1. Introduction of Business Research

2. Steps of Business Research

3. Research Design

4. Exploratory Research

5. Descriptive Research

6. Causal Research

Module- 1

Business Research

“Business research is the systematic and objective

identification, collection, analysis, dissemination, and

use of information for the purpose of improving

decision making related to the identification and

solution of problems and opportunities in business.”

Steps of Business Research Process

Step 1 : Problem Definition

Step 2 : Development of an Approach to the Problem

Step 3 : Research Design Formulation

Step 4 : Fieldwork or Data Collection

Step 5 : Data Preparation and Analysis

Step 6 : Report Preparation and Presentation

Step 1: Problem Definition

• The purpose of the study

• The relevant background information

• How it will be used in decision making

Problem definition involves discussion with

• The decision makers

• Interviews with industry experts

• Analysis of secondary data, and

• Some qualitative research, such as focus groups

Step 2: Development of an approach to the problem

• Formulating an objective or theoretical framework

• Analytical models

• Research questions and

• Identifying the information needed

This process is guided by discussions with

• Management and industry experts

• Analysis of secondary data and

• Qualitative research

Step 3 : Research Design Formulation • Definition of the information needed

• Secondary data analysis

• Qualitative research

• Methods of collecting quantitative data(survey, observation, and

experimentation)

• Measurement and scaling procedures

• Questionnaire design

• Sampling process and sample size

• Plan of data analysis

Step 4: Fieldwork or Data Collection

• Personal interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer-

assisted personal interviewing)

• Telephone (telephone or computer- assisted personal interviewing)

• Mail (traditional mail)

• Electronically (e-mail or Internet)

Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis

• The editing

• Coding

• Transcription and

• Verification of data.

Step 6 : Report Preparation and Presentation

• Address the specific research questions identified

• Describes the approach

• The research design,

• Data collection

• Data analysis procedures adopted

• Presents the results and

• Major findings

Research Design

“A research design is a framework or blueprint for

conducting the business research project. It details

the procedures necessary for obtaining the

information needed to structure or solve business

research problems.”

A Classification of Business Research Designs

Single Cross-

Sectional Design

Multiple Cross-

Sectional Design

Research Design

Conclusive

Research Design

Exploratory

Research Design

Descriptive

Research

Causal Research

Cross-Sectional

Design

Longitudinal

Design

Exploratory Research Design

Uses of Exploratory Research

• Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely

• Identify alternative courses of action

• Develop hypotheses

• Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination

• Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem

• Establish priorities for further research

Methods of Exploratory Research

• Secondary data analyzed in a qualitative way

• Qualitative research

Secondary data

Secondary data are data that have already been

collected for purposes other than the problem

at hand. These data can be located quickly and

inexpensively.

Uses of Secondary Data

• Identify the problem

• Better define the problem

• Develop an approach to the problem

• Formulate an appropriate research design (for example, by

identifying the key variables)

• Answer certain research questions and test some hypotheses

• Interpret primary data more insightfully

A Classification of Secondary Data

Secondary Data

Ready to

Use

Requires

Further

Processing

Published

Materials

Computerized

Databases Syndicated

Services

Internal External

Internal Secondary Data

Department Store Project Sales were analyzed to obtain:

• Sales by product line

• Sales by major department (e.g., men's wear, house wares)

• Sales by specific stores

• Sales by geographical region

• Sales by cash versus credit purchases

• Sales in specific time periods

• Sales by size of purchase

• Sales trends in many of these classifications were also examined

A Classification of Published Secondary Sources

Statistical

Data Guides Directories Indexes Census

Data Other

Government

Publications

Published

Secondary Data

General Business

Sources

Government

Sources

A Classification of Computerized Databases

Bibliographic

Databases

Numeric

Databases

Full-Text

Databases

Directory

Databases Special-

Purpose

Databases

Computerized

Databases

Online Off-Line Internet

Syndicated Services

• Syndicated services are companies that collect and sell common pools of

data of known commercial value designed to serve a number of clients

• Syndicated sources can be classified based on the unit of measurement

(households/consumers or institutions)

• Household/consumer data may be obtained from surveys, diary panels,

or electronic scanner services

• Institutional data may be obtained from retailers, wholesalers, or

industrial firms

A Classification of Syndicated Services

Unit of

Measurement

Households/

Consumers Institutions

Syndicated Services: Consumers

Psychographic

& Lifestyles

Advertising

Evaluation

Households /

Consumers

Scanner

Panels with

Cable TV

Surveys Volume

Tracking Data

Scanner

Panels

Electronic

scanner services Purchase Media

Panels

Syndicated Services: Institutions

Audits

Direct

Inquiries

Clipping

Services

Corporate

Reports

Institutions

Retailers Wholesalers Industrial firms

A Classification of Business Research Data

Survey

Data

Observational

and Other Data

Experimental

Data

Qualitative Data Quantitative Data

Descriptive Causal

Business Research Data

Secondary Data Primary Data

A Classification of Qualitative Research Procedures

Direct (Non- disguised): Focus Groups

Group Size 8-12

Group Composition Homogeneous, respondents,

prescreened

Physical Setting Relaxed, informal atmosphere

Time Duration 1-3 hours

Recording Use of audiocassettes and

videotapes

Moderator Observational, interpersonal, and

communication skills of the

moderator

Depth Interview Techniques: Laddering

In laddering, the line of questioning proceeds from product

characteristics to user characteristics. This technique allows the

researcher to tap into the consumer's network of meanings.

Projective Techniques

• An unstructured, indirect form of questioning that encourages

respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes or

feelings regarding the issues of concern.

• In projective techniques, respondents are asked to interpret the

behavior of others.

• In interpreting the behavior of others, respondents indirectly project

their own motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings into the situation.

Word Association

In word association, respondents are presented with a list of words, one at

a time, and asked to respond to each with the first word that comes to

mind. The words of interest, called test words, are interspersed

throughout the list which also contains some neutral, or filler words to

disguise the purpose of the study.

Example: Mrs. X Mrs.Y

Bubbles Bath Soap &Water

Towels Dirty Wash

Completion Techniques

In sentence completion, respondents are given incomplete sentences and

asked to complete them. Generally, they are asked to use the first word

or phrase that comes to mind.

A person who shops at Shopping mall is ______________________

When I think of shopping in a department store, I ________

A Cartoon Test

Should we go to

the shopping

mall?

Expressive Techniques

• Role playing

• Third-person technique

Descriptive Research Design

Use of Descriptive Research

• To describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such as consumers,

salespeople, organizations, or market areas

• To estimate the percentage of units in a specified population exhibiting

a certain behavior

• To determine the perceptions of product characteristics

• To determine the degree to which marketing variables are associated

• To make specific predictions

Types of Descriptive research Design

• Cross-Sectional Research Designs

• Longitudinal Research Designs

Cross-Sectional Research Designs

• Single cross-sectional designs

• Multiple cross-sectional designs

• Cohort analysis

Longitudinal Designs

• A fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is measured

repeatedly on the same variables

• A longitudinal design differs from a cross-sectional design in that the

sample or samples remain the same over time

Methods of Descriptive Research Design

• Survey

• Observation

A Classification of Survey Methods

Traditional

Telephone

Computer-

Assisted Telephone

Interviewing

Mail

Interview Mail

Panel

In-Home Mall

Intercept

Computer-Assisted

Personal

Interviewing

E-mail Internet

Survey

Methods

Telephone Personal Mail Electronic

A Classification of Observation Methods

Observation Methods

Personal

Observation

Mechanical

Observation

Trace

Analysis

Content

Analysis Audit

Personal Observation

• A researcher observes actual behavior as it occurs.

• The observer does not attempt to manipulate the phenomenon being

observed but merely records what takes place.

Mechanical Observation

Do not require respondents' direct participation

• The AC Nielsen audimeter

• Turnstiles that record the number of people entering or leaving a building.

• On-site cameras (still, motion picture, or video)

• Optical scanners in supermarkets

Do require respondent involvement

• Eye-tracking monitors

• Pupilometers

• Psychogalvanometers

• Voice pitch analyzers

• Devices measuring response latency

Audit

• The researcher collects data by examining physical records or

performing inventory analysis.

• Data are collected personally by the researcher.

• The data are based upon counts, usually of physical objects.

• Retail and wholesale audits conducted by marketing research suppliers

were discussed in the context of syndicated data.

Content Analysis

• The objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest

content of a communication.

• The unit of analysis may be words, characters (individuals or objects),

themes (propositions), space and time measures (length or duration of

the message), or topics (subject of the message).

• Analytical categories for classifying the units are developed and the

communication is broken down according to prescribed rules.

Trace Analysis

• The number of different fingerprints on a page was used to gauge

the readership of various advertisements in a magazine.

• The position of the radio dials in cars brought in for service was

used to estimate share of listening audience of various radio stations.

• Internet visitors leave traces which can be analyzed to examine

browsing and usage behavior by using cookies.

Causal Research Design

Uses of Causal Research

• To understand which variables are the cause (independent variables)

and which variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a

phenomenon

• To determine the nature of the relationship between the causal variables

and the effect to be predicted

• METHOD: Experiments

Concepts of Causal Research

• Independent variables

• Test units

• Dependent variables

• Extraneous variables

Experimental Design

• The test units and how these units are to be divided into

homogeneous subsamples,

• What independent variables or treatments are to be manipulated,

• What dependent variables are to be measured; and

• How the extraneous variables are to be controlled.

A Classification of Experimental Designs

Pre-experimental

One-Shot Case

Study

One Group

Pretest-Posttest

Static Group

True

Experimental

Pretest-Posttest

Control Group

Posttest: Only

Control Group

Solomon Four-

Group

Quasi

Experimental

Time Series

Multiple Time

Series

Statistical

Randomized

Blocks

Latin Square

Factorial

Design

Experimental Designs

Pre-experimental designs

One-Shot Case Study

X 01

• A single group of test units is exposed to a treatment X.

• A single measurement on the dependent variable is taken (01).

• There is no random assignment of test units.

• The one-shot case study is more appropriate for exploratory than for

conclusive research.

One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design

01 X 02

• A group of test units is measured twice.

• There is no control group.

• The treatment effect is computed as 02 – 01.

• The validity of this conclusion is questionable since extraneous

variables are largely uncontrolled.

Static Group Design

EG: X 01

CG: 02

• A two-group experimental design.

• The experimental group (EG) is exposed to the treatment, and the control

group (CG) is not.

• Measurements on both groups are made only after the treatment.

• Test units are not assigned at random.

• The treatment effect would be measured as 01 - 02.

True Experimental Designs

Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design

EG: R 01 X 02

CG: R 03 04

• Test units are randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group.

• A pretreatment measure is taken on each group.

• The treatment effect (TE) is measured as: (02 - 01) - (04 - 03).

• Selection bias is eliminated by randomization.

• The other extraneous effects are controlled as follows:

02 – 01= TE + H + MA + MT + IT + I + SR + MO

04 – 03= H + MA + MT + I + SR + MO

= EV (Extraneous Variables)

• The experimental result is obtained by:

(02 - 01) - (04 - 03) = TE + IT

• Interactive testing effect is not controlled.

Posttest-Only Control Group Design

EG : R X 01

CG : R 02

• The treatment effect is obtained by:

TE = 01 – 02

• Except for pre-measurement, the implementation of this design is very

similar to that of the pretest-posttest control group design.

Quasi-Experimental Designs

Time Series Design

01 02 03 04 05 X 06 07 08 09 010

• There is no randomization of test units to treatments.

• The timing of treatment presentation, as well as which test units

are exposed to the treatment, may not be within the researcher's

control.

Multiple Time Series Design

EG : 01 02 03 04 05 X 06 07 08 09 010

CG : 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 010

• If the control group is carefully selected, this design can be an

improvement over the simple time series experiment.

• Can test the treatment effect twice: against the pretreatment

measurements in the experimental group and against the control

group.

Statistical Designs

Statistical Designs

Statistical designs consist of a series of basic experiments that allow

for statistical control and analysis of external variables and offer the

following advantages:

• The effects of more than one independent variable can be measured.

• Specific extraneous variables can be statistically controlled.

• Economical designs can be formulated when each test unit is

measured more than once.

Randomized Block Design

• Randomized Block Design is useful when there is only one major

external variable, such as store size, that might influence the dependent

variable.

• The test units are blocked, or grouped, on the basis of the external

variable.

• By blocking, the researcher ensures that the various experimental and

control groups are matched closely on the external variable.

Randomized Block Design

Treatment Groups

Block Store Commercial Commercial Commercial

Number Patronage A B C

1 Heavy A B C

2 Medium A B C

3 Low A B C

4 None A B C

Latin Square Design

• Allows the researcher to statistically control two noninteracting external

variables as well as to manipulate the independent variable.

• Each external or blocking variable is divided into an equal number of blocks,

or levels.

• The independent variable is also divided into the same number of levels.

• A Latin square is conceptualized as a table ,with the rows and columns

representing the blocks in the two external variables.

• The levels of the independent variable are assigned to the cells in the table.

• The assignment rule is that each level of the independent variable should

appear only once in each row and each column.

Latin Square Design

Interest in the Store Store Patronage High Medium Low

Heavy B A C

Medium C B A

Low and none A C B

Factorial Design

• Factorial Design Is used to measure the effects of two or more

independent variables at various levels.

• A factorial design may also be conceptualized as a table.

• In a two-factor design, each level of one variable represents a row

and each level of another variable represents a column.

Factorial Design

Amount of Humor

Amount of Store No Medium High

Information Humor Humor Humor

Low A B C

Medium D E F

High G H I