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Business Research Process Design 1
Business Research
Process Design
C
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2
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Business Research Process Design 2
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able
to:

Understand the steps in conducting research

Understand the types of research

Learn the purposes and methods of conducting

exploratory research

Learn about descriptive research and the types of

descriptive research

Have a preliminary idea about causal research

Establish a diference between exploratory research,

descriptive research, and causal research
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Business Research Process Design 3
Introduction

Research is all about fnding something, the

absence of which may distort our ability to tae
informed decisions !"woah et al#, $%%&'#

(he ability to tae an informed decision is

generated through a systematic study that is
conducted through various interrelated stages#

)ll the steps in a research are interrelated and no

independent activity is launched without
considering the decisions on the previous stages#

*ne has to really understand that, from problem

identifcation to presentation of fndings, every step
is interlined and interrelated#
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Business Research Process Design 4
Business Research Process Design

) research design is the detailed blueprint used to

guide a research study towards its ob+ective#

) good research is conducted using 10 steps,

-# .roblem or opportunity identifcation
$# /ecision maer and business researcher meeting to
discuss the problem and opportunity dimensions
0# /efning the management problem and subse1uently
the research problem
2# 3ormal research proposal and introducing the
dimensions of the problem
4# )pproaches to research
5# 3ield wor and data collection
6# /ata preparation and data entry
7# .erforming data analysis
&# 8nterpretation of result and presentation of fndings
-%# 9anagement decision and its implementation#
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Business Research Process Design 5
Figure 2.1: :usiness research process design
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Business Research Process Design 6
Step 1: Proble or Opportunit! Identi"ication

(he process of business research starts with the

problem or opportunity identifcation.

)ctually, the management of the company identifes

the problem or opportunity in the organi;ation or in
the environment# (he management can identify the
symptoms or the efects of the problem, but to
understand the reasons of the problems, a
systematic research has to be adopted#

(his re1uired research should either be executed by

a business research frm or a business researcher#
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Business Research Process Design 7

(he decision maer contacts the business research

frm and then discusses the problem or opportunity
with the business researcher#

(he researcher can only suggest solution to a

problem, but the actual decision is taen by the
decision maer#
Step 2: Decision #a$er and Business
Researcher #eeting to Discuss the Proble or
Opportunit! Diensions
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Business Research Process Design 8

(he management problem is concerned with

the decision maker and is action oriented in
nature# 3or example, the management problem
ofers a psychological pricing to enhance the
1uantum of sales# (his management problem
focuses on the symptoms#

esearch problem is somewhat information

oriented and focuses mainly on the causes and not
on the symptoms# (his is to determine the
consumer<s opinion on psychological pricing and to
estimate their purchase behaviour for the
psychological price being ofered#
Step %: De"ining the #anageent Proble and
Subse&uentl! the Research Proble
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Business Research Process Design 9

"ow, the researcher prepares a formal proposal of

the research and develops the approaches to the
research problem# (he frst part is to develop a
theoretical model to 1uantify an attitude#

3or example, to estimate the =buying intentions> for

a particular product, frst, the researcher has to
prepare a theoretical model to measure an attitude
lie buying intentions#
Step ': (oral Research Proposal and
Introducing the Diensions to the Proble
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Business Research Process Design 10
Figure 2.2 : (heoretical model to measure the buying intention
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Business Research Process Design 11
(raing )!potheses

Hypothesis -, =:rand image> has a signifcant liner

impact on the buying intention#

Hypothesis $, =:rand awareness> has a signifcant

liner impact on the buying intention#

Hypothesis 0, =.rice> has a signifcant liner impact

on the buying intention#

Hypothesis 2, =)vailability> has a signifcant liner

impact on the buying intention#

Hypothesis 4, =)fter?sales services> has a signifcant

liner impact on the buying intention#
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Business Research Process Design 12

(he researcher can also test the combined impact

of these fve variables on the buying intention# (he
proposed multiple regression model will be

!ypothesis ": )ll the fve factors in combination

have a signifcant linear impact on the buying
intention#
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Business Research Process Design 13
Step *: +pproaches to Research

(he research approach is formulated is the next

step#

8n the light of the =type of data,> 1uestions are

framed and scientifcally placed in the
1uestionnaire#

(his chapter is based on the research design

formulation, @hapter 0 deals with measurement and
scaling, @hapter 2 with the aspects of the
1uestionnaire design in detail, and as a next step, a
sample si;e is determined and a sampling techni1ue
is selected in @hapter 4#
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Business Research Process Design 14
,!pes o" Research

)ll researches can be broadly classifed into three

groups, exploratory research, descriptive research,
and causal research#

(hese three methods difer in terms of diferent

aspects of conducting the research#
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Business Research Process Design 15
Figure 2.#: @lassifcation of diferent types of research
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Business Research Process Design 16
-.plorator! Research

)s the name indicates, exploratory research is

mainly used to explore the insight of the general
research problem# (his is used for the following
purposes,
)# *btaining :acground 8nformation
:# Research .roblem 3ormulation or /efning it 9ore
.recisely
@# 8dentifying and /efning the Aey Research Bariables
/# /eveloping Hypotheses
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Business Research Process Design 17
Figure 2.$: (he refned theoretical model to measure
the buying intentions !obtaining inputs from
exploratory research'
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Business Research Process Design 18
#ethods o" Conducting -.plorator!
Research
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Business Research Process Design 19
Secondar! Data +nal!sis

(he secondary data are not only used for problem

understanding and exploration but are also used to
develop an understanding about the research
fndings#

@hapter 5 exclusively deals with this topic#

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Business Research Process Design 20
-.pert Surve!

(o get the authentic information about the problem,

the researchers sometimes consult the experts of
the concerned feld# (hese experts provide
authentic and relevant information useful for the
research, which otherwise is diCcult to obtain#
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Business Research Process Design 21
(ocus /roup Intervie0s

(he focus group interview is a 1ualitative research

techni1ue in which a trained moderator leads a
small group of participants to an unstructured
discussion about the topic of interest#
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Business Research Process Design 22
Depth Intervie0s

) depth interview is a probing between a highly

silled interviewer and a respondent from the target
population to unfold the underlying opinions,
motivations, emotions, or feelings of an individual
respondent on a topic generally coined by the
researcher#
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Business Research Process Design 23
Case +nal!sis

) case study research method actually combines

the record analysis and observations from individual
and group interviews# (he case studies become
particularly useful when one needs to understand
some particular problem or situation in great depth
and when one can identify the cases rich in
information#
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Business Research Process Design 24
Projective ,echni&ues

.ro+ective techni1ue is achieved by presenting the

respondents with ambiguous verbal or visual
stimulus materials, such as bubble cartoons, which
they need to mae sense of by drawing from their
own experiences, thoughts, feelings, and
imagination before they can ofer a response#

8n the feld of business research, the pro+ective

techni1ues are broadly classifed as word
association, completion tas, construction tas, and
expressive tas#
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Business Research Process Design 25
Classi"ication o" Projective ,echni&ues

%ord &ssociation: Dord )ssociation Dord

association provides a techni1ue that facilitates the
study and shading of attitudes, which cannot be
ordinarily uncovered through standard interview
methods#
8n the word association techni1ue, the respondents
are re1uired to respond to the presentation of an
ob+ect by indicating the frst word, image, or thought
that comes in his or her mind as a response to that
ob+ect#

'ompletion (ask: 8n a completion task, the

respondent is presented with an incomplete
sentence, story, argument, or conversation and
ased to complete it# 8n the feld of business
research, the two widely used completion tas
techni1ues are sentence?completion tas and story?
completion tas#
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Business Research Process Design 26

'onstruction (ask : @onstruction tas is related to the

completion tas techni1ue with a little diference# 8n the
construction task techni)ue, the respondent is
pro*ided with less initial structure as compared with
the completion tas where the respondent is provided
with an initial structure, and then, he or she completes
the tas#

8n the feld of business research, third?person

1uestioning and bubble drawing !cartoon testing' are
two commonly used construction techni1ues#

+,pressi*e (ask: 8n e,pressi*e task techni)ue, the

respondents are asked to role-play, act, or paint a
specifc !mostly desired by the researcher' concept or
situation# 8n the roleplaying techni1ue, the participant is
re1uired to act someone else<s behaviour in a particular
setting#
Classi"ication o" Projective ,echni&ues
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Business Research Process Design 27
Descriptive Research

)s evident from the name, descriptive research is

conducted to describe the business or maret
characteristics#

(he descriptive research mainly answers who, what,

when, where, and how ind of 1uestions#

8t attempts to address who should be surveyed,

what, at what time !pre? and post?type of study',
from where !household, shopping mall, maret, and
so on', and how this information should be obtained
!method of data collection'#

8t can be further classifed into cross-sectional

study and longitudinal study.
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Business Research Process Design 28
Cross1Sectional Stud!

'ross sectional research design involves the

collection of information from a sample of a
population at only one point of time#

8n this study, various segments of the population are

sampled so that the relationship among the
variables may be investigated by cross tabulation
!Eimund, $%%6'#

Fample surveys are cross?sectional studies in which

the samples happen to be a representative of the
population#

(he cross?sectional study generally involves large

samples from the populationG hence, they are
sometimes referred as =sample surveys#>
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Business Research Process Design 29
Longitudinal Stud!

Longitudinal study involves survey of the same

population over a period of time#

(here is a well?defned diference between a cross?

sectional study and a longitudinal study#

8n a longitudinal study, the sample remains the

same over a period of time# 8n a cross?sectional
design, a representative sample taen from the
population is studied at only one point of time#
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Business Research Process Design 30
Causal Research

@ausal research is conducted to identify the cause?

and?efect relationship between two or more
business !or decision' variables# 9any business
decisions are based on the causal relationship
between the variables of interest#

)s discussed, the descriptive research is able to

answer who, what, when, where, and how ind of
1uestions but not the .why/ part of the 1uestion#
(he causal research is designed to address the why
part of the 1uestion#
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Business Research Process Design 31
(able 2.2, ) relative comparison of exploratory
research, descriptive research, and conclusive research
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Business Research Process Design 32
Step 2: (ield 3or$ and Data Collection

@hapter 5 is exclusively based on secondary data

sources# (he researcher has to also decide whether
he or she has to go for a survey or has to adopt the
observation methods and decide whether the
research will be based on the feld data collection or
it will be a laboratory experiment#

@hapter 6 is based on survey and observation

techni1ues, @hapter 7 introduces the various
dimensions of experimentation, and @hapter &
focuses on feld wor and data preparation process#
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Business Research Process Design 33
Step 4: Data Preparation and Data -ntr!

)fter feld wor, the collected data are in raw

format#

:efore performing data analysis, it is important for

a researcher to structure the data#

(here is a specifc scientifc procedure to deal with

the missing data and other problems related to the
data?collection process# @hapter & details all these
aspects of data preparation#
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Business Research Process Design 34
Step 5: Data +nal!sis

)fter feeding the data in the spreadsheet, data

analysis is launched# 'hapters 10 to 10 present
various sophisticated statistical analytical techni1ues
to execute the data analysis exercise# (hese include
univariate statistical analysis, bivariate statistical
analysis, and multivariate statistical analysis#
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Business Research Process Design 35
Step 6: Interpretation o" Result and
Presentation o" (indings

8t has been already discussed that after applying

data analysis techni1ues, a statistical result is
obtained#

(here is need to interpret the result and

present the non-statistical fndings derived
from the statistical result# ) meaningful
interpretation of the result is a silful activity and is
an important aspect of research#

(he researcher has to determine whether the result

of the study is in line with the existing literature#
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Business Research Process Design 36
Step 17: #anageent Decision and
Its Ipleentation

)s the last step of conducting a research programme,

the fndings are conveyed to the decision maer after
consultation with the research programmer#

(he decision maer analyses the fndings and taes

an appropriate decision in the light of the statistical
fndings presented by the researcher#

(his is not a formal part of the research process#

Here, it is included as a step of the research process,
because it is the decision maer who will ultimately
tae the decision and is the managerial implication of
the research programme#