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Research Methodology

The document discusses various concepts related to research methodology including types of knowledge, business research, basic and applied research, variables, hypotheses, research design, data collection methods, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, and measurement scales. It provides definitions and examples of key terminology used in conducting business research.

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pankgupta2
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26 views

Research Methodology

The document discusses various concepts related to research methodology including types of knowledge, business research, basic and applied research, variables, hypotheses, research design, data collection methods, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, and measurement scales. It provides definitions and examples of key terminology used in conducting business research.

Uploaded by

pankgupta2
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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
Quasi-experimental design
One-group Pretest - posttest design or
Before-and-after without control design

O1 X O2

Result/effect = O2 - O1
Quasi-experimental design
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)
True experimental design
Posttest-only control group design or
After-only with control design
Experimental group: R X O1
Control group: R O2

Result/effect = O2-O1
True experimental design

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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