Chapter One
Introduction to Research
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Basic Concepts of Research
What is Research?
• The term ‘Research’ consists of two words:
➢Research = Re + Search
▪ ‘Re’ means again, and
▪ ‘Search’ means to examine closely and carefully, to test
and try, or to probe.
✓ To find out some thing new.
• “a careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new
facts in any branch of knowledge”. Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of Current English
• Research deals with curiosity (the desire to know about
something new).
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Concepts of Research…
▪ We are curious to know about ourselves, our institutions, our
environment, our planet, other planets and the universe.
▪ Some of the Questions that may come to our minds:
▪ How do problems arise?
▪ Why does the performance of similar organizations vary?
▪ What are causes of various business problems?
▪ Etc.
▪ Whenever questions arise we seek answers to them.
▪ Whenever we encounter problems, we try to find solutions to
them.
▪ This effort of seeking answers and solutions to various questions
and problems is as old as human civilization.
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Concepts of Research…
➢ A systematic search for an answer to a question or a solution to
a problem is called research.
o It is a purposive investigation.
o It is an organized inquiry.
❖ Business research is a process of planning, acquiring,
analyzing and disseminating relevant data, information and
insights to decision makers in ways that mobilize the
organization to take appropriate actions that, in turn, maximize
performance.
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Objectives of Research?
➢ obtain answers to questions through the application of scientific
procedures.
➢ used in situations of uncertainty, that is, when decision-makers
face two or more courses of action and seek to select the best
alternative under the circumstances.
➢ improve the quality of decision-making which, in turn, benefits
the organization and helps ensure its continuity and efficiency.
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Characteristics of Good Research
• Controlled: should minimize the effects of other factors
affecting relationship.
• Rigorous: must ensure that the procedures used are relevant,
appropriate and justified.
• Systematic: the procedure adopted follows clear logical sequence.
• Valid and verifiable: conclusions need to be correct and be
verified by you and others.
• Empirical: any conclusions drawn are based upon evidence
obtained from data gathered by well-designed tools.
• Critical: The methods employed and procedures used should be
critically scrutinized. The process must be foolproof and free from
any drawbacks
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The Building Blocks of Scientific Research
❖ Deduction vs. Induction
➢ Answers to research questions can be found either through the
process of deduction or the process of induction, or by a
combination of the two.
a. Deduction: is the process arriving at a reasoned conclusion
by logical generalization of a known fact.
➢ i.e., the conclusion must necessarily follow from the
reasons (premises) given.
▪ Move from more general to more specific.
➢ Man is mortal….. (premise 1)
➢ John is a man……(premise 2)
➢ John is mortal…(conclusion)
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Deduction vs. Induction…
b. Induction: is a process where we observe certain phenomena
and on this basis arrive at conclusions.
➢ It moves from specific observation to a broader
generalization.
➢ In other words, in induction we draw conclusion from one or
more facts or pieces of evidence.
➢ The conclusion explains facts, and the facts support the
conclusion.
➢ Research here is used to:
a. Determine the nature of the evidence needed to confirm or
reject hypothesis, and
b. Design methods by which to discover and measure this
evidence.
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Methods Versus Methodology
▪ often literatures use this terms interchangeably.
➢ Research Methods: can be understood as all those
approaches and techniques that are used in conducting a
particular research.
➢ Examples of research methods are:
▪ Making observations,
▪ Other instruments
▪ Recording data,
▪ Techniques of processing data and the like
• In general,
Research method refers to the techniques researchers use in
performing research operations.
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Methods Versus Methodology…
➢ Methodology refers to a science of studying how research is
done scientifically.
• It explains the various steps that are generally adopted by a
researcher in studying his research problem along with the
logic behind them.
▪ The researcher not only needs to know
o how to develop certain indices or
o how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the
standard deviation or chi-square or
o how to apply particular research techniques,
• But s/he also needs to understand the assumptions underlying
various techniques.
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Motivations in Research
❖ What motivates people to undertake research?
➢ The driving forces for doing research may include the
following among others:
❖ Personal
• Desire to get a research degree along with its
consequential benefits (financial benefits and respect);
• Desire to face the challenges in solving various
problems; e.g., concern over practical problems initiates
research;
• Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some innovative
and creative work;
• Desire to be of service to society;
• Etc
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Motivations in Research…
❖ Organizational:
▪ Competition in business is increasing day to day.
✓ You need to know about your customers, products, industry
competition
▪ Dynamic business environments: those factors which affect
your business but are not under the control of managers
▪ Decision making: managers have more variables to consider in
every decision making.
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Types of Research
▪ There are several different types of research based on various
conditions.
▪ the most common bases for classification of research are:
a. Based on Application: Applied vs Basic research
i. Applied
• Focuses on a real-life problem or situation
• Concerned with the solution to particular problems.
• It is thus problem-oriented and action-directed.
• It is used to solve a current problem faced by the manager
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Types of Research…
ii. Basic research (fundamental, pure)
▪ Aims at developing a body of general knowledge for
the understanding of human social behaviour by means
of a combination of empirical inquiry and application of
theory.
▪ Involves developing and testing theories and
hypothesis that are intellectually challenging to the
researcher but may not have practical application at the
present time.
▪ is aimed at investigating or search for new principles
and laws
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Types of Research…
b. Based on Purpose of the study
i. Descriptive Research: attempts to describe systematically a
situation, problem, phenomenon, service or program.
➢ provides information about, say, living condition of
community,
➢ describes attitudes towards an issue.
➢ More concerned with facts.
ii. Explanatory Research: attempts to clarify why and how there
is a relationship between two or more aspects of a
situation or phenomenon.
➢ It involves theory testing or elaboration of a theory.
➢ Used mostly in basic research but also common in applied
research.
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Types of Research…
iii. Exploratory Research: is undertaken to explore an area where
little is known;
➢ to investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular
research study.
➢ is primarily used to:
• generate some initial idea about the phenomenon.
• develop tentative theories and inference.
• become familiar with the basic facts, people and concerns
involved.
• formulate questions and refine issues for future research.
• Usually qualitative research
In practice most studies are a combination of the first two
categories in terms of objectives.
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Types of Research…
c. Based on Type of Data
i. Quantitative Research: is applicable to phenomena that are
measurable so that they can be expressed in terms of
quantity.
ii. Qualitative Research: is concerned with qualitative
phenomenon.
➢ When research is designed to find out how people feel or
what they think about a particular subject, it’s a
qualitative research.
➢ It is important in the behavioral sciences where the aim is
to discover the underlying motives of human behavior.
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Types of Research…
D. Based on the Environment
i. Field research: is a research carried out in a field.
➢ common in social science, agricultural science, history and
archaeology.
ii. Laboratory research: is a research carried out in a laboratory.
This is commonly experimental research.
➢ These are common in medical science, agriculture and in
general in natural sciences.
[Link] research: Such research uses models to represent
the real world.
➢ Simulation is common in physical science, economics and
mathematics.
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Types of Research…
E. Based on the Time Required
i. Cross-sectional: It is a research limited to a single
time period.
➢ Defined starting and ending time.
➢ E.g., Master’s/PhD thesis
ii. Longitudinal research: is also known as on-going
research. It is a research carried out over several
time periods.
➢ The Living Conditions of a Particular community
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Scope of Business Research
• Business research covers several areas of business and/or
management which include, among others:
❖ Marketing – Demand, Supply, Sales, Consumer Behaviour,
Advertising, etc.
❖ Finance - Working Capital, Fixed Assets, Financial Position,
Stock & Commodity Mkt., Share and Debentures, Budgeting,
etc.
❖ Production & Material Control – Volume, Quality, Fashion,
Inventory, Purchase, Storage, Cost Analysis, etc.
❖ Banking - Loans and advance, NPA, assets, liability, financial
inclusion, interest rates, deposits, etc.
❖ Human Resource – Recruitment, Selection, Performance
Appraisals, Employee turnover, Training and Development,
Wage rate system, etc.
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Ethics in Business Research
• Ethics – ‘that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating
to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and
wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness
of the motives and ends of such actions.’
➢ How should we treat the individuals who participate in our
research?
➢ Are there activities in which we should not engage?
➢ What are the professional standards of behaviour?
• Ethical dilemmas are more likely to arise out of qualitative
research than in quantitative survey research.
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Ethics…
❖ Ethical consideration in research:
• Voluntary – research disrupts respondent’s normal activity,
it should be on the basis of informed consent,
• Non-malfeasance – researchers should avoid harming
participants
• Beneficence – research on human participants should
produce some identifiable, positive benefit, not just be
carried out for its own sake
• Autonomy/self-determination – participants’ values and
decisions should be respected
• Justice – all people should be treated equally
• Anonymity – Respondent not identified in any way.
• Confidentiality – Information is confidential. Is this always
possible?
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End of Chapter
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