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BRM 2-Formulating and clarifying Research Topic Lecture 3.ppt
- 1. Slide 2.1 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying the research topic
- 2. Slide 2.2 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: • Identifying the attributes of a good research topic • Generating ideas that help you select a suitable topic • Turning ideas into clear research questions and objectives • Writing your research proposal
- 3. Slide 2.3 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.1 Introduction Formulating and clarifying the research topic is the starting point of research project (Ghauri and Grønhaug 2005; Smith and Dainty 1991). to choose the most appropriate research strategy and data collection and analysis techniques. is time consuming and will probably take you up blind alleys (Saunders and Lewis 1997) the formulating and clarifying process you will be generating and refining research ideas (Section 2.3). Once you have done this you will need to turn the idea into research questions and objectives (Section 2.4) the attributes required for a good research topic. to write the research proposal for your project (Section 2.5).
- 4. Slide 2.4 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.2 Attributes of a good research topic Capability: is it feasible? • Are you attentive by the topic? • Do you have the necessary research skills? • Can you complete the project in the time available? • Do you have sufficient financial and other resources? • Will you be able to gain access to data?
- 5. Slide 2.5 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.2 Attributes of a good research topic Appropriateness: is it worthwhile? • Will the examining institute's standards be met? • Are the research questions and objectives clearly stated? • Will the proposed research provide fresh insights into the topic? • Does the research topic match your career goals?
- 6. Slide 2.6 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.2 Attributes of a good research topic And - (if relevant) Does the topic relate clearly to an idea you were given - possibly by your organisation ?
- 7. Slide 2.7 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
- 8. Slide 2.8 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Attributes of a good research topic
- 9. Slide 2.9 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.3 Generating and refining research ideas
- 10. Slide 2.10 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Examining own strengths and interests • Having some academic knowledge • Look at those assignments for which you have received good grade. • You may, as part of your reading, be able to focus more precisely on the sort of ideas about which you wish to conduct your research • There is a need to think about your future Rational Thinking
- 11. Slide 2.11 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Looking at past project title • Dissertations; • Theses. • Scan different universities’ list of past project titles for anything that captures your imagination • Scanning actual research projects. Rational Thinking
- 12. Slide 2.12 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Searching the literature • As part of your discussions, relevant literature may also be suggested. These include: • Article in academic and professional journals; • Reports; • Books. Discussion • Colleagues, friends, university tutors, practitioner and professional groups Rational Thinking
- 13. Slide 2.13 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Scanning the media • Keeping up to date with items in the news can be a very rich source of ideas Keeping a notebook of ideas • One of the more creative techniques that we all use is to keep a notebook of ideas. All this involves is simply noting down any interesting research ideas as you think of them and, of equal importance, what sparked off your thought. You can then pursue the idea using more rational thinking technique later. Rational Thinking
- 14. Slide 2.14 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Exploring personal preferences using past project 1. Select some projects that you like 2. For each of these six projects, note down your first thoughts in response to three questions: What appeals to you about the project? What is good about the project? Why is the project good? Creativity Thinking
- 15. Slide 2.15 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Exploring personal preferences using past project 3. Select three projects you do not like. 4. For each of these three projects that you do not like. What do you dislike about the project? What is bad about the project? Why is the project bad? Creativity Thinking
- 16. Slide 2.16 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Brainstorming • Define your problem – that is, the sorts of ideas you are interested in – as precisely as possible. • Ask for suggestions, relating to the problem • Record all suggestions, observing the following rules: • No suggestion should be criticized or evaluated in any way before all ideas have been considered; All suggestions, however , wild, should be recorded and considered • As many suggestions as possible should be recorded. • Review all the suggestions and explore what is meant by each. • Analyze the list of suggestions and decide which appeal to you most as research ideas why.
- 17. Slide 2.17 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Refining research ideas • Using the Delphi Technique • Conducting a preliminary study • Continually testing out your ideas • Integrating ideas • Refining topics given to you by your organisation
- 18. Slide 2.18 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 The Delphi technique • This involves using a group of people who are either involved or interested in the research idea to generate and choose a more specific research idea. To use this technique you need: 1. To brief the members of the group about the research idea; 2. At the end of the briefing to encourage group members to seek clarification and more information as appropriate; 3. To ask each member of the group including the originator of the research ideas based on the idea that has been described (justification)
- 19. Slide 2.19 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 The Delphi technique 1. To collect the research ideas in unedited and non- attributable form and to distribute them to all members of the group; 2. A second cycle of the process (steps 2 to 4)in which comment on the research ideas and revise their own contributions in the light of what others have said; 3. Subsequence cycles of the process until a consensus is reached . These either follow a similar pattern (steps 2 to 4)in or use discussion. Voting or some other method.
- 20. Slide 2.20 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.4 Turning research ideas into research projects Write research questions that are • Consistent with expected standards • Able to produce clear conclusions • At the right level (not too difficult ) • Not too descriptive
- 21. Slide 2.21 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Turning ideas into research projects Examples of research ideas and their derived focus questions
- 22. Slide 2.22 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Turning ideas into research projects Useful techniques • Start with a general focus question • Discuss areas of interest with your tutor
- 23. Slide 2.23 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Turning ideas into research projects (3) Writing clear research objectives • Check your examining body’s preferences for stated objectives • Use a general focus question to achieve precise objectives Saunders et al. (2009)
- 24. Slide 2.24 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Turning ideas into research projects Include SMART Personal objectives Specific: What precisely do you hope to achieve from undertaking the research? Measurable: What measures will you use to determine whether you have achieved your objectives?(Secured a career-level first job in software design) Achievable: Are the targets you have set for yourself achievable given all the possible constraints? Realistic: Given all other demands upon your time, will you have the time and energy to complete the research on time? Timely: Will you have time to accomplish all your objectives?
- 25. Slide 2.25 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 2.5 Writing your research proposal Purposes of the research proposal • To organise your ideas • To convince your audience • To contact with your tutor • To meet ethical requirements
- 26. Slide 2.26 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Content of your research proposal • Title - likely to change during the process • Background - context within the literature • Research questions and objectives - what you seek to achieve • Method - can be in two parts: research design and data collection • Timescale and Resources - (finance, data access, equipment) • References - include some key literature sources
- 27. Slide 2.27 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
- 28. Slide 2.28 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
- 29. Slide 2.29 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Table 2.3 Phrasing research questions as research objectives 1. Why have organizations introduced online recruitment? 1. To identify organizations’ objectives for online recruitment approach. 2 How can the effectiveness of online recruitment method be measured? 2.To establish suitable effectiveness criteria for online recruitment method. 3 Has online recruitment method been effective? 3 To describe the extent to which the effectiveness criteria for online briefing have been met
- 30. Slide 2.30 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Develop one research question and related research objective for following research topics. •Online banking and branch performance •Inflation and share prices •Financial incentives and employee turnover •Crime and unemployment •Pegged Exchange rate •Impact of Digital Marketing on Sales
- 31. Slide 2.31 Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009 Questions and Answers Stay Blessed
Editor's Notes
- Formulating and clarifying the research topic is the starting point of your research project (Ghauri and Grønhaug 2005; Smith and Dainty 1991). Once you are clear about this, you will be able to choose the most appropriate research strategy and data collection and analysis techniques. The formulating and clarifying process is time consuming and will probably take you up blind alleys (Saunders and Lewis 1997). However, without spending time on this stage you are far less likely to achieve a successful project (Raimond 1993). In the initial stages of the formulating and clarifying process you will be generating and refining research ideas (Section 2.3). It may be that you have already been given a research idea, perhaps by an organisation or tutor. Even if this has happened you will still need to refine the idea into one that is feasible. Once you have done this you will need to turn the idea into research questions and objectives (Section 2.4) and to write the research proposal for your project (Section 2.5). However, before you start the formulating and clarifying process we believe that you need to understand what makes a good research topic. For this reason we begin this chapter with a discussion of
- In addition, your research topic must be something you are capable of undertaking and one that excites your imagination. Capability can be considered in a variety of ways. At the personal level you need to feel comfortable that you have, or can develop, the skills that will be required to research the topic. We hope that you will develop your research skills as part of undertaking your project. However, some skills, for example foreign languages, may be impossible to acquire in the time you have available. As well as having the necessary skills we believe that you also need to have a genuine interest in the topic. Most research projects are undertaken over at least a six-month period. A topic in which you are only vaguely interested at the start is likely to become a topic in which you have no interest and with which you will fail to produce your best work. Your ability to find the financial and time resources to undertake research on the topic will also affect your capability. Some topics are unlikely to be possible to complete in the time allowed by your course of study. This may be because they require you to measure the impact of an intervention over a long time period (Box 2.1). Similarly, topics that are likely to require you to travel widely or need expensive equipment should also be disregarded unless financial resources permit. Capability also means you must be reasonably certain of gaining access to any data you might need to collect. Gill and Johnson (2002) argue that this is usually relatively straightforward to assess. They point out that many people start with ideas where access to data will prove difficult. Certain, more sensitive topics, such as financial performance or decision making by senior managers, are potentially fascinating. However, they may present considerable access problems.
- Refining research ideas The Delphi technique An additional approach that our students have found particularly useful in refining their research ideas is the Delphi technique (Box 2.5). This involves using a group of people who are either involved or interested in the research idea to generate and choose a more specific research idea (Robson 2002). To use this technique you need: 1 to brief the members of the group about the research idea (they can make notes if they wish); 2 at the end of the briefing to encourage group members to seek clarification and more information as appropriate; 3 to ask each member of the group, including the originator of the research idea, to generate independently up to three specific research ideas based on the idea that has been described (they can also be asked to provide a justification for their specific ideas); 4 to collect the research ideas in an unedited and non-attributable form and to distribute them to all members of the group; 5 a second cycle of the process (steps 2 to 4) in which individuals comment on the research ideas and revise their own contributions in the light of what others have said;
- Research objectives require more rigorous thinking, which derives from the use of more formal language. Maylor and Blackmon (2005) recommend that personal objectives may be added to the list of research objectives. These may be concerned with your specific learning objectives from completion of the research (e.g. to learn how to use a particular statistical software package or improve your word processing ability) or more general personal objectives such as enhancing your career prospects through learning about a new field of your specialism. Maylor and Blackmon suggest that such personal objectives would be better were they to pass the well-known SMART test. That is that the objectives are: • Specific. What precisely do you hope to achieve from undertaking the research? • Measurable. What measures will you use to determine whether you have achieved your objectives? (e.g. secured a career-level first job in software design). • Achievable. Are the targets you have set for yourself achievable given all the possible constraints?