Introduction to

research methods
Dr. Nguyen Thi Vinh Tran
Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
▪ Define the nature of research
▪ Outline the features of a research
▪ Understand the stages of research process
▪ Recognise the purpose, structure of research
▪ Understand the different types of research
▪ Explain the importance of research
▪ Determine factors that affect research
 What is research?
▪ Re means once more, afresh, anew or
back; with return to a previous state.
▪ Search means look through or go over
thoroughly to look something or
examine to find anything concealed.
▪ Research is a careful and detailed
study into a specific problem, concern,
or issue using the scientific method.
▪ Research is an organized and
systematic way of finding answers to
the questions.
Please provide words and terms related to RESEARCH
 Scientific research

contributes to follows the

a body of science scientific method
What is science?
Science refers to a systematic and organized body of knowledge in any area of
inquiry that is acquired using “the scientific method”.

Natural science is the science of naturally occurring objects or phenomena, such as

light, objects, matter, earth, celestial bodies, or the human body. Natural sciences can
be further classified into physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, and others.

Social science is the science of people or collections of people, such as groups, firms,
societies, or economies, and their individual or collective behaviors. Social sciences can
be classified into disciplines such as psychology (the science of human behaviors),
sociology (the science of social groups), and economics (the science of firms, markets,
and economies).
Purpose of science: to create scientific knowledge

Scientific knowledge refers to a generalized body of laws and theories to

explain a phenomenon or behavior of interest that are acquired using the
scientific method.

Laws are observed patterns of phenomena or behaviors, while theories

are systematic explanations of the underlying phenomenon or behavior.
Definition of research
A process that is undertaken in a systematic way with a clear purpose, to find things
out. Two phrases are important in this definition: ‘systematic way’ and ‘to find out
things’.

▪ ‘Systematic way’ suggests that research is based on logical relationships and not just
beliefs (Ghauri et al. 2020). It will involve an explanation of the method or methods
used to collect the data, will argue why the results obtained are meaningful and will
explain any limitations that are associated with them.

▪ ‘To find out things’ suggests there are a multiplicity of possible purposes for your
research. Purposes are often stated as describing, explaining, understanding,
criticising and analysing (Ghauri et al. 2020). Crucially, it also emphasises you have
a clear purpose or set of ‘things’ that you want to find out, such as the answer to a
question or number of questions or the solution to a problem.
 is a systematic, controlled, empirical
and critical investigation of hypothetical
proposition about the presumed
the search for knowledge relations among natural phenomena
or any systematic
investigation to establish
facts

systematic, scientific and careful enquiry or

examination to discover new information about
something or establish new relationship between
things, or to expand or verify existing knowledge
for some specific purpose
Research – Systematic process
▪ Planning a research method
▪ Collecting data
▪ Explaining the data
▪ Report the findings/results
The cycle of research
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a standardized set of techniques for building scientific
knowledge, such as how to make valid observations, how to interpret results, and how to
generalize those results. The scientific method allows researchers to independently and
impartially test preexisting theories and prior findings, and subject them to open debate,
modifications, or enhancements.

The scientific method must satisfy:

▪ Logical: Scientific inferences must be based on logical principles of reasoning.
▪ Confirmable: Inferences derived must match with observed evidence.
▪ Repeatable: Other scientists should be able to independently replicate or repeat a
scientific study and obtain similar, if not identical, results.
▪ Scrutinizable: The procedures used and the inferences derived must withstand critical
scrutiny (peer review) by other scientists.
What are characteristics
of research?
Characteristics of research
▪ The purpose, to find out things, is stated clearly.
▪ The data are collected systematically.
▪ The data are interpreted systematically.
Characteristics of research
▪ It is a systematic and critical investigation into a phenomenon.
▪ It adopts scientific method.
▪ It is objective and logical.
▪ It is based on empirical evidence.
▪ It is directed towards finding answers to questions and solutions to
problems.
▪ It is not mere compilation of facts.
▪ It emphasizes the generalization of theories and principles.
Objective of research

▪ To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights

into it.
▪ To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual
situation or a group.
▪ To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else.
▪ To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.
Research motivation

What makes people undertake research?

▪ Desire to get a research degree along with its benefits.
▪ Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problem.
▪ Desire to get intellectual joy from doing some creative work.
▪ Desire to be of service to society.
▪ Desire to get respectability.

Many more factors such as directives of government, employment conditions, curiosity

about new things, desire to understand causal relationships, social thinking and
awakening, and the like may as well motivate people to perform research operations.
Why do we conduct a research?
Why research?
▪ To add to the body of knowledge
▪ To solve a problem
▪ To find out what happens
▪ To find evidence to inform practice
▪ To develop a greater understanding of people or their world
▪ A new or improved product
▪ A new theory
▪ A re-interpretation of an existing theory
Outcomes of research
▪ New or improved research tool or technique
▪ A new or improved model or perspective
▪ An in-depth study of a particular situation
▪ An exploration of a topic, area or field
▪ A critical analysis
▪ Unanticipated outcomes
Research process
Research classification
Types of research
▪ Descriptive vs Explanatory research
▪ Applied vs Fundamental
▪ Quantitative vs Qualitative
▪ Conceptual vs Empirical
▪ Some other types of research
 Types of research Descriptions
Descriptive vs Explanatory research Descriptive: Attempts to determine, describe things.
Explanatory: Seeks explanations of observed phenomena,
problems, or behaviors.
Quantitative vs Qualitative research Quantitative: Based on numbers
Qualitative: Based on opinion and experience.

Conceptual vs Empirical research Conceptual: based on theorizing and synthesizing ideas and
concepts without direct observation or experimentation.
Empirical: based on direct observation, experimentation, and
the collection of measurable evidence.

Applied vs Fundamental research Applied: Discovering solution for some practical knowledge .
Fundamental: Directed towards finding information that has
broad base of applications.
Descriptive vs Explanatory research
Descriptive research is directed at making careful observations and detailed
documentation of a phenomenon of interest. These observations must be based on the
scientific method (i.e., must be replicable, precise, etc.), and therefore, are more reliable
than casual observations by untrained people.

Explanatory research seeks explanations of observed phenomena, problems, or

behaviors. While descriptive research examines the what, where, and when of a
phenomenon, explanatory research seeks answers to why and how types of questions.
It attempts to “connect the dots” in research, by identifying causal factors and outcomes
of the target phenomenon.
Applied vs Fundamental/Basic research

Fundamental research is the research which is generally conducted to develop some new
theories. It mainly focuses on generalizations and formulation of a theory. One of the example
of basic research include research studies that are concerned with human behavior. Basic
research is called as pure research because it attempts to study various theoretical concepts and
details relating to various aspects in pure sciences and to a dependable extent in social
sciences.
Applied research is the research which is generally conducted to solve the problem of the
organization setting. Applied research is deductive in nature that means it keeps some theories
as its base while conducting research so as to generate some solutions.
 Applied Research Fundamental Research
Applied research is a research which is generally
Fundamental research is the research which is
conducted to solve the problem of the organization
generally conducted to develop some new theories.
setting.
Fundamental research is concerned with the
Applied research is more concerned with knowledge that development, examination, verification and
has immediate application and would be useful in making refinement of research methods, procedures,
decisions and formulating policies. techniques and tools that form the body of research
methodology.
Applied research is deductive in nature that means it
Fundamental research is inductive in nature that
keeps some theories as its base while conducting
means it comes with new theory discoveries.
research.
Fundamental research is also called basic research
Applied research is also called action research.
or pure research.

Applied research is quantitative in nature. The managers Fundamental research is qualitative in nature. The
generally carry out applied research works and it is used professors generally carry out fundamental research
in day to day life. and it is used for future benefits.
Work in pairs
Please compare:
1. Fundamental/basic research and applied
research
2. Descriptive research and explanatory
research
3. Descriptive and causal research
4. Explanatory and causal research
Characteristics:
Scientific method
▪ Replicability - Tính lặp lại
Scientific method refers to a
▪ Precision - Tính chính xác standardized set of techniques for
▪ Falsifiability - Tính phản nghiệm building scientific knowledge, such
as how to make valid observations,
▪ Parsimony - Tính tối giản how to interpret results, and how to
generalize those results. The
scientific method allows
researchers to independently and
impartially test preexisting theories
and prior findings, and subject them
to open debate, modifications, or
enhancements.
 Tính lặp lại (Replicability): Những người nghiên cứu khác có thể độc lập thực hiện lại các nghiên cứu khoa
học với cùng phương pháp và đạt được kết quả giống nhau hoặc tương tự.
Tính chính xác (Precision): Các khái niệm lý thuyết phải được định nghĩa chính xác để những người khác
có thể sử dụng những định nghĩa đó để đo lường khái niệm và kiểm nghiệm lý
thuyết.
Tính phản nghiệm (Falsifiability): Một lý thuyết phải được trình bày theo cách mà nó có thể bị bác bỏ. Lý thuyết
mà không thể kiểm nghiệm được hoặc không thể bị bác bỏ thì không phải là lý
thuyết khoa học; bất kỳ tri thức nào tạo ra như vậy đều không phải là tri thức
khoa học. Một lý thuyết xây dựng trên các thuật ngữ mơ hồ hoặc các khái niệm
không chính xác, không kiểm nghiệm được thì không phải là lý thuyết khoa
học.
Tính tối giản (Parsimony): Khi có nhiều giải thích về một hiện tượng, các nhà khoa học chỉ luôn chấp nhận
lời giải thích đơn giản nhất hoặc logic hợp lý nhất. Khái niệm này là gọi là tính
tối giản hoặc “nguyên lý dao cạo Ockham” (nguyên lý Ockham‟s razor). Tiêu
chuẩn tối giản giúp hạn chế việc các nhà khoa học theo đuổi các lý thuyết quá
phức tạp hoặc kỳ dị với số lượng vô tận của các khái niệm và mối quan hệ chỉ
để giải thích một khía cạnh nhỏ của những vấn đề không có gì đặc biệt.
Factors affecting research

Time

Resources

Information quality

Expense
Homework

▪ Please describe the content and steps

of business research in decision
making.
▪ Please describe the factors affecting
business research.
▪ Please describe characteristics of a
good research.