Introduction to

Business Research:
The Meaning of
Research
The Nature of Research
Ways in which research is used wrongly (Walliman, 2011):
just collecting facts or information with no clear purpose;
reassembling and reordering facts or information without
interpretation;
as an esoteric activity with no or little relevance to
everyday life;
as a term to get your product or idea noticed and
respected.

Source: Sanders, Lewis, and Thornill. (2016). Research methods for business students, 7/e.
The Nature of Research
Research is a process that people undertake in a systematic
way in order to find out things, thereby increasing their
knowledge.

Systematic : research is based on logical relationships and

not just beliefs

To find out things : there are a multiplicity of possible

purposes for research

Source: Sanders, Lewis, and Thornill. (2016). Research methods for business students, 7/e.
Types of Research

Trochims Classifications
descriptive
o e.g., percentage of regular exercisers
relational
o e.g., link between age and exercise
causal
o e.g., effect of behaviour change intervention on
exercise participation
Business Research
A process of determining, acquiring, analysing,
synthesizing, and disseminating relevant business data,
information, and insights to decision makers in ways that
mobilize the organization to take appropriate business
actions that, in turn, maximize business performance

Why study business research?

Business research provides information to guide business
decisions.

Source: Cooper and Schidler. (2011). Business Research Methods, 11/e.

The Scientific Method
the most critical concept to remember and understand
knowing each of the steps in this process and how they are
managed will allow the conduct of the highest quality of
research possible

HOMER (Lakin et al., 2007)

1. Hypothesize
2. Operationalize
3. Measure
4. Evaluate
5. Replicate, revise, report.

Source: Weathington, Cunningham, and Pittenger. (2012). Understanding business research.

The Research Process
1. Find a research idea
Identify a general topic the researcher(s) would like to
explore
Review the background literature to find a new idea for
a research study

2. Convert idea into a research hypothesis

Statement of the relationship between two or more
variables
The Research Process
2. Convert idea into a research hypothesis

Hypothesis must be:

Testable
- where all variables, events, and individuals are real
and can be defined or observed since you cannot test a
hypothesis that refers to imaginary events or
hypothetical situations
Refutable
- can be demonstrated to be false; alows th epossibility
that the outcome will differ from the prediction
The Research Process
2. Convert idea into a research hypothesis

Types of hypotheses:
alternative (HA) vs. null (HO)
HA an effect (that you predict)
HO null effect
one-tailed vs. two-tailed
The Research Process
2. Convert idea into a research hypothesis
hypothesis there is a relationship between age and
exercise participation

HA there is a relationship

HO there is no relationship

this is a two-tailed hypothesis as no

direction is predicted
The Research Process
2. Convert idea into a research hypothesis
hypothesis an incentive program will increase exercise
participation

HA participation will increase

HO participation will not increase or will

decrease

this is a one-tailed hypothesis as a specific

direction is predicted
The Research Process
3. Determine how variables will be defined and measured
Variables identified must be defined in a manner that
makes it possible to measure them by some form of
empirical observation
Identify the specific procedure that will be used to
define and measure all variable
Plan to evaluate the validity and reliability of the
measurement
Made after reviewing previous research and
determining how other researchers have defined and
measured their variables
The Research Process
3. Determine how variables will be defined and measured
Variable : any observation that can take on different values
Attribute : a specific value on a variable
Variable Attribute
Age 18, 19, 20, etc.
Sex Male, Female
Satisfaction 1 = very satisfied
2 = satisfied
3 = somewhat satisfied
4 = not satisfied
5 = not satisfied at all
The Research Process
3. Determine how variables will be defined and measured

Types of variables:
independent variable (IV)
- what you (or nature) manipulates in some way
dependent variable (DV)
- what you presume to be influenced by the IV
The Research Process
3. Determine how variables will be defined and measured

Example:
IV DV

health status

attitude
exercise
participation
social support

intervention
The Research Process
4. Identify the participants or subject for the study
Decide how many participants or subjects will be
needed, what characteristics they should have, and
how they will be selected

5. Select the research design

The overall strategy chosen to integrate the different
components of the study in a coherent and logical way,
thereby ensuring the research problem is effectively
addressed.
It is a plan of methods and procedures that is used to
collect and analyze the data needed.
The Research Process
5. Select the research design
Note Bene: The research problem determines the type of
design that can be used, not the other way around!
Quantitative Research : involves recording information
obtained from participants in numerical form so as to enable
statistical analysis of the findings and the gneralization of
those findings to the wider population
Qualitative Research : concentrates mainly on words and
meanings and aims to capture the richness and complexity of
human experience
The Research Process
5. Select the research design
Quantitative Qualitative
Numbers Words
Point of view of researcher Point of view of participants
Researcher distant Researcher close
Theory testing Theory emergent
Static Process
Structured Unstructured
Generalization Contextual understanding
Hard, reliable data Rich, deep data
Macro Micro
Behaviour Meaning
Artificial settings Natural settings
The Research Process
5. Select the research design : Qualitative Research

Main Research Methods:

a) Ethnography / participant observation researcher is
immersed in a social setting for some time in order to
observe and listen with a view to gaining an appreciation
of the culture of a social group.
b) Qualitative interviewing.
c) Focus groups.
d) Language-based approaches to the collection of
qualitative data. This includes discourse and conversation
analysis.
The Research Process
5. Select the research design : Qualitative Research

Reliability and Validity

a) External reliability the degree to which a study can be
replicated
b) Internal reliability whether or not, when there is more
than one observer, members of the research team agree
about what they see and hear
c) Internal validity whether or not there is a good match
between researchers observations and the theoretical
ideas they develop
d) External validity degree to which findings can be
generalized across social settings
The Research Process
6. Collect data

7. Process the data

Define the type of approach that will be applied to
organize data in preparation for data analysis and
interpretation

8. Analyse the data

Begin the process of turning raw data into data
structures that can be used in generating meaningful
and useful bits of information.
The Research Process
8. Analyse the data
Analysis procedures can vary widely in sophistication
and complexity from simple frequency distributions
(percentages) to simple statistics measures ( e.g.,
mode, median, mean, range, standard deviation and
standard error) to multivariate data analysis
techniques.

9. Prepare and present the final report

A written report will be accomplished describing what
was done, what was found out and how the findings
were interpreted.
Structure of Research
Research Table of Contents
a) Title Page
b) Approval Sheet
c) Abstract
d) Acknowledgement
e) Dedication
f) Table of Contents
g) List of Tables
h) List of Figures
Research Table of Contents
Chapter
1 The Problem
Background of the Study
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
Statement of the Problem
2 Design and Methodology
Research Design and Methodology
Population and Locale of the Study
Data Gathering Tools
Data Gathering Procedure
Treatment of Data
Research Table of Contents
Chapter
3 Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data
4 Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
Recommendations

References
Appendices
Curriculum Vitae
Formulating the Research Topic
Formulating and clarifying the research topic is the starting
point of your research project.

Once you are clear about this, you will be able to choose the
most appropriate research strategy and data collection and
analysis techniques.

The formulating and clarifying process is time consuming and

will probably take you up blind alleys (Saunders and Lewis 1997).
However, without spending time on this stage you are far less
likely to achieve a successful project.

Source: Sanders, Lewis, and Thornill. (2016). Research methods for business students, 7/e.
Formulating the Research Topic

Source: Sanders, Lewis, and Thornill. (2016). Research methods for business students, 7/e.
Turning research ideas into research projects
It will be important for you to turn your research idea into a
clearly defined research question before commencing the
research process.

The importance of creating a clearly defined research

question cannot be overemphasised. A research question will
allow you to say what the issue or problem is that you wish to
study and what your research project will seek to find out,
explain and answer.

Source: Sanders, Lewis, and Thornill. (2016). Research methods for business students, 7/e.
Turning research ideas into research projects
The research question will be at the centre of your research
project. It will influence your choice of literature to review,
your research design, the access you need to negotiate, your
approach to sampling, your choice of data collection and
analysis methods, and help to shape the way in which you
write your project report.

This overarching research question is sometimes referred to

as a general research question, general focus research
question or central research question. It will also be used to
generate a set of more detailed research objectives or
investigative questions to guide your research.
Source: Sanders, Lewis, and Thornill. (2016). Research methods for business students, 7/e.