Session -3

Knowledge is the Treasure,

But Practice is the Key

5/15/2018 Prof. R.K.Jena, IMT Nagpur 1

 Developing/Utilizing
A
Theoretical framework

Monday, January 12, 2015 Prof. R K Jena 2

What is a Theory?

A formal, logical explanation of some events that

includes how things relate to one another.
Goals of Theory
 Understanding
 Predicting
Theory Building

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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 Satisfaction
 Market Share etc.
Level of Representation
 Abstract Level
 Empirical Level

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Developing the Research
Proposition & Hypotheses

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What is Proposition?
Statements explaining the logical linkage
among certain concepts by asserting a
universal connection between concepts.

Example: Treating employees better will make them

more loyal employees.

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 What is Hypotheses ?
 Intelligent hunches, guesses, or
predictions that assist the researcher in
seeking the solution or answer to the
research question. (Eric Rogers, 1966)
Formal statement of an unproven
proposition that is empirically testable.
 Example: Giving employees one Friday off
each month will Significantly increase
loyalty of the employee.
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Hypotheses Are the Empirical
Counterparts of Propositions
Facts About Hypotheses
 Hypotheses flow from the problem
statement, literature review, and
Theoretical Framework.
Each hypothesis represents a unit or
subset of the research problem.
 Hypotheses are formulated before the
study is conducted because they
provide direction for the collection,
analysis, and interpretation of data.
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Facts About Hypotheses
 Advantages of stating hypotheses include:
 Forces us to think more deeply and specifically about
the possible outcomes of the study
 Enables us to make specific predictions based on
prior evidence or theoretical argument
 Disadvantages of stating hypotheses include:
 May lead to a bias on the part of the researcher
 Focusing on the hypothesis could prevent the
researcher from seeing other phenomena that might
be important to the study

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 Purposes of Hypotheses
1. Provide a bridge between theory and
reality
2. Enable researcher to objectively enter
new areas of discovery
3. Provide direction for any research
endeavor by tentatively identifying the
anticipated outcome

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Nature of Hypothesis

 It can be tested –verifiable or falsifiable

 Hypotheses are not moral or ethical
questions
 It is neither too specific nor to general
 It is a prediction of consequences
 It is considered valuable even if proven
false

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Many Hypotheses from a Single Research
Question
Research
Question ???
An Example
You are a nutritionist working in a zoo, and one of your
responsibilities is to develop a menu plan for the group of
monkeys. In order to get all the vitamins they need, the
monkeys have to be given fresh leaves as part of their diet.
Choices you consider include leaves of the following
species: (a) A (b) B (c) C (d) D and (e) E. You know that in
the wild the monkeys eat mainly B leaves, but you suspect
that this could be because they are safe whilst feeding in B
trees, whereas eating any of the other species would make
them vulnerable to predation. You design an experiment to
find out which type of leaf the monkeys actually like best:
You offer the monkeys all five types of leaves in equal
quantities, and observe what they eat.
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An Example ( Hypothesis)…
There are many different experimental
hypotheses you could formulate for the
monkey study. For example:
 When offered all five types of leaves, the
monkeys will preferentially feed on B leaves.
 When offered all five types of leaves, the
monkeys will preferentially eat the type they
like best.
 When offered all five types of leaves, which
type will the monkeys eat preferentially?
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Types of Hypotheses
NULL HYPOTHESES ALTERNATIVE
 Designated by: H0 HYPOTHESES
or HN  Designated by: H1
 Pronounced as “H or HA
oh” or “H-null” Frequently “alternative “
is actual desired
conclusion of the
researcher!

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 Directional vs. Non-directional
Hypotheses
 A directional hypothesis is one in which the
researcher indicates the specific direction that he or
she expects will emerge in a relationship in the study.
 The direction is based on what the researcher has found
from Literature ,Personal experiences, experience from
others
 A non-directional hypothesis is when there is no
specific prediction about what direction the outcome of
a study will take.
 Sometimes it is difficult to make specific predictions upon a
study
 A study may state that it would point to non-specific
directions vs. distinct possibilities
Hypothesis Generation
Problem statements
become research
hypotheses when
constructs are
operationalized/Mea
sured

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Variables and Hypotheses
What is a Variable?
 A variable is a variation within a class of objects
 (Examples: eye color or Age or Gender).
 A constant is a characteristic with no variations within
a class of objects (i.e., grade level of ninth graders).
 Researchers choose certain variables to study since
they are suspected to be related to a possible
relationship to be discovered.
 Variables and Hypothesis
 Independent Variables (IV) is the predictor
Variables
 Dependent variable (DV) is the
consequence(Criterion) or the presumed effect that
varies with a change in the independent variable.
 The dependent variable is not manipulated, it is observed
and assumed to vary with changes in the independent
variable. Predictions are made from the independent variable
to the dependent variable.

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 Moderating Variables (MV)
• Moderating Variables are Independent
variables that are believed to have a significant
contributory or contingent effect on the
originally stated IV-DV relationship.
• The introduction of a four-day week (IV) will lead to
higher productivity (DV), especially among younger
workers (MV)
Extraneous Variables (EV)
• Extraneous Variables are variables
that could conceivably affect a
given relationship.

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 Mediating Variable
• An Mediating variable(MV) or
Intervening Variable (IVV) is a factor
that affects the observed
phenomenon but cannot be
manipulated.
DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK
The conceptual framework describes and explains the
concepts to be used in the study, their relationships with
each other, and how they are to be measured.
Developing conceptual framework requires five main
steps:

1. Identifying the relevant concepts.

2. Defining those concepts.
3. Operationalising the concepts.
4. Identifying any moderating or intervening variables.
5. Identifying the relationship between variables.
 Problem Statement
A problem statement can be:
Declarative Both are
acceptable
Interrogative
 A good problem statement exhibits the following:
 It clearly and unambiguously identifies the study
variables
 It clearly expresses the variables’ relationship to each
other
It implies the possibility of empirical testing

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Problem Statement & Variables
 Problem statements that include more than
one independent or dependent variables
may be broken down into subproblems that
are not concise.
Variables are not inherently
independent or dependent.
A variable that is classified as independent in
one study may be considered dependent in
another study.

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Testability
 The statement of the research problem
must imply that the problem is testable, i.e.
measurable by either quantitative or
qualitative methods.

 A research problem must propose a

relationship between at least one
independent and one dependent variable
indicating that these variables can be
measured.
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 Exercise
Give the hypotheses for the following framework:

Service Customer
quality switching

Switching
cost
 Exercise
Give the hypotheses for the following framework:

Service Customer Customer

quality satisfaction switching
 END

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