Business Research Methods

Sajja
d

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 What is

BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

Business
Research?

Why we need
to Conduct
Research in
organizations
?

What can be
the areas of
business
research?

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WHAT IS BUSINESS RESEARCH

 Business Research is an organized,

systematic, data-based, critical,
objective, scientific inquiry or
investigation into a specific problem
undertaken with the purpose of finding
answers or solutions to it.

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COMMON AREAS FOR BUSINESS
RESEARCH
 Employee Behavior such as absenteeism
, performance management, turnover

 Employee attitudes / satisfaction

 Supervisory performance

 Managerial tactics, Leadership styles

 Employee selection, recruitment, 4

training and development
COMMON AREAS FOR BUSINESS
RESEARCH…
 Brandloyalty, product life cycle, product
innovation

 Riskassessments, fluctuations, foreign

investment

 Advanced manufacturing techniques /

technologies and information systems

 Competitors analysis
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 The technology and human spirit
THE KEY TO RESEARCH IS
FINDING THE “WHAT, WHY &
HOW”

“What” “Why”

“How”

How
“Where”

“When”
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VARIABLE
 Variable is a Central idea in Research. Simply
defined variable is a concept that varies.

 Anything that varies and change in value

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RESEARCH PROCESS

1.Define the problem

2.Review the Previous Research
3.Develop Hypotheses
4.Determine Research Design
5.Define the sample / collect the data
6.Analyze the Data
7.Prepare the Research Report 8
 1. DEFINING THE PROBLEM

 The first step in defining the problem is

identifying the general question you want to
answer
• For example, you might want to know if drugs are
responsible for the decline of morality (ethics) in this
country
 The second step involves stating your question
so that it can be measured empirically
• You might then phrase your question, “Does drug use
cause one to commit crime?”
 The third step typically involves operationalizing
the concepts you are using
• This will involve specifying what you mean by “drug
use” and “crime”

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2. REVIEW PREVIOUS RESEARCH

 It will be rare that you will identify a research problem that

has not previously been researched
 By looking at what other researchers have done, you can
get some insightful ideas about how to conduct your own
research
 Sources of Secondary data;
1. Research journals
2. Books / articles
3. Reports on similar topics
4. Statistic department
5. Professional organizations
6. NGOs / INGOs / UN agencies
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7. Internet / Intranet
8. Religious literature
3. DEVELOP HYPOTHESES

 An hypothesis is “...a testable statement about the relationship

between two or more empirical variables.”
 e.g. Officers in my grade have higher than avarage
commitment (variable)
 “The higher level of job commitment of officers the lower their
absentiseem.”
 “High motivation causes high efficiency”

 High motivation leads to high efficiency”

 A variable is “...anything that can change”

 An independent variable causes change to occur in another variable
 A dependent variable is influenced by the independent variable

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3A. STATEMENTS OF CAUSALITY AND
ASSOCIATION

 Statement of causality—declares that something causes

something else
Drug Use Crime
 Statement of association—declares that two variables are
related but one does not necessarily cause the other

Drug Use Crime

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Unknown Third
Variable
4. DETERMINE THE RESEARCH
DESIGN...

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4. A THE SURVEY
 The survey involves questioning a
population or sample to reveal certain
facts about themselves

 Thesurvey is usually conducted with the

use of a questionnaire or interview
 The structured interview uses preset questions
and produces very uniform and replicable
responses
 The open-ended interview allows more
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freedom for both respondent and interviewer
in exploring a topic thoroughly
 4.B PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

 Participant observation involves going into the “field”

and spending considerable time interacting with the
people one is studying
 It is generally used to study small groups or
communities over an extended period of time
 The researcher must establish trust and honesty in his
or her relationships with the people being studied
 Results cannot be replicated easily, but it can provide
much more detailed information
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 4.C THE EXPERIMENT

 The experiment is a design that carefully controls the

variables being studied
 The experiment is the most precise research design
available to sociologists (or any other scientist)
 The types of things that most sociologists are interested in
do not lend themselves to this research design, however

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4.D SECONDARY ANALYSIS

 Secondary analysis involves making use of data

that have been previously collected by others
 There are several sources of secondary data,
including the Census Department, Economic
Survey, Statistical department

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Research Methods

Research Advantages Disadvantages

Method
Survey 1 Many people can be 1Respondents may give false
surveyed information
2 Data can be quantified and 2 Do not leave room for
comparisons made unanticipated answers

Participant 1 Allows people to be 1 Findings open to

Observation observed in natural habitat interpretation and subject to
2 Provides greater depth of bias
understanding 2 Results difficult to replicate

Experiment 1 Variables can be controlled 1 Artificial setting

2 Easy to replicate 2 Limited to a few variables
3 Not appropriate for most
sociologists
Secondary 1 Good for historical and No control over data 18

Analysis longitudinal data

2 Saves time and money
5. DEFINE SAMPLE /COLLECT DATA

 A sample is a subset of a population that is

chosen for study
 The process by which this subset of the
population is chosen is called sampling
 The nature of the population and the research will
determine what type of sample the researcher will
use

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TYPES OF SAMPLES

Type of Description Purpose

Sample
Random Each individual in a Used when there is no
population has an need to insure inclusion
equal chance of being of certain categories
chosen

Stratified Population first divided Used when

Random into groups based on representation of
certain characteristics; certain population
random sample drawn categories is important
within each category
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AVOIDING RESEARCHER BIAS
 Researcher bias occurs when the researcher
tends to ignore data which go against his or
her hypotheses
 This can be prevented using one or more of the
following strategies
 Allowing other researchers access to one’s data for
alternative interpretation
 Use of blind investigators who do not know if a
subject is part of an experimental or control group
 Use of double blind investigators who know neither
the nature of the subjects, or of the hypotheses
being tested
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 6. ANALYZING THE DATA
 Analysis of data is the process by which large
and complicated collections of data are
organized so that comparisons can be made
and conclusions drawn
 Sociologists use a variety of statistics to assist
in this process
 Two issues are especially important in data
analysis:
• Validity—the data accurately represent the reality
being tested
• Reliability—the findings can be repeated
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7. PREPARE THE RESEARCH REPORT

 Sociological research is generally

reported in one or more of the
following ways:
 Papers presented at professional
meetings
 Published in technical or scholarly
journals
 Publish as a book or publish as final
report to funding agencies

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