Introduction to Research

Discussions Last Week

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Sample empirical results What is research? What is a research proposal? Some weaknesses of research Some helpful hints

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Why Study Research

Research provides the needed information that guides managers to make informed decisions to successfully deal with problems. The information provided could be the result of a careful analysis of data gathered firsthand or of data that are already available (in the company).

Objectives of Research:
To gain familiarity with the phenomenon

Exploratory/ formulative research To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group. Descriptive research. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else.

Diagnostic research. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables hypothesis testing research

Provides the basis for nearly all government policies in our economic system

Significance of Research

It solves various operational and planning problems of business industry.

It is important for social scientists in study in social relationships and in seeking answers to various social problem.
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Fields Where Business Research is Often Used (1)

General Business Conditions and Corporate Research Financial and Accounting Research

Short- & Long-Range Forecasting, Business and Industry Trends Global Environments Inflation and Pricing Plant and Warehouse Location Acquisitions Management and Organizational Behaviour Research

Total Quality Management Morale and Job Satisfaction Leadership Style Employee Productivity Organizational Effectiveness Structural ssues Absenteeism and turnover Organizational Climate

Forecasts of financial interest rate trends, Stock,bond and commodity value predictions capital formation alternatives mergers and acquisitions risk-return trade-offs portfolio analysis impact of taxes research on financial institutions expected rate of return capital asset pricing models credit risk cost analysis

Fields Where Business Research is Often Used (2)

Information Systems Research Sales and Marketing Research

Market Potentials Market Share Market segmentation Market characteristics Sales Analysis Establishment of sales quotas Distribution channels New product concepts Test markets Advertising research Buyer behaviour Customer satisfaction Website visitation rates

Knowledge and information needs assessment Computer information system use and evaluation Technical suppot satisfaction Database analysis Data mining Enterprise resource planning systems Customer relationship management systems
Corporate Responsibility Research

Ecological Impact Legal Constraints on advertising and promotion Sex, age and racial discrimination / worker equity Social values and ethics

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Selected Examples of Real-Life Situations in Which Business Research Methods are Used
A firm wants to produce and market a new product but first wants to ascertain if there is a potential consumer demand for this product in markets x,y and z A multinational firm wants to establish a production facility in another country after determining its technical and economic feasibility A government agency wants to ascertain the satisfaction level of its employees, the causes for any possible discontent, and propose a scheme for enhancing this level A financial institution wants to invest in commodities and commissions a study to determine the past trends and forecast future returns in a portfolio of commodities The CEO of a firm wants to undertake a SWOT-Analysis as part of his plan to redefine his organizations priorities

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High Quality Research Requires:

The scope and limitations of the work to be clearly defined. The process to be clearly explained so that it can be reproduced and verified by other researchers.

A thoroughly planned design that is as objective as possible.

High Quality Research Requires that:

Highly ethical standards be applied.

Data be adequately analyzed and explained.

All findings be presented unambiguously and all conclusions be justified by sufficient evidence.

Types of Business Research

1.Applied research Research aimed to solve a current problem faced by the manager in the work setting, demanding a timely solution.

2.Basic research (fundamental, pure) Research aimed to generate a body of knowledge by trying to comprehend how certain problems that occur in organizations can be solved. The findings of such research contribute to the building of knowledge in the various functional areas of business.

Quantitative

Categories of Research

Qualitative
Exploratory or conceptual

Quantitative have statistical confidence Qualitative no statistical significance; e.g. FGD

Basic Characteristics of Qualitative Research

The idea is to get participants to talk about experiences, give opinions about situations, and to react to scenarios or prototypes.

Characteristics
broad objectives small samples results not generalizable to general or target population best used early to identify issues, and again later in process to validate
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Most Common Qualitative Research Methods

Review of secondary information Focus groups and related techniques (brainstorming, etc.) Focus Groups These groups let you hear people talk about needs, wishes, current products (especially strengths and weaknesses), how they compensate for something they dont have, attitudes about the market, etc.

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 Interviews Observations/ethnographic studies (in setting where product or service is actually used) Ethnography - is a qualitative research method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group. Data collection is often done through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc.

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Data collection is often done through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc.

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Quantitative Research
to test hypotheses, describe market or target population characteristics, and check relationships among variables The results lead to formal conclusions and recommendations to inform decisionmaking The idea is to get enough response that you feel confident the results reflect the market.

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Basic Characteristics of Quantitative Research

Defined objectives that include hypothesis or hypotheses Focused research design that identifies who, how, what, why, when (and sometimes even where) Large enough sample to allow generalization, projection of results

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Most Common Quantitative Research Methods

surveys mail, telephone, online usability studies -help you refine various features of the product as it is being developed. field testing -test the product in use. Users put the prototype through its paces laboratory testing conjoint analysis

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 Conjoint analysis is a statistical technique used in market research to determine how people value different features that make up an individual product or service. used frequently in testing customer acceptance of new product designs, in assessing the appeal of advertisements and in service design. It has been used in product positioning.

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 Conjoint analysis - The objective of conjoint analysis is to

determine what combination of a limited number of attributes is most influential on respondent choice or decision making. A controlled set of potential products or services is shown to respondents and by analyzing how they make preferences between these products, the implicit valuation of the individual elements making up the product or service can be determined.
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Importance of Business Research

Firm Effective financial control and management Expansion (Physical/ Manpower/Capital) Customer satisfaction Innovation/Diversification of product/service High productivity Optimum profit Risk aversion--to understand what the market (not just a few customers) want and reduce the risk of creating the wrong product.

Importance of Business Research

Individual

Acquire skills in research Additional income Possible career Provide inputs to policy recommendations Contribute new knowledge to the field Personal fulfillment

Characteristics of Research
1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6.

It is logical and objective. It is expert, systematic and accurate investigation. It gathers new knowledge and data from primary and secondary sources. It endeavors to organize data in quantitative terms, if possible, and to express these data in numerical measures. It requires courage It is carefully recorded and reported

Types of Business Research

1. Feasibility Study

Purpose: determines the viability of a product, service, or project which is not yet operational Scope : covers marketing, production, management, legal and financial aspects Respondent : selected through sampling; done for the market study Analysis : Percentage, regression, ratios, t test, Z test, Chi-square test

Types of Business Research

2 . Industry Study
Purpose: analyzes the past and present
performance of companies and predicts the future of the firms in the industry

Scope : covers one industry and looks at the

marketing, production, management, legal, and financial aspects

Respondent : selected through either total

enumeration or sampling of firms within the industry regression, ratios

Analysis : Frequency, percentage, time series,

Types of Business Research

3. Corporate Strategy Purpose: aims to propose strategies to improve company performance Scope : covers one firm and looks at a combination or all of the functional areas Respondent : Key informants

Analysis : Content analysis, frequency, percentage

Types of Business Research

4. Case Study Purpose: Describes/Explores patterns or events in an in-depth manner

Scope : Covers a particular topic of interest of a person or company

Respondent : Key informants Analysis : Content analysis, frequency, percentage

Types of Business Research

5. Other Types of Applied Research
Purpose: Objectives can be descriptive, correlative or comparative to offer solutions or expand knowledge Scope : Depends on the objective of the study Respondent : Selected either through total enumeration or sampling Analysis : Parametric and nonparametric statistics

Types of Business Research

6. Basic Research
Purpose: Aims to develop a theory or concept
Scope : Covers one specific theory or concept or a group of related theories and concepts Analysis : Mathematical modelling, Econometric techniques

The Business Research Process

The Business Research Process: 11 Steps

Step One: Step Two: Step Three: Step Four: Step Five:

Step Six:

Establishing the Need for Business Research Defining the Problem Establishing Research Objectives Determining Research Design Identifying Information Types and Sources Determining Methods of Accessing Data

The Business Research Process: 11 Steps cont

Step Seven: Step Eight: Step Nine: Step Ten: Step Eleven:

Designing Data Collection Forms Determining Sample Plan and Size Collecting Data Analyzing Data Preparing and Presenting the Final Research Report

The Business Research Process

Step One: Establish the Need for Business Research

Need for Business Research The data/information are already available Relevance and urgency of the research

The Business Research Process

Step Two: Define the Problem

The most important step in the business research process is defining the problem.

Problem Formulation

Where do research topics come from? The idea for a research project? - one of the most common sources of research ideas is the experience of practical problems in the field The Literature Review

T Research Process
Step Three: Establish Research Objectives

What information is needed in order to solve the problem?

The Business Research Process

Step Four: Determine Research Design

Exploratory Research: collecting information in an unstructured and informal manner Descriptive Research: refers to a set of methods and procedures describing business variables Causal Research (experiments): allows isolation of causes and effects

The Business Research Process

Step Five: Identify Information Types and Sources Secondary Data: information that has been collected for some other purpose other than the research at hand Primary Data: information that has been gathered specifically for the research objectives at hand

The Business Research Process

Step Six: Determine Methods of Accessing Data

Secondary Data: accessing data through sources such as the Internet and library Primary Data: collecting data through methods such as telephone, mail, and face-to-face (quantitative) and observation studies and focus groups (qualitative)

The Business Research Process

Step Seven: Design Data Collection Forms The design of the data collection form that is used to ask and record information in business research projects is critical to the success of the project. Questionnaires/ Interview Schedule/ Interview Guide Observation (Participant or nonparticipant)

The Business Research Process

Step Eight: Determine Sample Plan and Size

Sample plan: refers to the process used to select units from the population to be included in the sample Sample size: refers to determining how many elements of the population should be included in the sample

The Business Research Process

Step Nine: Collect Data

Data collection is very important because, regardless of the data analysis methods used, data analysis cannot fix bad data. Nonsampling errors may occur during data collection. Did I collect reliable data?

The Business Research Process

Step Ten: Analyze Data

Data analysis: involves entering data into computer files, inspecting data for errors, and running tabulations and various statistical tests Data cleaning: process by which raw data are checked to verify that the data have been correctly inputted from the data collection form to the computer software program

The Business Research Process

Step Eleven: Prepare and Present the Final Research Report

The last step is one of the most important phases of business research. Its importance cannot be overstated because it is the report, or its presentation, that properly communicates the results to the client.