1 Define business research and describe its task.

We can define business research as an organized, systematic, data-based, critical, objective,

inquiry or investigation into a specific problem, undertaken with the purpose of finding answers
or solutions to it. Research also provides the necessary information that guide managers to
make informed decisions to successfully deal with problems.

Types of business research:

1) Applied research: It belongs to solve the current problem faced by the manager in work
setting, demanding a timely solution.

2) Fundamental research: This belongs to generate a body of knowledge by trying to

comprehend how certain problems that occur in organizations can be solved.

Tasks/Functions of business research:

Business research is the gathering of information to help a business leader make a decision
about the progress and path for the company. Executives look at an array of public information,
news stories and industry data as well as internal metrics to determine if product development,
marketing strategies and other growth avenues can succeed.

Business research takes historical data and existing reports, and then makes projections based
on designed strategies.

2 An automobile manufacturer is conducting research in an attempt to predict the type of

car design consumers will desire in the year 2020. Is this basic or applied research?
Explain.

It is fundamental/basic research because in applied research you have to do timely research on

current situations. Fundamental research has the scientific research aim to improve scientific
theories for improved understanding or prediction of natural or other phenomena.

3 Is it possible to make sound managerial decisions without business research? What

advantages does research offer to the decision maker over seat-of-the-pants decision
making?
 No, it is not possible to make sound managerial decisions consistently without business
research.

It might be possible that one or two decisions might go well even without research but
consistently achieving that is not possible. The managers cannot go on their hunch or belief
and assumptions to make key decisions. The decisions need to be made on scientific evidence
and information collected.

4 What is the difference between data, information, and intelligence?

Increased global competition and technological advances in interactive media have spurred
development of global information systems. A global information system is an organized
collection of computer hardware, software, data, and personnel designed to capture, store,
update, manipulate, analyze, and immediately display information about worldwide business
activity.

From a research perspective, there is a difference between data, information, and intelligence.

Data are simply facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena (things);

Information is data formatted (structured) to support decision making or define the

relationship between two facts.

Business intelligence is the subset of data and information that actually has some explanatory
power enabling effective decisions to be made

5 What are the characteristics of useful information?

Relevance is the characteristics of data reflecting how pertinent these particular facts are to the
situation at hand.

Data quality is the degree to which data represent the true situation. High-quality data are
accurate, valid, and reliable, issues we discuss in detail in later chapters.

Timeliness means that the data are current enough to still be relevant.

Information completeness refers to having the right amount of information. Managers must
have sufficient information about all aspects of their decisions.
6 What is the key question distinguishing relevant data from irrelevant data?

Relevance is the characteristics of data reflecting how pertinent these particular facts are to the
situation at hand. Put another way, the facts are logically connected to the situation.
Unfortunately, irrelevant data and information often creep into decision making. One
particularly useful way to distinguish relevance from irrelevance is to think about how things
change. Relevant data are facts about things that can be changed, and if they are changed, it
will materially alter the situation. So, this simple question becomes important:

Will a change in the data coincide with a change in some important outcome?

American consumers’ dietary trends are relevant to Krispy Kreme. If American diets become
more health-conscious, then the sales of doughnuts can be affected. This may lead Krispy
Kreme to rethink its product offering. However, information on French consumers’ wine
preferences is probably irrelevant since it is difficult to think how a change in French wine
preferences will affect U.S. doughnut preferences.

7 Define knowledge management. What is its purpose within an organization?

Knowledge management is the conscious process of defining, structuring, retaining and sharing
the knowledge and experience of employees within an organization. The main goal of
knowledge management is to improve an organization's efficiency and save knowledge within
the company.

8 How do propositions and hypotheses differ?

Propositions are statements concerned with the relationships among concepts. They explain the
logical linkage among certain concepts by asserting a universal connection between concepts.

A hypothesis is a formal statement explaining some outcome. In its simplest form, a hypothesis
is a guess. A hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable. So when stating a
hypothesis, it should be written in a manner that can be supported or shown to be wrong through
an empirical test.

9 The seventeenth-century Dutch philosopher Benedict Spinoza said, “If the facts conflict
with a theory, either the theory must be changed or the facts.” What is the practical
meaning of this statement?
 The two purposes of the theory are understanding and predicting. Thus a theory enables us to
predict the behavior or characteristics of one phenomenon from the knowledge of another
phenomenon.

To predict phenomena, we must have an explanation of why variables behave as they do.

Theories provide these explanations. In most scientific situations there are alternative theories
to explain certain phenomena. To determine which the better theory is, researchers make
observations or gather empirical data to verify the theories. If the facts conflict with a theory,
most students will likely say that the theory must be changed because we cannot change facts.

While that may be true, some “facts” are actually more abstract than others, and how we
operationalize our variables, which is the process of identifying the actual measurement scales
to assess the variables of interest, might need to be changed. This is especially true in behavioral
sciences because the “facts” are not as concrete as those used to test theories in the physical
sciences.

10 Compare and contrast deductive logic with inductive logic. Give an example of both

Deductive reasoning is the logical process of deriving a conclusion about a specific instance
based on a known general premise or something known to be true. For example, we know that
if heat is applied to water, the temperature of the water will increase. If we know a specific
fluid is water, then applying heat to it will cause its temperature to increase.

Inductive reasoning is the logical process of establishing a general proposition on the basis of
observation of particular facts. For example, every time we applied heat to water, the
temperature of the water increased, so applying heat to water will increase the temperature of
the water.

11 Describe the type of research evidence that allows one to infer causality.

The critical pieces of causal evidence are:

(1) temporal sequence,

(2) concomitant variation, and

(3) Nonspurious associations.

 Temporal sequence deals with the time order of events. Thus, having an appropriate causal
order of events is one criterion for causality (i.e., the cause must occur before the effect).
Concomitant variation occurs when two events “covary,” meaning that they vary
systematically. In causal terms, it means that when a change in the cause occurs, a change in
the outcome also is observed.

Nonspurious association means any co-variation between a cause an effect is true and not
simply due to some other variable. Often, a causal inference cannot be made even though the
other two conditions exist because both the cause and effect have some common cause; that is,
both may be influenced by a third variable.

12 Describe the Stages of the Research Process. Why is the “define research objectives” of
the research process probably the most important stage?

The stages in the research process,

(1) definition research objectives,

(2) planning a research design,

(3) planning a sample,

(4) collecting the data,

(5) analyzing the data, and

(6) Formulating the conclusions and preparing the report, illustrate that a scientific process is
occurring.

Research objectives are the goals to be achieved by conducting research. The genesis of the
research objectives lies in the type of decision situation faced. In research, the adage “a problem
well defined is a problem half solved” is worth remembering. This adage emphasizes that an
orderly definition of the research problem lends a sense of direction to the investigation.

Defining the decision situation must precede the research objectives. The best place to begin a
research project is at the end. Knowing what is to be accomplished determines the research
process. An error or omission in problem objectives is likely to be a costly mistake that cannot
be corrected in later stages of the process
13 What are the three types of business research? Indicate which type each item in the list
below illustrates. Explain your answers.

The three types of business research are exploratory, descriptive, and causal. Exploratory
research is conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential
business opportunities. Descriptive research describes characteristics of objects, people,
groups, organizations, or environments. Causal research allows causal inferences to be made.
a. Establishing the relationship between advertising and sales in the beer industry

Causal research. Establishing the functional relationship between advertising and sales is the
project’s goal. It attempts to predict what would happen to sales if a change in advertising
occurred. After the causal variable is manipulated, the researcher observes the effect on sales.
b. Ranking the key factors new college graduates are seeking in their first career position

Descriptive Research. This study identifies and prioritizes these key factors.
c. Estimating the 5-year sales potential for Cat-Scan machines in the Ark-La-Tex
(Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas) region of the United States

Descriptive Research. This research attempts to describe a market size

d. Testing the effect of “casual day” on employee job satisfaction

Causal research. This research can “manipulate” the employee dress code and compare job
satisfaction for a group that is given “causal day” privileges to that of a group not given this
privilege.
e. Discovering the ways that people who live in apartments actually use vacuum cleaners,
and identifying cleaning tasks for which they do not use a vacuum

Exploratory research. This research is attempting to learn more about how consumers use
these types of products and perform cleaning tasks.

14 What are the conditions that make in-house research preferable? What are the conditions
that make outside research preferable?
 Outside agency: An independent research firm contracted by the company that actually will
benefit from the research.

In-house research: Research performed by employees of the company that will benefit from
the research.

15 What is a conflict of interest in a research context? How can such conflicts of interest be
avoided?

A conflict of interest occurs when a researcher is faced with doing something to benefit one
client at the expense of another client. One good way to avoid a conflict of interest is to avoid
getting involved with multiple projects involving competing firms.

16 What obligations does a researcher have with respect to confidentiality?

Confidentiality comes into play in several ways. The researcher often is obligated to protect
the confidentiality of both the research sponsor and the research participant. In fact, business
clients value researchers’ confidentiality more than any other attribute of a research firm.13
Imagine a researcher conducting a test-market for a new high-tech Apple iPod device that
allows interactive video. Just after conducting the research, the same researcher is contacted
by Samsung. Samsung, which has yet to develop video capability, wants research that addresses
whether or not there is a market for iPod video of any type. The researcher is now in a difficult
position. Certainly, an ethical dilemma exists presenting multiple choices to the researcher,
including
  Agreeing to do the research for Samsung and using some results from the Apple study
to prepare a report and recommendation for Samsung
 Agreeing to sell the new concept to Samsung without doing any additional research. In
other words, provide Apple’s company secrets to Samsung
 Conducting an entirely new project for Samsung without revealing any of the results or
ideas from the Apple study
 Turning down the chance to do the study without revealing any information about
Apple to Samsung

17 What are the major components of a research proposal? How does a research proposal
assist the researcher?

The research proposal is a written statement of the research design. It always includes a
statement explaining the purpose of the study (in the form of research objectives or
deliverables) and a definition of the problem – often in the form of a decision statement. A
good proposal systematically outlines the particular research methodology and details
procedures that will be used during each stage of the research process. Normally a schedule of
costs and deadlines is included in the research proposal. The research proposal becomes the
primary communication document between the research doer and the research user. Ways the
proposal assists the researcher are that it is a planning tool and serves as a contract between the
researcher and client.

The research proposal is a written statement of the research design that will be followed in
addressing a specific problem. The research proposal allows managers to evaluate the details
of the proposed research and determine if alterations are needed. Most research proposals
include the following sections: decision description, purpose of the research including the
research objectives, research design, sample design, data gathering and/ or fieldwork
techniques, data processing and analysis, budget, and time schedule.

18 What are three types of gaps that exist, indicating that research may be needed to assist
a business in making some decision?

A problem occurs when there is a difference between the current conditions and a more
preferable set of conditions. That is, a gap exists between the way things are now and a way
that things could be better. The gap can come about in a number of ways:
  Business performance is worse than expected business performance.
 Actual business performance is less than possible business performance.
 Expected business performance is greater than possible business performance

19 Define qualitative and quantitative research. Compare and contrast the two approaches.

Quantitative research is expressed in numbers and graphs. It is used to test or confirm theories
and assumptions.

Qualitative research is expressed in words. It is used to understand concepts, thoughts or

experiences.

20 What are the key differences between a focus group interview and a depth interview?

Focus Groups are a group of interacting individuals, brought together by a moderator or

interviewer, who drives the group and its interaction to gain information about a specific
research topic.

While in-depth interviews are where the researcher interacts with respondents on an individual
level, one consumer at a time.