Introduction to Research & Research Process

7/23/2019 Introduction to Research & Research Process

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INTRODUCTION TOINTRODUCTION TORESEARCH AND ITSRESEARCH AND ITSPROCESSPROCESS


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Objectives of Research ActivityModule

To help you to analyze a problem in a

systematic, logical and scientic manner

Provide an opportunity to have a uic!

"al! through the research process and

Prepare you to conduct syndicate

research and produce a uality research

paper


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#

$euence of Presentation

%ening Research &hy Managers $hould 'no" About Research %imensions of Research

Applied and (asic Research )*ploratory, %escriptive and )*planatory Research

%etermining &hen to +onduct Research $teps involved in the Research Process

Art of doing Revie" of iterature $tating research problem clearly and precisely-


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.

&hat is Research and itsRelevance

Research is the process of ndingsolutions to a problem after a thorough

study and analysis of the situationalfactors-

Research focuses on solving problems andpursues a step/by/step logical, organized,and rigorous method to identify theproblem0s1, gather data, analyze them,and dra" valid conclusions therefrom-


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2

Managers in organizationsconstantly engage themselvesin studying and analyzing issues

and

hence are involved in some form

of research activity as they ma!edecisions at the "or!place-


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3

$ometimes managers ma!e gooddecisions and the problem getssolved-

$ometimes managers ma!e poordecisions and the problem persists-

The di4erence bet"een ma!ing

good decisions and poor decisions,lies in ho" managers go about thedecision/ma!ing process-


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5

To become a successfulmanager, it is important foryou to !no" ho" to go aboutma!ing the right decisions bybeing !no"ledgeable aboutthe various steps involved innding solutions toproblematic issues-


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6

%ecision ma!ing is merely aprocess of choosing fromamong alternative solutions

to resolve a problem and researchhelps to generate

viable alternatives for

eective decision a!ing"


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7

&hen managers understand theresearch reports about theirorganizations handed to them byprofessionals, they "ill be euippedto ta!e intelligent, educated,calculated ris!s "ith !no"nprobabilities attached to the success

or failure of their decisions- Research then becomes a useful

decision/ma!ing tool-


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Dimensions of Social Research

The purpose of a study

Exploration (what question)

Description (how and who question)

Explanation (Why question) The use of research

Basic Research (creates fundamental nowled!e)

"pplied research (sol#es specific policy pro$lem)

Time dimension in research

%ross&sectional research

'on!itudinal Research


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Is sufficient time

available before

a managerial

decision

must be made?

Is the infor-

mation already

on handinadequate

for making

the decision?

Is the decision

of considerable

strategic

or tactical

importance?

Does the value

of the research

informationexceed the cost

of conducting

research?

Conducting

SocialResearch

Do Not Conduct Research

Time Constraints

Availability of

Data Nature of the Decision

Benefits

vs. Costs

Yes YesYesYes

No No No No

%etermining &hen to +onductResearch


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Research Process

Usually treated as sequentially defined

steps. Nevertheless:

Completion of each step before goingto next is not required.

Idea of sequence is useful fordeveloping a research project.

ariation in the number of steps


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Qualitative and QuantitativeParadigms

The qualitative paradigm concentrates oninvestigating subjective data, in particular, theperceptions of the people involved. The intentionis to illuminate these perceptions and, thus, gaingreater insight and knowledge.

The quantitative paradigm concentrates on whatcan be measured. It involves collecting andanalyzing objective (often numerical) data thatcan be organized into statistics.


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Quantitative vs Qualitative Paradigms

Quantitative methods Qualitative methods

Epistemologicalpositions

Objectivist realityexists independently ofthe researcher

Constructivistsees truth andmeaning as constructed andinterpreted by individuals.

Relationship betweenresearcher and subject

Distant /outsider Close/insider

Research focus Facts !eanings

Type of reasoning Deduction "nduction

Scope of findings Nomothetic: attemptsto establish la#-li$efindings that holdirrespective of time.

deographic:locates its findingsin specific time periods andlocalities and is much moreconcerned #ith the depth andintensity of findings rather thanbreadth

!he nature of data Data based uponnumbers

Data based upon text


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O#SER$ATIO

N(road area

of research8nterest

identied

%

PRE%I&INAR'DATA

(ATHERIN(

8ntervie"ing

&

iteraturesurvey

PROBLEM

DEFINITION

!esearch

"roblem

#elineated

'

THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

Variables

clearly

Ide!i"ied ad

labeled

(ENERATIONO)

H'POTHESE

S

(

)

RE#EARCH

DE#I$N

*

DATA

COLLECTION

ANAL%#I#& AND

INTERPREATION

+

DED'CTION

!esearch

$uestion

ans%ered?

,

Maa(erial

DecisioMa)i(

!&"'!(

"!&)&N(*(I'N

REPORT

WRITIN$

%%%No

%es

Research Process *In +,antitative Tradition-


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Research Process *In +,alitative Tradition-


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97

iterature $urvey

%iterat,re s,rve.is thedocumentation of a comprehensive

revie" of the published andunpublished "or! from secondarysources of datain the areas of

specic interest to the researcher-


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(asic Assumption ofRevie" of iterature isthat0

'no"ledge accumulatesand

"e learn from and buildon"hat others have

done.


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%ata $ources

Te*tboo!s

Academic and professional journals

Theses: Ph% theses and Mastertheses-

+onference proceedings

;npublished manuscripts Reports


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>>

iterature $urvey

The co/,teri0ed

databasesis no" readilyavailable and accessible, "hichma!es the literature search mucheasier, and can be done "ithoutentering the portals of a librarybuilding-


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>#

Reasons for the iterature

$urvey9- To demonstrate familiarity "ith a body of

!no"ledge and establish credibility"

>- ?elps to nd the important variablesthatare li!ely to in@uence the problemsituation are not left out of the study-

#- ?elps in the development of thetheoretical frame"or!and hypotheses fortesting-

.- The problem statement can be made "ith

precision and clarity-


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>.

Reasons for the iterature$urvey

2- Ma!ing a lin!age "ith the body of!no"ledge and continue the line of

thought-3- Testability and replicability of the

ndings of the current research are

enhanced-5- One does not run the ris! of "asting

e4orts on trying to rediscoversomething that is already !no"n-


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>2

+onducting the iterature$urvey

The literature revie" needs to be doneon the specic issues of concern to the

researcher and the factors identiedduring preliminary data gathering-

The 1rst ste/in this process involvesidentifying the various published andunpublished materials that are availableon the topic of interest, and gainingaccess to these-


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>3

+onducting the iterature$urvey

The second ste/is gatheringthe relevant information either by

going through the necessarymaterials in a library or by gettingaccess to online sources-

The third ste/is "riting up theliterature revie"-


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>5

$earching for literature

There are three fors ofdatabases2

3"The bibliogra/hic databases4"hich display only the bibliographiccitations, that is, the name of the

author, the title of the article 0boo!1,source of publication, year, volume,and page numbers-


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>6

$earching for iterature

>- The abstract databases, "hich inaddition provide an abstract or

summary of the articles-#- The f,ll5te6t databases, "hich

provide the full te*t of the article-


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>7

Online searchprovides thefollo"ing advantages0

9- $aving enormous amount of time-

>- Are comprehensive in their listing and

revie" of references-#- The researcher can focus on materials

most central to the research e4orts-

.- inding access to references isrelatively ine*pensive-


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#B


rom the bibliography on the subject, theresearcher should do the follo"ings:

A loo! at the titlesof the articles or boo!s "illindicate 7hich of these a. be i/ortant-

The abstractof such articles that seem to berelevant "ill give an idea of the article that

need to be loo!ed into in depth- The f,ll te6t of "hich can then be printed out-


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#9


&hile reading these articles, ta!enotesabout the /roblethat "as

researched, the design detailsofthe study 0such as the sample sizeand data collection methods1, and the,ltiate 1ndingsof the study-

These notes"ill facilitates the"riting up of the literat,re revie7"ith ma*imum eCciency-


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#>

&riting ;p the iteratureRevie"

The "ritten literature revie" is a clearand logical presentation of the relevant

research "or! done thus far in the areaof investigation-

%ocumenting the literature is important

to Convince the readerthat:9- The researcher is !no"ledgeable about the problem

area-

>- The theoretical frame"or! "ill be structured on

"or! already done and "ill add to the solid


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##

Organi0ational eectiveness

Organization theorists have dened

organizational e4ectiveness 0O)1 in various"ays- O) has been described in terms ofobjectives 0=eorgopolous and Tannenbaum,97251, goals 0)tzioni, 973B1, eCciency 0'atzand 'ahn, 97331, resources acuisition0Duchtman and $eashore, 97351- As +outler0>BB>1 remar!ed, there is little consensus on

ho" to conceptualize, measure, or e*plain O)-

)*ample of iterature $urveys


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#.

Researchers are no" moving a"ay from asingle model and are ta!ing contingency

approaches to conceptualizing O)0+ameron, 9773E &ernerfelt, 9776E Detley,>BB91- ?o"ever, they are still limitingthemselves to e*amining the impact of the

dominant factors in the organizationFs lifecycle instead of ta!ing a broader, moredynamic approach 0%ahl, >BB9, p->21.

)*ample of iterature $urveys


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#2

8hat insights can be gainedfro the above e6a/le"

9- The literature revie" introduces thesubject of study-

>- ?ighlights the problem 0that "e donot have a good conceptualframe"or! for understanding O)1-

#- $ummarizes the "or! done so far onthe topic 0by reporting the citations in thebody of the research by mentioning the familynames and the year of publication only1-


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#3

De1ning the ProbleStateent

After the literature revie",the researcher is in positionto narro" do"n the problemfrom its original broad baseand dene the issues ofconcern more clearly-


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#5

8hat a!es a good /roblestateent"

The /roble stateentintroduces the !e. /roble that

is addressed in the researchproject-

Proble stateent is a clear4

/recise4 and shortstatement ofthe specic issue that a researcher"ishes to investigate-


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The three !e. criteria for

problem statementThere are three !ey criteria to

assess the uality of the

problem statement:

9- 8t should be relevant

>- 8t should be feasible#- 8t should be interesting

#6


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rom an academic perspective,research is relevant if0

9-


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A problem statement is feasible

8f you are able to ans"er the problem statement"ithin the restrictions of the research/ro9ect-

These restrictionsare possibly related to tie,reso,rcesand the e6/ertise of theresearcher 0a problem statement may be toodiCcult to ans"er1-

Th,s4 it is i/ortant that .o, develo/ anarro7l. de1ned :,estion that can beinvestigated 7ith a reasonable ao,nt oftie and eort"

.B


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The problem statement isinteresting

(ecause research is a tie5cons,ingprocess and you "ill go through an.

,/s and do7ns before you present anal version of your research report-

8t is therefore vital that .o, areinterested in the /roble stateentthat you are trying to ans"er, so .o,can sta. otivated throughout theentire process-

.9


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E6a/les of broad /roble areas thata manager could observe at the"or!place0

Training programs are not as e4ective asanticipated-

The motivation level of employees is

declining- Minority group members are not advancing

in their careers-The ne"ly installed information system is

not being used by the managers for "homit "as primarily designed-The introduction of monetization of

transport policy for ($ >B and aboveoCcers has created more problems than it

has solved- .>

E6a/le2 Stateent of Proble ; Research


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E6a/le2 Stateent of Proble ; Research+,estions

The /,r/ose of this st,d. is to describe andco/arethe attit,des and /erforance of ale andfeale grad,ate st,dents regarding re:,iredresearch co,rses at P,n9ab Universit."Research +,estions2

9- &hat are the attitudes of graduate $tudents regarding reuiredresearch coursesG

>- &hat is the performance of graduate $tudents in reuired

research coursesG#- &hat are the attitudes of male graduate students regarding

reuired research +oursesG.- &hat are the attitudes of female graduate students regarding

reuired research coursesG2- &hat is the performance of male graduate students in reuired

research coursesG3- &hat is the performance of female graduate students in reuired

research coursesG5- Are there di4erence bet"een the attitudes of male and female

graduate students regarding reuired research coursesG

6- Are there di4erences bet"een the performance of male andfemale graduate students in reuired research coursesG


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Enough for

today


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.2

Research %esign

1'John Wiley & Sons Ltd.


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.3

Types of %ata

#$Primar% dataSources of primary data include such things as0

2uestionnaires"ntervie#s

3bservational studies 4including 5articipant 3bservation6

Content 7nalysis

&$Secondar% dataSources of secondary data include such things as08e#spaper articles

9oo$s& maga:ines& the mass media

;he research of other social scientists


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.5

Types of %ata

'$Quantitative data;his form of data results from an attempt& as the name

suggests& to


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Aims of Research

To explore in order to make furtherresearch possible

To explain by providing reliable, valid and

well documented information To make predictions

To understand human behavior and action

To offer a basis for a critique of socialreality

To develop and/or test theories


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Methodologyrefers to the logic that underpins the use ofparticular methods of data collection.

Methodologyis primarily concerned with questions of

validity in relation to the production of knowledge aboutthe world.

Methodologyrefers to thelogical principlesweadoptwhenconsideringwhichmethodsto use in our study of

the social worldThe relationship between theory and sociologicalmethods can be summarized as the relationship betweenthe concepts of:

a. Ontology (What we believe exists).b. Epistemology (The proof we will accept to justify this belief).

c. Methodology ( How we go about collecting what we consider tobe valid proof).

d. Methods (The techniques we use to actually collect valid proof).

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Introduction to Research & Research Process

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