Business Research Why and How

8/8/2019 Business Research Why and How

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Business Research: Why and

How?

Dr. Prabhat Pankaj

ProfessorIILM Graduate School of Business


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The Field of Management Research

Sub Fields

Discipline base

Psychology Sociology Anthropology Economics

Organisational

Behaviour

Human

ResourceManagementIndustrialRelations

Marketing

Strategy

Accounting

& Finance

Operational

Research


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Research Classifications

Exploratory/descriptive

Analytical/critical

Predictive/confirmatory

Action/applied


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T

he Status of Management Research

Both academic researchers and management

consultants are in professional services; they are

intellectuals, knowledge workers, or even gold-collar workers; they belong to knowledge-based

organizations, a subset of the service economy.

Gummeson, E. 1991, p.5.


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Hiring requirement for Business Research Role/Job Profile /Eligibility Criteria

Business Analyst Data collection through secondary and selective primary research, Prepare specified parts of

deliverables e.g. reports in word or PowerPoint or Excel spreadsheets, Perform specifiedanalyses under guidance from senior colleagues, Active participation in and contribution toteam discussion on problem solving, brainstorming, effective approaches to deal with project-specific issues, etc.

Engineers/ MBA with 0 to 2 yrs experience in consulting, research, banking, insurance /financial services companies (preferably MNCs).

Senior Business Analyst

Help clients make decisions, Perform complex analyses on collected data and/or completemodules within larger assignments, Prepare deliverables such as reports and clientpresentations or parts thereof, Also lead relatively simpler projects or modules of largerprojects, being responsible for team management and deliverable quality, under the guidanceof a Team Lead or Team Manager

Engineers/ MBA with 2 to 4 yrs experience in consulting, research, banking, insurance /

financial services companies (preferably MNCs).

Team Lead

Handle multiple teams of Business Analysts and Senior Business Analysts during the projectengagements, Coaching and mentoring, infrastructure management, knowledge management,PR activities etc.

Engineers/ MBA with 3-6 yrs experience in consulting, research, banking, insurance /financial services companies (preferably MNCs).


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Hiring requirements for Market Research

Role/Job Profile /Eligibility Criteria

Analyst

Conduct telephonic interviews with senior executives, consultants, analysts, engineers,doctors etc. across the globe

BPO experience of more than 3 months, freshers with excellent communication can alsoapply. Knowledge of languages such as French, German, Spanish, Italian would be an addedadvantage

Data Analysis and Proposals Data Analysis and Reporting This includes understanding datasets, defining analysis

frameworks, outlining analysis plans, running the actual analysis using SPSS, presentingresults in PowerPoint and writing summary reports

0-2 years experience in Data processing, Data Analysis, experience with SPSS and Quantumwould be preferred. MBA freshers can also apply

Project Managers

Independent management of 2-3 Market Research projects, Handling dedicated internationalclient relationships, Provide thought leadership on survey design, data analysis, projectscoping and defining the research methodology in the form of operational project plans andproposals

0-3 year of post-MBA experience in consulting, marketing and Market Research, projectmanagement


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Deduction and Induction

Deduction:

Theory observations/findings

Induction:

Observations/findings theory


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The Process of Deduction

Theory

Hypothesis

Data collection

Findings

Hypotheses confirmed or rejected

Revision of theory


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The Process of Induction

Compare theory

Develop theory

Look for patterns

Form Categories

Ask Questions

Gather information


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Fundamental Differences Between Quantitative

and Qualitative Research Strategies

Quantitative Qualitative

Principalorientation to therole of theory inrelation to research

Deductive Inductive

Epistemologicalorientation

Natural sciencemodel, inparticularpositivism

Interpretivism

Ontologicalorientation

Objectivism Constructionism


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Paradigms

A cluster of beliefs and dictates that influence:

What should be studied

How research should be done

How results should be interpreted

Feature

Social science consists of competing paradigms and is

itself pre-paradigmatic


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Values

Can reflect the beliefs or feelings of a researcher

Can produce bias at any or all points in the social researchprocess, e.g.:

choice of research area and methods

formulation of research question, research design anddata collection techniques

implementation of data collection

analysis and interpretation of data

Conclusions

Can produce affinity or sympathy, especially to underdoggroups

Can be antithetical to values of many managers


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Practical Considerations

May influence or determine choices on:

research strategy

design

method

resources & costs

May be influenced or determined by:

nature of the topic

people being investigated

political acceptability


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Research design

Research methods can be and are associated with different kinds of research

design.


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Research Designs and Methods A Research Design provides a framework for the

collection and analysis of data. Choice of researchdesign reflects decisions about priorities given to the

dimensions of the research process.

A Research Method is simply a procedure for

collecting data. Choice of research methodreflects decisions about the type of instruments

or techniques to be used.


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Criteria in Social Research

Reliability are measures consistent?

Replication/replicability is studyrepeatable?

Validity are conclusions well-founded?


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Types ofValidity

Measurement (or construct) validity do

measures reflect concepts?

Internal validity are causal relations betweenvariables real?

External validity can results be generalized

beyond the research setting? Ecological validity are findings applicable to

natural settings?


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Research Questions

guide your literature search

guide your decisions about the kind of research design toemploy

guide your decisions about what data to collect and fromwhom

guide your analysis of your data

guide your writing up of your data stop you from going off in unnecessary directions and

tangents

Research questions:


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Sources of Research Questions

Personal interest/experience

Theory

The research literature Puzzles

New developments in society

Social problems


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Constraints on Research Questions We cannot answer all the research questions that

occur to us

We therefore have to select from the possibleresearch questions that we arrive at

We should be guided by the principle that the

research questions we choose should be related toone another


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Types of Research Design

1. Experimental

2. Cross-sectional

3. Longitudinal

4. Case study

5. Comparative


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A Cross-sectional Design

T1

Obs1

Obs2

Obs3Obs4

Obs5

Obsn


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The Data Rectangle in Cross-sectional Research

O b s1O b s

2O b s

3O b s

4 O b s

n

C a s e1

C a s e2

C a s e 3

C a s e4

C a s e5

C a s en


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The Longitudinal Design

T1 tn

Obs1 obs1

Obs2

obs2

Obs3 obs3

Obs4 obs4

Obs5 obs5

Obsn

obsn


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Case study Design

Quantitative

Typical form:

Social survey research on a

single case with a view torevealing important

features about its nature.

Qualitative

Typical form:

The intensive study by

ethnography orqualitative interviewing ofa single case, which maybe an organization, or anindividual.


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Comparative Design

Quantitative

Typical form:

Social survey research inwhich there is a directcomparison between twoor more cases, as incross-cultural research.

Qualitative

Typical form:

Ethnographic or qualitativeinterview research on two

or more cases.


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Level of Analysis

Individual; e.g. manager or employee

Department or work group

Organization; e.g. structure or culture

Market or societal context in which organizations

are located


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Planning a research project and

formulating research questions

We have in mind here the kind of situation that is

increasingly common among business and management

degree programmes - the requirement to write a

dissertation of around 10,000 to 15,000 words.


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Advice on Conducting a Small-scale

Research Project

Get to know what isexpected of you by yourinstitution

Start thinking about yourresearch early on

Identify your researchquestions

Use your supervisor

Manage your time andresources

Search the existing

literature

Prepare for your research

Analyse your results

Write up your research


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A What, Why, and How Framework

for Crafting Research

What? Why?

What puzzles /intrigues me! What do I

want to know more about/understand

better? What are my key research

questions?

Why will this be of enough interest to

others to be published as a thesis,

book, paper, guide to practitioners or

policy makers? Can the research be

justified as a 'contribution to

knowledge'?

How conceptually? How practically?

What models, concepts and theories

can I draw on/develop to answer my

research questions! How can these bebrought together into a basic

conceptual framework to guide my

investigation?

What investigative styles and

techniques shall I use to apply my

conceptual framework (both to gathermaterial and analyse it)? How shall I

gain and maintain access to

information sources?


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The Nature of Quantitative Research

A significant part of the research process entails convincing others of the

significance and validity of one's findings.


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The Main Steps in Quantitative Research

1. Theory

2. Hypothesis (deductive stage)

3. Research design

4. Derive measures of concepts

5. Select research sites

6. Select research subjects/respondents

7. Administer research instruments/collect data

8. Process data

9. Analyse data

10. Findings/conclusions

11. Write up findings/conclusions

Feedback

(inductive

stage)


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Main Preoccupations of Quantitative Researchers

1. Measurement

2. Causality

3. Generalization

4. Replication


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Main Preoccupations of Quantitative Researchers

1. Measurement

2. Causality

3. Generalization

4. Replication


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Measurement

Concerns:

Operational definitions

Mapping of properties or characteristics

Following rules or procedures

Generalizability of findings

Establishing reliability & validity


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Causality

Concerns:

Explanation

why things are the way they are

Direction of causal influence

relationship between dependent & independent

variables

Confidence

in the researcher's causal inferences


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Generalization

Concerns:

Can findings be generalized beyond the

confines of the particular context?Can findings be generalized from sample to

population?

How representative are samples?


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Replication

Concerns:

Minimizing contamination from researcher biases

or values

Explicit description of procedures

Control of conditions of study

Ability to replicate in differing contexts


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Criticisms of Quantitative Research

Quantitative researchers fail to distinguish people andsocial institutions from `the world of nature'

The measurement process possesses an artificial and

spurious sense of precision and accuracy

The reliance on instruments and procedures hinders theconnection between research and everyday life

The analysis of relationships between variables creates a

static view of social life that is independent of people'slives


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Is It Always Like This?

Concerns:

gap between textbook accounts of

research practice and actual researchpractice

providing accounts of good practice

time, cost, and feasibility

Documents

Business Research Why and How