Business Research Methods

Unit-I
Research is a

journey

towards

unknown.
“I keep six honest serving men, (they taught
me all I knew), their names are
what, and why, and when, and how,
and where and who.”
--Rudyard Kipling

3
"The secret of success is to know something
nobody else knows. "
Aristotle Onassis
 Research
• French word: recherché – “to go about seeking”

• Research: systematic inquiry in the form of investigation or

experimentation to gain new knowledge in an objective
manner

• Business Research: systematic inquiry which is done to get

information required for managerial decision making

• An organized, systematic, data-based, critical, objective,

inquiry or investigation into a specific problem, undertaken
with the purpose of finding answers or solutions to it

• Research must seek to find out “what is” and not “what should
be”
Business Research Defined

Business research is defined as the

systematic and objective process of
generating information for aid in
making business decisions
 Research : An Aid in Complex Decision
Making

Good decision making fetches a “yes” to

following questions:
– Identify exact problem
– Correctly identify relevant factors in the
situation
– Correct investigation of factors
– What information is required
– Draw appropriate conclusions
 Business Research
• Research information is neither intuitive nor
haphazardly gathered.
• Literally, research (re-search) -“search
again”
• Business research must be objective
• Detached and impersonal rather than
biased
• It facilitates the managerial decision
process.
 Seven Commandments of a of good
research
•Systematic
•Scientific in nature
•Addresses directly or indirectly some real
problem
•To the extent possible, conducted in controlled
environment
•Valid and verifiable
•Potential to suggest directions for future research
•Ethical issues
Research Process
 Case let
Haldiram’s Foods International Pvt Ltd (Nagpur) is entering
the premium chocolate market, competing with the likes of
ITC and Mondelez, as it builds a wider portfolio of
packaged foods beyond sweets and savouries.
The company intends to hire a few Summer Intern to carry
out a study to understand the buyer’s attitude, perception
and preferences about it. What research methodology would
you like to suggest to these interns?
Research Problem Identification
Some Important Steps in Research Problem
Identification and Formulation

• Identify broad areas

• Dissect into sub areas
• Select the most Interested area
• Raise the research questions
• Formulate objectives
• Reassess the achievement of stated
objectives
• Finalization of the research problem
CHECKLIST FOR TESTING THE FEASIBILITY OF THE
RESEARCH PROBLEM

YES NO

1 Is the problem of current interest? Will the research results have social, educational or scientific value?

2 Will it be possible to apply the results in practice?

3 Does the research contribute to the existing field of knowledge?

4 Will the research opt new problems and lead to further research?

5 Is the research problem important? Will you be proud of the result?

6 Is there enough scope left within the area of research (field of research)?

Can you find an answer to the problem through research? Will you be able to handle the research
7
problem?

8 Will it be pratically possible to undertake the research?

9 Will it be possible for another researcher to repeat the research?

10 Is the research free of any ethical problems and limitations?

11 Will it have any value?

12 Do you have the necessary knowledge and skills to do the research? Are you qualified to undertake the research?

13 Is the problem important to you and are you motivated to undertake the research?

14 Is the research viable in your situation? Do you have enough time and energy to complete the project?

15 Do you have the necessary funds for the research?

16 Will you be able to complete the project within the time available?

17 Do you have access to the administrative, statistic and computer facilities the research necessitates?

TOTAL:
Defining a Research Problem
Research problem is a statement about
an area of concern, a condition to be
improved, a difficulty to be eliminated,
or a troubleshooting question that exist
in a scholarly literature, in a theory or in
practice that points to the need for
meaningful understanding and
deliberate investigation
Let us suppose that a research problem in a
broad general way is as follows

Why is productivity in China so much higher

than in India?

Is it an appropriate research problem?

Is there any ambiguities that you observe in this
research problem?
What problems we may encounter in the course
of working on this problem?
Is this research problem statement correct?

What are the effects of social

media on public?
Is this research problem statement correct?

Who has a better healthcare system?

The US or the India?
Is this research problem statement correct?

What will help political parties

address the issues of low voter
turnout?
 Management Decision Problem Vs. Marketing Research Problem

Management Decision Problem Research Problem

Should a new product be --------

introduced?

Should the advertising --------

campaign be changed?

Should the price of the ---------

brand be increased?
The Problem Definition Process
Tasks Involved

Discussion Interviews Secondary Qualitative

with with Data Research
Decision Maker(s) Experts Analysis

Environmental Context of the Problem

Step I: Problem Definition

Management Decision Problem

Research Problem

Step II: Approach to the Problem

Analytical Specification
Objective/ Research of
Theoretical Model: Verbal, Hypotheses
Questions
Foundations Graphical, Information
Mathematical Needed

Step III: Research Design

 Classification of
Research/ Different
Types of Research
 Classification of Research
• According to Purpose
- Pure Research
- Applied Research
• According to Depth of Scope
- Exploratory
- Descriptive
- Explanatory
- Correlational
• According to Nature of Data Used
- Qualitative Research
- Quantitative Research
• According to Degree of Manipulation of Variable
- Experimental Research
- Non experimental Research
- Quasi-experimental Research
• According to Inference
-Deductive Reasoning
-Inductive Reasoning
• According to Time
-Cross Sectional
-Longitudinal
• According to Nature of Data
- Primary data based research
- Secondary data based research
Fundamental Difference
 Applied Research
Conducted when a current problem faced by the
manager is to be resolved
Decision must be made about a specific real-life problem
It may help in finding out the reasons why a particular
event took place; why a business failed; what should be
the strategy to solve a given problem
It may be the application of the existing theories and
models to solve some of the real life problems.
It may be done to provide empirical support to the
existing theories
 Applied Research Examples
• Customer Attitude and Perception towards
Digital Rupay ?

• A Study on Student’s Adoption of

Educational Technologies Based Learning
Platform
 Basic Research
• Generate a body of knowledge by trying to know how
certain problems that occur in organizations can be
solved
• Such a research either leads to a new theory or
confirmation of the existing theory or to learn more about
a concept or phenomenon
• attempts to expand the frontier of knowledge
• Basic research is usually not action - oriented.
• It is done mainly at the universities, R&D Institutions
• Organizations may apply findings of basic research to
their specific current problem
 Basic Research Example

What may be the examples of basic/pure

research?
 Examples of Basic Research
Opportunities for researchers
– how to improve the effectiveness of information
systems
– assess the impact of logos
– increase the productivity of employees in service
industries
– monitor sexual harassment incidents at the workplace
– increase the effectiveness of small businesses
– evaluate alternative inventory valuation methods
– change the institutional structure of the financial and
capital markets
These findings later become useful for application in
business situations
 What is this type of research?

A Study on Growth Prospect of Delhi

Technological University

You are entrusted with the responsibility to carry

out such studies. How would you do it?
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH

An exploratory design is conducted about a research problem

when there are few or no earlier studies to refer to.
The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later
investigation or undertaken when problem are in a preliminary
stage of investigation.
Gathers preliminary information that will help to define a
and suggest a hypothesis.
problem
It commonly use unstructured
Itinterview.
involves generation of new ideas and assumption, development
of tentative theories or hypothesis but conclusions cannot be
drawn even though it provide direction for future research and
techniques
Example of Descriptive Research

• Customer Service Quality Perception

towards State Bank of India

How would you conduct and design your

research for such problems?
 Key Decisions to be made

Respondents: Types of customer

Sample: Demography/ Socio-cultural/ Economic/
Geographical

Research Instrument/ Information

Geographical extent
Data Collection
Analysis Techniques
 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

It includes fact-finding enquiries of different kinds such as what, why,

when, who, how and all.
The main aim of this research is description of the characteristics of a
phenomena at present.
This research has no control over the variable only have to report what is
happening or what has happened
For description researchers use frequencies, averages and other statistical
calculations.
The methods used by this researchers involves survey method of all kind
including comparative and correlational method
Example:
 How would you conduct this research
study?
Hiralal & Sons
The company is a multi chain retail store operating in 20
major cities across India with 100 stores. Recently, the
company is planning to introduce expensive store display on
the advise of merchandise manager who is advocating that it
would have significant impact on sales. However, the
management is worried about the suggestion and want to
see the impact of such designer display in a few selected
stores before making required investment on this account.
You are hired as a consultant for this research project. How
would you conduct this research?
 Key Decisions
• How would you select the store?
• What would be dependent variables that
will effect store performance?
• How would you control the extraneous
variables?
• How would you measure the difference?
Salient Features
 QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH

It is handled with qualitative phenomena that involves quality or

kind.
The research designed to find out how people feel or
people often think are coming under this research.
what
It is important in behavioral sciences.
Its aim is to discover the underlying motives of human
through detailed description.
behavior
The data is in the form of words, pictures or objects and
all
Case let: How would you conduct qualitative
study for this research problem?

Study on Survivors of Corona Virus especially to

understand its impact on social, economic,
psychological and health perspective for formulation
of suitable strategic framework to help people
recover from this problem.
 Case let: How would you conduct this research?

One of the largest social media platforms wants to re-design its popular app and
better understand how people use the app (as it is currently designed), as well as
see how they respond to new design ideas. However, quantitative research that the
social media firm has done, isn't robust enough to answer these questions: They
need qualitative research with biometrics to see how people respond to the
designs.
How would you conduct such research studies?
 How it was done?
Researcher designed a study involving one-on-one in-person interviews,
with biometrics. Participants were hooked up to biometrics equipment that
tracked their eyes, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), and facial expressions.
They were asked to go through the app design, as the moderator gave
them prompts, observed them, and asked them to complete specific tasks.
They went through a series of app designs, including the new options. As
they were using the app, their biometric data was collected, giving
researcher a robust view into both qualitative and quantitative factors.
RESULT
The study yielded surprising and insightful results for the social media
company. They learned that people were frustrated by some of the design
layouts (as evidenced by biometric markers), which came as a surprise,
because previous quantiative data only showed that people spent more
time on these pages, without giving the design team the insights that it was
because people were confused, rather than enjoying the experience. The
research contributed to the new design rollout for the app.
 QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH

This research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount.

It can only be expressed in terms of quantity.
Researcher use tools such as questionnaire or equipment to
collect data and all aspect of the study are carefully designated
before data is collected.
Here data is in the form of numbers or statistics and this data is
more efficient and able to test
Salient Features of Qualitative vs Quantitative
Research
 Experimental Research
It is about designing or replicating a phenomenon
whose variables are manipulated under strictly
controlled conditions in order to identify or discover its
effect on another independent variable or object. The
phenomenon to be studied is measured through study
and control groups, and according to the guidelines of
the scientific method.
For example, randomized controlled trial studies for
measuring the effectiveness of new pharmaceutical
drugs on human subjects.
 Non Experimental Research
Also known as an observational study, it focuses on the
analysis of a phenomenon in its natural context. As
such, the researcher does not intervene directly, but
limits their involvement to measuring the variables
required for the study. Due to its observational nature, it
is often used in descriptive research.
For example, a study on the effects of the monetary
policy on interest rates and housing sector.
Quasi-Experimental Research
It controls only some variables of the phenomenon
under investigation and is therefore not entirely
experimental. In this case, the study and the focus
group cannot be randomly selected, but are chosen
from existing groups or populations. This is to ensure
the collected data is relevant and that the knowledge,
perspectives and opinions of the population can be
incorporated into the study.
For example, assessing the effectiveness of an
intervention measure in reducing the spread of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Deductive vs Inductive
Reasoning
The main difference between inductive and
deductive reasoning is that inductive reasoning
aims at developing a theory while deductive
reasoning aims at testing an existing theory.

Inductive reasoning moves from specific

observations to broad generalizations, and
deductive reasoning the other way around.
Both approaches are used in various types of
research, and it’s not uncommon to combine
them in one large study.
 Inductive research approach
When there is little to no existing literature on a topic, it is common to perform
inductive research because there is no theory to test. The inductive approach consists
of three stages:
1.Observation
1. A low-cost airline flight is delayed
2. Dogs A and B have fleas
3. Elephants depend on water to exist
2.Observe a pattern
1. Another 20 flights from low-cost airlines are delayed
2. All observed dogs have fleas
3. All observed animals depend on water to exist
3.Develop a theory
1. Low cost airlines always have delays
2. All dogs have fleas
3. All biological life depends on water to exist
Limitations of an inductive approach
A conclusion drawn on the basis of an inductive method can never be always proven,
but it can be invalidated.
Example
You observe 1000 flights from low-cost airlines. All of them experience a delay, which
is in line with your theory. However, you can never prove that flight 1001 will also be
delayed. Still, the larger your dataset, the more reliable the conclusion.
 Deductive research approach
When conducting deductive research, you always start with a theory (the result of inductive
research). Reasoning deductively means testing these theories. If there is no theory yet, you
cannot conduct deductive research.
The deductive research approach consists of four stages:
1.Start with an existing theory
1. Low cost airlines always have delays
2. All dogs have fleas
3. All biological life depends on water to exist
2.Formulate a hypothesis based on existing theory
1. If passengers fly with a low cost airline, then they will always experience delays
2. All pet dogs in my apartment building have fleas
3. All land mammals depend on water to exist
3.Collect data to test the hypothesis
1. Collect flight data of low-cost airlines
2. Test all dogs in the building for fleas
3. Study all land mammal species to see if they depend on water
4.Analyse the results: does the data reject or support the hypothesis?
1. 5 out of 100 flights of low-cost airlines are not delayed = reject hypothesis
2. 10 out of 20 dogs didn’t have fleas = reject hypothesis
3. All land mammal species depend on water = support hypothesis
Limitations of a deductive approach
The conclusions of deductive reasoning can only be true if all the premises set in the inductive
study are true and the terms are clear.
Example
•All dogs have fleas (premise)
•Benno is a dog (premise)
•Benno has fleas (conclusion)
Based on the premises we have, the conclusion must be true. However, if the first premise turns
out to be false, the conclusion that Benno has fleas cannot be relied upon.