”
6.Qualitativeresearch:
“Qualitativeresearchisconcernedwith
qualitativephenomenon,(i.e.)phenomenonrelating
toorinvolvingquality.”
(E.g.)Investigatingabouthumanbehavior,association
test,storycompletiontests,attitudeoropinion
research……
Unit 1 –Introduction 41Mr. T.Somasundaram

26. 7.Conceptualresearch:
“Conceptualresearchisthatrelatedtosomeabstract
idea(s)ortheory.Itisgenerallyusedbyphilosophersand
thinkerstodevelopnewconceptsortoreinterpretexisting
ones.”
8.Empirical(orexperimental)research:
“Empiricalresearchreliesonobservationorexperience
withhardlyanyregardfortheoryandsystem.itoftencomes
withconclusionsthatcanbeverifiedthroughexperimentsor
observation.”
-Thisismostappropriatewhenanattemptismadetoprovethat
certainvariablesinfluencestheothervariablesinsomeway.
-Thisresearchismorepowerfulevidencesforgivenhypothesis.
Unit 1 –Introduction 42Mr. T.Somasundaram

27. OtherTypesofResearch:
a)Longitudinal(orOnetime)ResearchVsCross-Sectional
Research–itisconfinedtoasingletimeperiodorsome
researchcarriedonoverseveraltimeperiods.
-Itinvolvesstudyofsampleatmorethanonepointintime
oroccasion.(e.g.)trendstudies.
43

28. b)Field-settingorLaboratoryorSimulationresearch–itdepends
ontheenvironmentinwhichitistobecarriedout.(e.g.)fieldwork,
laboratorytesting.
c)ClinicalorDiagnosticResearch–itfollowscasestudymethodsor
in-depthapproachestobasiccasualrelations.(e.g.)Medical
treatmentorclinicaltesting.
d)ExploratoryResearch–itistodevelopthehypothesisratherthan
theirtesting.thisisconductedforaproblemthathasnotbeen
clearlydefined.
e)HistoricalResearch–itutilizeshistoricalsourceslikedocuments,
remains,etc.tostudyeventsorideasofpast.
f)Conclusion-OrientedResearch–itisfreetopickupaproblem,
redesignandpreparetoconceptualize.
g)Decision-OrientedResearch–needofadecisionmakerandnot
freetoembarkresearchaccordingtoowninclination.(e.g.)
operationresearch(adoptingscientificmethod).
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29. RESEARCH METHODS VS RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
*Researchmethodologyhasmanydimensionsandresearchmethodsdo
constituteapartoftheresearchmethodology.
*Thescopeofresearchmethodologyiswiderthanthatofresearch
methods.
RESEARCHMETHODS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methods may be understood
as all those methods / techniques that
are used for conduction of research..
Research methodology is a way to
systematically solve the research problem. It
may be understood as a science of studying
how research is done scientifically.
It refer to the methods the researchers
use in performing research operations.
It involves various steps adopted by
researcher in studying the research problem
along with thelogic behind them.
All methods used by researcher during
the course of studying research problem
are termed as research methods.
It need tounderstand the assumptions about
various techniques and they need to know
which is applicable to certain problems.
5

30. RESEARCH PROCESS
Unit 1 –Introduction 45Mr. T.Somasundaram

31. Unit 1 –Introduction 46Mr. T.Somasundaram

32. 1.FormulatingtheResearchProblem:
Itdecidethegeneralareaofinterestoraspectofsubjectmatter
thatliketoenquiry.
Thefeasibilityofparticularsolutiontobeconsideredbefore
formulationofproblem.
Ithastwosteps–i)understandingtheproblemthoroughly,ii)
rephrasingthesameintomeaningfultermsfromananalytical
pointofview.
Itdiscusswiththeexpertsinordertounderstandtheproblem.
Therearetwotypesofliterature–i)conceptualliteraturewith
conceptsandtheories,ii)empiricalliteraturewithstudiesmade
earlierwithproposedone.
Thisshouldbeclearlydefineinsequentialpattern,specificand
withmoreanalyticalterms.
Unit 1 –Introduction 47Mr. T.Somasundaram

33. 2.ExtensiveLiteratureSurvey:
Itshouldundertakeextensiveliteraturesurveyconnected
withtheproblem.
Fromindexingjournals,academicjournals,conference
proceedings,reports,books,etc.arereferredforthis
purpose.
Thishelpfulforpreparingbriefsummary,writingathesis.
3.DevelopmentofWorkingHypothesis:
Itisantentativeassumptionmadeinordertodrawandtest
itslogicalorempiricaleffect.
Thehypothesisshouldbespecificandlimitedtoresearch
andithastobetested.
Itistoguidetheresearcherbydelimitingtheareaof
researchandtokeepinrighttrack.
48

34. HowtoDevelopaHypothesis?
Itdiscusswiththeexpertsabouttheproblem,objectivesinseekinga
solution.
Theexaminationofdataandrecordsandconcernitbasedonpossible
trends.
Thereviewofsimilarstudiesinareaorsimilarproblem.
TheExploratorymethodtoinvolveoriginalfieldinterviewsinorderto
knowthepracticalaspectsofproblem.
4.PreparingtheResearchDesign:
Itstatetheconceptualstructurewithinwhichresearchwouldbe
conducted.
Itistoprovideforcollectionofrelevantevidencewithminimum
expenditure,effort,timeandmoney.
Itgroupedintofourcategories,i)exploration–itconsidersdifferent
aspectsofproblemifresearchstudyisthatofexploration.
Unit 1 –Introduction 49Mr. T.Somasundaram

35. ii)Description–itistobeaccuratedescriptionofasituationor
associationbetweenvariables.
iii)Diagnosis–itshouldminimumbiasandmaximumreliability
ofdata.
iv)Experimentation–itconsiststwodesign,a)experimentalor
informaldesigns(before-and-afterwithoutcontrol,after-only
withcontrol,before-and-afterwithcontrol),b)non-experimental
orformaldesigns(completelyrandomizeddesign,randomized
blockdesign,latinsquaredesign,simpleandcomplexfactorial
design).
itconsider–meansofobtaininginformation.
-availabilityandskillsofresearcher.
-explanationofthewaybasedoninformationorganized.
-timeavailableforresearch,and
-constantfactorrelatingtoresearch. 50

36. 5.DeterminingSampleDesign:
Itshouldbeconsidersomeitemsfrom‘universe’or
‘population’forinquiry.
Itisadefiniteplandeterminedbeforeanydataareactually
collectedforobtainingasamplefromgivenpopulation.
Researchermustdecidethewayofselectingasample.
Samplesareeitherprobabilitysamplesornon-probability
samples.
a)Probabilitysamplingmethodsaresimplerandom,
systematicsampling,stratifiedrandom,cluster/area
sampling.
b)Non-probabilitysamplingareconvenience,judgment,
quotaandsnowballsampling.
(note:allthistechniqueswillbediscussedinunit3)
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37. 6.CollectingtheData:
Itisnecessarytocollectthedatawhichisappropriate.
Itconsistsoftwodata,i)primarydata,ii)secondarydata.
Primarydatacollectionmethodsareobservation,interview,
mailing,etc.
Secondarydatacollectionmethodsarejournals,published
articles,newspaper,companyrecords,etc.
(Note:AlltheabovetechniqueswillbediscussedinUnit4)
7.ExecutionoftheProject:
Theprojectshouldbeexecutedinasystematicmannerandtime.
Datashouldbereadilymachineprocessed,questionswith
possibleanswers,surveyasmuchasrealistic.
Surveyshouldbeunderstatisticalcontrolwithpre-defined
standardofaccuracy.
52Mr. T.Somasundaram

38. 8.AnalysisofData:
Itrequiresno.ofoperationswithcategories,applicationof
categoriestodatathroughcoding,tabulationanddraw
statisticalinferences.
a)Coding–datatransformingintosymbolsthatmaybecount
ortabulated.
b)Editing–improvesthequalityofdata.
c)Tabulation–itistechnicalprocedurewheredataoutin
tables.
Dataisvalidatedbasedonrelationships,hypothesis,testof
significanceinordertoindicateconclusions.
Researchercananalyzethecollecteddatawithhelpof
variousstatisticalmeasures.
Unit 1 –Introduction 53Mr. T.Somasundaram

39. 9.HypothesisTesting:
Thehypothesismaybetestedthroughoneormoretestlikechi-
square,t-test,f-test,etc.
Thetestingwillresultineitheracceptingorrejecting
hypothesis.
10.GeneralizationsandInterpretation:
IfHypothesisistestedseveraltimes,thenitispossiblefor
Generalization(I.E.)ToBuildaTheory.
IfNoHypothesis,thenitNeedFindingsbasedonthesome
theory,iscalledInterpretation.
11.PreparationoftheReportortheThesis:
Researcherhastopreparereportofwhathasbeendonebyhim.
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40. Thelayoutofresearchare–
i)Preliminarypages–itshouldcarrytitle,date,acknowledgement
andforeword.
-tableofcontents,listoftables,graphs,charts.
ii)TheMain(text)partofReport–
a)Introduction–clearstatementofresearchobjective,
methodology,scopeofstudyandlimitations.
b)SummaryofFindings. c)MainReport.
d)Conclusion.
iii)EndMatter–listofappendices,bibliographylikelistof
journals,books,reports,etc.
Researchshouldbewritteninconcise&simplelanguage.
Chartsandillustrationsareclearlyusedbasedoninformation.
Variouslimitationsshouldbementioned. 55

41. Unit 1 –Introduction 78Mr. T.Somasundaram

42. Unit 1 –Introduction 79Mr. T.Somasundaram