Research Methodology

Research Methodology
KNOWLEDGE
 Non-Empirical:
 Authority,
 Logic
 Empirical:
 Scientific: Techniques or procedures used to analyse

empirical evidence in an attempt to confirm or
disprove prior conceptions.
Business Research
 The systematic & objective process of gathering, recording &
analysing data for aid in making business decisions.
 Scope: The purpose of business research is to fulfil the need for

knowledge of the organization, market, economy or any other
area of uncertainty.
 Limitations: ?????
 Basic research: Research that is intended to
expand the boundaries of knowledge itself or to
verify the acceptability of given theory e.g. hope as
buying behaviour
 Applied research: Research undertaken to answer

questions about specific problems or to make
decisions about a particular course of action or
policy decisions.
Ladder of Abstraction
 Concept: A generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes,
occurrences or processes. (An abstraction of reality).
 Reality (Empirical level)

 Concepts (Abstract level)
Propositions & Hypothesis
 Proposition: A statement which gives a relationship between
concepts.
 Hypothesis: An unproven proposition or supposition that

tentatively explains certain facts or phenomena (A proposition
that is empirically testable).
 Proposition: Trained employees give better
productivity.
 Hypothesis: The employees who attended XYZ
sales training program have increased their
conversion rate.
Types of business research
• Exploratory: Initial research conducted to clarify & define
the nature of a problem.
• Descriptive: Research designed to describe the
characteristics of a population or a phenomenon.
• Causal: Research conducted to identify cause and effect
relationships when the research problem has already been
narrowly defined.
Terminology used in
business research
• Variables (Dependent/Independent)
• Data/Information
• Sampling
• Pilot study
• Survey
• Forward/Backward linkage
• Unit of analysis
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
• Experience survey
• Secondary data analysis
• Case studies
• Pilot Studies
 Projective techniques
 Focus group interview
 Depth interview
Projective Techniques
• Word association test
• Sentence completion
• Third Person & Role playing
• TAT (THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST)
RESEARCH PROCESS
 RESEARCH DESIGN: A master plan
specifying the methods and procedures for
collecting and analysing the needed information.
 The four methods for collecting data for
descriptive & casual research are:
• Surveys
• Observation
• Secondary data studies
• Experiments
Surveys
• Cross-sectional research design
• Longitudinal design
• Panel studies
Survey Methods
• Personal interviews
 Door to Door
 Mall intercept
• Telephonic interviews
• Self administrative questionnaires
 Mail
 Internet
Survey errors
• Random sampling error
• Systematic error
Systematic errors
• Administrative errors
 Data processing
 Sample selection
 Interviewer error
 Interviewer cheating
Systematic errors
Respondent error
Non response
Response error:
1. Extremity bias
2. Acquiescence bias
3. Interviewer bias
4. Auspices bias
5. Social desirability bias
Experimental research
• A research method in which conditions are controlled
so that one or more variables can be manipulated in
order to test the hypothesis.
• Experimental research method allows the evaluation of

casual relationship among variables.
• It can be done in laboratory or on field.

Basic elements of
experimental research
 Manipulation of the independent variable
• Independent variables
• Experimental & control group
• Multiple experimental treatment
 Selection & measurement of dependent variables

 Selection & assignment of test units
• Test units
• Randomization
• Matching
• Sampling errors
 Control over extraneous variables
• Constant error
• Experimenter bias
• Extraneous variables
Establishing control
• Constancy
• Presentation order
• Counterbalancing
• Blinding/double blind
Validity
• Internal: It indicates whether the independent variable was
the sole cause of the change in the dependent variable.
• External: It indicates the extent to which the results of the

experiment are applicable in the real world.
Extraneous variables that effect the
internal validity of the experiment
• History effect
• Maturation
• Testing
• Instrumentation
• Selection
• Mortality
Experimental designs
 X – exposure of a group to an experiment.
 O – Observation or measurement of dependent
variable.
 O, O2, O3, O4.....if more than 1 observation is taken.
 R – Random assignment of the subjects to
experiment groups.
Quasi-experimental design
On-shot design (After-only design)
X O1
One-group Pretest - posttest design or
Before-and-after without control design
O1 X O2
Result/effect = O2 - O1
Static group design
Experimental group: X O1
Control group: O2
Result/effect = O1-O2
True experimental design
Before-after with contol group or
Pretest-posttest control group
Experimental group: R O1 X O2
Control group: R O3 O4
Result/effect=(O2-O1)-(O4-O3)
Posttest-only control group design or
After-only with control design
Experimental group: R X O1
Control group: R O2
Result/effect = O2-O1
Solomon four group design

Experimental group 1: R O1 X O2
Control group 1: R O3 O4
Experimental group 2: R X O5 Control
group 2: R O6
Other designs
 Compromise design
 Time series design
O1 O2 O3 X O4 O5 O6
Complex/statistical research designs
 Complete Randomized Design
 Randomized Block Design
 Latin Square Design
 Factorial Design
Complete Randomized Design
 An experimental design that uses a random process
to assign experimental units to treatment in order to
investigate the effects of a single independent
variable.
 Example: Incentives for mail survey.
Measurement scales
 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ration
Attitude Rating Scales
 Simple
 Category
 Likert
 Constant Sum
 Numerical
 Semantic Differential
 Stapel
 Graphic rating

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Research Methodology

 Scientific: Techniques or procedures used to analyse

 Scope: The purpose of business research is to fulfil the need for

 Applied research: Research undertaken to answer

 Reality (Empirical level)

 Hypothesis: An unproven proposition or supposition that

• Experimental research method allows the evaluation of

• It can be done in laboratory or on field.

 Selection & measurement of dependent variables

• External: It indicates the extent to which the results of the

On-shot design (After-only design)

Solomon four group design

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