Dms 411 Business Research Methods

DMS 411/BPS 311:
BUSINESS
RESEARCH
METHODS
Thursday, December 14, 2023 1

• Definition
• Purpose of research
– General
– Organization specific
• Sources of research
• Characteristics of a good research
• Types of research
• Scientific research
• Research proposal
What is research?
• A voyage of discovery; A journey; An attitude;
An experience; A method of critical thinking; A
careful critical enquiry in seeking facts for
principles
• The act of carrying out of a diligent inquiry/a

critical examination of a given phenomenon –
following some logical sequence
• Research is the process of searching for an

explicit answer to an Implicit question, through
the use of data.
• Definition
– General
Why research? – General
• Discover new knowledge
• Describe a phenomenon –who? What? When? Where?
How? (Description is popular in business research
because of its versality across disciplines).
• To enable prediction – ability to go beyond mere
description, towards estimating a phenomenon
• To enable control – ability to regulate the phenomenon
• To enable explanation of phenomena –accurate
observation and measurement of a given phenomenon.
• Enable theory development – formulation of concepts,
laws, and generalizing about a given phenomenon

Research in organizations
• Why the drive in modern business towards
research?
– Explosive growth and influence of the internet
– stakeholders demanding greater influence
– Competition
– Government intervention
– More complex decisions
– Maturing of management as a group of disciplines.
– New perspectives on established research
methodologies
– Greater computing power and speed

• Definition
– General
Sources of research issues/topic
• Previous Research
• Experience
• Tradition (culture)
• Authority
• Intuition
Contents
• Definition
– General
Characteristics of a good research
• Purposiveness
• Rigor
• Testability
• Replicability
• Objectivity
• Generalizability
• Parsimony (Simplicity)

• Definition
– General
• Scientific research Method
Types of Research
• Research is broadly undertaken for two
different purposes:
• Applied research
– To solve a problem faced by a
manager/organization /individual in a work
setting
• Basic Research
– Undertaken to generate/contribute to the
body of knowledge.

• Definition
– General
• Scientific research method
The Scientific Research Method
• The philosophy common to all research
methods and techniques
• The pursuit of truth as determined by

logical considerations
• Scientific method through logic further

develops consequences of various
alternatives.

Principles/Postulates of Scientific Method:
• Relies on empirical evidence

• Utilizes relevant concepts
• Committed to only objective
considerations
• Presupposes ethical neutrality
• Results in probabilistic predictions
• Its methodology is made known to all
• Aim at formulating most general axions
(scientific theories).

Scientific research process
Desktop
Field work & Define the problem research
report writing
=
Research
Review literature: proposal
Report writing Theory Vs practice
(findings)?
Formulate Hypothesis
Data analysis
Design research
Collect data

Content
• Definition
– General
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
• Blueprint of the planned study
• Detailed outline of the total process to
provide answers to the research
questions
• Contains the following major sections
– Title Page
– Chapter I: Introduction
– Chapter II: Literature Review
– Chapter III: Research Methodology
– References
– Appendices

Title Page
• To provide the following
– Title of the Study
• Meaningful, short and indicative of the work
– Identification details of:
• The Researcher
• The supervisor(s)
– Purpose for which the research is being
undertaken
– Date

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
• Blueprint of the planned study
• Detailed outline of the total process to
provide answers to the research
questions
• Contains the following major sections
– Title Page
– References
– Appendices

Chapter I: Introduction
• The chapter introduces and briefly
discusses the broad concept/phenomena
under investigation, with the intent to
brings out the conceptual as well as
contextual focus of the research

1: INTRODUCTION
• Usually has the following sections
– Background
– Problem Statement
– Research Objectives
– Importance of the Study

1.1 Background
• Gives the reader an indication of what to
expect
• Previous research, theory or situations that
lead to the research problem
– Arguments would focus on the relevancy, timeliness,
and appropriateness of the research in the current
context of factors and trends in society
/organizations
• The discussion should be organized,
integrated, and presented in a way that
connects and focuses logically to the research
Problem (‘bull’s eye)

1: INTRODUCTION
– Background

1.2 Problem statement
• The problem statement contains the need for
the proposed study
• Usually presented by posing explicit research

questions
• Requires use of both theoretical foundations

(what is widely believed to be the case
/situation, with proven or unproven backing)
and empirical foundation (evidence based
arguments – what have others done and what
were the study findings?).

1: INTRODUCTION
– Background

1.3 Research Objectives
• Addresses the purpose of the proposed

study
– Derives from the research Questions
– Specific, concrete and achievable goals
• Where appropriate, research hypotheses
specified

1: INTRODUCTION
– Background

1.4 Importance of the Study
• Explicit benefits that would derive from
the Study
– Importance of answering the research
questions
• List the potential beneficiaries
– Academics
– Practitioners
– Organizations
– etc.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
– Title Page
– References
– Appendices
2: LITERATURE REVIEW
• Examines recent and historically
significant research studies that act as
the basis for the proposed study
– Critically informs the current study
– Both conceptual and empirical literature
• Shows the reader how your study
supplements the work that has already
been done on your topic

Literature Review (cont.)
• Organize the LR to move from broad
perspectives to more specific issues that are
associated with your research questions
• The LR should fully operationalize your
constructs and variables
– To assist in the design of the measurement
instruments

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
– Title Page
– References
– Appendices
3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Describes what is to be done (in
technical terms)
• Need to show the phases of the
research project
– Research Design
– Population and Sampling Procedures
– Data Collection Methods and Instruments
– Proposed Data Analysis Methods

Key questions addressed in methodology
• What design strategy will be used?
• Who/what is the study unit?
• Who/what forms the population of the study?
• Will sampling be done, and if so, what sampling design

will be used? What sample size?
• What kind of data will be used? Where /from whom will

it be collected? Which/what instrument will be used
and how will the researcher reach the
respondents/data source?
•Thursday,
How will the
December collected data be analyzed and presented?
14, 2023 37
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
– Title Page
– References
– Appendices
REFERENCES
• Literature sources (authentic sources)
– Books
– Journals
– Magazines,
• Use the Harvard or APA(American
Physiological Association) referencing
style

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
– Title Page
– References
– Appendices
APPENDICES
• Introduction letter
• Letter of authorization
• Data collection instruments
• Sampling frame
• Maps, flow diagrams etc.

Term Paper
• Critical LR to bring out Potential
Research Ideas
• Will have the following sections
1. Background
2. Literature Review
3. Emerging Research Issues
4. Write a research proposal for
one of the identified issues.

Problem formulation
• Problem statement
– Problem identification
– Characteristics of a problem statement
– Sources of problem statement
• Literature review
• Research designs
• Population & sampling

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
• How?
– Identify broad area of interest
– Identify specific problems within the identified area as the
basis of the study i.e. narrow from broad to specific.
• In so doing, there are certain key factors namely:
– Should lead to findings with widespread implications in a

particular area
– Challenge some commonly held believes/ facts
– Review the inadequacies of existing knowledge, law, views,
policies, etc.
– Cover a reasonable scope – not too narrow, or too general.

Sources of problem statements
• Existing theories
• Existing literature – systematic reading
in general area of interest /book….)
• Discussion with experts
• Previous research
• Replication
• The media
• Personal experiences.

Research process
• Population & Sampling

LITERATURE REVIEW
involves
systematic identification, location and
analysis
of documents/material
containing information related to the
research problem being investigated.

Why LR?
• Avoid unnecessary and unintentional
duplication
• Form the framework within which the

research findings are to be interpreted
• Acquire and demonstrate familiarity

with the existing body of knowledge

Why LR?
• Reveal what strategies, procedures and
measuring instruments have been found useful
in investigating the problem in question
• Literature review will suggest other

procedures and approaches to be explored
• Familiarize with previous studies, thus

facilitate interpretation of the study results.

Why LR - Cont..
• helps to limit scope of the research problem
and to define it better.
• Helps stimulates new ideas.
• Literature review pulls together, integrates

and summarizes what is known in an area. A
review analyses and synthesizes different
results revealing gaps in information and areas
where major questions still remain

Steps in conducting LR
• Be very familiar with the source of
literature.
• Make a list of key words or phrases to
guide your literature search.
• Use the key words and phrases to
locate relevant material for the study.
• Summarize the references for easy
organization of the literature

Steps in conducting LR
• Once collected, the literature should be analyzed,
organized and reported in an orderly manner.
– Make an outline of the main topics or themes in order of
presentation.
– Studies contrary to received wisdom should not be ignored
when reviewing literature. Such studies should be analyzed
and possible explanation for the differences given. They
should be analyzed with a view to accounting for differences
of opinion.
– The literature should be organized in such a way that the
more general is covered first before the researcher
narrows down to that which is more specific to the research
problem. Organizing the literature in this way leads to
testable hypotheses.

Problem formulation

Scientific research process
Desktop
Field work & Define the problem research
report writing
=
Research
Review literature: proposal
Report writing Theory Vs practice
(findings)?
Formulate Hypothesis
Data analysis
Design research
Collect data

Research design
• A design is used to structure the research, to
show how all of the major parts of the
research project work together to try to
address the central research questions
• Research design provides the glue that holds
the research project together.
• Understanding the relationships among the
designs is important in making design choices
and thinking about the strengths and
weaknesses of different designs

Research Design - contd
• The more complex and rigorous the research
design, the greater the time, costs and other
resources expended on it
• Key concern:
Do the benefits that results from a more
complex design to ensure accuracy, reliability,
confidence, generalizability (amongst other
considerations) commensurate with the
investment made?

Design decisions
Mostly guided by:
• Purpose of the study
• Location of the study
• Type of the research (investigation) to
conform to
• Time horizon of the study (for how long will
the study be conducted?)
• Level at which data will be analyzed
• Unit of analysis – population (survey) or sample
(sampling)
• Data analysis technique

Research designs……
• Classification by nature of study
– Pure research
• This type of study is undertaken to expand the
boundaries of knowledge itself or to verify the
acceptability of the given theory.
– Applied research
• This type of research is carried out to solve a
current business problem faced by management
in a business setting, needing timely solutions.

Research designs……
• Classification by type of data
– Qualitative research design or
– Quantitative research design.
• Qualitative research provides insights in

understanding while quantitative research
tries to generalize those insights to a
population.
• Both research designs approaches are

considered complementary more than
competitive.

Research Designs….
• Classification by time frame
– In cross sectional studies
• Data are gathered just once, perhaps over a
period of days, months or years in order to
answer a research question (reference to a given
time frame)
– longitudinal studies
• Data are usually collected more than once from
the same study units over a long period of time.
• Conclusions are drawn on the basis of the entire
period of study.

• Classification by purpose of study:
– The choice of purpose is dependent on the general level of
knowledge about the topic.
• Exploratory research design:
– Used to explore new ideas.
– This type of studies are undertaken when the nature of the
problem is not clear, thus the expectation that further
research would be necessary to yield conclusive evidence.
• Descriptive research design
– The goal is to describe certain phenomena – new areas hence
need to fully understand the phenomena.
– Descriptive studies help to: Understand phenomena; Think
systematically about an aspect in a given situation; Offer
ideas for further probing; Make certain simple decisions
– Descriptive studies tries to discover answers to who, what,
when, where and sometimes, how questions.

• Classification by type of investigation
– Causal studies
• The primary purpose of all causal research is the
identification of the cause and effect
relationships between variables.
– Correlation studies
• Research seeks to determine the relationship
between the variables associated with a problem.
e.g. is smoking and cancer related?

• Classification by research setting
• Research setting refers to actual environment in which
research will be conducted. i.e. is it in a natural
environment or in an artificial controlled setting?
– Field study:
• The research does not interfere with the natural occurrence of
the events.
– Field experiments
• the research does interfere with some of variables of the study
but the experiment is still done in the natural occurrence of
events. E.g. The manipulation of payroll to evaluate employee’s
motivation.
– Lab experiment
• these are situations where all extraneous variables are
controlled. i.e. extremely high level of interference by the
researcher.

• Other classifications include:
– Case studies
– Surveys
– Census

Research Process

POPULATION & SAMPLING DESIGNS
• Population
– Refers to the entire group of people, events,
or things or interest that the researcher
wishes to investigate.
• Element
– A single member of the population. E.g. if
the study population is students in a given
class, then every member of that class is an
study element.

Population and Sampling
• Population Frame
– A listing of all the elements in the population
from which the sample is drawn.
• Sample
– A subset of the population. Thus It
comprises some members selected from the
population.

Population & Sampling
• Subject
• A subject is a single member of the sample, just as an
element is a single member of the population.
• Sampling
• Sampling is the process of selecting a sufficient
number of elements from the population,
• A sample design is defined as a definite plan for
obtaining a sample from a given population. It
therefore refers to the techniques/procedures to be
used to select a sample.

Why sampling?
Advantages
• Saves time
• costs savings in terms of manpower, and other
resources.
• Sampling results in high quality data collection
and analysis.
• Some tests/ experiments are destructive in
nature.
Disadvantages?

Key considerations
• Type of the universe (clearly define the
population of interest).
– Is it finite or infinite?
– How uniform or diverse is the population?
• Sampling units. What is the unit of
focus?
– Family, individuals, organizations, etc
• Source list (Sampling frame). It is
readily available? Is it representative?

Key considerations…..
• Sample size.
– What sample size is sufficient? (Neither too large,
yet not too small). Should be one that fulfils the
objectively sufficiently, reliably, representative,
flexibility. Etc.
• Parameters of interest.
– How many variables are involved?
– What is the nature of information of these
variables?
– How economical is the collection of data with
respect to the parameters?

Key considerations…..
• Budget available
• Sampling procedures.
– Does the researcher posses the skills
required for the selected sample design?
– How simple/complex is the procedure?

PROBABILITY
SAMPLING DESIGNS
AND
NONPROBABILITY
SAMPLING DESIGNS
Probability sampling
• The elements in the population have
some known chance or probability of
being selected as sample subjects.
• Considered objective
• Used when the representativeness of

the sample is of importance in the
interests of wider generalizability.

Examples of probability sampling
• Unrestricted or Simple Random
Sampling
• Restricted or Complex Probability
Sampling
– Systematic Sampling
– Stratified random sampling
– Cluster Sampling

non-probability sampling
• The elements do not have a known or
predetermined chance of being selected
as subjects.
• Considered subjective

Examples of non - probability sampling
• Convenience Sampling
• Purposive Sampling
• Judgmental Sampling
• Quota Sampling

Definitions
Data:
• The term data means groups of information
that represent the qualitative or quantitative
attributes of a variable or set of variables.
• Data are typically the results of measurements

and can be the basis of graphs, images, or
observations of a set of variables.
• Data are often viewed as the lowest level of

abstraction from which information and
knowledge are derived.

Definitions
Information:
• Processed Data
• Facts, data, or instructions in any medium or

form.
• The meaning that a human assigns to data by

means of the known conventions used in their
representation.

Definitions
• Knowledge:
• (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person
through experience or education; the theoretical
or practical understanding of a subject
• (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total;

facts and information or
• (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience

of a fact or situation

Types of data
• Quantitative Data
– Numerical form
• Qualitative
– Non numerical

Sources of data
• Primary Data
– Focus Groups
– Panels
– Individual
• Secondary Sources
– Databases,
– Institutional records
– books,
– periodicals,
– statistical abstracts, etc. , etc

Measurement &
Scales of measurement

Measurement
• A major function of statistics is to describe
efficiently the nature of experimental results,
observations on large groups of objects and
relationships between two different types of
measurement.
• Measurement is the process of assigning

values/weight to concepts of interest (variables)
in a research

Measurement - contd
• Some variables are easily measured through the
use of appropriate measuring instruments whereas
certain concepts/variables are not easily
measurable using physical measuring devices e.g.
motivation, satisfaction perception etc.
• Abstract notions are broken down into

observable/measurable aspects (operationalyzing).

Scales of Measurement - contd
• A major concern about a measurement
technique is that it faithfully reflects the
attribute being measured.
• There are three attributes that need to be

considered.
– Magnitude
– Equal Interval
– Absolute Zero Point

Attributes
• When a scale has magnitude, one instance of the
attribute being measured can be judged greater
than, less than or equal to another instance of the
attribute.
• When a scale has equal interval, the magnitude of

the attributes represented by a unit of
measurement on the scale is the same regardless
of where on the scale the unit falls.
• .

Attributes - contd
• An absolute zero point is a value which indicates
that nothing at all of the attribute being
measured exists

Scales of Measurement
• A scale is a tool or mechanism by which
individuals/items are distinguished as to how they
differ from one another on the variables of
interest in a study.
• A level of measurement is determined by the
presence or absence of one or more of the
attributes in the variable being measured.
• Types of scales:
– Nominal
– Ordinal
– Interval
– Ratio

Scales of Measurement - Contd
Attribute
Scale Magnitude Equal Interval Absolute Zero
Nominal No No No
Ordinal Yes No No
Interval Yes Yes No
Ratio Yes Yes Yes

Nominal Scale
• Allows for categorization/grouping of
items
• Values have no intrinsic value, other than

grouping/identification purposes only
• E.g. Gender (Male/Female), Make of

Vehicles (Toyota, Isuzu, etc)

Ordinal Scale
• Categorizes the variables - differences
amongst various categories
• Organizes variables in an ordered array
(Rank orders the categories in some
meaningful way.
• Examples: Grades obtained in an exam:
A, B, C, D, E…..
• Job categories in an organization.

Interval Scale
• Combines the aspect of categorization, rank-
ordering and magnitude (measuring of distance
between any two points on a scale).
• Allows for arithmetic computation of the data

collected (statistical analysis)
• Interval scale has an arbitrary origin point.
• E.g. salary scales, Temperature.

Ratio Scale
• Has an absolute value, over and above
other properties of other scales
(nominal, ordinal, interval).
• It allows statistical computations
• Allows comparability (in proportion) e.g.

actual age, income, price of items, etc.

Data
Collection
Methods

Data collection
• There are several data collection methods,
each with its own advantages and
disadvantages.
• Use of appropriate methods greatly enhances

the value of the research
• Data can be collected in a variety of ways, in

different settings (field, lab) and from
different sources.

Common data collection methods
• Interviews
– Types:
• Structured (use of interview guide)
• Unstructured (open discussion).
– Methods:
• Face to face, telephone, computer aided,
electronic mail, FGD (Focus Group Discussions)
etc.

• Questionnaires
– A questionnaire is a pre-formulated written set of
questions to which respondents record their
answers
– Types:
• Open ended
• closed ended
– Method:
• personally administered (face to face, telephone, etc)
• Mailed questionnaires
• Electronic Questionnaires
– Questionnaire Pre-testing
• Observation
– individuals/events with/without recording
as they occur/happen.
– Can be done in the natural occurrence /

setting or in a controlled environment /
setting
– Can be structured or unstructured

Choosing a data collection method
Depends on:
• Facilities available
• The degree of accuracy required
• The expertise of the researcher
• Time span of the study
• Other case and resources associated
with and available for data gathering.

Ethics in Data Collection:
• Treating information given by respondents as strictly confidential
is a primary responsibility of the researcher.
• not to misrepresent the nature of the study to subjects
• Personal or seemingly intrusive information should not be

solicited; where necessary, absolute sensitivity and caution should
be exercised.
• Respondents should not be forced to participate in a study
• Objectivity should be maintained i.e. researchers opinion,

assumption, expectations and biasness should be made explicit
and remain non-intrusive.
• Subjects should never be exposed to situations that may result in

physical or mental harm.
Definition
• Data analysis is a process of gathering,
modeling, and transforming data with the goal
of highlighting useful information, suggesting
conclusions, and supporting decision making.
• Data analysis has multiple facets and

approaches, encompassing diverse techniques
under a variety of names, in different
business, science, and social science domains.

Advertising
budget Sales
Advertising
Company budget Sales (000) (000) (millions)
1 26 73 Mean 26.75 76.42
2 22 69 Standard Error 0.95 2.94

Median 26.5 75.5
3 28 86
Mode 26 69
4 29 62
Standard Deviation 3.28 10.19
5 26 78
Sample Variance 10.75 103.90
6 25 69
Kurtosis -0.25 -1.19
7 22 67
Skewness 0.19 0.27
8 30 88
Range 11 32
9 27 81
Minimum 22 62
10 29 84 Maximum 33 94
11 33 94 Sum 321 917
12 24 66 Count 12 12

Steps to data analysis
• Once data is collected, some tasks / steps are
performed before data analysis is done.
• These tasks are done to ensure that the data is

appropriate, accurate and reliable (good quality)
for further analysis.
• These steps include:-

– Data editing/cleaning
– Data coding
– Data entry

Data cleaning
• During this stage, erroneous entries are inspected
and corrected.
• In some cases, it is easy to substitute suspect

data with the correct values. However, when it is
unclear what caused the erroneous data or what
should be used to replace it, subjective decisions
should NEVER be made. This may undermine the
quality of the data
• Data editing should be done as soon as data is

collected so that respondents may be contacted
for further information / clarification.

Data Cleaning
• Common Data editing/cleaning activities
includes:-
– Checking for the accuracy of the data
– checking for the data consistency with other
information
– checking for uniformity of data
recording/capturing
– checking for completeness of the information
– checking for arrangement (to simplify coding
and tabulation)
Data coding
• Coding involves assigning numbers or other
symbols to the various answers so that the
various responses obtained can be grouped into
a limited number of classes/categories.
• The coding method used should be:-

– Appropriate to the research problem/and purpose
– Exhaustive (cover all necessary aspects)
– Mutually exclusive (distinct and precise)

Data Coding
What is the purpose of measuring performance in Very
High Neutral Low Very low
your organization/business? high
Planning the future
Translating strategy into action plans
Ensuring the institution satisfies the needs of the

stakeholders
Increasing awareness of the organization for
advertising/marketing purposes.
Satisfying legal requirement regarding operating,
reporting and accounting for resources
Has your organization /business embraced management by performance

measurement? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Data Coding
What is the purpose of measuring performance in 5 4 3 2 1
your organization/business?
Planning the future
Translating strategy into action plans
Ensuring the institution satisfies the needs of the

stakeholders
Increasing awareness of the organization for
advertising/marketing purposes.
Satisfying legal requirement regarding operating,
reporting and accounting for resources
Has your organization /business embraced management by performance

measurement? [1 ] No [ 0]

Data Entry
• Data entry involves converting
information gathered (either from
secondary or primary sources) to a
medium for viewing and manipulation e.g.
entry/input into computer programs such
as SPSS, Excel, POS, etc
• Common errors in data entry?

Data Analysis
• The method of data analysis depends
mainly on
– Purpose of the study (e.g. descriptive,
analytical, explanatory, correlation, etc)
– Type of data/information collected

(qualitative and quantitative).

Data analysis
by purpose

Analysis by purpose
– Descriptive statistics
• Focuses on providing basic information about the
sample/population of interest
– Exploratory data analysis

• Focuses on discovering new features in the data.
E.g. relationships, trends, etc
– Confirmatory data analysis

• Focuses on confirming or falsifying existing
hypotheses (inferential statistics).
• Predictive analytics:
– Focuses on application of statistical or
structural models for predictive forecasting
or classification,
• Text analytics (contextual analysis)
– Applies statistical, linguistic, and structural
techniques to extract and classify
information from textual sources, a species
of unstructured data

Data analysis
by type of data
Qualitative
Quantitative

Analyzing Qualitative data
• Qualitative data is analyzed using content analysis
method - Text analytics
• Applies statistical, linguistic, and structural techniques

to extract and classify information from textual
sources, a species of unstructured data.
• These may include:-

– Counting words/sentences
– Categorizing phrases
– Describing logical structures of expressions
– Ascertaining associations connotations
– Deducing the sociological or political interpretations etc.
• As such, a message can convey a multitude of count

outsDecember 14, 2023
Thursday, 125
Analyzing Quantitative data
• Quantitative data is mainly analyzed

using statistical data analysis.
• Statistical data analysis is broadly

divided into two categories:-
– Descriptive statistics
– Inferential statistics

Descriptive statistics
• Descriptive Statistics involves the development of certain indices
from the raw data for the purpose of description i.e. describing
the attributes/variables of the study unit.
• Descriptive statistics are also used to provide a feel of the data,

hence a preliminary step to inferential statistics and/or advanced
statistical analysis
• Common descriptive measures are clarified into four classes:-

• Measures of location (central tendency)
• Measures of spread/variability (measure of dispersion).
• Measures of normality
• Measures of relationship (correlation measures)

Inferential statistics
• Also known as sampling statistics.
• Used to draw conclusions about a
population from sample information
• Divided into two:

– Estimation of population measures
(parameter)
– Testing of statistical hypothesis (e.g. Z
test, t test, X2 test, F-test etc)

Pitfalls in data analysis
• Be sure your sample is representative of the
population in which you're interested.
• Be sure you understand the assumptions of your
statistical procedures, and be sure they are satisfied.
• Be sure you have the right amount of power--not too
little, not too much.
• Be sure to use the best measurement tools available.
If your measures have error, take that fact into
account.
• Beware of multiple comparisons. If you must do a lot
of tests, try to replicate or use cross-validation to
verify your results.

Pitfalls in data analysis
• Keep clear in your mind what you're trying to
discover--don't be seduced by stars in your tables;
• Use numerical notation in a rational way--don't confuse
precision with accuracy (and don't let the consumers
of your work do so, either).
• Be sure you understand the conditions for causal
inference. If you need to make causal inference, try to
use random assignment. If that's not possible, you'll
have to devote a lot of effort to uncovering causal
relationships with a variety of approaches to the
question.
• Be sure your graphs are accurate and reflect the data
variation clearly.

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Dms 411 Business Research Methods

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DMS 411/BPS 311:

Thursday, December 14, 2023 1

• The act of carrying out of a diligent inquiry/a

• Research is the process of searching for an

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• The pursuit of truth as determined by

• Scientific method through logic further

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• Relies on empirical evidence

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• Usually presented by posing explicit research

• Requires use of both theoretical foundations

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• Addresses the purpose of the proposed

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– Chapter II: Literature Review

– Chapter III: Research Methodology

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– Chapter II: Literature Review

– Chapter III: Research Methodology

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• Who/what is the study unit?

• Who/what forms the population of the study?

• Will sampling be done, and if so, what sampling design

• What kind of data will be used? Where /from whom will

– Chapter II: Literature Review

– Chapter III: Research Methodology

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– Chapter II: Literature Review

– Chapter III: Research Methodology

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• In so doing, there are certain key factors namely:

– Should lead to findings with widespread implications in a

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• Form the framework within which the

• Acquire and demonstrate familiarity

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