Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Learning Outcomes
1. Classify business research as either
exploratory research, descriptive research,
or causal research
2. List the major phases of the research
process and the steps within each
3. Explain the difference between a research
project and a research program
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
4-2
Business Environment
Business opportunity
A situation that makes some potential competitive
advantage possible.
Business problem
A situation that makes some significant negative
consequence more likely.
Symptoms
Observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem
because they are caused by that problem.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
43
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
44
Exploratory Research
Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or
discover ideas that may be potential business
opportunities.
45
Descriptive Research
Describes characteristics of objects, people,
groups, organizations or environments.
Addresses who, what, when, where, and how
questions.
Unlike exploratory research, it is conducted after
the researcher has gained a firm grasp of the
situation being studied.
Often helps describe market segments.
46
Causal Research
Allows causal inferences to be made.
Seeks to identify cause-and-effect relationships.
When something causes an effect, it means it
brings it about or makes it happen; the effect is
the outcome.
Usually follows exploratory and descriptive
research and, therefore, the researchers are quite
knowledgeable about the subject.
47
EXHIBIT 4.2
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
48
Degrees of Causality
Absolute Causality
The cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the
effect.
Conditional Causality
A cause is necessary but not sufficient to bring about
an effect.
Contributory Causality
A cause need be neither necessary nor sufficient to
bring about an effect.
Weakest form of causality.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
49
410
EXHIBIT 4.5
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
411
EXHIBIT 4.6
Flowchart of the
Business Research Process
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
412
Deliverables
The consulting term used to describe research objectives to a
research client.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
413
Pilot Studies
A small-scale research project that collects data from
respondents similar to those to be used in the full study.
Pretest
Focus Group
414
415
Survey
A survey is a research technique in which a
sample is interviewed in some form or their
behavior is observed and described in some way
Telephone
Mail
Internet
In person
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
416
Sampling
Sampling involves any procedure that draws
conclusions based on measurements of a portion
of the population (i.e., a subset from a larger
population)
Sampling decisions
Who to sample?target population
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
417
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
418
Codes
Rules for interpreting, categorizing, recording, and
transferring the data to the data storage media.
Data analysis
The application of reasoning to understand the data
that have been gathered.
Use statistical analysis (discussed in later chapters):
univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, multivariate analysis
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
419
2.
3.
Reporting requirements
Conclusions fulfill the deliverables promised in the research
proposal
Consider the varying abilities of people to understand the
research results
Summary of the research findings
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
420
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
421
Theory Building
SUPPLEMENTARY: CHAPTER 3
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
122
Introduction
Theories are simply generalizations that
help us better understand reality.
Theories allow us to understand the logic
behind things we observe.
If a theory does not hold true in practice,
then that theory holds no value.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
3-23
What is a Theory?
Theory
A formal, logical explanation of some events that
includes predictions or how things relate to one
another.
Goals of Theory
Understanding
Predicting
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
324
Research Concepts
Concept (or construct)
A generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes,
occurrences or process that has been given a name.
Examples:
Leadership, morale, gross domestic product, assets, customer
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
325
Ladder of Abstraction
Ladder of Abstraction is organization of concepts in
sequence from the most concrete and individual to
the most general.
The basic or scientific business researcher operates at
two levels
Abstract Level: The level of knowledge expressing a concept
that exists only as an idea or a quality apart from an object.
Empirical Level: The level of knowledge that is verifiable by
experience or observation.
326
EXHIBIT 3.2
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
327
Hypothesis
Formal statement of an unproven proposition that is
empirically testable.
Example: Giving employees one Friday off each month will
result in lower employee turnover.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
328
Empirical Testing
Empirical Testing
Examining a research hypothesis against reality using
data.
Variables
Anything that may assume different numerical values.
The empirical assessment of a concept.
Operationalizing
The process of identifying the actual measurement
scales to asses the variables of interest.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
329
EXHIBIT 3.3
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
330
EXHIBIT 3.4
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
331
Theory Building
Deductive Reasoning
The logical process of deriving a conclusion about a
specific instance based on a known general premise or
something known to be true.
Inductive Reasoning
The logical process of establishing a general
proposition on the basis of observation of particular
facts.
2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
332