Research is an inquiry or investigation and/ or a Process that is organized, systematic, data-

based critical and objective. Its purpose is finding solution to a specific problem.
Business Research

• A systematic inquiry that provides information. to guide business decisions to make

well informed and timely decisions.
• Scientific research focuses on solving problems.
• It pursues a step-by-step logical and rigorous method
• scientific research is more objective than subjective
• It analyzing situational factors surrounding any problem.
• It controls phenomena through prediction and explanation.
• It analyzing situational factors surrounding any problem.
• It controls phenomena through prediction and explanation.
• Effect of Scientific investigation and managerial decision making.
• It applies to both basic and applied research.
• It enables managers to deal with problem
• It helps managers to state findings with accuracy and confidence.
• Every organization have their R&D department.
Purposiveness

• It has to start with a definite aim or purpose.

• The focus is on increasing employee commitment.
• Increase employee commitment will translate into
• Less turnover
• Less absenteeism
• Increased performance levels
• Thus, it has a purposive focus.
• Research must be started with a definite, clear aim, objective and purpose.
• Research findings must be beneficial for organization.
• For example, an increase in employee commitment will be
• beneficial for organization
• It will translate into less turnover, less absenteeism, and increased performance
levels.
Rigor

• A good theoretical base and sound methodological design would add rigor to the
purposive study.
• Rigor adds carefulness, accuracy and the degree of exactitude in research.
• Rigor connotes carefulness during research.
• It also refers to degree of exactitude in research investigations.
• Chosen sample should be true representative of whole organization.
• Method adopted for collecting data should be appropriate.
 • Research process should be free from personal and emotional biases.
Example:
A manager asks only from 10-12 employees how to increase the level of commitment.
And on the basis of their responses the manager reaches to conclusions on how commitment
can be increased?
Whole approach to the investigation would be unscientific.
It would lack rigor for the following reasons
Based on few employees’ opinion that does not represent the whole population
Bias and incorrectness in the responses
There might be other influences on commitment which are ignored and are important for a
researcher to know

• Rigorous involves good theoretical base and thought out methodology.

• These factors enable the researcher to collect the right kind of information from an
appropriate sample with the minimum degree of bias and facilitate suitable analysis
of the data gathered.
Testability
After random selection manager and researcher develop certain hypothesis on how manager
employee commitment can be enhanced, then these can be tested by applying certain
statistical tests to the data collected for the purpose.
If the scientific analysis of data supports the hypothesis, it is accepted as a fact or as truth.
The researcher might hypothesize that those employees who perceive greater opportunities
for participation in decision making would have a higher level of commitment.

• Testability refers that hypothesis must be testable.

• Hypotheses are tentative yet testable statements.
• They are derived from theory or theory based.
• It must be able to testify by applying certain statistical tests experimentally.
Replicability
It means that the results of the tests of hypotheses should be supported again and yet again
when the same type of research is repeated in other similar circumstances.

• Results should be supported again and again when the same type of research is
repeated in other similar circumstances.
• Replicability will gain confidence in the scientific nature of our research.
• Replicability brings exactitude and accuracy in research findings.
Example:
The study concludes that participation in decision making is one of the most important factors
that influences the commitment, we will place more faith and credibility in these finding and
apply in similar situations.
To the extent that this does happen, we will gain confidence in the scientific nature of our
research.
Every object is attracted to the center of the earth.
Precision and Confidence
Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to “reality” based on a sample.
It reflects the degree of accuracy and exactitude of the results of the sample.

• Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to reality.

• Precision reflects the degree of accuracy of the results.
• We ensure that our findings are close to reality.
• So that we can place reliance or confidence in the results.
• In social sciences confidence level is 95%.
Example:
If a supervisor estimated the number of production days lost during the year due to
absenteeism at between 30 and 40, as against the actual of 35.
The precision of estimation more favorably than if he has indicated that the loss of production
days was somewhere between 20 and 50.
Precision and Confidence
Confidence refers to the probability that our estimations are correct.
That is, it is not merely enough to be precise, but it is also important that we can confidently
claim that 95% of the time our results would be true and there is only a 5% chance of our
being wrong.
This is also known as confidence level.
Objectivity
The conclusions drawn through the interpretation of the results of data analysis should be
objective; that is, they should be based on the facts of the findings derived from actual data,
and not on our subjective or emotional values.

• The conclusions drawn from information should be objective.

• The findings should be based on the facts.
• The more objective the interpretation of the data, the more scientific the research
investigation becomes.
Example:
If we had a hypothesis that stated that greater participation in decision making will increase
organizational commitment and this was not supported by the results, it makes no sense if
the researcher continues to argue that increased opportunities for employee participation
would still help!
Generalizability
It refers to the scope of applicability of the research findings in one organization setting to
other settings.
Example:
If a researcher’s findings that participation in decision making enhances organizational
commitment are found to be true in a variety of manufacturing, industrial and service
organizations, and not merely in the particular organization studied by the researcher, then
the Generalizability of the findings to other organizational settings in enhanced.
Parsimony
Simplicity in explaining the phenomenon or problems that occur, and in generating solutions
for the problems, is always preferred to complex research frameworks that consider an
unmanageable number of factors.
Example:
For instance, if 2-3 specific variables in the work situation are identified, which when changed
would raise the organizational commitment of the employees by 45%, that would be more
useful and valuable to the manager than
if it were recommended that he should change 10 different variables to increase
organizational commitment by 48%
Obstacles or Limitations
In business Research:
It is not possible to conduct 100% scientific research studies.
It is due to human behavior being studied.
Data collection in the subjective areas of feelings, moods, attitudes and perceptions may not
be 100% accurate. Sometimes, the obstacle is due to lack of a representative sample.