CHAPTER 3

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1. Discuss how problem areas can be identified.

2. State research problems clearly and precisely.

3. Explain how primary and secondary data help the researcher to develop a problem statement.

4. Develop relevant and comprehensive bibliographies for any research topic.

5. Write a literature review on any given topic.

6. Develop a research proposal.

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To be able to decide what research one wants to do one has to know what research has been done, what are the issues involved, who are the people working on the issues/ideas concerned, find the scope and the scale of the issues in question. One has to KNOW what has been and is being done NOW. This process involves exploration, groping around, meeting experts, reading up on the issues/ideas and some investigating.

Studies with this object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies

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What are the characteristics of the individual, the issue, the situation, the group one is studying? These characteristics could be of any kind. Who is thinking what and how, who is behaving in what manner and why, how different is a situation from another, what are the similarities and differences between two groups?

When studies are conducted with a view to accurately portray such characteristics they are called descriptive research studies.

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How often is something happening? What is the frequency? What is the rate at which an event, a phenomenon is occurring? How is one event related to another? How often is such a relationship established?

When studies are conducted with the object of determining the frequency of occurrence of an event or phenomenon it is called diagnostic research study.

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It always rains heavily when I wear my Jeans. Is there a causal relationship here? Can I conclude ‘If I wear Jeans, then it rains’. A relationship that can be defined as – ‘If this, then that’ is called a causal relationship. There is a cause and there is an effect and every time the cause happens, the effect happens too.

When studies are conducted to test the hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (I don’t always wear Jeans and it does not always rain) such studies are known as hypothesis-testing research studies.

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The major purpose of such research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present by collecting, correlating, comparing data.

Frequency of shopping, what people prefer to buy or sell, at what price are events that are happening all the time. We have no control over them. They vary from person to person, place to place.

Starting from what is, and trying to determine what is, involves research of a descriptive nature.

Which is why trends are important in this kind of research.

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Surveys are constantly conducted, trends are being identified but what do these really mean? The circulation figures of a newspaper, how many people bought railway tickets today, how many people visited a theatre today are figures that are easily available but what this means, can the information lead to some analysis of behaviour, patterns of economic, political, social activity?

When we start from existing data and then analyse it to make a critical evaluation that kind of research is analytical

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The central aim of applied research is to find a practical, applicable solution to a pressing practical problem.

Rain stopped Mumbai in its tracks over the past week. There must be some immediate solutions to it, solutions that can be put into operation immediately, solutions that can be applied immediately.

Research done by marketing firms, by the newspapers to assess reader responses, by advertisers, the kind done by DNA before its launch are all applied research.

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What can be measured is the rate of the heart beat, the pulse, the blood pressure, the chemical movements in the brain, breathing etc

Any research that involves quantities like blood pressure etc in the above case would be quantitative research.

Any research that would involve qualities as in the quality of behavioral change of human, it would be qualitative research.

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Axioms are ‘truths’ that do not require ‘proofs’ like 2+2=4. What’s to prove there? But just try proving this simple ‘truth’ and you will find that you cannot prove it directly. You can only prove that 2+2 is not equal to any other number but 4. This is an indirect method. Out of a given set of answers if none except one fits then that must be the correct answer. This is fine with mathematics because it helps us that 2+2=4. This axiom makes life easier. We can buy vegetables and fruits and other things as a result of such axioms. But when axioms begin to form in areas like politics, philosophy, sociology, history then we have problems and we begin to stare at conclusions like All Muslims Are Communal, All Hindus Are Tolerant, All Christians Are Christian etc.

When research is directed to the study and analysis of concepts, abstract ideas, notions and axioms it is conceptual.

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2+2=4 cannot be proven by mathematics. Why then do we accept it as truth? Because we ‘observe’ it happening all the time. Anywhere in the Universe when two and two are put together what emerges is four. This axiom has been ‘proved’ empirically.

The Sun stays where it is and the earth keeps going in circles but we say the Sun rises from the east. The Sun in reality simply seems to come up from a certain direction around the same time. We have named that direction east. How can one prove that the Sun indeed rises from the east without actually sitting down days on end and watching it? This is the empirical method of research where you actually look at phenomenon. At times the researcher tries to control the variables, deliberate manipulate the environment to conduct the experiment. Experiment is the mainstay of such research. It also necessitates a presumption, a hypothesis that the researcher has to formulate and then go about gathering facts to prove or disprove the hypothesis.

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Depending on time taken for research, issues involved,

methods adopted and goals set research can be further divided into sub

types.

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Depending on the time taken research can be one-time affair like a product launch or longitudinal where one keeps identifying and tracking trends and patterns.

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Field research is necessary when one has to get out there, talk to people, observe phenomena, record it.

There are situations though when either the field itself is too large or the researcher wants to have a control over the variable factors. In such situation an environment is simulated, created within the confines of a laboratory.

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Such research involves case studies, in depth studies to reach the basic causal relations, it goes deep into the causes of things or events using very small samples and very deep probing data gathering devices.

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The objective of exploratory research is the development of hypotheses rather than their testing, whereas formalised research studies are those with substantial structure and with specific hypotheses to be tested.

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In this kind of research historical material like documents, remains from archeological explorations etc are the object of study to draw conclusions on the past, including ideas, philosophies, the social context etc.

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A decision has to be reached quickly about something. In this situation the researcher is guided by the decision maker. The researcher picks the problem, redesigns the enquiry as he proceeds with the enquiry and conceptualises on the way. Operations research, which provides executive departments with a quantitative basis for decisions regarding operations under their control, falls in this category

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This involves generation of data that can be measured on a scale and be rigorously tested in a formal and rigid fashion.

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Quantitative approach can be further classified into:

a) Inferential approach – A data base is formed on the basis of which characteristics, relationships are inferred. ‘If this, then that’ where ‘this’ is the data collected and ‘that’ is the inference from the data.

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b) Experimental approach – There is greater control over the environment, the subject of study and some variables are manipulated to observe their effect on other variables.

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c) Simulation approach – This involves creating an artificial environment within which relevant information and data can be generated. Simulation means operation of a numerical model that represents the structure of a dynamic process.

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The subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions, behaviour involves qualitative research.

Research here is a function of the insights and impressions of the researcher.

The result of such research is in a form that cannot be measured on a scale and cannot be subjected to rigorous methods of formal, objective testing.

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Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking,

promotes the development of logical habits of thinking

and organisation.

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In the context of government, research as a tool of economic policy has

three distinct phases of operation i) Investigation of economic structure

through continual compilation of facts

ii) Diagnosis of events that are taking place and the analysis of the forces underlying them

iii) The prognosis – the prediction of future development

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Research methods are used in performing research operations. All methods used by the researcher during the course of studying a research problem are termed as research methods.

Research methods can be put into three groups 1. Methods that involved collection of data.2. Statistical techniques used for establishing

relationships between what is known through data collection and what is not known.

3. Methods used to evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained.

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Research is an inquiry into the nature of, the reasons for, and the consequences of any particular set of circumstances, whether these circumstances are experimentally

controlled or recorded just as they occur.

The researcher must be interested more than mere particular results; he must want to

investigate the repeatability of results and whether they can be extended to more

complicated and general situations.

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Exploratory ResearchDescriptive ResearchCausal Research(Unaware of Problem)(Aware of Problem)(Problem Clearly Defined)

“ Our sales are declining and “What kind of people are buying“Will buyers purchase more of we don’t know why.”our product? Who buys ourour products in a new package?

competitor’s product”?“ Would people be interested “Which of two advertising in our new product idea?”“What features do buyers prefercampaigns is more effective”?

in our product”?poss

ible

situ

atio

n

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Exploratory Research

Secondary data

Experience survey

Pilot studies

Initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature of a problem

Does not provide conclusive evidence Subsequent research expected

Describes characteristics of a population or phenomenon

Some understanding of the nature of the problem

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I keep six honest serving men, (they taught me all I knew), their names are

--Rudyard Kipling

what, and why, and when, and how,

and where and who”.

Men’s fragrance market 1/3 size of women’s fragrance market But growing at a faster pace Women buy 80 % of men’s fragrances

Conducted to identify cause and effect relationships

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The primary purpose of

research is to reduce the level

of risk of a business decision

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Exhibit 3-1Exhibit 3-1 The The

Business Business Research Research

ProcessProcess

Problemdiscovery

Problem definition(statement of

research objectives)

Secondary(historical)

data

Experiencesurvey

Pilotstudy

Casestudy

Selection ofexploratory research

technique

Selection ofbasic research

method

Experiment SurveyObservation Secondary

Data StudyLaboratory Field Interview Questionnaire

Selection ofexploratory research

techniqueSampling

Probability Nonprobability

Collection ofdata

(fieldwork)

Editing andcodingdata

Dataprocessing

Interpretationof

findings

Report

DataGathering

DataProcessing

andAnalysis

Conclusionsand Report

Research Design

Problem Discoveryand Definition

Cyclical process - conclusions generate new ideas

Stages can overlap chronologically Stages are functionally interrelated

◦ Forward linkages◦ Backward linkages

Albert Einstein

1. Areas that a manager believes needs to be improved in the organization.

2. A conceptual or theoretical issue that needs to be tightened up for the basic researcher to understand certain phenomena.

3. Some research questions that a basic researcher wants to answer empirically.

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Training programs are perhaps not as effective as anticipated.

The sales volume of a product is not picking up.

Inventory control is not effective Some members in organization are not

advancing in their careers. The introduction of flexible work hours

has created more problems than it has solved in many companies.

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Management-research question hierarchy

Begins with management dilemma

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The nature of data to be gathered could be classified under three headings:

1. Background information of the organization (the contextual factors).

2. Prevailing knowledge on the topic (relevant findings from previous research).

3. primary data.

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The background details of the company can be obtained from available published records, the web site of the company.

Company policies, procedures, and rules can be obtained from the organization’s records and documents.

Data gathered through such existing sources are called secondary data.

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Secondary data, are data that already exist and do not have to be collected by the researcher.

Some secondary sources of data are statistical bulletins, government publications, information published or unpublished and available from either within or outside the organization, library records, data available from previous research, online data, web sites, and the Internet.

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Other types of information such as the perceptions and attitudes of employees are best obtained by talking to them; by observing events, people, and objects; or by administering questionnaires to individuals.

Such data gathered for research from the actual site of occurrence of events are

called primary data.

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Textbooks Academic and professional journals Theses: phD theses and Master theses. Conference proceedings Unpublished manuscripts Reports Newspapers The internet

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3-55

Determine necessary evidence

Determine necessary evidence

Set scope of

study

Set scope of

study

Examine variablesExamine variables

Break questions

down

Break questions

down

Evaluate hypothesesEvaluate

hypotheses

Fine-TuningFine-Tuning

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Exhibit 3-7 Budget Types

◦ Rule-of-thumb◦ Departmental◦ Task

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MindWriter Project

Plan

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Option AnalysisOption Analysis

Decision TheoryDecision Theory

Prior or Interim Evaluation

Prior or Interim Evaluation

Ex Post Facto EvaluationEx Post Facto Evaluation

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Delivery

Legally-bindingcontract

Legally-bindingcontract

ObligationsObligations

Written proposals establish

Written proposals establish

Methods

TimingTiming

BudgetsBudgets

ExtentExtentPurposePurpose

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Designing the

Research Project

Designing the

Research Project

Research Design

Research Design

SamplingDesign

SamplingDesign

Pilot TestingPilot Testing

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Data Characteristics Abstractness Verifiability Elusiveness Closeness

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Reducing data to manageable size

Reducing data to manageable size

©2002 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Developing summariesDeveloping summaries

Looking for patternsLooking for patterns

Applying statistical techniquesApplying statistical techniques

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Research Report

Research Report

ExecutiveSummaryExecutiveSummary

ResearchOverviewResearchOverview

TechnicalAppendixTechnicalAppendix

ImplementationStrategies

ImplementationStrategies

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Problem’s backgroundProblem’s background

Summary of exploratory findingsSummary of exploratory findings

Research design and proceduresResearch design and procedures

ConclusionsConclusions

While Chrysler’s minivans, pickups, and sports utilities take a big share at the truck market, its cars trail behind those of General Motors, Ford, Honda, and Toyota. Quality problems include, among other things water leaks and defective parts

( Business Week, No.10, 2007).

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1. Identify the broad problem area. 2. Define the problem? 3. Explain how you would proceed further.

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1. The broad problem is that the Chrysler cars are lagging in market share.

2. The problem statement: How can the market share of Chrysler cars be improved?

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3. It is best to interview the users of GM, Ford, Honda, and Toyota car users and obtain from them their reaction – both positive and negative- to the cars they use, and why they prefer them.

Similar reactions from the users of Chrysler cars should also be gathered. One should proceed further based on the analysis of these responses.

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Do the project assigned below, following the step-by-step process outlined:

1.Compile a bibliography on any one of the following topics, or any other topic of interest to you:

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• service quality• product development• open-market operations• information systems• Customer Satisfaction

• Celebrities in adds• Babies in adds• Product and

geographical change factor on sales or product design.

2. From this bibliography, select 10 references that include books, periodicals, and newspaper items.

3. Based on these 10 articles, write a literature review using the citation forms

4. Formulate a problem statement.

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