Date post: | 07-Apr-2018 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | shakeel-iqbal |
View: | 228 times |
Download: | 4 times |
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 1/44
Prepared for the
Ph. D Research Colloquium IIiBF
12 August 2009
By
Dr Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap
Department of Economics, KENMS
International Islamic University Malaysia
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 2/44
Research is all about addressing an issue or asking andanswering a question or solving a problem, so…
Identify an issue, question, or problem.
Talk with people who want or need your study.
Find out what's already known about it. Talk with experts and/or read their reviews and the original
research on the topic.
Plan, cost, and do your study accordingly.
Write it up and submit it for assessment.
Better still, do a good job on it and submit it for publication.▪ Undergrad projects are sometimes good enough to publish.▪ Your work will benefit more people if you publish it.▪ Rule No. 1 in academia is publish or perish.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 2
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 3/44
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 3
Source of New Idea
Prior Research
Need to know/
own experience
Curiosity
Statement of the
problem.
/Research
Question
The Heart &
Soul of it All
“The Blue Print”
How will you answer your RQ
Research Design
Population & Sample
Instrumentation
(or Source of Info
Data Collections
procedures
Data Analysis /
Reporting procedures
Findings, Conclusions,
recommendation & Implications
The “End Product” of your study
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 4/44
My understanding of the various kinds of research advanced when I identified variousdimensions (components) of research.
Meanwhile consider these dimensions:▪ topic: physical – biological – psychological – sociological ▪ novelty: create new vs review published data or info ▪ technology: develop new vs use existing methods ▪ scope: study a single case vs a sample ▪ mode: observe vs intervene ▪ methodology: qualitative vs quantitative (info vs numbers) ▪ ideology: objective vs subjective (positivist vs interpretivist) ▪ utility: pure vs applied▪ reassembling the dimensions
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 4
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 5/44
Examples Clinical: the effect of a herb on performance. Psychological: factors affecting work-place satisfaction. Behavioral: how can we reduce truancy at this school? Economic: characterize the productivity of new immigrants. Social: develop risk-management procedures at a gym.
Finding a good question/problem to address can behard. It helps to have a good supervisor, good colleagues, and/or
knowledge or practical experience of and affinity for atopic.
You must read journal articles to find out what's alreadyknown.▪ Authors also often point out topics for future research
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 5
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 6/44
Most research projects are so-called originalinvestigations.
You obtain new data or information about a phenomenon.
You reach a conclusion and try to publish it. Some research projects are reviews of the literature.
You use other researchers' published data or info about aphenomenon.
▪
A quantitative statistical review is called a meta-analysis. You should "earn your spurs" doing original research before
taking on a stand-alone review.
But a write-up of an original investigation always has toinclude a short review of literature
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 6
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 7/44
Sometimes a legitimate topic for study is methodological.
For example, development or novel investigation of …
a measuring device
a psychometric instrument (questionnaire or inventory) a protocol for a physical performance test
a diagnostic test
a method of analysis.
You usually include or focus on a reliability and/or validity
study of the measure provided by the method.
Validity = the relationship between observed and true values.
Reliability = reproducibility of observed values.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 7
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 8/44
Are you solving a single case of something, or is it asample that will allow you to generalize to a population?
In a case study… You are interested in "what happened or will happen here".
Your finding applies only locally: to the case you studied. The quest for an answer can be like that in a court case.
Qualitative methods are often required.
You reach an answer by applying logic (= common sense?) andskepticism to your knowledge and to the information you gather.▪ Be wary of conventional wisdom and your own prejudices.
It may be possible to estimate probabilities of benefit or truth of various answers.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 8
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 9/44
In a study of a sample… You are interested in "what happens in general".
Rarely, "what" is simply descriptive: the frequency, mean value or othersimple statistic of something in the sample.
Most often, the "what" is the value of an effect statistic: the relationshipbetween the thing of interest (a dependent variable, such as health, performance…) and something else (a predictor variable, such astraining, gender, diet…) in the sample.▪ Examples of effect statistics: difference or change in a mean value; ratio of
frequencies (relative risk); correlation coefficient.
You control for other possible predictor variables either by holdingthem constant or measuring and including them in the analysis.▪ Example: the effect of physical activity on health, controlling for the effect of age
on health.
▪ In controlled trials (interventions), a control group accounts for any effect of time that would have happened anyway.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 9
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 10/44
More about studying a sample…
You study a sample, because it is impractical and wasteful(and therefore unethical) to study a population.
“What happens in general" refers to the average person orsituation in a population represented by your sample.
"Population" is a defined group, not the entire human raceor all possible situations.
You make inferences about that population; that is, yougeneralize from the sample to a population.
▪ You can make inferences to other populations only if you can arguethat those populations are similar to your sample with respect to theeffect you have studied.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 10
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 11/44
Sample size is a big issue.
▪ The smaller the sample, the more the uncertainty.
▪ A stronger relationship needs less certainty.
▪ So a stronger relationship needs a smaller sample.
▪ Unfortunately most relationships are weak or trivial,
so you usually need large samples.
several ways to generalize from sample topopulation
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 11
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 12/44
In an observational study…
The aim is to gather data or information about the
world as it is.
So you hope the act of studying doesn't substantially
modify the thing you are interested in.
In an interventionist study…
You do something to the world and see what happens. You gather data or information almost always before
and after the intervention, then look for changes.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 12
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 13/44
refer to observational and interventionist studies withsamples.
The estimate of the magnitude of a relationship is lesslikely to be biased (that is, not the same as in a population) if… the sample is selected randomly from the population, and…
you have a high compliance (low proportion of dropouts). An observational study of a sample…
usually establishes only an association between variablesrather than a causal relationship;
needs hundreds or even thousands of subjects for accurateestimation of trivial or small effects.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 13
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 14/44
In an intervention with a sample…
You can establish causality: X really does affect Y.
You may need only scores of subjects for accurategeneralization about trivial or small effects.
The outcome is the effect of a treatment on the
average subject.
Researchers usually neglect the important question
of individual responses to the treatment.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 14
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 15/44
In interventions, bias is less likely if…
Subjects are randomly assigned to treatments.
Assignment is balanced in respect of anycharacteristics that might affect the outcome.
▪ In other words, you want treatment groups to be similar.
Subjects and researchers are blind to the identity of
the active and control (placebo) treatments.▪ Single blind = subjects don't know which is which.
▪ Double blind = the researchers administering thetreatments and doing the measurements and analysis don'tknow either
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 15
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 16/44
With quantitative methods… You gather data with an instrument, such as a
stopwatch, a blood test, a video analysis package, or a
structured questionnaire. You derive measures or variables from the data, then
investigate relationships among the variables.▪ Some people think you have to do it by testing hypotheses.
Error of measurement is an important issue.▪ Almost all measures have noise or other errors.▪ Errors affect the relationship between measures.
▪ You attend to errors via validity and reliability.
▪ A pilot study to investigate error can be valuable.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 16
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 17/44
With qualitative methods… You gather information or themes from texts, conversations
or loosely structured interviews, then tell a coherent story.▪ Software such as NVivo can help.
The open-ended nature of these methods allows for moreflexibility and serendipity in identifying factors and practicalstrategies than the formal structured quantitative approach.▪ The direction of the research may change mid-stream.
Formal procedures enhance trustworthiness of theinformation.▪ Triangulation – aim for congruence of info from various sources.
▪ Member checking or respondent validation – the subjects check theresearcher‟s analysis.
▪ Peer debriefing – colleagues or experts check the analysis
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 17
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 18/44
Others refer to this dimension as paradigmatic
or philosophical
Positivist or objective We make and share observations, identify problems
and solve them without disagreement about the
nature of meaning or reality.
This so-called dominant paradigm is responsiblefor our current understanding of life, the Universe,
and almost everything.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 18
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 19/44
Post-structuralist The researcher views people as subjects of discourses
(interrelated systems of unstable social meanings).
Although the subjectivity of research is emphasized, the
researchers attempt to achieve objectivity. Do they succeed? Many people find post-structuralist papers hard to understand.
Interpretivist Part of the truth of a situation can be found in the researcher's
interpretation of the self-understandings of participants.
Truth is discovered partly by thought as well as by observation. Grounded theory of social science is interpretivist: truth emerges from your observations; you do not test a hypothesis.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 19
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 20/44
Attempt to add or contribute to the “general bodyof knowledge in a particular area... attempts toimprove understanding of certain problems that
commonly occur in organizational settings”(Sekaran, pp.5-6). Attempts to solve a "currently existing problem
in the work setting... to solve specific problemsbeing experienced in an organization." (Sekaran,pp.5-6).
Pure is sometimes lab-based, lacking naturalness. Applied is sometimes field-based, lacking
control.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 20
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 21/44
There are different kinds of research methods:
empirical, theoretical and case method
These are not exclusive
Being clear about your approach(s) helps to frame what
you need to do
Depending on your subject you will need to specialize in
one form of research
All have advantages and disadvantages
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 21
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 22/44
Case Method: analysis of a real world problem of which he or she has experience or been able to observe.
Projects involving other forms of conventional
empirical or experimental research (surveys, statistics,questionnaires, fieldwork) Theoretical projects looking mainly at a conceptual
issue
As your first task, you should clarify the kind of research approach you are following and the researchquestion that you are aiming to explore/explain.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 22
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 23/44
Advantages: Systematic and 'Scientific' Demonstrates data collection skills Involves 'fieldwork' (variety and interest!) May have immediate application to work environmentDisadvantages: Time consuming Careful planning required Chances of measurement error (timing?) Have to read experimental data as well as theoretical
papers Fieldwork (expense?) Final preparation difficulties: tables, histograms, etc.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 23
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 24/44
Advantages: Data is 'just a search away' Tests analytic and research abilities
Uses theoretical training taught in university trainingDisadvantages: Lacks variety Lots of reading and searching for data Needs careful scholarly skills Technical/difficult Requires high degree of literacy/verbal analytic skills May lack immediate business application
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 24
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 25/44
Pure/Basic/Fundamental:
Attempt to add or contribute to the “general body of
knowledge in a particular area... attempts to improve
understanding of certain problems that commonly
occur in organizational settings” (Sekaran, pp.5-6).
Applied:
Attempts to solve a "currently existing problem in
the work setting... to solve specific problems being
experienced in an organization." (Sekaran, pp.5-6).
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 25
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 26/44
Qualitative („exploratory‟) research employs casestudy methods or action research to exploreparticular management problems (which may be
pure or applied/empirical or theoretical). It asks: “what are the relationships between
variables x and y?” E.g., How are conflicts between owners and
managers which are resolved in the board of directors of a big business resolved in a smallprofessional practice without a board of directors?
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 26
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 27/44
Quantitative
Deductive
Linear
Qualitative
Inductive
Spiraling
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 27
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 28/44
A construct is an abstract entity, it is not something physical.
For example, “employee satisfaction” or “customer
satisfaction” are constructs, as is “short term pressure on
interest rates”.
You must be clear how the constructs can be made operational (objectively testable).
You need to ask yourself questions such as these:
How do I decide what “customer satisfaction” means?
How can it be measured? What counts as an example of “customer satisfaction”? …
and so on.
Similarly, constructs like: “intelligence”, “company
performance”, and “interest”.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 28
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 29/44
An hypothesis is a statement that relates two or more
constructs.
For example: The greater the stress experienced in
the job, the lower the job satisfaction of employees. Here you need a clear operational definition of
“stress” and “job satisfaction”.
A good hypothesis is tested by the research that you
propose to do. Note that assumptions are not the same as
hypotheses.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 29
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 30/44
Assumptions are not tested in the research, but hypotheses are.
You carry out research by taking assumptions to be true but
you cannot do this with the hypothesis(es)
You might assume the truth of the proposition
that stress results in employee dissatisfaction and begin your research.
However, you cannot assume the truth of the hypothesis
that the greater the stress the lower the job satisfaction.
This is, in fact, what you will test.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 30
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 31/44
All research has flaws!
Selectivity
Indeterminacy
Subjectivity
Reductionism
Decontextualisation
Reification
Situatedness
Your aim is to identify these in other research andavoid them in your own!
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 31
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 32/44
Construct validity means selecting the most appropriatemeasurement tool for the concepts being studied.
Does your tool really measure what you want to assess?
Internal validity is another term for using differentmethodological tools to “triangulate” the data.
What other methods can you use to check for the same phenomenon?
External validity refers to how well the data can beapplied beyond the circumstances of the case to moregeneral situations.
Can you apply your data across the industry and to othersas well?
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 32
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 33/44
Reliability means the extent to which the results can
be repeated and to yield the same results.
It refers to the accuracy and stability of the results.
Are you confident that your study can be repeated
by others and the results will be the same?
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 33
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 34/44
Usually has 7 main stages
Observation
Data gathering Theory formulation
Hypothesizing
Further data gathering Data Analysis
Deduction from theory
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 34
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 35/44
Noticing that “things are not as they should be” in amanagement situation (noticing that customers areunhappy...)
Noticing a problem in the application of managementtheory etc........ Situation: Assume that a manager observes that
customers are not as happy as they used to be.
He talks to the customers and finds out that the shop isfrequently out of stock and see the salespeople as unhelpful.
Further discussion uncovers that the delivery dates are notkept though the salespeople inform the customers of thelater delivery dates.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 35
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 36/44
Talking to people in the work setting
(customers, salespeople...)
Identifying how the problem is tackled inother similar situations;
Beginning the process of formal interviews
etc.......
Conducting research on the issue. Finding the
“Gap” in Research (Literature Review)
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 36
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 37/44
Making associations/identifying the variables
which help to explain situation (anticipated
and actual delivery times, importance of itemsin stock for customers, other commitments of
service providers, JIT management
practices...)
Attempting to justify why these variables are
relevant....
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 37
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 38/44
Draw associations between variables; (stock, supply
and unhappiness...)
Making conjectures about how they may be
manipulated; (new provider, different deliveryarrangements....)
Using conjectures to arrive at an understanding of the
situation (if make new arrangement to stock items
twice weekly then there will be a reduction in
customer dissatisfaction...)
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 38
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 39/44
Making measurements (if empirical)
Collecting resources (if theoretical) BOTH (if
case study) Analyzing the circumstances hypothesized in
different, carefully monitored situations
(measure customer dissatisfaction under
situation S1, S2....)
Collecting this data
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 39
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 40/44
Statistical and/or qualitative analysis of results---
test/analyze significance.
Correlational analysis of relationship between stock
levels and customer dissatisfaction...)
Here validity and reliability are crucial
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 40
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 41/44
Interpreting conclusions of data analysis
(increasing stock is positively correlated to
increased levels of customer satisfaction...)
Making recommendations
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 41
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 42/44
Inductive research is the first stage in this process
(steps 1-3 inclusive): from observation to theoretical
understanding.
Deductive research is the second stage in thisprocess (steps 4- 7 inclusive): This involves arriving
a conclusion about data from one‟s theoretically
informed perspective/understanding.
The entire process is called the hypothetico-
deductive method.
4/21/2012 Turkhan Ali Abdul Manap 42
8/4/2019 What is Research and What Research Methods
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/what-is-research-and-what-research-methods 43/44
Wassalam