Definition of Business

research methodology
Business research is a systematic way to
collect information and get knowledge out of
it with a methodology so that the derived
knowledge can be used to make decisions.
 Research
• Research refers to a process where
activities are carried out systematically to
find solutions of the problem.
 Objectives of research
• The purpose of research is to discover
answer to questions through the
application of scientific procedures.
• The main aim of research is to find out the
truth which is hidden and which has not
been discovered as yet.
• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or
to achieve new insights into it.
• To represent 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.
 Types of research
• Descriptive Vs. Analytical:
• Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-
finding enquiries of different kinds.
• The major purpose of descriptive research is
description of the state of affairs as it exists at
present.
• In social science and business research we
quite often use the term Ex post facto research
for descriptive research studies.
• The main characteristic of this method is
that the researcher has no control over the
variables:
• Most ex post facto research projects are
used for descriptive studies in which the
researcher seeks to measure such items
as For example frequency of shopping,
preferences of people, or similar data.
• Ex post facto studies also include attempts
by researchers to discover causes even
when they cannot control the variables.
• The methods of research utilized in
descriptive research are survey methods
of all kinds, including comparative and
correlational methods.
• In analytical research, on the other hand,
the researcher has to use facts or
information already available, and analyze
these to make a critical evaluation of the
material.
 Applied Vs. Fundamental:
• Research can either be applied research
or fundamental research.
• Applied research aims at finding a solution
for an immediate problem facing a society
or an industrial/business organisation,
where as fundamental research is mainly
concerned with generalizations and with
the formulation of a theory.
• “Gathering knowledge for knowledge's sake is
termed ‘pure or basic research”.
• Research concerning some natural phenomenon
or relating to pure mathematics are examples of
fundamental research.
• Similarly, research studies, concerning human
behaviour carried on with a view to make
generalizations about human behaviour, are also
example of fundamental research.
• But research aimed at certain conclusions
facing a real social or business problem is
an example of applied research.
• Research to identify social, economic or
political trends that may affect a particular
institution or the copy research or the
marketing research or evaluation research
are examples of applied research.
• Thus, the central aim of applied research
is to discover a solution for some pressing
practical problem, where as basic
research is directed towards finding
information that has a broad base of
applications and thus, adds to the already
existing organized body of scientific
knowledge.
 Quantitative Vs. Qualitative:
• Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantity or amount.
• It is applicable to phenomena that can be
expressed in terms of quantity.
• Qualitative research, on the other hand, is
concerned with qualitative phenomenon
i.e. phenomena relating to or involving
quality or kind.
• For instance, when we are interested in
investigating the reasons for human
behavior we quite often talk of ‘Motivation
Research’, an important type of qualitative
research.
• This type of research aims at discovering
the underlying motives and desires, using
in depth interviews for the purpose.
• Other techniques of such research are
word association tests, sentence
completion test, story completion tests and
similar other projective techniques.
• Attitude or opinion research i.e., research
designed to find out how people feel or what
they think about a particular subject or institution
is also qualitative research.
• Qualitative research is specially important in the
behavioural sciences where the aim is to
discover the underlying motives of human
behaviour.
• Through such research we can analyze the
various factors which motivate people to behave
in a particular manner or which make people like
or dislike a particular thing.
• It may be stated, however, that to apply
qualitative research in practice is
relatively a difficult job and therefore, while
doing such research, one should seek
guidance from experimental psychologists.
 Conceptual vs Empirical
• Conceptual research is that related to
some abstract ideas or theory.
• It is generally used by philosophers and
thinkers to develop new concepts or to
reinterpret existing ones.
• On the other hand, empirical research
relies on experience or observation alone,
often without due regard for system and
theory.
• It is data-based research coming up with
conclusions which are capable of being
verified by observation or experiment.
• We can also call it as experimental type of
research.
• In such a research it is necessary to get at
facts firsthand, at their source, and actively
to go about doing certain things to
stimulate the production of desired
information.
• In such a research, the researcher must
first provide himself with a working
hypothesis or guess as to the probable
results.
• He then works to get enough facts to
prove or disprove his hypothesis. He then
sets up experimental designs which he
thinks will manipulate the persons or the
materials concerned so as to bring forth
the desired information.
• Such research is thus characterized by the
experimenter’s control over the variables under
study and his deliberate manipulation of one of
them to study its effects.
• Empirical research is appropriate when proof is
sought that certain variables affect other
variables in some way.
• Evidence gathered through experiments or
empirical studies is to day considered to be the
most powerful support possible for a given
hypothesis.
• Some other types of Research: All other
types of research are variations of one or more
of the above stated approaches, based on either
the purpose of research, or the time required to
accomplish research, on the environment in
which research is done, or on the basis of some
other similar factor.
• From the point of view of time, we can think or
research is confined to a single time-period,
where as in the latter case the research is
carried on over several time-periods.
• Research can be field-setting research or
laboratory research or simulation research,
depending upon the environment in which it is to
be carried out.
• Research can as well be understood as clinical
or diagnostic research.
• Such research follow case-study methods or in
depth approaches to reach the basic causal
relations.
• Such studies usually go deep into the causes of
things or events that interest us, using very small
samples and very deep probing data gathering
devices.
• The research may be exploratory or it may
be formalized.
• The objective of exploratory research is
the development of hypotheses rather
than their testing, where as formalized
research studies are those with which
utilizes historical sources like documents,
remains, etc.
• To study events or ideas of the past,
including the philosophy of persons and
groups at any remote point of time.
• Research can also be classified as conclusion-
oriented and decision-oriented.
• While doing conclusion-oriented research , a
researcher is free to pick up a problem, redesign
the enquiry as he proceeds and is prepared to
conceptualize as he wishes.
• Decision-oriented research is always for the
need of a decision maker and the researcher in
this case is not free to embark upon research
according to his own inclination.
• Operations research is an example of
decision oriented research since it is a
scientific method of providing executive
departments with a quantitative basis for
decision regarding operations under their
control.