Introduction, Meaning, Types of Research, Importance of Research, Criteria for good research, Steps in Research process

1. MR.T.SOMASUNDARAM
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
KRISTU JAYANTI COLLEGE, BANGALORE.
Unit 1 – Introduction 1
Mr. T.Somasundaram

2. UNIT – I
INTRODUCTION
Meaning, Objectives, Criteria for a
Good Research, Types of Research,
Research Methods Vs Research
Methodology, Steps in Research
Process, Business Research – Nature
and Scope.
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3. WHAT IS RESEARCH?
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4. Meaning:
Research in simple terms “Re – Search” .
 Research refers to search for knowledge.
 Research is a scientific and systematic search for information on
a particular topic or issue”.
 Research is a systematized effort to gain new knowledge.
Definition:
“Research comprises defining and redefining problems,
formulating hypothesis or suggested solution; collecting,
organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and research
conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to
determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.”
- Clifford woody,
RESEARCH
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5. Objectives of Research:
The main objective of research are -
It is a tool for building knowledge and for facilitating learning.
It means to understand various issues and increase public
awareness.
It is an aid to business success.
It is a way to prove lies and to support truths.
It is a seed to do reading, writing, analysing, and sharing
valuable information.
To discover answers to questions through the application of
scientific procedures.
To find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been
discovered as yet.
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6. Objectives of Research:
To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new
insights into it (this is related to exploratory or formulative
research).
To describe accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or group (this is related to descriptive
research).
To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else (this is related to
diagnostic research).
To test a hypothesis of a casual relationships between variables
(this is related to hypothesis – testing research).
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7. Characteristics of a Research:
Some of the major characteristics of a Research are -
Originates with a question or problem.
Requires clear articulation of a goal.
Follows a specific plan or procedure.
Often divides main problem into sub problems.
Guided by specific problem, question, or hypothesis.
Accepts certain critical assumptions.
Requires collection and interpretation of data.
Cyclical (helical) in nature.
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8. Significance of a Research:
It inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it promotes
the development of logical habits of thinking and organization.
The role of research in several fields of applied economics,
whether related to business or to the economy as a whole, has
greatly increased in modern times.
Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in
our economic system.
 Research has its special significance in solving various
operational and planning problems of business and industry.
 Research is equally important for social scientists in studying
social relationships and in seeking answers to various social
problems. 8
Mr. T.Somasundaram

9. In addition to what has been stated above, the significance of research
can also be understood keeping in view the following points:
(a) to those students who are to write a Master’s or Ph.D. thesis,
research may mean a careerism or a way to attain a high position in
the social structure.
(b) to professionals in research methodology, research may mean a
source of livelihood.
(c) to philosophers and thinkers, research may mean the outlet for
new ideas and insights.
(d) to literary men and women, research may mean the development
of new styles and creative work.
(e) to analysts and intellectuals, research may mean the
generalizations of new theories.
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10. How to Conduct Research?
Importance of knowing how to conduct research:
i) it provides training to new researchers & enables to do
research properly.
ii) it inculcates the ability to evaluate and utilize the
research findings with confidence.
iii) it equips the researcher with the tools that help to
make observation.
iv) it helps the research consumers to evaluate research
and make rational decisions.
v) it develop disciplined thinking or a ‘bent of mind’ to
observe the field.

11. 11
BUSINESS RESEARCH
Definition:
Business research may be defined as the “systematic
and objective process of gathering, recording and analyzing
data for aid in making business decisions”.
- Zikmund
“It is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing
information (data) in order to increase our understanding of
the phenomenon about which we are concerned or interested.”
“It is systematicness and objectivity are its
distinguishing features of business research, which is
important tool for managers and decision-makers in corporate
and non-corporate organizations.”

13. NATURE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
Some of the nature of business research are –
1. Empirical - based on observations and experimentation on
theories.
2. Systematic - follows orderly and sequential procedure.
3. Controlled - all variables except those that are tested /
experimented upon are kept constant.
4. Employs hypothesis - guides the investigation process.
5. Analytical - there is critical analysis of all data used so that there
is no error in their interpretation.
6. Objective, unbiased, & logical - all findings are logically based
on empirical.
7. Employs quantitative or statistical methods - data are
transformed into numerical measures and are treated statistically.

14. a) Production management:
It performs an important function in product development,
diversification, introducing a new product, product
improvement, process technologies, choosing a site, new
investment etc.
b) Personnel management:
It works well for job redesign, organization restructuring,
development of motivational strategies and organizational
development.
c) Financial management:
It can be useful for portfolio management, distribution of
dividend, capital raising, hedging and looking after
fluctuations in foreign currency and product cycles.
SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

15. d) Marketing management:
 It performs an important part in choice and size of target market,
the consumer behaviour with regards to attitudes, life style, and
influences of the target market. it is the primary tool in
determining price policy, selection of channel of distribution and
development of sales strategies, product mix, promotional
strategies, etc.
e) Materials management:
 It is utilized in choosing the supplier, making the decisions
relevant to make or buy as well as in selecting negotiation
strategies.
f) General management:
 It contributes greatly in developing the standards, objectives,
long-term goals, and growth strategies.
SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

16.  It is one of the most effective ways to understand customers, the
market and competitors.
 It helps companies to understand the demand and supply of the
market.
 It help businesses reduce costs, and create solutions or products that
are targeted to the demand in the market and the correct audience.
 It enables the company to track its competitors and hence can give
you the upper hand to stay ahead of them.
 It will help understand the brand value and measure customer
satisfaction which is essential to continuously innovate and meet
customer demands.
 It help the company grow its revenue and market share.
 It helps recruit ideal candidates for various roles in the company by
conducting such research a company can carry out a swot analysis.
IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

17. Advantages of Business Research:
• It helps to identify opportunities and threats.
• It helps identify problems and using this information, wise
decisions can be made to tackle the issue appropriately.
• It helps to understand customers better and hence can be
useful to communicate better with the customers or
stakeholders.
• Risks and uncertainties can be minimized by
conducting business research in advance.
• Financial outcomes and investments that will be needed can
be planned effectively using business research.
• It help track competition in the business sector.
• It can enable a company to make wise decisions as to where
to spend and how much.

18. Advantages of Business Research:
• It can enable a company to stay up-to-date with the market
and its trends and appropriate innovations can be made to stay
ahead in the game.
• It helps to measure reputation.
Disadvantages of Business Research:
• It can be a high-cost affair.
• Most of the time, business research is based on assumptions.
• Business research can be time-consuming.
• Business research can sometimes give you inaccurate
information, because of a biased population or a small focus
group.
• Business research results can quickly become obsolete because
of the fast-changing markets.

19. Research is expected to satisfy the following criteria:
The aim of the research should be clearly mentioned, along
with the use of common concepts.
The procedures used in the research should be adequately
described, in order to permit another researcher to repeat the
research for further advancement, while maintaining the
continuity of what has already been done.
Research procedural design should be carefully planned to
obtain results that are as objective as possible.
Flaws in the procedural design should be sincerely reported
by the researcher to correctly estimate their effects upon the
findings.
CRITERIA FOR GOOD RESEARCH

20. Research is expected to satisfy the following criteria:
Data analysis should be adequate to reveal its
significance.
Methods used during the analysis should be appropriate.
Reliability and validity of the concerned data should be
checked carefully.
Conclusions are needed to be confined and limited to
only those data, which are justified and adequately
provided by the research.
Researcher is experienced and has a good reputation in
the field of research, greater confidence in research is
warranted.
CRITERIA FOR GOOD RESEARCH

21. In other words, we can state the qualities of a good research
as following:
1) Systematic - the research is structured with some
specified steps, which are to be followed in a specified
sequence, according to the well defined set of rules.
2) Logical - the research is guided by the rules of logical
reasoning, and that the logical process of induction and
deduction are essential while conducting a research.
3) Empirical - the research is basically related to one or
more aspects of a real situation, it deals with the concrete
data, which provides a base for the external validity of
research results.
4) Replicable - the research results should be allowed
verification by replicating their study, to thus build a sound
basis for decisions.

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Mr. T.Somasundaram

23. 1. Descriptive Research:
“It includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of
different kinds. it describe the state of affairs as it exists
at present.”
- It is also termed as “ex post facto research”.
- It has no control over variables.
(E.g.) Frequency of shopping, preferences of people,
effectiveness of training program, customer
behavior…….
2. Analytical research:
“The researcher has to use facts or information
already available and analyze these to make a critical
evaluation of the material.”
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24. 3. Applied (or Action) Research:
“Applied Research aims at finding a solution for an
immediate problem facing a society or an individual.”
- It refers to scientific study and research that seeks to solve
practical problems.
(E.g.) Marketing research, Evaluation research, Solutions to
everyday problems, cure illness……
4. Fundamental (or Basic or Pure) Research:
“Fundamental research is mainly concerned with
generalizations and with the formulation of a theory.”
- It is to find information that has a broad base and added to
already existing body of scientific knowledge.
(E.g.) Research on pure mathematics, natural phenomenon,
human behaviors.
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25. 5. Quantitative research:
“Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantity or amount. it is applicable
to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of
quantity.”
6. Qualitative research:
“Qualitative research is concerned with
qualitative phenomenon, (i.e.) phenomenon relating
to or involving quality.”
(E.g.) Investigating about human behavior, association
test, story completion tests, attitude or opinion
research……
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Mr. T.Somasundaram

26. 7. Conceptual research:
“Conceptual research is that related to some abstract
idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by philosophers and
thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing
ones.”
8. Empirical (or experimental) research:
“Empirical research relies on observation or experience
with hardly any regard for theory and system. it often comes
with conclusions that can be verified through experiments or
observation.”
- This is most appropriate when an attempt is made to prove that
certain variables influences the other variables in some way.
- This research is more powerful evidences for given hypothesis.
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27. Other Types of Research:
a) Longitudinal (or One time) Research Vs Cross-Sectional
Research – it is confined to a single time period or some
research carried on over several time periods.
- It involves study of sample at more than one point in time
or occasion. (e.g.) trend studies.
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28. b) Field-setting or Laboratory or Simulation research – it depends
on the environment in which it is to be carried out. (e.g.) field work,
laboratory testing.
c) Clinical or Diagnostic Research – it follows case study methods or
in-depth approaches to basic casual relations. (e.g.) Medical
treatment or clinical testing.
d) Exploratory Research – it is to develop the hypothesis rather than
their testing. this is conducted for a problem that has not been
clearly defined.
e) Historical Research – it utilizes historical sources like documents,
remains, etc. to study events or ideas of past.
f) Conclusion-Oriented Research – it is free to pick up a problem,
redesign and prepare to conceptualize.
g) Decision-Oriented Research – need of a decision maker and not
free to embark research according to own inclination. (e.g.)
operation research (adopting scientific method). 44

29. RESEARCH METHODS VS RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
* Research methodology has many dimensions and research methods do
constitute a part of the research methodology.
* The scope of research methodology is wider than that of research
methods.
RESEARCH METHODS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methods may be understood
as all those methods / techniques that
are used for conduction of research..
Research methodology is a way to
systematically solve the research problem. It
may be understood as a science of studying
how research is done scientifically.
It refer to the methods the researchers
use in performing research operations.
It involves various steps adopted by
researcher in studying the research problem
along with the logic behind them.
All methods used by researcher during
the course of studying research problem
are termed as research methods.
It need to understand the assumptions about
various techniques and they need to know
which is applicable to certain problems.
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30. RESEARCH PROCESS
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32. 1. Formulating the Research Problem:
It decide the general area of interest or aspect of subject matter
that like to enquiry.
The feasibility of particular solution to be considered before
formulation of problem.
It has two steps – i) understanding the problem thoroughly, ii)
rephrasing the same into meaningful terms from an analytical
point of view.
It discuss with the experts in order to understand the problem.
There are two types of literature – i) conceptual literature with
concepts and theories, ii) empirical literature with studies made
earlier with proposed one.
This should be clearly define in sequential pattern, specific and
with more analytical terms.
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33. 2. Extensive Literature Survey:
It should undertake extensive literature survey connected
with the problem.
From indexing journals, academic journals, conference
proceedings, reports, books, etc. are referred for this
purpose.
This helpful for preparing brief summary, writing a thesis.
3. Development of Working Hypothesis:
It is an tentative assumption made in order to draw and test
its logical or empirical effect.
The hypothesis should be specific and limited to research
and it has to be tested.
It is to guide the researcher by delimiting the area of
research and to keep in right track. 48

34. How to Develop a Hypothesis?
It discuss with the experts about the problem, objectives in seeking a
solution.
The examination of data and records and concern it based on possible
trends.
The review of similar studies in area or similar problem.
The Exploratory method to involve original field interviews in order to
know the practical aspects of problem.
4. Preparing the Research Design:
It state the conceptual structure within which research would be
conducted.
It is to provide for collection of relevant evidence with minimum
expenditure, effort, time and money.
It grouped into four categories, i) exploration – it considers different
aspects of problem if research study is that of exploration.
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35. ii) Description – it is to be accurate description of a situation or
association between variables.
iii) Diagnosis – it should minimum bias and maximum reliability
of data.
iv) Experimentation – it consists two design, a) experimental or
informal designs (before-and-after without control, after-only
with control, before-and-after with control), b) non-experimental
or formal designs (completely randomized design, randomized
block design, latin square design, simple and complex factorial
design).
it consider – means of obtaining information.
- availability and skills of researcher.
- explanation of the way based on information organized.
- time available for research, and
- constant factor relating to research. 50

36. 5. Determining Sample Design:
It should be consider some items from ‘universe’ or
‘population’for inquiry.
It is a definite plan determined before any data are actually
collected for obtaining a sample from given population.
Researcher must decide the way of selecting a sample.
Samples are either probability samples or non-probability
samples.
a) Probability sampling methods are simple random,
systematic sampling, stratified random, cluster/area
sampling.
b) Non-probability sampling are convenience, judgment,
quota and snowball sampling.
(note: all this techniques will be discussed in unit 3) 51

37. 6. Collecting the Data:
It is necessary to collect the data which is appropriate.
It consists of two data, i) primary data, ii) secondary data.
Primary data collection methods are observation, interview,
mailing, etc.
Secondary data collection methods are journals, published
articles, newspaper, company records, etc.
(Note: All the above techniques will be discussed in Unit 4)
7. Execution of the Project:
The project should be executed in a systematic manner and time.
Data should be readily machine processed, questions with
possible answers, survey as much as realistic.
Survey should be under statistical control with pre-defined
standard of accuracy. 52
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38. 8. Analysis of Data:
It requires no. of operations with categories, application of
categories to data through coding, tabulation and draw
statistical inferences.
a) Coding – data transforming into symbols that may be count
or tabulated.
b) Editing – improves the quality of data.
c) Tabulation – it is technical procedure where data out in
tables.
Data is validated based on relationships, hypothesis, test of
significance in order to indicate conclusions.
Researcher can analyze the collected data with help of
various statistical measures.
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39. 9. Hypothesis Testing:
The hypothesis may be tested through one or more test like chi-
square, t-test, f-test, etc.
The testing will result in either accepting or rejecting
hypothesis.
10. Generalizations and Interpretation:
If Hypothesis is tested several times, then it is possible for
Generalization (I.E.) To Build a Theory.
If No Hypothesis, then it Need Findings based on the some
theory, is called Interpretation.
11. Preparation of the Report or the Thesis:
Researcher has to prepare report of what has been done by him.
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40. The layout of research are –
i) Preliminary pages – it should carry title, date, acknowledgement
and foreword.
- table of contents, list of tables, graphs, charts.
ii) The Main (text) part of Report –
a) Introduction – clear statement of research objective,
methodology, scope of study and limitations.
b) Summary of Findings. c) Main Report.
d) Conclusion.
iii) End Matter – list of appendices, bibliography like list of
journals, books, reports, etc.
Research should be written in concise & simple language.
Charts and illustrations are clearly used based on information.
Various limitations should be mentioned. 55

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