Slide 5.

Lecture 2

Formulating The Research Design

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.2

The Process of Research Design

• Research strategies

• Research choices

• Time horizons

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.3

The Process of Research Design

• Your research question will subsequently
inform your choice of research strategy,
your choices of collection techniques and
analysis procedures, and the time horizon
over which you undertake your research
project.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.4

Research Design and Tactics

The research onion

Saunders et al, (2009)

Figure 5.1 The research ‘onion’
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.5

Research design
• Your research design will be the general
plan of how you will go about answering
your research question(s)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.6

Research Design
The research design needs

• Clear objectives derived from the research question

• To specify sources of data collection

• To consider constraints and ethical issues

• Valid reasons for your choice of design

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.7

Types of Research
Exploratory Research:

• undertaken with the aim of clarifying ambiguous(open to more than one

interpretation) problems
• general problems usually known but not sufficiently understood
• the purpose is to get more information, not to uncover specific courses of
action .Mostly started with “what” or “how” questions to explore an issue,
problem, or phenomenon.
• An exploratory study is particularly useful if you wish to clarify your
understanding of a problem and issue.
• Its great advantage is that it is flexible and adaptable to change.

Example: Child-Care support programme for employees

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.8

Types of Research
Descriptive Research:

• It is useful to gain and understand an accurate and clear profile of situations, events,
people etc. It enables the researcher to describe the phenomenon clearly.
• Previous knowledge of problem exists
• High degree of precision or accuracy required
• Because the social world is constantly changing, descriptive research is
continuously needed
– e. g., entrepreneurship in the Kingdom (e.g., female)

Examples:
Who are the main consumers of organic foods?
How many students read the prescribed course literature?
Where do most holiday-makers travelling overseas go?
When do petrol stations tend to raise their prices?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.9

Types of Research

Causal Research:

• undertaken with the aim of identifying cause and effect relationships

amongst variables
• are normally preceeded by exploratory and descriptive research
studies
• Often difficult to determine because of the influence of other variables
(concommitant Variation and the presence of other hidden variables)

Example: Higher ice-cream consumption causes more

people to drown (indicative of a causal relationship (?))

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.10

Classification of the research purpose

Explanatory studies:
•Explaining the ‘how’ and ‘why’ and investigate causal
relationships between phenomena. The emphasis of
explanatory researches is to explain the relationships
between variables. Behavioral intention

– Hypothesis
Attitude towards using Actual behavior
– Mediator Mediation

– Moderator Setting difficult goals Performance

•Involves: why and how?

Task ability
•Causality: A is caused by B Moderation

•Prediction: A change in A will result in a change in B

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.11

Explanatory
• There are three principal ways of
conducting explanatory research:
• A search of the literature;
• Interviewing ‘experts’ in the subject;
• Conducting focus group interviews.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.12

Classification of the research purpose

Evaluative:

•We conduct evaluation studies to see how well something

work?
•It refers to evaluation and assessment of policies,
strategies, programs and practices. Therefore, evaluative
studies generate report for government, or companies.
•Evaluative studies try to answer “To what extent”, “How
well”, or “Why” questions.
•Evaluative researches answering “Why” can contribute to
theories

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.13

Classification of the research purpose

Comparison
•Comparative research involves comparing research study
units across time and space as well as between the study
units themselves.

Prediction
•Predictive research aims to provide information concerning
future events. Predict some trends in the future.

Combined research
•Involving more than one purpose in research.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.14

Research Strategies

Experiment Action research

Grounded theory Survey

Ethnography Case study

Archival research

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.15

Experiment: measuring the effects of manipulating one variable

on another variable.

Survey: collection of information in standardized form groups

of people

Case study: development of detailed, intensive knowledge

about a single ‘case’, or of a small number of related ‘cases’.

Grounded theory: Collection of data starts without the

formation of an initial theoretical framework. Theory is created
from data made by a series of observations.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.16

Research Strategies

An experiment will involve

• Definition of a theoretical hypothesis

• Selection of samples from know populations
• Random allocation of samples
• Introduction of planned intervention
• Measurement on a small number of dependent
variables
• Control of all other variables
• Types of variables ( pp:179)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.17

Types of Variables

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.18

Hypothesis
• The null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis (often
referred to as the hypothesis).
• The null hypothesis predicts that there will not be a
significant difference or relationship between the variables.
An example of a null hypothesis might be that:
• customer services training of IT telephone support staff will not lead to
a significant improvement in users’ satisfaction feedback.
• The alternative hypothesis predicts that there may be a significant
difference or relationship between the variables.
An example of a (directional) alternative hypothesis might be that: “
customer services training of IT telephone support staff will lead to a
significant improvement in users’ satisfaction feedback”.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.19

Research Strategies
Survey: key features

• Popular in business research

• Perceived as authoritative
• Allows collection of quantitative data
• Data can be analysed quantitatively
• Samples need to be representative
• Gives the researcher independence
• Structured observation and interviews can be used

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.20

Research Strategies
Case Study: key features
• “Researcher explores in depth a program, an event,
an activity, a process, or one or more individuals”
(Creswell, 2003, p. 15).
• Provides a rich understanding of a real life context
• Uses and triangulates multiple sources of data

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.21

Research Strategies
Action research: key features

• Research IN action - not ON action (research in action

rather than research about action)
• Involves practitioners in the research
• focuses on ‘addressing worthwhile practical purpose
• The researcher becomes part of the organisation
• Promotes change within the organisation
• Can have two distinct focii (Schein, 1999) –
the aim of the research and the needs of the sponsor

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.22

Research Strategies
The action research spiral

Saunders et al, (2009)

Figure 5.3 The action research spiral

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.23

Research Strategies
Ethnography: key features
• “Ethnographies, in which the researcher studies
an intact cultural group in a natural setting over a
prolonged period of time by collecting, primarily,
observational data” (Creswell, 2003, p.14).
• Aims to describe and explain the social world
(people, culture, society) inhabited by the
researcher
• Takes place over an extended time period
• Involves extended participant observation

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.24

Research Strategies
Archival research: key features

• To address the research question, the content of

documents, reports, documentaries, videos, photos,
websites, …. (Example, Hanet al., 2015)

• Uses administrative records and documents as the

principal sources of data

• Allows research questions focused on the past

• Is constrained by the nature of the records and

documents

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.25

Archival research
• Categories of textual documents include:
• Communications between individuals or within groups such as
email, letters, social media and blog postings;
• Individual records such as diaries, electronic calendars and notes;
• Organizational sources such as administrative records, agendas
and minutes of meetings, agreements, contracts, memos, personnel
records, plans, policy statements, press releases, reports and
strategy documents;
• Government sources such as publications, reports and national
statistics;
• Media sources including printed and online articles and other data.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.26

Multiple research methods

Research choices
• Research methods refers to the method of data collection and
analysis and can be:
– Quantitative
– Qualitative
– Mixed and Multi-methods

Saunders et al, (2009)

Figure 5.4 Research choices
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.27

Quantitative and Qualitative

• The terms quantitative and qualitative are used widely in
business and management research to differentiate both
data collection techniques and data analysis procedures.
One way of distinguishing between the two is the focus
on numeric (numbers) or non-numeric(words) data.
Quantitative is predominantly used as a synonym for any
data collection technique (such as questionnaire) or data
analysis procedure (such as graphs or statistics) that
generates or uses numerical data.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.28

Quantitative and Qualitative

• Qualitative is used predominantly as a synonym
for any data collection technique (such as an
interview) or data analysis procedure (such as
categorizing data) that generates or use non-
numerical data. Qualitative therefore can refer to
data other than words, such as pictures and video
clips.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.29

Research multiple methods

• In choosing your research methods you will
therefore either use a single data collection
technique and corresponding analysis
procedures (mono method) or use more than
one data collection technique and analysis
procedures to answer your research question
(multiple methods).

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.30

Multiple research methods

• A quantitative research design may use a single data
collection technique, such as a :
questionnaire, and corresponding quantitative
analytical procedure. This is known as a mono
method quantitative study.
• A quantitative research design may also use more
than one quantitative data collection technique and
corresponding analytical procedure. This is known
as a multi-method quantitative study.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.31

Multiple research methods

• Multi-method is the branch of multiple methods research
that uses more than one quantitative or qualitative method
but does not mix the two .
• Use of multiple methods has been advocated within
business and management research (Bryman 2006)
because it is likely to overcome weaknesses associated
with using only a single or mono method, as well as
providing scope for a richer approach to data collection,
analysis and interpretation.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.32

Reasons for using mixed design

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.33

Time Horizons

Select the appropriate time horizon

• Cross-sectional studies

• Longitudinal studies

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.34

Time Horizons

Cross-sectional studies
• The data is collected just once (at a particular
time) to enable the researcher to answer the
research questions
• Can be collected over a period of a few days,
weeks or months
• Most frequently used in exploratory and
descriptive research

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.35

Time Horizons
Longitudinal studies
• A type of study in which the data is collected at two
or more points in time
• To investigate changes in people’s behaviour or the
effect of introducing some changes in an organization
• To measure the before and after effect (cause and
effect relationships) of certain phenomena
(resembles causal study)
• Needs longer time and more effort to complete,
hence could be more costly

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.36

Summary: Chapter 5
Research design turns a research question and
objectives into a project that considers

Strategies Choices Time horizons

Research projects can be categorised as

Exploratory Descriptive Explanatory

Research projects may be

Cross-sectional Longitudinal
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.37

Summary: Chapter 5
Important considerations

• The main research strategies may combined in

the same project

• The opportunities provided by using multiple

methods

• The validity and reliability of results

• Access and ethical considerations

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009