MHM 507 Business Research Methods

Dr Senthil Kumaran
Professor & Coordinator
Department of Allied Hospitality Studies

1 MHM 507 | Business Research Methods| Course Orientation

 Agenda
• Ice Breaking
• Subject orientation
• Research in Hospitality
• Q&A

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 Course On successful completion of this course, students will be able to
Outcomes
(COs):
CO 1  Explain the various terminologies used in hospitality research
CO 2  Demonstrate knowledge in different types of research methods and
techniques
CO 3  Undertake research using a recognized methodology and framework
CO 4  Apply theory, synthesize literature, gather, analyze, and interpret data
CO 5  Display skills in employing various statistical methods to analyse
research data

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Content
• Unit 1. Introduction to Research - Types of Research- Research Process &Ethics
• Unit 2. Research Design – Types of Research Design- Language of Research
• Unit 3. Sampling Techniques- Determination of Sample size
• Unit 4. Method of Data Collection and Scale Development
• Unit 5. Data Analysis – Descriptive & Inferential
• Unit 6. Hypothesis Testing
• Unit 7. Reporting of Research – Technical & Popular Reports

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Evaluation Component Weightage Internal Continuous End Term
Evaluation Internal
Evaluation
Unit wise MCQ Tests 60 Marks Total 5 Evaluations.
(Marks Varies between 10 to Best 4 will be considered.
25) (if absent for more than 2) there
is no change denominator
Reading Assignments -10 10 Marks Testing of Reading and
Comprehension of Research
works prior to the class
Class Assignments (2 X5) 10 Marks Individual Assignments
Summative Exam (MCQ) 20 Marks All Modules

Total 100 Marks

 Ms Surbhi Sood

Mr Siddanth Rathore
 Research is everywhere

Hotel Operations Functional Aspects Sustainability Niche

Product Development Environmental

Marketing Revenue Management
Guest Relations Economical
Human Resource Social Media
Social
Operational Issues Finance Social Inclusion
Ethics
Sales & Marketing Production Operational Excellence

Efficiency Base for Strategy

Rational Decisions Long Term Sucess
1. RESEARCH ON CONSUMERS
 Identifying existing markets
 Identifying potential markets
 Identifying lapsed consumers
 Testing customer loyalty
 Developing detailed consumer profiles
 Identifying general trends in demographics and
psychographics
 Identifying changes in attitudes and behavior
patterns (generally)
 Identifying changes in attitudes and behavior
patterns (product specific)
3. RESEARCH ON PRICING
 Identifying attitudes towards prices
 Testing attitudes towards packages and
individual pricing
 Identifying costs
 Identifying costing policies of competitors
 Testing alternative pricing strategies
 Testing payment processes (credit cards,
electronic funds transfer, etc.)
5. RESEARCH ON PROMOTION
 Testing and comparing media options
 Testing alternative messages
 Testing competitor’s messages and their
effectiveness
 Testing new communications options (Internet,
email, Web pages social media)
 Identifying cooperative opportunities
 Measuring advertising and promotion
effectiveness
7. RESEARCH ON THE OPERATING
ENVIRONMENT
 Economic trends
 Social trends
 Environmental issues
 Political climate and trends
 Technological development and their impact
2. RESEARCH ON PRODUCTS & SERVICES
 Measuring attitudes towards existing products or
services
 Identifying potential new products which may be
at the end of their product life cycle
 Identifying products that are considered
acceptable substitutes/alternatives
 Evaluating competitor’s products
 Evaluating consumer attitudes toward décor,
presentation and packaging
 Evaluating consumer attitudes about
combinations of products and services (bundles
of product attributes)
4. RESEARCH ON PLACE & DISTRIBUTION
 Identifying attitudes towards location
 Identifying attitudes toward buildings/premises
 Identifying attitudes on virtual sites
 Identifying potential demand for product or
services at other locations
 Identifying cooperative opportunities for
distribution of information or services
6. RESEARCH ON THE COMPETITION
 Measuring awareness
 Measuring usage
 Identifying levels of customer loyalty
 Identifying competitors’ strengths and
weaknesses
 Identifying specific competitive advantages
(locations, suppliers, etc.)
 Identifying cooperative opportunities
 Observing levels of customer service
8. RESEARCH ON A DESTINATION
 Measuring residents attitudes
 Benchmarking
 Measuring customer loyalty
 Identifying tourism activities
 Identifying spending patterns
 Branding research
 Goal: Competitive benchmarking of fast-food restaurants

Criteria
Service Menu Drawing
Location Accessibility
Image Selection Power

Attributes Attributes Attributes Attributes Attributes

Healthy Food Proximity to Amenity Taste of Food

Cleanliness Residence

Store
Service Variety of Proximity of Operating Competitive
Responce Food Workplace Hours Price

Word of
Employee Mouth Proximity of
Courtesy Reputation Highway

Quality of Safety
Prior Service

Alternatives

McDonald’s Wendy’s Burger King Subway Arby’s Hardee’s

What is science?
 Science is just the attempt to understand, explain, and predict the world we live in.
 Many sciences do employ distinctive methods of enquiry
 Another important feature of science is the construction of theories
Research
 Finding out, things you did not know or want to know in a more systematic way
 Research involves finding out about things that no-one else knew either
 It is about advancing the frontiers of knowledge
What You Can Do With Research
 Categorize
 Describe
 Explain
 Evaluate
 Compare
 Correlate
 Predict
 Control
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Observation: All the giraffes that I have seen have very long necks
Conclusion: Therefore I conclude that all giraffes have long necks (Helps in generalization/
build a theory)
 Inductive Reasoning
1. It starts from specific observations or sensory experiences and then develops a general
conclusion from them
2. We come to conclusions from what we have experienced and then generalize from them
3. We set them up as a rule or belief
Limitations
 How Many Observations Must Be Made Before Conclusion
 How Many Situations And Under Which Conditions Should The Observations
 Deductive Reasoning
 Begins with general statements (premises) and, through logical argument, comes
to a specific conclusion
General Statement: All living things will eventually die (Theory)
Inference: This lion is a living thing
Conclusion: Therefore, this lion will eventually die

This is the simplest form of deductive argument, and

is call a syllogism
Research Methods– A Typology
 A scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic
 Careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge
 Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain New knowledge.
 A movement from the known to The unknown
 Search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of Finding solution to a problem
is research
Scientific Research
 Strict rules of logic and observation
 Experimentation
 Gain the same results
 Replication is important
Social Science Research
 Scientific study of society and social
relationships
 About people and how they live
 Replication is difficult
 Based on research Based on Function Based on the Based on Research Qualitative Based on Data
purpose Duration Approach
 Basic 1. Explorative  Cross Sectional  Explorative  Case Study  Quantitative
 Applied 2. Descriptive  Longitudinal  Descriptive  Phenomenology  Qualitative
 Evaluation 3. Causal  Cohort  Experimental  Ethnography  Mixed
 R&D Research (Cause & effect)  Grounded Methods
 Conceptual   Theory
 Empirical  Narrative
 Historical
 Action
Based on Discipline Based on Experiment Quantitative Based on Data Based on Research Design
Collection

 Financial  Experimental  Correlational  Survey  Quantitative Approaches

Marketing  Quasi  Causal-  Observation  Survey Research
 Human Resource Experimental Comparative   Interview  Correlational Research
Research  Causal-Comparative Research
 Experimental  Experimental Research
Research  Single-Subject Research
 Simulation  
 Qualitative Approaches
 Narrative Research
 Ethnographic Research
 Case Study Research
Type of Research Description
Pure research  Pure Research Is Mainly For Academic Interest Alone
 Publication In Academic Journals And Books
 Aim Of Pure Research Is The Advancement Of Knowledge
Applied research  A specific purpose that goes beyond solely advancing the body of human knowledge
 Solving practical problems
Experimental Research  Study of an intervention
 Group of subjects who receive the intervention
 Control versus experiment group
 RCT –Randomized Controlled Trials
 Often require much time and expense
Observational Research  Observational studies are nonexperimental research studies
 Quasi-experiments 
 Natural experiments 
Type of Research Description
Pure research
Applied research  Machine learning and data mining in manufacturing
 The Applied Research of Teaching Reform of Computer Major Using Virtual Reality
Technology
 A research on environmental issues applied to the hotel industry

Experimental Research  Effectiveness of error management training in the hospitality industry: Impact on perc
eived fairness and service recovery performance
 Increasing wine sales through customised wine service training – a quasi-experiment
Observational Research The Impact of Price Level and Appeal Type in Hotel Advertising: A Pilot Study
 Visual merchandising of pastries in foodscapes: The influence of plate colours on cons
umers’ flavour expectations and perceptions
 Spending time, spending money: Passenger segmentation in an international airport
Type of Research Description
Meta-Analysis  an application of quantitative methods to combine the results of different studies
 common numerical summary, such as an effect size, drawn from different studies
 Meta-analyses can lead to new hypotheses and theories
 if individual studies are flawed, then so will be a meta-analysis of them
Qualitative Research  including ethnographic, historical, and other case studies; focus group interviews; content analysis of
documents; interpretive sociology; and comparative and cross-national studies.
 useful when it is difficult to carry out studies that require high levels of control
Quantitative research  collection and analysis of numerical data to describe, explain, predict, or control phenomena of
interest
 use of numerical data
 hypotheses to be examined

Mixed methods research  It combines quantitative and qualitative designs by including both quantitative and qualitative data in
a single study
Typology of the
research Link for example readings
RNAi in insects: A revolution in fundamental research and pest control
Fundamental Research applications
Applied Research A research on environmental issues applied to the hotel industry
Effectiveness of error management training in the hospitality industry: Impact
Experimental Research on perceived fairness and service recovery performance
Spending time, spending money: Passenger segmentation in an international
Observational Research airport
Roles of attachment relationships in emerging adults' career decision-making
Longitudinal research process: A two-year longitudinal research design
Hospitality Managers' Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility: An
Explorative research Explorative Study

Time Is of the Essence: A Descriptive Study of Hospitality and Tourism

Faculty Members’ Perceptions of Their Jobs Regarding Time Spent and
Descriptive research Activities Pursued
 Historical research and tourism analysis: The case of the tourist-historic city
Historical research of Jerusalem
Conceptual research A conceptual study of the strategic role of gastronomy in tourism destinations
Online travel behaviour across cohorts: The impact of social influences and
Cohort research attitude on hotel booking intention
Phenomenology Phenomenology of young women's sexual risk-taking in tourism
Understanding employee longevity in independent fine dining restaurants: A
Grounded Theory grounded theory approach
Mixed Method Solo dining in Chinese restaurants: A mixed-method study in Macao
Effects of therapeutic recreation on adults with ASD and ID: a preliminary
Randomised Control Experiments
randomized control trial
Is evaluative research on youth suicide programs theory-driven? The
Evaluative Research Canadian experience
 Embedding experiential learning in HE sport coaching courses: An action
Action Research research study
In search of traces of ‘The Tourist Gaze’ on locals: an ethnographic study in
Ethnograph Garmeh village, Iran
Narrative Say Gouda, say cheese: Travel narratives of a food identity
Improving campus dining operations using capacity and queue management:
Simulation A simulation-based case study
Laboratory Research Laboratory research of the effect fertilizers on the soil structure
Reducing the plate waste of families at hotel buffets – A quasi-experimental
Field Setting Research field study
Effects of Customer Brand Engagement and Online Brand Experience: An
Empirical Research Enhancing innovative work behavior in the
Empirical Research hospitality industry: Empirical research from East Java, Indonesia
Operations research for occupancy modeling at hospital wards and its
Operation Research integration into practice
 Quantitative Steps in the Process of Research Qualitative
Description and Explanations Identifying a research problem Exploratory or understanding oriented
Justification for the research problems Review of Literature Justification of research problem
What is known and unknown
Identification of theory to explain the behaviors
Specific, Rigid, Narrow, Measurable and Research Design (RD) General and broad participant
observable data (RD, Sampling, Observational & experience using qualitative research
Statistical designs
Predetermined Scales & instruments Data Collection Emerging protocols
Numeric Data Text or image data
Large Number of Individuals Small number of individuals or sites
Statistical: Description, Comparison, Correlation, Analyse and Interpret the data Text Analytics, Descriptions, Thematic
Relationship between variables development, The meaning of the
finding
Standard & Fixed Reporting of finding Flexible and emerging
Objective and unbiased Reflexsive
Identification of Research problem
Identification of Research problem
 First step in the research process
 Most Challenging and difficult part of research
 It is an iterative process
 Moving from very broad area to specific problem
Source of Research problem
 Personal Experience
 Observation
 Industry wide problems
 Social Problem
 Theories
 Knowledge gap
 Experts –Academia and the Industry
 Past Research
 Research Guide
 Contradicting findings
Components of a research problem
 An individual or a group with some difficulty or problem
 The environment in which the problem exists
 Answer to the Question of “ So what?’
 Rationale to solve the problem
 Objective of the study
Exploring the impact of tourist harassment on destination image, tourist expenditure, and
destination loyalty
Elements of a Good Research
 Falsifiability
 Empiricism
 Objectivity
 Simplicity
 Community
Ethical issues in conducting research
Towards the participant
 Respect the place
 Respect the custom
 Informed consent, not by force
 Validate the findings with respondents
 Privacy of the participant
Issues in reporting
 Reported honestly
 Do not altering the findings
 Do not plagiarize – Sentence, Idea, words
 Quote and credit
 should be published and disseminated
Thank you
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