Business research methods

1. Business Research
Design
Plan for a study
Blue print to carry out the study

2. Types of Research design
•Exploratory
•Descriptive
•Causal research

3. Exploratory Research
• Converting broad, vague problem statements into
small, precise problem statements
• Early stages of research
• To formulate hypothesis

4. Characteristics of Exploratory Research
• It is flexible and versatile
• Data collection structured forms are not used
• Experimentation is not a requirement
• Cost is low
• Possibility of exploration of views

5. What circumstances is exploratory study ideal?
• To gain insight into the problem
• To generate new product ideas
• To assess the various alternatives
• To develop hypothesis
• To clarify concepts and formulating precise problems
• To pretest a draft questionnaire

6. Exploratory Research Methods
•Literature search
•Experience survey
•Focus group
•Analysis of selected cases

7. Literature Review
• It is a comprehensive survey of a previous research
• The literature review surveys scholarly articles, books,
Journals and other sources relevant to your study
• The main aim is to find out problems that are already
investigated and those that need further investigation
• It gives us knowledge about what others have found out in
the related field of study and how they have done so

8. Literature Review – Why it is needed
• Provide background information
• Identify the focus of research
• Introduce the topic to readers
• Address the trend
• Provide a framework of method
• Analyze the published
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9. Literature Review – Where to start
• Where are the major databases/ sources that have been
recommended by your supervisor/mentor?
• Focus on the central research problem and bring out the key
words
• Prepare a list of journals in your area of research
• Give it a title focused towards your objectives
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10. Literature review: Key points
• Read relevant(up-to-date) literature
• Refer original works
• Read with comprehension
• Index the literature
• State what others have said/done, and what not
• Discuss what others have said/done towards developing a theme out
of other studies, to end up with identifying research gaps.
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11. Literature review in 5 steps
1. Search for a literature relevant for your study
• Develop a list of keywords
• Develop a list of synonyms for these key words
• Open a scholarly database(Google scholar, EBSCO, Science direct, Scopus etc)
• Use Boolean Operators(AND, OR, NOT etc.)
Boolean Operators are simple words (AND, OR, NOT etc.) used as conjunctions to
combine or exclude keywords in a search, resulting in more focused and productive
results. This should save time and effort by eliminating inappropriate hits that must be
scanned before discarding.
• Identify the most important publication
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12. Literature review in 5 steps
2. Evaluate and select source
• Do not read the full research , read the abstract
• Look at the bibliography of the publication for other relevant
sources
• Observe the number of high citation count
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13. Example…
Impact of Intrinsic Motivation and Institutional
Support on Faculty Research Productivity
RV Institute of
Management
Go, change the world
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14. Literature review in 5 steps
3. Identify themes, debates and gaps
• Take not of the connections of different sources to easily
organise your literature review
• Observe for the trends, patterns and themes
• Debates and contradictions
• Influential studies
• Gaps
RV Institute of
Management
Go, change the world
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15. Literature review in 5 steps
4. Organise by outlining
• Chronological
• From older to new publication
• Thematic
• Organised around several key themes
• Methodological
• Compare the different research methods being used across studies
• Theoretical
• Used to discuss opposing theories or models
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16. Literature
Author, Year &
Area
Title Methodology Sampling Variables Findings
Sohail Khan
(1996)
KURDISTAN,
IRAQ*
The impact of
staff training
and
development on
teachers’
research
productivity
Structured
Questionnaire 58 teachers
Expertise, Morale, Skill,
competency of
supervisors, trust
T&D to have profound
influence on teachers’
productivity, therefore
teachers need to be regularly
motivated for training
programs in to enhance their
productivity.
Morgan, Clauset
(1999)
USA*
Research
Productivity,
prominence,
and the effects
of academic
environment
Matched-pairs
experimental design
using a Survey
2,453 early-
career faculty at
all 205 PhD-
granting CSE
departments.
Work environment,
training, scholarly
impact,
Characteristics of a work
environment are more
predictive of faculty
productivity than preferential
selection or retention
Shaker, Plater
(GEORGIA
UNIVERSITY*
(2001)
The Public
Good,
Productivity
and Faculty
Work:
Individual
Effort and
Social Value
Delphi technique Secondary data
analysis
Rubrics, Service, ISR,
Societal Impact,
community service,
positive attitude.
Credentials without quality
and teaching without public
purpose lead inevitably to
the decline of American
higher education
Michael M.
Rawls (2002)
TEXAS* PUBLIC
INSTITUTES
Assessing
Research
Productivity
from an
Institutional
Effectiveness
Perspective.
Quantitative &
Qualitative Designs
–Questionnaire
62 Institutions
Priority for research,
research assistants,
collective research
goals of department,
peer productivity
Core facilities appear to be
insufficient in terms of
capacity to meet demand
and are operated without an
adequate staffing model to
provide the expertise
needed
Mariom,
McMorther
(2012)
VIRGINIA*
Understanding
the productivity
of faculty
members in
higher
education
Descriptive case
study design
293 full time
employees
[department of
biomedical
engineering]
Time, self
advancement,
reporting, workloads,
financial inducements
Administrators must look at
workload expectations for
faculty and create policies to
help manage their time
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17. Literature review in 5 steps
5. Start writing the literature review
• Introduction
• Cite and present the study
• Main body
• Summarises and synthesis the sources to your study
• Conclusion
• The function of your paper’s conclusion is to restate the main argument.
It reminds the reader of the strengths of your main arguments and
reiterates the most important evidence supporting those arguments.
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18. Literature review - Funnel approach – 80:20 rule
So you start with the broader aspects of your topic (the contextual background, for instance)
and then gradually narrow your focus until you reach the specific aspect of the topic that you
will be addressing.
Ex: Marketing strategies of two wheelers manufacturers with special reference to Karnataka
• Review of research studies on Marketing strategies in general
• Review of research studies on Marketing strategies in manufacturing
• Review of research studies on Marketing strategies in Automobile manufacturing
• Review of closely related research studies on MS -TWM in India
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19. Experience survey
• It is desirable to talk to persons who are well informed in the
areas being investigated
• No questionnaire is required
• The approach adopted should be highly unstructured
• Non probability sampling can be used
Ex: Group of housewives may be approached for their choice for a
“ready to cook product”

20. Focus group
• A small number of individuals are brought together to study and
talk about some topic of interest
• The discussion is coordinated by a moderator
• The group usually consists of 8 – 12 persons and they should
have a common background and experience.
• The typical focus group lasts for one to two hours
Ex: Reva car

21. Analysis of selected cases
• Gives an insight into the problem which is being researched
• The result of investigation of case histories are always considered
suggestive, rather than conclusive
Ex: Ready to eat food

22. Conclusive Research
•Descriptive Research
•Experimental Research or causal research

23. Descriptive research
• Describe the characteristics of the population
• Provides association between two variables
• Clear specification on Who, What, When, Where,
Why and How.

24. Descriptive research methods
•Longitudinal study
•Cross – sectional study

25. Difference between exploratory and descriptive Study
Basis for
comparison
Exploratory Research Descriptive Research
Meaning Exploratory research means
a research conducted for
formulating a problem for
more clear investigation.
Descriptive research is a research
that explore and explain an
individual, group or a situation.
Objective Discovery of ideas and
thoughts.
Describe characteristics and
functions.
Overall Design Flexible Rigid
Research process Unstructured Structured
Sampling Non-probability sampling Probability sampling
Statistical Design No pre-planned design for
analysis.
Pre-planned design for analysis.