Module 1 - Business Research Fundamentals

❑ Meaning and Objectives of Research

• Research is a systematic process of information (data) acquisition and analysis in order to increase
understanding about a phenomenon we are interested in or concerned about.
• An activity, more or less systematic in nature, to find out things you did not know.
• A careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge
• Research is any organized inquiry carried out to provide information for solving problems.
Business Research Method is a systematic and scientific procedure of data collection, compilation, analysis,
interpretation and inference pertaining to any business problem. In ways that mobilize the organization to take
appropriate actions that, in turn, maximize performance.
Business research seeks to predict and explain phenomena that, taken together, constitute the ever-changing
business environment. Thus, business research is a truth-seeking, fact-finding function that gathers, analyses,
interprets, and reports information so that business decision makers become more effective.
The application of the scientific method in searching for the truth about business phenomena. These activities
include defining business opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating ideas, monitoring
performance, and understanding the business process.
Literally, research (re-search) means “to search again.” The term connotes patient study and scientific
investigation wherein the researcher takes another, more careful look at the data to discover all that is known
about the subject. Ultimately, all findings are tied back to the underlying theory.
Research isn’t performed to support preconceived ideas but to test them. The researcher must be personally
detached and free of bias in attempting to find truth. If bias enters into the research process, the value of the
research is considerably reduced. Business research is an essential tool for management in virtually all
problem-solving and decision-making activities.
Examples

• Air India financial crisis & strike of pilots

• Higher turnover of waiters in Restaurant & reduction in loyal customers
• SRT chief engineer to resurface/replace roads and bridges in next financial year
• Strategy to reduce of backlog of cases in lower courts
Importance and Relevance of BR:
1. Overload of Information- Plethora of information available from the internet and other sources is not always
credible or qualified and thus requires continuous evaluation
2. Shifting global economic centres and competition- The change in power centres and increased competitions
requires organisations to have greater knowledge on consumers, suppliers, business models, infrastructure.
Research needs to be conducted to accommodate to different norms, values, technologies and languages
3. Technological connectivity- The changing in work patterns and businesses adaptability to the same is
enforcing the realization that geography is no longer a primary constraint. There is an increasing preference
for shorter information with specific answers or information snacking and research should embrace small
engagements although it is relatively prominent in quantitative techniques.
4. Scrutiny of big businesses- availability of information has made it possible for firms stakeholders to demand
inclusion in a company’s decision making and has increased societal suspicion. Interconnected global systems
of suppliers, producers, etc has made mega businesses viable.
5. New perspective on established research methodologies- Businesses are demonstrating a palpable hunger
for breakthrough insights and more effective methods to get them. Businesses experiencing rapid
technological and social change are looking for researchers who can help them keep not just current with the
rapid pace of change but in front of it. Older tools and methodologies once limited to exploratory or qualitative
research are gaining wider acceptance in dealing with a broader range of managerial problems.
6. Decision Making Tool in Hands of Management: Business research either provides new information or aids
information in the existing body of knowledge. In any way, business research generates information that helps
a decision maker in making optimum decisions.
Case Study – ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) launched in 1979.
The content on ESPN had been slowly accumulated across different media outlets, which included not just
web clicks and television viewership, but also purchases from ESPN and its affiliated advertising partners.
Since this information was located in separate databases and across different operating units, it had become
difficult to know just who the fan was, and what they were truly interested in.
The ESPN partnered with Quaero, a business research company that specialises in customer intelligence, to
integrate their numerous databases and begin to learn more about their fans and its use of media. They learnt
enhancing fan experience regardless of the media had bottom line implications for their own revenue.

❑ Concepts in Research
A concept or construct is a generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes, occurrences, or processes that
has been given a name. Concepts are the building blocks of theory. Once the concepts of interest have been
identified, a researcher is interested in the relationship among these concepts.
Research Statement of what you hope to have learned by the time you complete the program
Question of research
Statement about the predicted relationships among events or variables; Formal
Hypothesis
statement of an unproven proposition that is empirically testable.
Statements concerned with the relationships among concepts. A proposition
Propositions
explains the logical linkage among certain concepts by asserting a universal
connection between concepts.
Empirical testing Something has been examined against reality using data.
Anything that may assume different numerical values; the empirical assessment of a
Variables
concept.
Second set of independent variables, which a researcher believes to have a
Moderating
significant contributory or contingent impact on the originally assumed cause–effect
variables
relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Types of Business Research

Applied Business Research is conducted to address a specific business decision for a specific firm or
organization. The opening vignette describes a situation in which ESPN used applied research to decide how
to best create knowledge of its sports fans and their preferences. [Descriptive, Reporting, Explanatory or
Predictive.]
Basic Business Research (sometimes referred to as pure research) is conducted without a specific decision in
mind, and it usually does not address the needs of a specific organization. It attempts to expand the limits of
knowledge in general and is not aimed at solving a particular pragmatic problem.
 ❑ Types of Research
All researches can be broadly classified into three groups: exploratory research, descriptive research, and
causal research.

Exploratory Research
Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities. As
the name implies, exploratory research is not intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine
a particular course of action. In this sense, exploratory research is not an end unto itself. Usually, exploratory
research is a first step, conducted with the expectation that additional research will be needed to provide more
conclusive evidence. Exploratory research is often used to guide and refine these subsequent research efforts.
Rushing into detailed surveys before it is clear exactly what decisions need to be made can waste time, money,
and effort by providing irrelevant information. This is a common mistake in business research programs.
Descriptive Research
As the name implies, the major purpose of descriptive research is to describe characteristics of objects, people,
groups, organizations, or environments. In other words, descriptive research tries to “paint a picture” of a
given situation by addressing who, what, when, where, and how questions.
For example, every month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts descriptive research in the form of
the Current Population Survey. Official statistics on a variety of characteristics of the labor force are derived
from this survey. This research describes the who, what, when, where, and how regarding the current economic
and employment situation.
Cross Sectional Research – Studies collect data from many subjects at a single point in time
Longitudinal Research - collect data repeatedly from the same subjects over time, often focusing on a
smaller group of individuals that are connected by a common trait.
Casual Research
Allows causal inferences to be made; seeks to identify cause and-effect relationships. When something causes
an effect, it means it brings it about or makes it happen. The effect is the outcome. Rain causes grass to get
wet. Rain is the cause and wet grass is the effect.
PPT
1. Analytical - Measuring relationship between two variables like gold price vs stock market, level of education
vs crime rate etc.
2. Fundamental - Study of how human behaviour is moulded under certain conditions; how Neutron, proton
and electron are composed of?
3. Quantitative - to conduct a customer satisfaction survey in restaurant to collect feedback from event attendees
about the value that they see from the event
4. Qualitative - to collect the information through unstructured interviews through the use of open questions.
5. Conceptual - Sir Issac Newton observed his surroundings to conceptualize and develop theories about
gravitation and motion.
6. Empirical - Does listening to instrumental music and studying impact on the effectiveness of one’s studies?
7. Historical - Study of consequences of cold war on Asian countries
8. Evaluative - Impact analysis of Swachh Bharat Mission in Kutch district
9. Experimental Research - Effect of temperature on seed germination and seedling growth of sunflower
10. Participatory Action Research - A group of people with Schizophrenia conducted interview with each other
to study the experiences that they have with medical professionals.

Illustrations
1. Toyota was interested in knowing the effects of one-price retailing, where, in auto purchases, car prices are
not subject to negotiation. It tested the idea in several countries. Customers in Montreal, Canada, for example,
generally preferred the one-price system by about two to one. But the effects of one-price retailing generally
extend beyond customers to Toyota’s dealer network and employees. Thus, Toyota could also research the
effects of one-price retailing on its dealer network and employees. Carefully researching the impact of the
pricing strategy in several countries among customers, dealer networks, and employees results in a fairly
comprehensive study.
2. Yoplait Go-Gurt illustrates these benefits: played with packaging and package-based research; $100 million
in sales its first year on the market. Squeeze the yogurt no fixed packaging or spoons.
3. Harley-Davidson is considering establishing a dealer network in either China or India. In this case, business
research can be designed to gather the relevant information necessary to determine which, if either, course of
action is best for the organization.
 ❑ Stages in the Research Process
Research Process is the necessary actions to be taken
to effectively carry out the research. Researchers
claim it to be a sequential process but it is not
necessary to finish each step before going to the next.
Formulation
The formulation phase involves defining the
substance and process of the research. This phase is
very much like creating a recipe. The creation of a
research design, like that of a recipe, involves
combining ingredients that will eventually produce
the desired result.
1. Problem definition and Opportunity Identification - A
problem is any situation where a gap exists between the
actual state and the desired one. Problems are identified
and defined logically. Both organizational and
environmental changes may prompt the desire to
identify problems and opportunities.
2. Literature Review - The literature review is a
comprehensive examination of the published and
unpublished work from secondary data sources in the
areas related to the problem. Literature reviews are
used to learn what others have found in previous
research on similar problems in order to avoid mistakes
they may have made and to identify any emerging
trends.
3. Formulation of Research Design and Theoretical
Framework (variables identified) - The first part is to
develop a theoretical model to quantify an attitude. For
example, to estimate the “buying intentions” for a

particular product, first, the researcher has to prepare a theoretical model to measure an attitude like buying
intentions. The theory provides a list of decisive factors in buying a particular product.
Buying intention = b0 + b1(Brand Image (BI)) + b2(Brand Awareness (BA)) + b3(price) + b4(availability) +
b5(after-sales).
4. Hypothesis
 Execution
5. Selection of Sampling method, subjects and data collection techniques
6. Data Gathering
Analytical
7. Data Processing and analysis
8. Implications and conclusions
Decision-Making Process
9. Publish and Communicate Results

❑ Characteristics of Good Research

❖ R = Rational way of thinking

❖ E = Expert and Exhaustive treatment
❖ S = Search and solution
❖ E = Exactness
❖ A = Analysis
❖ R = Relationship of facts
❖ C = Critical observation, Careful planning, Constructive attitude and Condensed generalisation
❖ H = Honesty and Hard working

Good research
Good research generates dependable data that are derived by professionally conducted practices and that can
be used reliably for decision making. In contrast, poor research is carelessly planned and conducted, resulting
in data that a manager can’t use to reduce his or her decision-making risks. Good research follows the standards
of the scientific method: systematic, empirically based procedures for generating replicable research.
1. Purposeful clearly defined: delineated in terms as unambiguous as possible. The statement of the decision
problem should include its scope, its limitations, and the precise meanings of all words and terms significant
to the research. Failure of the researcher to do this adequately may raise legitimate doubts in the minds of
research report readers as to whether the researcher has sufficient understanding of the problem to make a
sound proposal attacking it.
2. Principle of Parsimony, meaning a simpler solution is better than a complex one. Parsimonious research
means applying the simplest approach that will address the research questions satisfactorily.
3. Research process detailed: The research procedures used should be described in sufficient detail to permit
another researcher to repeat the research.
4. Replicable - A goal of scientific research is to be as objective as possible. When research is objective, it is
generally replicable, meaning that another researcher can produce the same results using the identical
procedures employed by the original researcher.
An example is the research done by Pepsi as part of its advertising and promotion approach for the Pepsi
Challenge that was later replicated by Coca-Cola. The Pepsi Challenge was a promotion in which consumers
were intercepted in a supermarket, allowed to taste two unidentified colas, and given a six-pack of the one
they preferred. Pepsi routinely televised these consumer taste tests on live television. More people chose Pepsi
in the Pepsi Challenge. Coca-Cola, questioning the authenticity of this research, conducted its own taste
challenges but kept them out of the public eye. Coca-Cola’s research confirmed the Pepsi Challenge results.
Thus, the Pepsi Challenge research was replicable.
5. More benefit than it costs. Ultimately, this is of primary importance in determining whether the research was
worthwhile. Management should not conduct a $200,000 research project to make a $50,000 decision. Many
decisions are made with little or no research because they do not involve a lot of risk. Other times, research is
designed and executed in a manner that limits its costs so that they do not exceed the potential benefits of the
decision
6. Design thoroughly planned: The procedural design of the research, and its choice among competing designs,
should be clearly described and carefully planned to yield results that are as objective as possible
7. High ethical standards applied: Researchers often work independently and have significant latitude in
designing and executing projects. A research design that includes safeguards against causing mental or
physical harm to participants and makes data integrity a first priority should be highly valued. Ethical issues
in research reflect important moral concerns about the practice of responsible behaviour in society.
8. Limitations frankly revealed: The researcher should report, with complete frankness, flaws in procedural
design and estimate their effect on the findings. There are very few perfect research designs. Some of the
imperfections may have little effect on the validity and reliability of the data; others may invalidate them
entirely
9. Findings presented unambiguously: Some evidence of the competence and integrity of the researcher may
be found in the report itself. For example, language that is restrained, clear, and precise; assertions that are
carefully drawn and hedged with appropriate reservations; and an apparent effort to achieve maximum
objectivity tend to leave a favourable impression.
10. Conclusions justified: Conclusions should be limited to those for which the data provide an adequate basis. .
Good researchers always specify the conditions under which their conclusions seem to be valid.
Good business research has an inherent value only to the extent that it helps management make better decisions
to achieve organizational goals.
 Module 2 – Research Topic and Literature Review
RESEARCH TOPIC
Success in any research project begins with a clear definition of the research problem. Avoid rigidity; For
example, a poorly defined research problem is likely to result in an incorrectly structured field study that does
not deliver the required data
Understanding Research Topic
Once research problems are initially identified, researchers undertake background research to further refine
the definition of the problem and to ensure that past work has been considered in clarifying the scope of the
proposed research project.
The background research, often referred to as a literature review, provides the basis for converting research
problems into research questions and objectives.
Broad topic vs Specific Topic - A research topic should be narrowed down and SPECIFIC, not broad.
Narrowed down based on demographics (age, gender), geographically, job wise, studies wise, etc.
Characteristic of a Good Research Topic
The choice for a research topic depends to a great extent on the goal a company or scholar aims to achieve.
Determining which research topic to investigate further would often involve:
1. Importance-performance analysis. In this type of analysis, a research question is evaluated initially
on the level of importance attributed to finding a solution, and secondly on how the company is
performing in that area. The analysis is based on a 2 × 2 matrix with four quadrants that compares the
importance of the issue relative to company performance.

2. Quality research topics are those that address gaps in existing knowledge and that are likely to result
in more informed management decision making. Consequently, well stated research questions focus
on the organization or personal objectives of the research sponsor.
DEVELOPING AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Aim

- what you hope to achieve; Aims are statements of intent.

- written in broad terms.
- They set out what you hope to achieve at the end of the project.
Objective

- the action(s) you will take in order to achieve the aim.

- should be specific statements that define measurable outcomes,
- e.g., what steps will be taken to achieve the desired outcome.
Example Continued...Objectives are follows:

- To study the human resource management practices implemented by the management institutions for
Academic staff and administrative staff.
- To compare the differences and opinions of the human resource management practices in the management
institutions of Academic staff and administrative staff.
- To study the impact of human resource management practices on job satisfaction for Academic staff and
administrative staff.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Research Question is the hypothesis that best states the objective of the research; the question(s) that focuses
the researcher’s attention. Express the research objectives in terms of questions that can be addressed by
research.
❖ A useful way to approach the research process is to state the basic dilemma that prompts the research
and then try to develop other questions by progressively breaking down the original question into more
specific ones.
❖ The process begins at the most general level with the management dilemma. This is usually a symptom
of an actual problem
❖ The management dilemma can also be triggered by an early signal of an opportunity or growing
evidence that a fad may be gaining staying power – like the growing interest in hybrid cars
❖ Outcome of this process as the management–research question hierarchy.
❖ To move from the management dilemma to the management question and subsequent research
questions takes exploratory research. Such research may include examining previous studies,
reviewing published studies and organizational records, and interviewing experts or information
gatekeepers.
❖ Research questions make it easier to understand what is perplexing managers and to indicate what
issues have to be resolved. A research question is the researcher’s translation of the marketing problem
into a specific inquiry

Definition – RQ is the hypothesis that best states the objective of the research; the question(s) that focuses
the researcher’s attention.

Characteristics of RQ
❖ Should be conceptually clear ❖ Should have a logical unity and comprehensiveness
❖ Must be testable ❖ Should be capable of verification
❖ Must be related to the existing body or theory
Significance
❖ Research questions make it easier to understand what is perplexing managers and to indicate what issues
have to be resolved.
HYPOTHESIS
A hypothesis is a formal statement explaining some outcome. In its simplest form, a hypothesis is a guess. A
sales manager may hypothesize that the salespeople who are highest in product knowledge will be the most
productive. Hypothesis is often considered a tentative and testable statement of the possible relationship
between two variables
Hypothesis is an unproven supposition or proposition that tentatively explains certain facts or phenomena
A hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable. In other words, when one states a hypothesis, it
should be written in a manner that can be supported or shown to be wrong through an empirical test.
Business researchers test hypotheses to verify that any relationships thought to exist among the variables being
studied are because of true relationships and not chance.

For example, using the color of the background for a website discussed previously, the researcher may use
theoretical reasoning to develop the following hypothesis: H1: A website with a blue background will generate
more sales than an otherwise identical website with a red background
A motorcycle mechanic … who honks the horn to see if the battery works is informally conducting a true
scientific experiment. He is testing a hypothesis by putting the question to nature.
Characteristics of Hypothesis
❖ Hypothesis should be conceptually clear;
❖ Hypothesis must be testable;
❖ Hypothesis should be related to the existing body or theory and impact;
❖ Hypothesis should have logical unity and comprehensiveness;
❖ Hypothesis should be capable of verification; and
❖ Hypothesis should be operational
Types of Hypotheses
❖ Null and Alternative Hypotheses:
Hypotheses sometimes are stated in the null form. The null hypothesis states there is no difference in the group
statistics, for example in means, medians, and so forth. A null hypothesis is based on the notion that any change
or difference is entirely the result of random error.
The alternative hypothesis says that there is a difference between the groups being compared. If the null
hypothesis is accepted, there is no difference between the groups. But if the null hypothesis is rejected and the
alternative hypothesis is accepted, the conclusion is there is a change or difference in behaviour, attitudes, or
a similar measure of the groups.
❖ Directional and Nondirectional Hypotheses:
If you use terms like “more than,” “less than,” “positive,” or “negative” in stating the relationship between
two groups or two variables, then these hypotheses are directional. An example of a directional hypothesis is:
H: The greater the stress experienced on the job, the more likely an employee is to search for another job.
Nondirectional hypotheses postulate a difference or relationship but do not indicate a direction for the
differences or relationship. In other words, we may postulate a significant relationship between two groups or
two variables, but we are not able to say whether the relationship is positive or negative. An example of a
nondirectional hypothesis is:
H: There is a relationship between stress experienced on the job and the likelihood an employee will search
for another job.
Research Question v. Hypothesis
❖ Hypotheses are more specific than research questions. One key distinction between research questions
and hypotheses is that hypotheses can generally specify the direction of a relationship.
❖ Research hypotheses are much more specific and therefore require considerably more theoretical
support.
❖ In addition, research questions are interrogative, whereas research hypotheses are declarative
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction & Nature of literature review
A directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and presents
empirical results that are relevant to the topic at hand. A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on
a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories,
methods, and gaps in the existing research.
The literature review section examines recent (or historically significant) research studies, company data, or
industry reports that act as a basis for the proposed study. Begin your discussion of the related literature and
relevant secondary data from a comprehensive perspective, moving to more specific studies that are associated
with your problem. If the problem has a historical background, begin with the earliest references. A literature
review might reveal that the sponsor can answer the management question with a secondary data search rather
than the collection of primary data.
It provides considerable information on the topic being researched and the various works that have gone on in
the field over the years. It is a search and evaluation of the available literature in your given subject or chosen
topic area.
Illustration: Suppose, for example, that a bank is interested in determining the best site for additional
automated teller machines. A logical first step would be to investigate the factors that bankers in other parts
of the country consider important. By reading articles in banking journals, management might quickly
discover that the best locations are inside supermarkets located in residential areas where people are young,
highly educated, and earning higher-than-average incomes. These data might lead the bank to investigate
census information to determine where in the city such people live. Reviewing and building on the work
already compiled by others is an economical starting point for most research.
Objectives of Literature Review/ Why Literature Review should be done
❖ Surveys the literature in your chosen area of study
❖ Synthesis the information in that literature into a summary
❖ Critically analyses the information gathered by identifying gaps
❖ Presents the literature in an organised way
❖ Demonstrates a familiarity with a body of knowledge and establishes the credibility of your work
❖ Summarises prior research and says how your project is linked to it
❖ Demonstrates that you have learnt from others and that your research is a starting point for new ideas
Literature Review Process
Literature reviews are often divided into two stages –
1. The first stage is a review of the literature to identify existing themes, trends, and relationships between
variables. The end result of this initial effort is to generate ideas related to your topic that have not
been researched in the past or have not been examined using the same methods you propose to use.
For example, there may be previous research examining your ideas or theory using qualitative
approaches but none based on a quantitative, empirical approach.
2. The second stage of your literature review is much more extensive. It focuses on identifying and
describing past theoretical research related to your topic. Theories are then included in your work if
they are directly relevant. If they are not closely related and therefore not included, likely you will
need to explain how and why. But ultimately a literature review must examine and comment on what
has already been researched
The literature review is one of the first steps in your research project. But even though it begins early in the
process, it often continues to the end. For example, assume you are researching the relationships among job
satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee turnover. Early in the process, you may be searching
for information on how supervision and compensation influence job satisfaction. Later, you may read an article
or, in a discussion with someone, decide that attitudes toward coworkers should also be examined. You will
then have to expand the scope of your research to include coworkers and their possible influence on job
satisfaction.

Sources of Literature Review

Primary Literature Sources
These are the sources, which are the least accessible, often being company literature or unpublished research,
private correspondence and can include conference proceedings. What is their value? In some cases, this is
very valuable information, which relates directly to the research problem in which you are interested. For
example, suppose you are researching corporate advertising to children, an area, which is sensitive. Much
information about what companies decide, and why, will be contained in company documents and emails.
DO NOT confuse primary literature sources with “primary research”. The latter means research you have
conducted yourself for a specific purpose
Secondary Literature Sources
These sources are much more easily available in the public domain. They include published books and articles
in journals, news media and published business, government and international body publications. Why are
they secondary sources? Usually, they reproduce in a different format what was original primary work. For
example, a researcher will often first reveal their findings at a relevant conference and these may get published
later in an academic journal.
Tertiary Literature Sources
These are collections of, or gateways to, secondary sources. They include encyclopaedias, dictionaries, citation
indexes, catalogues and web-based portals, databases and journals’ contents pages. We use tertiary sources to
track down secondary literature which is relevant to our field of study.
Structure of Literature Review
Writing the literature review can be a challenging task, particularly for inexperienced researchers. Conflicting
findings should be reported, but you must comment on and explain the differences. For example, if the research
focuses on the concept of motivation among employees, then it would be important to discuss how motivation
is defined in each study and whether the same or a similar scale was used to measure motivation.
Researchers must be able to clearly interpret previous research and show the links among studies
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

RESEARCH DESIGN
Meaning
A research design will typically include how data is to be collected, what instruments will be employed, how
the instruments will be used and the intended means for analysing data collected.
The research design is a comprehensive master plan of the research study to be undertaken, giving a general
statement of the methods to be used.
Definition
There are many definitions of research design, but no single definition imparts the full range of important
aspects:
❖ Research design constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data.
❖ Research design aids the researcher in the allocation of limited resources by posing crucial choices in
methodology.
❖ Research design is the plan and structure of investigation so conceived as to obtain answers to research
questions. The plan is the overall scheme or program of the research. It includes an outline of what the
investigator will do from writing hypotheses and their operational implications to the final analysis of data.
❖ Research design expresses both the structure of the research problem—the frame-work, organization, or
configuration of the relationships among variables of a study—and the plan of investigation used to obtain
empirical evidence on those relationships.
❖ A research design is the detailed blueprint used to guide a research study towards its objective
❖ According to Smith (1976) – “A design is a carefully arranged scheme regarding how to conduct an
experiment. The design of an experiment refers to the selection and arrangement of conditions”.
❖ According to Kerlinger – “Research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived
so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance”
Need and Importance
❖ Cuts down inaccuracy
❖ Reduce wastage of time
❖ Reduces uncertainty, confusion and practical haphazard related to any research problem
❖ Gets rid of bias and marginal errors.
❖ Maximizes reliability of results
❖ Provides firm foundation to the endeavour
❖ Averts misleading conclusions and thoughtless useless exercise
❖ Incorporates by learning from other people’s critical comments and evaluations
❖ Research design is significant simply because it allows for the smooth sailing of the various research
operations, thus making research as efficient as possible producing maximum information with
nominal expenses of effort, time and money.
❖ Research design, actually, has a great significance and impact on the reliability of the results achieved
and as such constitutes the firm base of the entire edifice of the research work.
❖ The design assists the researcher to organize his ideas in a form whereby it will be possible for him to
watch out for flaws and inadequacies. This type of design can also be given to others for their
comments and critical evaluation. In the absence of such a strategy, it will likely be challenging for the
critic to supply a comprehensive review of the offered study.
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

Steps in Research Design

Good research is conducted using 10 steps –

Step 4: Theoretical Model Development

To estimate the “buying intentions” for a particular product, the researcher has to prepare a theoretical model
to measure an attitude like buying intentions.
The researcher collects these factors from the
literature and then proposes a model containing
various factors that are combined to measure the
buying intention. He decided to take five factors
as the determinants of the buying intention which
are treated as the main variables.
Moderating variables are the second set of
independent variables, which a researcher
believes to have a significant contributory or
contingent impact on the originally assumed
cause–effect relationship between the dependent
and independent variables
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

Essentials of a Good Research Design

❖ Research Design should clarify the Particular research problem.
❖ It Provides guideline for specific method of data collection & Analysis.
❖ Research Design should be Flexible, efficient & Economical in nature.
❖ Research Design minimises Biasness of Study.
❖ Research Design must support reliability of data.
Step 5: Approaches to Research
Approaches to research consists of making a suitable decision regarding research components like types of
research, measurement and scaling, development of questionnaire, sample size-determined sampling
techniques and data analysis plan.
Types of Research Design
All researches can be broadly classified into three groups: exploratory research, descriptive research, and
causal research.
1. Exploratory
As the name indicates, exploratory research is mainly used to explore the insight of the general research
problem. It is also used to find out the relevant variables to frame the theoretical model. Decision alternatives
are also explored by launching the exploratory research that is purely unstructured and provides an insight to
the problem. The research procedure is unstructured, qualitative, and flexible and gives all freedom to a
researcher to understand the problem.
Findings of the exploratory research are generally not conclusive and require further exploratory or conclusive
research. This is required because the exploratory research is unstructured and the sample used to obtain the
information is small and mostly determined on the basis of the convenience of the researcher. This is used for
the following purposes.
❖ Obtaining Background Information
❖ Research Problem Formulation or Defining it More Precisely
❖ Identifying and Defining the Key Research Variables
❖ Developing Hypotheses
Methods of conducting Exploratory Research
❖ Secondary Data Analysis - Secondary data already exist in the environment and are mainly collected
for some other purposes. The researchers generally use the secondary data to understand the problem
and explore the dimensions of the problem. In most of the cases, use of the secondary data for the
research purpose is time and cost efficient and it really provides an insight to the problem. [Google]
❖ Expert Survey - To get the authentic information about the problem, the researchers sometimes consult
the experts of the concerned field. These experts provide authentic and relevant information useful for
the research, which otherwise is difficult to obtain. [Rahul Bajaj]
❖ Focus Group Interview - Focus groups are widely used in the investigation of applied research
problems and are recognized as distinct research methods. In fact, the focus group interview is a
qualitative research technique in which a trained moderator leads a small group of participants to an
unstructured discussion about the topic of interest.
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

❖ Depth Interviews - A depth interview is a probing between a highly skilled interviewer and a
respondent from the target population to unfold the underlying opinions, motivations, emotions, or
feelings of an individual respondent on a topic generally coined by the researcher
❖ Case Analysis - A case study research method actually combines the record analysis and observation
with individuals and group interviews. The case studies become particularly useful when one needs to
understand some particular problem or situation in great depth and when one can identify the cases
rich in information. The major advantage of the case research is its appropriateness to research, an area
where few studies have been carried out. The case studies are being conducted to address a real
problem; hence, it really provides a sound knowledge base to the existing body of knowledge.
❖ Projective Techniques - The projective technique is used to generate the information when the
researcher believes that the respondent will or cannot reveal the desired meaningful information by
direct questioning. These are the feelings, emotions, attitudes, or opinions that the respondents will not
like to share by answering a direct question.

2. Descriptive
As evident from the name, descriptive research is conducted to describe the business or market characteristics.
The descriptive research mainly answers who, what, when, where, and how kind of questions. It attempts to
address who should be surveyed, what, at what time, from where, and how this information should be obtained.
Descriptive researches are generally used in segmenting and targeting the market. The descriptive research is
conducted on the basis of some previous understanding of the research problem and does not completely
explore the research phenomenon as in the case of the exploratory research. Unlike the exploratory research,
specific hypotheses are formulated before conducting the descriptive research. Hence, this is structured and
pre-planned in comparison with the exploratory research. Hence, information obtained from this research is
not loosely structured. In short, unlike the exploratory research, it involves a clear definition of the problem,
formulation of specific hypotheses, and collection of structured, detailed, and relevant data. It can be further
classified into cross-sectional study and longitudinal study.
❖ Cross-Sectional
Cross-sectional study is popular in the field of business and marketing research. Cross-sectional research
design involves the collection of information from a sample of a population at only one point of time.
Sample surveys are cross-sectional studies in which the samples happen to be a representative of the
population. The cross-sectional study generally involves large samples from the population; hence, they are
sometimes referred as “sample surveys.” Cross-sectional studies are not capable of detecting change
❖ Longitudinal
Longitudinal study involves survey of the same population over a period of time. Longitudinal surveys usually
combine both extensive (quantitative) and intensive (qualitative) approaches. In some cases, researchers use
the term “panel” instead of longitudinal study. A panel is a sample of respondents who have agreed to provide
responses over a specified time interval. Panels are also of two types:
Traditional Panels
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

In case of traditional panels, same questions are asked to the respondents on each panel measurement.
For example, firms are interested in knowing the change in attitude, opinion, feeling, or emotion of the
customers about a particular product over a specific time interval. In this case, brand switching studies
are common.
Omnibus Panels
In the case of omnibus panels, different set of questions are asked to the respondents on each panel
measurement. Hence, different set of information is obtained using omnibus panels.
Use of panels is based on the objective of the research and the nature of the problem. Like traditional panels,
the omnibus panels are also representatives of the target population and are demographically matched to some
extent. The longitudinal studies are mainly conducted to detect the change in the attitude, opinion, or feeling
of the customers.
3. Casual Research
Causal research is conducted to identify the cause-and effect relationship between two or more business (or
decision) variables. The essential element of causation is that A “produces” B or A “forces” B to occur. Meeting
the ideal standard of causation requires that one variable always causes another and no other variable has the
same causal effect.
The method of agreement, proposed by John Stuart Mill in the 19th century, states, “When two or more cases
of a given phenomenon have one and only one condition in common, then that condition may be regarded as
the cause (or effect) of the phenomenon.” 13 Thus, if we can find Z and only Z in every case where we find C
and no others ( A , B , D , or E ) are found with Z , then we can conclude that C and Z are causally related.
An example of the method of agreement might be the problem of occasional high absenteeism on Mondays in
a factory. A study of two groups with high absenteeism (No. 1 and No. 2 in Exhibit 6-4 ) shows no common
job, department, demographic, or personal characteristics (A , B , D , and E). However, membership in a
camping club (C) is common across both groups. The conclusion is that club membership is associated with
high absenteeism (Z).
As we move from the spectrum from Exploratory, Descriptive to Casual the scope of Research, the design and
results become narrower and clearer.
If we consider the possible relationships that can occur between two variables, we can conclude there are three
possibilities:
❖ Symmetrical - A symmetrical relationship is one in which two variables fluctuate together, but we
assume the changes in neither variable is due to changes in the other.
❖ Reciprocal - A reciprocal relationship exists when two variables mutually influence or reinforce each
other.
❖ Asymmetrical - With these we postulate that changes in one variable (the independent variable, or IV)
are responsible for changes in another variable (the dependent variable, or DV).
In these latter cases we evaluate independence and dependence on the basis of:
❖ The degree to which each variable may be altered. The relatively unalterable variable is the
independent variable (IV) (e.g., age, social status, present manufacturing technology).
❖ The time order between the variables. The independent variable (IV) precedes the dependent variable
(DV).
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

MEASUREMENT
In research Measurement consists of assigning numbers to empirical events, objects or properties or activities
in compliance with a set of rules:
❖ Selecting observable empirical events
❖ Developing a set of mapping rules: a scheme of assigning numbers or symbols to represent aspects of the
events being measured
❖ Applying the mapping rule(s) to each observation of that event
Empirical: an empirical approach to describe, explain and make predictions by relying on information gained
through observations
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

The measurement of physical properties is not a complex deal, whereas the measurement of psychological
properties requires a careful attention of a researcher. For example, consider a business researcher willing to
address a research question “What motivates a consumer to buy a luxury car.”
The quality of the research always depends on the fact that what measurement techniques are adopted by the
researcher and how these fit in the prevailing research circumstances
Levels of Data Measurement
All the data collected for these purposes cannot be analysed in the same statistical way because the entities
represented by the numbers are different. For this purpose, a researcher has to have proper knowledge in the
levels of data measurement, represented by numbers that are to be analysed. The following are the four
common data measurement levels used:
❖ Nominal Level Data
If data are labels or names used to identify the attribute of an element, then the nominal scale is used.
Example - Male 1, Female 2 or vice versa. Employee identification numbers, contributory provident fund
numbers, personal identification number, and so on are some examples of nominal data. Nominal level
measurement is the lowest level of data measurement.
❖ Ordinal Level Data
In addition to nominal level data capacities, ordinal scale can be used to rank or order objects. Numbers
are used to indicate rank or order.
❖ Interval Scales Data
In interval level measurement, the difference between the two consecutive numbers is meaningful. Scale
on which equal intervals between objects, represent equal differences. Use of Product Moment correlation,
t-test and other parametric tests are possible as analysis.
❖ Ratio Level Data
Ratio level measurements possess all the properties of interval data with meaningful ratio of two values.
It tells us about the order, the exact value between units, also has an absolute zero–which allows for a wide
range of both descriptive and inferential statistics to be applied.
It represents the actual amount of a variable like – weight, height, distance, area, etc.
The nominal data are the weakest and the ratio data are the strongest in terms of applicability in different
statistical tests.
Various types of scales in the light of items included in the scales:
❖ Multiple-Choice Scale
In this type of scale, the researcher poses a single question with multiple response alternatives. For a mere
quantification reason, a researcher assigns 1 to the first response, 2 to the second response, and so on. It is
important to note that the numbers provide only the nominal information.
❖ Forced-Choice Ranking
In forced-choice ranking scaling technique, the respondents rank different objects simultaneously from a
list of objects presented to them. the items or objects on the scale are decided by the scale designer, and
the respondent is almost forced to provide his or her ranking from the list of brands included by the scale
designer. This scaling technique is also referred as rank-order scaling and results in generating ordinal-
level data.
 Module 3 – Research Design and Sampling

❖ Paired Comparison Technique

As the name indicates, in paired-comparison scaling technique, a respondent is presented a pair of objects
or stimulus or brands and the respondent is supposed to provide his or her preference of the object from a
pair. Sometimes, a researcher uses the “principle of transitivity” to analyse the data obtained from a paired-
comparison scaling technique. Transitivity is a simple concept that says that if Brand “X” is preferred over
Brand “Y” and Brand “Y” is preferred over Brand “Z,” then Brand “X” is also preferred over Brand “Z”
❖ Likert Scale
The Likert scale is developed by Rensis Likert and is a most common scaling technique in the field of
business research. In a Likert scale, each item response has five rating categories.
❖ Semantic Differential Scales
Semantic differential scale was developed by Charles Osgood, George Suchi, and Percy Tannenbaum in
1957. Consists of a series of bipolar adjectival words or phrases placed on the two extreme points of the
scale.
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
A questionnaire consists of formalized
and pre-specified set of questions
designed to obtain responses from
potential respondents. Questions in the
questionnaire reflect the research
objective under investigation.
Questionnaires are generally situation
and culture specific. So, the same
questionnaire for measuring attitude
cannot be used in all the cultures and
situations.
To conduct surveys, researchers always
need a good questionnaire. There are
some problems in designing good
questionnaires because there is no
universally accepted rule to be taken as
the guideline while preparing the
questionnaire. A good questionnaire
should be designed such that it will be
able to fulfil research objective.
Process of questionnaire design in
three phases: pre-construction phase,
construction phase, and post-
construction phase.
 Module 3- Research Design and Sampling

Research Design

A research design is a blueprint or plan for the collec4on, measurement, and analysis of data,
created to answer your research ques4ons.

Other defini4ons-

• Research design cons4tutes the blueprint for the collec4on, measurement, and analysis
of data.
• A research design is the detailed blueprint used to guide a research study towards its
objec4ve
• Research design aids the researcher in the alloca4on of limited resources by posing crucial
choices in methodology.
• Research design is the plan and structure of inves4ga4on so conceived as to obtain
answers to research ques4ons. The plan is the overall scheme or program of the research.
It includes an outline of what the inves4gator will do from wri4ng hypotheses and their
opera4onal implica4ons to the final analysis of data.
• Research design expresses both the structure of the research problem—the frame-work,
organiza4on, or configura4on of the rela4onships among variables of a study—and the
plan of inves4ga4on used to obtain empirical evidence on those rela4onships.

Need and importance of a good research design-

A research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the various research
opera4ons. It makes the research as efficient as possible by giving maximum informa4on with
minimal expenditure of effort, 4me and money.
• Formula4ng a research design helps the researcher to make correct decisions in each and
every step of the study.
• It helps to iden4fy the major and minor tasks of the study.
• It makes the research study effec4ve and interes4ng by providing minute details at each
step of the research process.
• Based on the design of experiments (research design), a researcher can easily frame the
objec4ves of the research work.
• A good research design helps the researcher to complete the objec4ves of the study in a
given 4me and facilitates geMng the best solu4on for the research problems.
• It helps the researcher to complete all the tasks even with limited resources in a beNer
way.
• The main advantage of a good research design is that it provides accuracy, reliability,
consistency, and legi4macy to the research.

Business research design- 10 step process

1. Problem or opportunity iden2fica2on-

• The management of the company iden4fies the problem or opportunity in the

organiza4on or in the environment.
• The management can iden4fy the symptoms or the effects of the problem, but to
understand the reasons of the problems, a systema4c research has to be adopted.

2. Decision Maker and Business Researcher Mee2ng to Discuss the Problem or Opportunity
Dimensions-

• The decision maker contacts the business research firm and then discusses the
problem or opportunity with the business researcher.
• The researcher can only suggest solu4on to a problem, but the actual decision is taken
by the decision maker.
3. Defining the Management Problem and Subsequently the Research Problem-

• The researcher has to actually find the probable reasons of the problems in the ini4al
stage of conduc4ng a research to have a direc4on of the research programme
execu4on.
• This is the 4me when the researcher takes the help of the available secondary data
and pilot study.

4. Formal research proposal and introducing the dimensions to the problem-

• The first part is to develop a theore4cal model to quan4fy an aMtude.

• Business research problem can be formulated as a broad statement, and its inherent
components are to be addressed by the researcher.
• Deciding our modera4ng and main variables and formula4on of your hypothesis also
comes under this step.

Modera4ng variable- A type of variable that affects the rela4onship between a dependent
variable and an independent variable.

5. Approaches to research-

Types of research

Emploratory research Descriptive research Causal research

Cross-sectional research Longitudinal research

Comparison Exploratory research Descrip4ve research Conclusive research
parameters

Research Is conducted to understand problem Is conducted to describe Is designed to understand

objec,ve background, iden,fy variables, and the business or market the cause-and-effect
develop an understanding about the characteris,cs rela,onship between
problem and situa,on variables

Problem Clarifying problem and its component Problem is clearly defined Problem is clearly defined

Structure Unstructured Structured Structured

Method Secondary data analysis, expert survey, Survey and observa,on Experiments
focus group interviews, case analysis, and
projec,ve techniques

Research findings Inconclusive Conclusive Conclusive

6. Fieldwork and data collec2on-

• The researcher has to also decide whether he or she has to go for a survey or has to
adopt the observa4on methods and decide whether the research will be based on the
field data collec4on or it will be a laboratory experiment.

7. Data prepara2on and data entry-

• AQer fieldwork, the collected data are in raw format. Before performing data analysis,
it is important for a researcher to structure the data.
• AQer preparing the data, a researcher has to feed it into a computer spreadsheet in a
pre-determined manner to execute the data analysis exercise.

8. Data analysis-

• There are various sophis4cated sta4s4cal analy4cal techniques to execute the data
analysis exercise.
• It also includes sta4s4cal inference aspect and presents the procedure of hypothesis
tes4ng.
9. Interpreta2on of Result and Presenta2on of Findings-

• There is need to interpret the result and present the non-sta4s4cal findings derived
from the sta4s4cal result.
• A meaningful interpreta4on of the result and presen4ng it in a scien4fic manner is a
skilful ac4vity and is an important aspect of research.
• The researcher has to determine whether the result of the study is in line with the
exis4ng literature.

10. Management Decision and Its Implementa2on-

• As the last step of conduc4ng a research programme, the findings are conveyed to the
decision maker aQer consulta4on with the research programmer.
• The decision maker analyses the findings and takes an appropriate decision in the light
of the sta4s4cal findings presented by the researcher. (not a formal part of the
research process)

Types of research designs-

Three types-

1. Exploratory research-

• Exploratory research is mainly used to explore the insight of the general research problem.
• It is also used to find out the relevant variables to frame the theore4cal model.
• Exploratory research is unstructured and the sample used to obtain the informa4on is
small and mostly determined on the basis of the convenience of the researcher.

Purpose of doing exploratory research-

 o Obtaining background informa4on
o Research problem formula4on or defining it more precisely
o Iden4fying and defining the key research variables
o Developing hypothesis

Methods of conduc4ng exploratory research-

o Secondary data analysis

o Expert survey- some4mes researchers consult experts
o Focus group interviews- qualita4ve research technique in which a trained moderator
leads a small group of par4cipants to an unstructured discussion about the topic of
interest.
o Depth interviews- between a highly skilled interviewer and a respondent from the
target popula4on to unfold the underlying opinions, mo4va4ons, emo4ons, or feelings
o Case analysis- A case study research method actually combines the record analysis and
observa4on with individuals and group interviews.
o Projec4ve techniques- used to generate the informa4on when the researcher believes
that the respondent will or cannot reveal the desired meaningful informa4on by direct
ques4oning.

2. Descrip>ve research-

• Conducted to describe the business or market characteris4cs.

• Mainly answers who, what, when, where and how kind of ques4ons
• Descrip4ve researches are generally used in segmen4ng and targe4ng the market.
• They are mainly conducted to describe the characteris4cs of some relevant groups for the
research
• Used to understand the demographic and other characteris4cs of the popula4on,
Cross sec4onal research- involves the collec4on of informa4on from a sample of a popula4on
at only one point of 4me.

Longitudinal research- Longitudinal study involves survey of the same popula4on over a
period of 4me.

3. Causal/explanatory research-

• Conducted to iden4fy the cause-and effect rela4onship between two or more business (or
decision) variables.
• Answers the ‘why’ ques4on
• Well-structured design unlike exploratory research
 Sampling

Sampling is the most widely used tool for gathering important and useful informa4on from
the popula4on. A researcher generally takes a small por4on of the popula4on for study, which
is referred to as sample.

The process of selec4ng a sample from the popula4on is called sampling. As a part of the
research process, we collect informa4on from the sample, apply sta4s4cal tools and
techniques for the analysis, and make important interpreta4ons on the basis of sta4s4cal
analysis.

The Sampling Design Process- 5 steps

1. Target popula4on must be iden4fied

2. Sampling frame must be determined- (a list of all people)
3. Appropriate sampling technique must be selected
4. Sampling size must be determined
5. Sampling process must be executed

Types of sampling-

1. Probability sampling-

• A sampling in which every unit in the popula4on has an equal chance of being selected
in the sample, and this probability can be accurately determined.
• It involves random selec4on, allowing you to make strong sta4s4cal inferences about
the whole group.
• It is also called the random sampling method

a. Simple random sampling-

 o Each member of the popula4on has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
o A complete list of all the members of the popula4on is prepared.

b. Stra4fied random sampling-

o Elements in the popula4on are divided into homogeneous groups called strata.
o In most cases, researchers use demographic variables as the base of stra4fica4on.
o Then you use random or systema4c sampling to select a sample from each group.

c. Cluster random sampling-

o We divide the popula4on into non-overlapping areas or clusters.

o In cluster sampling, clusters are internally heterogeneous.
o For example, a fast-moving-consumer-goods company wants to launch a new
product and wants to conduct a market study. For this, the country can be divided
into clusters of ci4es and then individual consumers within ci4es can be selected.
o Cluster sampling is very useful in terms of cost and convenience

d. Systema4c random sampling-

o Sample elements are selected from the popula4on at uniform intervals in terms of
4me, order, or space.
o Every member of the popula4on is listed with a number, but instead of randomly
genera4ng numbers, individuals are chosen at regular intervals.
o Example- A researcher wants to take a sample of size 30 from a popula4on of size
900. every 30th member of the popula4on is included in the sample. Suppose the
first element 3 is selected randomly and aQer this, every 30th element, that is, 33rd,
63rd, … element up to a sample size of 30 are included in the sample.

2. Non-probability sampling-
• Sampling techniques where the selec4on of the sampling units is not based on a random
selec4on process are called non-probability sampling techniques.
• It is also called non-random sampling.
• In a non-probability sample, individuals are selected based on non-random criteria, and
not every individual has a chance of being included.

a. Judgemental sampling-

o Selec4on of the sampling units is based on the judgement of a researcher.

o In some cases, researchers believe that they will be able to select a more
representa4ve sample by using their judgement, which will be 4me and cost efficient
and more accurate than simple random sampling.
o There is no well-defined scien4fic method which can tell us that how one person’s
judgement is beNer than another person’s judgement.
o Only suitable when the sample size is small, in case of large samples, the bias from
the researcher’s end may be high.

b. Quota sampling-

o Certain subclasses, such as age, gender, income group, and educa4on level are used
as strata.
o in case of quota sampling, a researcher uses non-random sampling methods to
gather data from one stratum un4l the required quota fixed by the researcher is
fulfilled.

c. Snowball sampling-

o Survey respondents are selected on the basis of referrals from other survey
respondents.
o When informa4on about the subjects is not directly available, a researcher iden4fies
a person who will be able to provide details of other respondents whose profile will
 fit the study. Through referrals, respondents can be located easily, which could
otherwise be a difficult and expensive exercise.

d. Convenience sampling-

o Sample elements are selected based on the convenience of a researcher.

o In this case, the researcher includes samples which are readily available. The focus
is on the convenience of the researcher.
o For example, a marke4ng research firm wants to survey 2000 consumers for a
par4cular product. It will be more convenient for the firm to interview 2000
customers who come to the mall and look friendly.

Sampling errors-

Sampling error occurs when the sample is not a true representa4ve of the popula4on. In
complete enumera4on, sampling errors are not present. Reasons for sampling errors-

• Faulty selec4on of the sample

• Difficulty in selec4on a par4cular sampling unit, researchers try to subs4tute that sampling
unit with another sampling unit which is easy to be surveyed.
• Some4mes researchers demarcate sampling units wrongly and hence, provide scope for
commiMng sampling errors.
MODULE 4: DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH –
1. what happened and how often happened
2. Includes survey/ questionnaires method and experiments
3. inquiry into an identified problem, based on testing a theory, measured with numbers,
and analyzed using statistical techniques.
4. The goal of quantitative methods is to determine whether the predictive generalizations
of a theory hold true.
QUALITATIVE BUSINESS RESEARCH-
1. How (process) and why(meaning) things happened as they do
2. Qualitative research is interested more in qualities than quantities.
3. A study based upon a qualitative process of inquiry has the goal of understanding a
social or human problem from multiple perspectives.
4. Therefore, qualitative research is not about applying specific numbers to measure
variables or using statistical procedures to numerically specify a relationship’s strength.
Definition -“array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate, and
otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally
occurring phenomena in the social world.”
• Its focus is on discovering true inner meanings and new insights.
• It is less structured than quantitative approach
• It does not rely on self-response questionnaires
• Instead, it is more researcher dependent.
• Researcher interprets the data and convert its meaning to information.
Research dependent – Research in which the researcher must extract meaning from
unstructured responses such as text from a recorded interview or a collage representing the
meaning of some experience.
AIM – to achieve an in-depth understanding of a situation if researcher wants to extract:
1. Feelings
2. Emotions
3. Motivations
4. Perceptions
5. Consumer language
6. Self-described behaviour
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DRAWS DATA FROM:
1. People – individuals or groups
2. Organizations
3. Texts – published
 4. Settings and environments – visual/ sensory and virtual material
5. Objects, artifacts, media products – textual, visual, sensory, virtual material
6. Events and happenings – (same as above)

QUALITATIVE V QUANTITATIVE:
METHODS OF QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION

1. Focus groups
2. Individual in depth interviews
3. Observation

1. FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW –

- A focus group interview is an unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small
group of people, usually between six and ten.
- Moderator - Focus groups are led by a trained moderator who follows a flexible
format encouraging dialogue among respondents. The facilitator or moderator uses
group dynamics principles to focus or guide the group in an exchange of ideas,
feelings, and experiences on a specific topic. The moderator plays a vital role in
steering the discussions in a manner that draws out the information sought, and keep
the members on track.
PURPOSE -
To gain insights by listening to a group of people from the appropriate target market
talk about issues of interest to the researcher.
The objective might be a new product, or product concept, a new employee motivation
program etc.
 Focus groups are being used to help understand how the product will be received and
how it might be improved
USES –
1. Understanding the marketplace & obtaining insight into how people think and behave
2. Generating ideas for new products.
3. Developing marketing or advertising themes.
4. Screening or evaluating new product concepts
5. A disaster check, using prototype products if appropriate, before the introduction of a
new product or before the change of an existing one.
OUTCOME -
A list of ideas and behavioural observations, with recommendations by the moderator.
They are later used for quantitative testing.
ADVANTAGES-
1. Relatively fast
2. Easy to execute
3. Allow respondents to piggyback off each other’s ideas
4. Provide multiple perspectives
5. Flexibility to allow more detailed descriptions
6. High degree of scrutiny

DISADVANTAGES –
1. Very difficult for a moderator to remain completely objective about most topics.
2. Unique sampling problems arise with focus groups
3. Traditional face-to-face focus groups may not be useful for discussing sensitive
topics.
4. Focus groups do cost a considerable amount of money, particularly when they are
not conducted by someone employed by the company desiring the focus group.
EXAMPLES –
a. Women with children may compose a focus group to identify how organizations can
help working mothers.
b. Identify the relevant factors (choice criteria) used by households, in selecting
departmental stores

2. DEPTH INTERVIEWS
- An unstructured (semi structured / structured), direct, personal interview in which
a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying
motivations, beliefs, attitudes and feelings on a topic.
- It is a one-on-one interview
 - The researcher asks many questions and follows up each answer with probes for
additional elaboration.
- PROBING EXAMPLE – Why do you say that → that’s interesting, tell me more →
would you like to add anything else
- Here, the INTERVIEWER’S ROLE is critical
- He or she must be a highly skilled individual who can encourage the respondent to
talk freely without influencing the direction of the conversation.
INTERVIEWER SHOULD:
- Avoid appearing superior and put the respondent at ease
- Be detached and objective and yet reasonable
- Ask questions in an informative manner
- Do Not accept brief ‘yes’ & ‘no’ answers
- Probe the respondent.
- Example – Mr. Subash Chandra to explore the journey of Zee Telefilms Ltd.

LADDERING – [Deep understanding of psychological and emotional reasons – from specific

to general]. It is a particular approach to probing, asking respondents to compare differences
between brands at different levels that produces distinctions at the attribute level, the benefit
level, and the value or motivation level.
Example - Laddering can then distinguish two brands of skateboarding shoes based on a) the
materials they are made of, b) the comfort they provide, and c) the excitement they create.
Depth Interview is used when –
- detail probing,
- discussion of life story/ confidential/ sensitive/ or embarrassing topics.
- Situations where strong social norms exist and respondents maybe easily swayed
by group responses
- Understanding of complicated behaviour
- Interview of professional people
- Interviews with competitors who are unlikely to reveal the info in the group.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Establish rapport and motivate them Time consuming process
Clarify questions and doubts Costs more – based on geographical
coverage
Read non-verbal cues Concern of respondents about confidentiality
More sensitive topics discussed Interviewer needs training, highly subjective
If some unique or unusual behaviour to be Can induce interviewer bias
studied
EXAMPLES –
1. Product Development: To understand consumer preferences and feedback on their
products. This helps them develop better products that meet the needs of their target
audience.
2. Consumer behaviour: To gather information about consumer behaviour, purchasing
patterns, and attitudes towards a particular product or brand.
3. Human Resources: To understand reasons for unrest among employees for their protest
in an organization.
4. Market Analysis: In-depth interviews with industry experts are conducted to gain
insights into market trends, emerging technologies, and competition. This helps
companies stay up-to-date on industry developments and make informed business
decisions.

3. OBSERVATIONS
- The systematic process of recording the behavioural patterns of people, objects,
and occurrences as they are witnessed.
- No questioning or communicating with people typically occurs
- Observation qualifies as scientific inquiry when it is conducted specifically to
answer a research question, is systematically planned and executed, uses proper
controls, and provides a reliable and valid account of what happened.
- It has a potential for forging business decisions and a creative means of obtaining
primary data
- IT INVOLVES – Listening, reading, smelling, touching

2 TYPES:
1. Non behavioural observation
2. Behavioural observation
 1. NON-BEHAVIOURAL OBSERVATION:

Record analysis Physical condition analysis process or activity analysis

•historical or current records •store audit •time motion studies

and public or private •plant satefy compliance •traffic flows in distribution
•written •inventory condition system
•printed •financial statements •paperwork flow
•sound recorded •financial flow in banks
•photograph
•videotaped

Witness statements: Analysing witness statements to identify inconsistencies and

contradictions in their testimony and determine their claims' credibility and reliability.
Document analysis: Reviewing documents such as contracts, invoices, and financial
statements to identify evidence of fraud or other illegal activities, or to support claims made by
either party in the case.
Forensic analysis: Analysing physical evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, and other forms of
forensic evidence to support or refute claims made in the case.
2. BEHAVIOURAL OBSERVATION

Here are 4 major categories of observational study of persons:

1. Non-verbal behaviour:

Body (gross/ fine) movement [Study as an indicator of interest or boredom, anger or

pleasure]
 Gross movement – salesperson travels a territory
Fine movement - body movements of a worker assembling a product or time-sample
the activity of a department’s workforce to discover the share of time each worker
spends in various ways.

Motor Expression – emotional state and interest [facial expressions can be studied as
a sign of emotional states]

Exchanged glances – interpersonal behaviour

2. Linguistic behaviour:
- Sounds of words in conversation
- Content explained through wh questions
- Interaction process among two persons/ small group

3. Extra-linguistic behaviour (4 dimensions)

- Vocal – pitch, loudness, tone
- Temporal – rate of speaking, duration of utterance, rhythm
- Interaction – tendencies to interrupt, dominate, hinder
- Verbal stylistic – vocab and pronunciation, dialect
• These dimensions could add substantial insight to the linguistic content of
the interactions between supervisors and subordinates or salespeople and
customers.

4. Spatial Analysis:
- How a person relates physically to others
- The study of PROXEMICS concerns:
• How people organize the territory about them
• How they maintain discrete distances between themselves and others
• A study of how salespeople physically approach customers and a study
of the effects of crowding in a workplace are examples of this type of
observation.

5. Personal observations:
- Interrogation presents a clear opportunity for interviewer bias. The problem is less
pronounced with observation but is still real. The relationship between observer
and participant may be viewed from three perspectives:
• Direct or Indirect – direct ob. when observer is physically present and
personally monitors what takes place.
Whereas, indirect ob. occurs when recording is done by mechanical,
photographic or electronic means.
• Open or concealed – when observer is known, that is, the participant
knows of the observer’s presence. Potential bias from participant
awareness of observers is always a matter of concern.
 Observers use concealment to shield themselves from the object of their
observation. Technical means such as one-way mirrors, hidden cameras, or
microphones are used.
• Participant or non-participant - The third observer-participant issue is
whether the observer should participate in the situation while observing.
Participant observation, exists when the observer enters the social setting
and acts as both an observer and a participant. Participant observation
makes a dual demand on the observer
EXAMPLES – 1. People movement pattern in hospital, 2. Statement made by airline
travellers who wait in line, 3. How close visitors stand to paintings, 4. How long fast-food
customers wait for their order to be served

CONTENT OF OBSERVATION:
Specific conditions, events, or activities that we want to observe determine the observational
reporting system (and correspond to measurement questions). To specify the observation
content, we should include both the major variables of interest and any other variables that
may affect them. Observation may be at either a factual or an inferential level.

DATA ANALYSIS – Overview of content analysis of written/ recorded data

Types of Qualitative Data Analysis:
1. Content analysis - The systematic observation and quantitative description of the
manifest content of communication.
2. Narrative analysis
3. Grounded theory
4. Discourse analysis
5. Thematic analysis
6. IPA – interpretative phenomenological analysis
METHODS OF QUANTITATIVE DATA COLLECTION:

1. Descriptive Analysis –
- The elementary transformation of data in a way that describes the basic
characteristics such as central tendency, distribution, and variability.
- Means, medians, modes, variance, range, and standard deviation typify widely
applied descriptive statistics.

2. Inferential Analysis –
- used to make inferences or to project from a sample to an entire population

For example,
When a firm test-markets a new product in Peoria and Fort Worth, it is not only concerned
about how customers in these two cities feel, but they want to make an inference from these
sample markets to predict what will happen throughout the United States. So, two
applications of statistics exist: (1) descriptive statistics that describe characteristics of the
population or sample and (2) inferential statistics that are used to generalize from a sample to
a population.
 Module 5- Ethical Issues in Business Research
What is ETHICS?
• Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior
and our relationships with others.
• Highly ethical behavior can be characterized as being fair, just, and acceptable.
• Ethical values can be highly influenced by one’s moral standards.
• Moral standards are principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical and what is
unethical.
• The Golden Rule is, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,”
• An ethical dilemma simply refers to a situation in which one chooses from alternative
courses of action, each with different ethical implications.
o Relativism is a term that reflects the degree to which one rejects moral standards
in favor of the acceptability of some action. This way of thinking rejects absolute
principles in favor of situation-based evaluation
o In contrast, Idealism is a term that reflects the degree to which one bases one’s
morality on moral standards. Someone who is an ethical idealist will try to apply
ethical principles like the Golden Rule in all ethical dilemma.
o For example, A student may face an ethical dilemma when taking a test. Another
student may arrange to exchange multiple choice responses to a test via electronic
text messages.
o This represents an ethical dilemma because there are alternative courses of action
each with differing moral implications. An ethical idealist may apply a rule that
cheating is always wrong and therefore would not be likely to participate in the
behavior. An ethical relativist may instead argue that the behavior is acceptable
because a lot of the other students will be doing the same.
What is its Goal?
The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse
consequences from research activities.
What activities make it unethical research?
1. violating nondisclosure agreements,
2. breaking participant confidentiality,
3. misrepresenting results,
4. deceiving people,
5. using invoicing irregularities,
6. avoiding legal liability, and more.
One survey reports that although 52 percent of U.S. workers claim to have observed at least
one type of ethical misconduct, only 55 percent of those observing misconduct reported the
violation.
I. Ethical Treatment of Participants –
When ethics are discussed in research design, one often thinks first about protecting the rights
of the participant, or subject. Whether data is gathered in an experiment, interview,
observation, or survey, the participant has many rights which have to be safeguarded:
To safeguard Participants, the researcher should follow three guidelines:
1. Explain study benefits.
2. Explain participant rights and protections.
3. Obtain informed consent.
DECEPTION
Deception occurs when the participants are told only part of the truth or when the truth is
fully compromised. Some believe this should never occur. Others suggest two reasons for
deception:
(1) to prevent biasing the participants before the survey or experiment and
(2) to protect the confidentiality of a third party (e.g., the sponsor).
Deception should not be used in an attempt to improve response rates.
INFORMED CONSENT
Securing informed consent from participants is a matter of fully disclosing the procedures of
the proposed survey or other research design, before requesting permission to proceed with
the study.
The following informed-consent components in the introductions:
1. Introduce ourselves—interviewer’s name.
2. Briefly describe the survey topic (e.g., barriers to health insurance).
3. Describe the geographic area we are interviewing (e.g., people in Gandhinagar) or target
sample (e.g., MSME retailers).
4. Tell who the sponsor is (e.g., Reliance Industries).
5. Describe the purpose(s) of the research (e.g., satisfaction with services received/provided
by a local agency).
6. Give a “good-faith” estimate of the time required to complete the interview.
7. Promise anonymity and confidentiality (when appropriate).
8. Tell the participant that participation is voluntary.
9. Tell the participant that item-nonresponse is acceptable.
10. Ask permission to begin.
• In situations where participants are intentionally or accidentally deceived, they should be
debriefed once the research is complete.
What is DEBRIEFING?
Research subjects are fully informed and provided with a chance to ask any questions they
may have about the experiment. It involves several activities following the collection of data:
• Explanation of any deception.
• Description of the hypothesis, goal, or purpose of the study.
• Poststudy sharing of results.
• Poststudy follow-up medical or psychological attention.
Research suggests that the majority of participants do not resent temporary deception and
may have more positive feelings about the value of the research after debriefing than those
who didn’t participate in the study.
Nevertheless, deception is an ethically thorny issue and should be addressed with sensitivity
and concern for research participants.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
The privacy guarantee is important not only to retain the validity of the research but also to
protect participants.
Once the guarantee of confidentiality is given, protecting that confidentiality is essential.
The researcher protects participant confidentiality in several ways:
• By obtaining signed nondisclosure documents.
• Restricting access to participant identification.
• Revealing participant information only with written consent.
• Restricting access to data instruments where the participant is identified.
• Not disclosing data subsets.
But privacy is more than confidentiality. A right to privacy means one has the right to refuse
to be interviewed or to refuse to answer any question in an interview.
Thus, ethical researchers do the following:
• Inform participants of their right to refuse to answer any questions or participate in the
study.
• Obtain permission to interview participants.
• Schedule field and phone interviews.
• Limit the time required for participation.
• Restrict observation to public behavior only.
Ethics and the Sponsor
There are also ethical considerations to keep in mind when dealing with the research client or
sponsor. Whether undertaking product, market, personnel, financial, or other research, a
sponsor has the right to receive ethically conducted research.
Confidentiality
• Some sponsors wish to undertake research without revealing themselves. They have a
right to several types of confidentiality, including sponsor nondisclosure, purpose
nondisclosure, and findings nondisclosure.
• Companies have a right to dissociate themselves from the sponsorship of a research
project. This type of confidentiality is called sponsor nondisclosure.
• This is often done when a company is testing a new product idea, to prevent potential
consumers from being influenced by the company’s current image or industry standing, or
if a company is contemplating entering a new market, it may not wish to reveal its plans
to competitors.
• Thus, it is the responsibility of the researcher to respect this desire and devise a plan that
safeguards the identity of the research sponsor.
Purpose Non-Disclosure
It involves protecting the purpose of the study or its details. A research sponsor may be
testing a new idea that is not yet patented and may not want the competition to know of its
plans.
Findings Non-Disclosure
Even if a sponsor feels no need to hide its identity or the study’s purpose, most sponsors want
the research data and findings to be confidential, at least until the management decision is
made. Thus, sponsors usually demand and receive findings nondisclosure between
themselves or their researchers and any interested but unapproved parties.
Right to Quality Research
An important ethical consideration for the researcher and the sponsor is the sponsor’s right to
quality research. This right entails:
• Providing a research design appropriate for the research question.
• Maximizing the sponsor’s value for the resources expended.
• Providing data-handling and data-reporting techniques appropriate for the data collected.
The researcher should not propose activities designed to maximize researcher revenue or
minimize researcher effort at the sponsor’s expense.
• We have all heard the remark, “You can lie with statistics.”
• It is the researcher’s responsibility to prevent that from occurring.
• The ethical researcher always follows the analytical rules and conditions for results to be
correct.
• The ethical researcher reports findings in ways that minimize the drawing of false
conclusions.
• The ethical researcher also uses charts, graphs, and tables to show the data objectively,
despite the sponsor’s preferred outcomes.
Sponsor’s Ethics
Research specialists may be asked by sponsors to participate in unethical behavior.
Compliance by the researcher would be a breach of ethical standards. Some examples to be
avoided are:
• Violating participant confidentiality.
• Changing data or creating false data to meet a desired objective.
• Changing data presentations or interpretations.
• Interpreting data from a biased perspective.
• Omitting sections of data analysis and conclusions.
• Making recommendations beyond the scope of the data collected.
Thus, to overcome this situation, the researcher needs to confront the sponsor’s demand and
take the following actions:
• Educate the sponsor to the purpose of research.
• Explain the researcher’s role in fact finding versus the sponsor’s role in decision making.
• Explain how distorting the truth or breaking faith with participants leads to future problems.
• Failing moral suasion, terminate the relationship with the sponsor.

Various standards of ethics exist for the professional researcher.

• Many corporations, professional associations, and universities have a CODE OF
ETHICS. For example, American Marketing Association, American Psychological
Association, etc.
• Thus, effective codes of ethics are -
(1) Regulative,
(2) Protect the public interest and the interests of the profession served by the code,
(3) Behaviour-specific,
(4) Enforceable.
What is a research Report?
A research report is an oral presentation and/or written statement whose purpose is to
communicate research results, strategic recommendations, and/or other conclusions to
management or other specific audiences.
Report Format
The makeup or arrangement of parts necessary to a good research report.
The format described in this section serves as a starting point from which writers can shape
their own appropriate format. It includes seven major elements:
1. Title page (sometimes preceded by a title fly page)
2. Letter of transmittal
3. Letter of authorization
4. Table of contents (and lists of figures and tables)
5. Executive summary
a. Objectives
b. Results
c. Conclusions
d. Recommendations
6. Body
a. Introduction
1. Background
2. Objectives
b. Methodology
c. Results
d. Limitations
e. Conclusions and recommendation
7. Appendix
a. Data collection forms
b. Detailed calculations
c. General tables
d. Bibliography
e. Other support materia

Title Page –
The title page should state the title of the report, for whom the report was prepared, by whom
it was prepared, and the date of release or presentation.
Letter of Transmittal –
Relatively formal and very formal reports include a letter of transmittal. Its purpose is to
release or deliver the report to the recipient. It also serves to establish some rapport between
the reader and the writer.
Letter of Authorization
The letter of authorization is a letter to the researcher that approves the project, details who
has responsibility for it, and describes the resources available to support it. In many
situations, simply referring to the authorization in the letter of transmittal is sufficient.
Table of Contents –
A table of contents is essential to any report more than a few pages long. It should list the
divisions and subdivisions of the report with page references.
Summary –
• The summary, also known as the executive summary, briefly explains why the research
project was conducted, what aspects of the problem were considered, what the outcome
was, and what should be done.
• It is a vital part of the report. Studies have indicated that nearly all managers read a
report’s summary, while only a minority read the rest of the report.
Body - The body constitutes the bulk of the report.
Introduction Section –
The part of the body of a research report that discusses the background information and the
specific objectives of the research.
Research Methodology –
The part of the body of a report that presents the findings of the project. It includes tables,
charts, and an organized narrative.
This part of the report should address four topics:
1. Research design. Was the study exploratory, descriptive, or causal? Did the data come
from primary or secondary sources? Were results collected by survey, observation, or
experiment? A copy of the survey questionnaire or observation form should be included
in the appendix. Why was this particular design suited to the study?
2. Sample design. What was the target population? What sampling frame was used? What
sample units were used? How were they selected? How large was the sample? What was
the response rate? Detailed computations to support these explanations should be saved
for the appendix.
3. Data collection and fieldwork. How many and what types of fieldworkers were used?
What training and supervision did they receive? Was the work verified?
4. Analysis. This section should outline the general statistical methods used in the study, but
the information presented here should not overlap with what is presented in the results
section.
Results Section –
The part of the body of a report that presents the findings of the project. It includes tables,
charts, and an organized narrative. The results should be organized around the research
objectives, providing an answer to the research questions. Because no research is perfect, its
limitations should be indicated. However, the discussion of limitations should avoid
overemphasizing the weaknesses; its aim should be to provide a realistic basis for assessing
the results.
Conclusions and Recommendations –
The part of the body of a report that provides opinions based on the results and suggestions
for action. The conclusions and recommendations should be presented in this section in more
detail than in the summary, and the text should include justification as needed.
Appendix –
Any material that is too technical or too detailed to go in the body should appear in the
appendix. This includes materials of interest only to some readers or subsidiary materials not
directly related to the objectives. Some examples of appendix materials are comprehensive
discussions of the research methodology, data collection forms, detailed calculations,
discussions of highly technical questions, detailed or comprehensive tables of results, and a
bibliography.
Basic Business Research Report –
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Background
a. Literature review
b. Hypotheses
4. Research methods
5. Results
6. Discussion
a. Implications
b. Limitations
c. Future research
7. Conclusions
8. References
9. Appendices
 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without
consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full
acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or
electronic form, is covered under this definition.
Forms of Plagiarism
1. Verbatim (word-for-word) quotation without clear acknowledgement - Quotations
must always be identified as such by the use of either quotation marks or indentation,
and with full referencing of the sources cited.
2. Cutting and pasting from the Internet without clear acknowledgement -
3. Paraphrasing - Paraphrasing the work of others by altering a few words and changing
their order, or by closely following the structure of their argument.
4. Collusion – an unauthorized collaboration between students.
5. Inaccurate citation – It is important to cite accordingly to the conventions of the
respective discipline.
6. Failure to acknowledge assistance – One must clearly acknowledge all assistance
which has contributed to the production of the said work, such as advice from fellow
students, laboratory technicians, and other external sources.
7. Use of material written by professional agencies or other persons
8. Auto-plagiarism – One must not submit any work which has been already submitted
either partial or in full, if the earlier work is citable, i.e. it has already been published,
one must reference it clearly.
Types of Plagiarism
1. Direct Plagiarism
Direct plagiarism is the word-for-word transcription of a section of someone else’s work,
without attribution and without quotation marks. The deliberate plagiarism of someone
else's work is unethical.
2. Self-Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism occurs when one submits his or her own previous work, or mixes parts of
previous works, without permission.
3. Mosaic Plagiarism
Mosaic Plagiarism occurs when one borrows phrases from a source without using
quotation marks, or finds synonyms for the author’s language while keeping to the same
general structure and meaning of the original. It is also called “patchwriting”.
4. Accidental Plagiarism
Accidental plagiarism occurs when a person neglects to cite their sources, misquotes their
sources, or unintentionally paraphrases a source by using similar words, groups of words,
and/or sentence structure without attribution.