1. Business research involves systematically defining problems, formulating hypotheses, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings. There are different types of research including descriptive, analytical, applied, fundamental, quantitative, qualitative, and conceptual research. 2. The research process involves formulating the problem, reviewing literature, formulating hypotheses, designing the research, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting findings, and reporting results. Research questions guide the study and hypotheses are tentative answers tested through the research. 3. Theory plays an important role in research by providing conceptual frameworks, analytical models, and guiding the development of research questions and hypotheses tested in the study.

1. BUSINESS RESEARCH
METHODS
200BA206

2. UNIT-1 INTRODUCTION
Business Research – Definition and Significance – the
research process – Types of Research – Exploratory and
causal Research – Theoretical and empirical Research – Cross
–Sectional and time – series Research – Research questions /
Problems – Research objectives – Research hypotheses –
characteristics – Research in an evolutionary perspective –
the role of theory in research.

3. RESEARCH
• Research is common phrase refers to a search of knowledge
• Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or
the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as
to generate new concepts and methods.

4. DEFINITIONS
“Redman and mory” define research as a systematized effort to gain
new knowledge
“According t Clifford woody”, research comprises defining and
redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions
collecting, organizing and evaluating data, making deductions and
reaching conclusions; to determine whether they fit the formulating
hypothesis

5. OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
• To gain familiarity with a event or to achieve new things.
• To describe accurately the characteristics of a particular
situation.
• To determine the frequency with which something occurs.
• To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables.

6. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH
• Research expands your knowledge base
• Research gives you the latest information
• Research builds your credibility
• Research teaches you better discernment
• Research introduce you to new ideas
• Research helps with problem-solving

7. TYPES OF RESEARCH
• Descriptive research
• Analytical research
• Applied research
• Fundamental research
• Quantitative research
• Qualitative research
• Conceptual research

8. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
• Descriptive research is a type of research describe a population,
situation or phenomenon
• This is mainly because it is important to have a proper
understanding of what a research problem is about before
investigating
• The major purpose is
i)describe
ii)explain
iii)validate findings
Example: Examining the fluctuation of u.s international trade
balance during 1985-2005
Frequency of shopping, which flavor of product
people like the most.

9. ANALYTICAL RESEARCH
• Analytical research is a specific type of research that involves
critical thinking skills and the evaluation of facts and information
relative to the research.
• It is critically analyzing the facts, data & information already
available.
EXAMPLE: Explaining why and how u.s trade balance move in a
particular way.
Why such flavor of product people like the most,
which age group like most and like less

10. APPLIED RESEARCH
• Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing
by an individual/ business organization.
• Research aims at certain conclusion for a concrete social or business
problem
• Applied research is about finding a solution of a problem or issue
affecting the group, society or organization.
• The purpose of applied research is to increase what is known about a
problem with the goal of creating a better solution.
EXAMPLE: Marketing or promoting the product(marketing research)
How to reduce poverty in cities? How to minimize crimes?

11. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
• This research is also known as “pure or basic” research.
• Basic research has no specific goals, but it advances the knowledge
and contributes to the generation of new theories, principles and
way of thinking.
• Research is mainly concerned with generalization.
EXAMPLE:1) A study accessing whether stress level make people
more aggressive
2)A study looking at how alcohal consumption impacts
the brain.

12. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• Quantitative research is the process of collecting and analyzing
numerical data.
• Find results by applying statistical and mathematical techniques.
• It can be used to find patterns and averages, make prediction, test
casual relationship and generalize results to wider population.
EXAMPLES: 1. Research on economic growth
2.The survey conducted to understand the amount of
time a doctor takes to tend to a patient when the patient walks into
the hospital.

13. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Qualitative research deals with collecting & analyzing Non-numerical
(subjective) data to understand concepts, opinions or experiences etc.
• It is designed to find out how people feel or what they think about a
particular subject.
• Qualitative research is used to understand human behavior, attitude,
motivation, satisfaction etc.
• “motivation research” is an important type of qualitative research.
• The most common qualitative methods, explained in detail in their
respective modules are participant observation in depth interviews.
EXAMPLE: i)one to one interview ii)whether employees are satisfied with
current reward system of a company

14. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
VS
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• Its deals with numbers and
statistics.
• This methods allow you to
systematically measure variables
and test hypothesis.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Its deals with words and
meaning.
• This methods allow you to
explore concepts and
experiences.

15. CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH
• Conceptual research is that related to some abstract ideas or theory.
• It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts
or to reinterpret existing ones.
• Conceptual research is the type of research in which research is conducted
by observing and analyzing already available information on a topic under
study.
EXAMPLES:
The most famous example of a conceptual research is Sir Issac Newton.
He observed his surroundings to conceptualize and develop theories about
gravitation and motion.

16. EXPLORATORY AND CAUSAL RESEARCH
Exploratory: Descriptive research and exploratory research don't
answer a research problem and are instead used to gain a deeper
understanding of the problem itself.
i)The goal of exploratory research is to formulate
problems, clarify concepts and form hypothesis.
ii) It is usually create for future research and the future
research may have a conclusion design.
EXAMPLE: A study into the implication of covid-19 pandemic into the
global economy.

17. Causal: It is used to identify the cause and effect relationship between
variables and provide conclusive results that can answer the research
problem.
EXAMPLE: when a company wants to study the behaviour of their
consumers towards the changing price of their goods.

18. THEORITICALAND EMPIRICAL
RESEARCH
Theoritical research: It is an analyze and makes connection
between empirical studies to define or advance a theoretical
position.
• Theoritical is something that is based on an assumption or
opinion.
Example: Lower interest rates will boost the housing market
A researcher starts with the idea that we need to
understand the world around us.

19. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
• It is a research that is based on observation and measurement of
phenomena, as directly experienced by the researcher.
• Empirical means based on observations or experience.
EXAMPLE: Empirical is the findings of dna testing guided by
practical experience and not theory especially in medicine.

20. CROSS SECTIONALAND TIME SERIES
RESEARCH

21. CROSS SECTIONAL RESEARCH
• Cross sectional data consists of observation of many subjects
at the same point in time.
• It focus on several variables at the same point of time.
Example:
CITY MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURE
HUMIDITY WIND SPEED
A 29 60% 20MPH
B 27 65% 26MPH
C 30 60% 21MPH

22. TIME SERIES RESEARCH
• Time series data focus on the same variables over a period of
time.
Example:
YEAR PROFIT
2001 50000
2002 60000
2003 70000
2004 60000
2005 75000

23. RESEARCH PROCESS

24. DEFINE RESEARCH PROCESS
The research process is a set of ordered steps a researcher takes
to ensure that all parts of an investigation are completed to a
high standard. Following the research process allows the
researcher to cover all angles and ensure that the information
they gather is reliable and effectively presented.
Once a researcher has completed all the research process steps,
they can write up their findings appropriately.

26. 1.Formulating the Research Problem
The are two types of research problem, those
which relate to states of nature and those
which relate to relationships between
variables.

27. 2.Extensive Literature Survey(Review
Previous Research Findings)
Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary of it should
be written down.
The researcher should undertake extensive literature survey
connected with the problem.
A good library will be a great help to the researcher at this
stage.
Academic journals, conference proceedings, government
reports, books etc., are the source of secondary data

28. 3.FORMULATE HYPOTHESIS
• Working hypothesis is tentative assumption made in order to
draw out and test its logical consequences.
• Hypothesis should be very specific because it has to be
tested.
• The role of the hypothesis is to guide researcher by delimiting
the area of research.

29. 4.DESIGN RESEARCH
• A research design is a plan, structure and strategy of
investigating to obtain answers to research problems
• It includes an outline of what the investigator will do form
writing the hypothesis and their operational applications to
the final analysis of data.
• The function of research design is to provide for the
collection of relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of
efforts, time and money.

30. 5.COLLECT DATA
• Primary data can be collected either through experiment or
through survey
• Methods of data collections
-By observation
-Through personal interview
-Questionnaires

31. 6.ANALYZE DATA
• The analysis of data requires a number of closely related
operations such as establishment of categories, the
application of these categories to raw data through coding,
tabulation and then drawing statistical inferences.
• Analysis work after tabulation is generally based on the
computation of various percentage, coefficient etc., by
applying various well defined statistical formulae.

32. 7.INTERPET AND REPORT
• If a hypothesis is tested to arrive at generalization
• Explain the findings on the basis of theory, it is known as
interpretation.
• Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report of what has
been done by him.
The layout of the report should be as follows:
• i)the preliminary pages
• ii)the main text
• iii)the end matter

33. RESEARCH QUESTION/PROBLEMS
• A research problem in general refers to some difficulty which
a researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical
or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the
same.
Selecting the problem:
 subject which is overdone should not be normally
choosen
 controversial subject should not become the choice
 too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided
 the subject selected for research should be familiar and
feasible

34. Necessity of defining the problem
• A proper definition of research problem will enable the
researcher to be on the track.
• Question like: what data are to be collected? What
characteristics of data are relevant and need to be studied?
• What relations are to be used for the purpose?

35. Techniques involved in defining the problem
Statement of the problem in a general way
Understanding the nature of the problem
Surveying the available literature
Developing the ideas through discussion
Rephrasing the research problem into a working proposition

36. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
• When a prediction or a hypothesized relationship is to be
tested by scientific methods, it is as research hypothesis.
• The research hypothesis is a predictive statement that relates
an independent variables to a dependant variables.

37. CHARACTERISTICS OF HYPOTHESIS:
• Construct the situation
• Relationship
• Design/statistical methods often clear
-mean difference
-compared to who?
-related(correlation)

38. ROLE OF THEORY IN RESEARCH

39.  What is a theory?
-Definition
-assumption
-proposed explanation
-logical connection between definition, assumption, and
explanation.

40. Approaches to problem
i) objective/theoretical framework
ii) Analytical model
iii) Research questions
iv) hypothesis

41. Objectives/theoretical framework
• Every research should have a theoretical framework and
objective evidence.
• The theoretical framework is a conceptual scheme contains a
set of concepts and definitions a set statements that describe
the situations.
• The theoretical evidence is helpful to identification of
variables that should be investigating.

42. Analytical model:
• An analytical model is likeness of something
• It consists of symbols refers to a set of variables and their
interrelationships represented in logical arrangements
designed to represent in whole or it part, some real system or
process.

43. Research question
• It is refined statement of the specific components of the
problem.
• The formulation of the questions should be strongly guided
by the problem definition, theoretical framework and the
analytical model.

44. Hypothesis:
• Hypothesis could be termed as tentative answers to a research
problem
• They are deduced from theories directly from observation,
spontaneously or from a combination of these.