Chapter 6 BRM Notes

Discussion Questions:
Q1: What are the basic research design issues? Describe them in some details
Basic research design issues are associated with the following:
• Decision about the purpose of the study (exploratory, descriptive,
hypothesis testing)
• Where the research will be conducted (i. e, study setting)
• The type of research that should be conducted (kind of investigation)
• The extent to which researchers manipulated and control research
(researcher interference level)
• The temporal aspects research (time horizon)
• The rate at which data will be analyzed (if the unit of analysis), is an
integral part of the research design
Q2: Why is it important to consider basic design issues before conducting the
study and even as early as at the time of formulating the research question?
Because the more complex and careful the research plan, the more time, money,
and effort you'll need for the study. In other words, doing high-quality research
can be more expensive and time-consuming.
Q3: Is a field study totally out of question if one is trying to establish cause-
and-effect relationship?
Yes, because a field study is like conducting research in the real world, often
within an organization. It helps us understand cause-and-effect relationships
because we directly observe incidents or problems happening in that real-life
environment. Field studies allow us to investigate and learn about how things
are connected in the actual situations we're studying.
Q4: “An exploratory study is just as useful as a causal study”. Discuss this
statement
An exploratory study is conducted when we have limited information about a
situation or how similar problems have been solved before. In such cases, we
need to do a lot of initial work to understand the situation before setting up a
detailed investigation. Exploratory studies help us gather essential information
and insights about a topic when we don't know much about it, making them just
as valuable as studies that aim to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
Q5: Why is the unit of analysis an integral part of the research design?
The unit of analysis is integral to research design because it shapes the entire
research process, from the formulation of questions to data collection, sample
size determination, and decide which variables to include in the research
framework.
Q6: Discussion the interrelationships among noncontrived setting. the purpose
of the study type of investigation, research interference and time horizon of
study.
The relationships among the setting, the study's purpose, the type of
investigation, researcher involvement, and the study's time frame are like pieces
of a puzzle. Understanding the context helps us set our research goals, which, in
turn, determine the type of research, how involved we need to be, and how long
the study will take. It's like putting the pieces together to plan our research
effectively.
Q7: Below are now scenarios. indicate how researcher should proceed in each
case that is, determine the following, giving reasons:
a. The purpose of the study
b. The extent of researcher interference
c. The study setting
d. Research strategy
e. The time horizon for the study
f. The unit of analysis
Scenario 1:
Purpose: To understand the causes of high turnover in a specific department,
including why skilled workers leave and why there are many novice workers.
Researcher interference: Maximum
Study setting: Contrived.
Research strategy: Survey research for qualitative data.
Time horizon: longitudinal, capturing trends over months to years.
Unit of analysis: Department-level employees/individual.
Scenario 2:
Purpose: Assess if incentive plans can improve underperforming restaurants'
efficiency and profit margins.
Interference: Moderate, actively designing and monitoring incentive plans.
Setting: Underperforming East Coast restaurants owned by Mr. Paul
Hodge/contrived.
Research Strategy: Experimental - implement incentives in some restaurants,
compare to control group.
Time Horizon: Longitudinal
Unit of Analysis: Organizational level

Scenario 3:
Purpose: To understand why some people find joy and energy in their work,
while others find it troublesome and frustrating.
Researcher interference: Minimal
Study setting: Various workplaces or organizations/non-contrived.
Research strategy: Quantitative surveys or questionnaire.
Time horizon: Cross-sectional.
Unit of analysis: Individual employees or workers and their work-related
experiences.

Solved Exercises:
Exercise 6.1
A foreman thinks that the low efficiency of the machine tool operators is
directly linked to the high level of fumes emitted in the workshop. He would
like to prove this to his supervisor through a research study.
1. Correlational study; it explores the relationship between fume levels and
operator efficiency.
2. Causal study; The foreman aims to prove a cause-and-effect relationship
between the high fume levels and low machine operator efficiency
3. Field study; it observes conditions in the actual workplace.
4. Unit of analysis; Individual machine tool operators or specific machines.
5. Cross-sectional study; it captures the current relationship between variables.
Exercise 6.2
You want to examine how exposure to thin or heavy models in advertisements
influences a person's self- esteem. You believe that the effect of exposure to
models in advertisements depends on the extremity of the model's thinness
or heaviness. Discuss the design decisions that you as a researcher will make
to investigate this issue, giving reasons for your choices.
1. Use an experimental design to establish cause-and-effect relationships
through field study.
2. Measure self-esteem with quantitative scales before and after exposure to
advertisements with group unit of analysis.
3. Include people of different ages and backgrounds as sample size and assign
different experimental conditions.
4. Utilize statistical techniques to assess the impact of different levels of
extremity on self-esteem with thin or heavy models in ads.
5. Conduct various research for reliability and we might study the long-term
effects too.
Exercise 6.3
You want to investigate the specific effects of specific emotions on customers'
behavioral responses to failed service encounters across industries. Discuss the
design decisions that you as a researcher will make to investigate this issue,
giving reasons for your choices.
1. Use a qualitative approach
2. Select a diverse sample using random sampling.
3. Collect data with in-depth interviews.
4. Employ descriptive study with standardized scales for measuring emotions.
5. Analyze qualitative data by identifying patterns.
6. Compare findings across industries.
Exercise 6.4
Dr Larry Norton of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center predicts that
cancer treatment will undergo major changes. Several drugs are being
developed to battle cancer without harming healthy tissue. It is a question of
discovering which of these drugs does the job best. Design a study that would
help find which drug would do the trick.
Purpose: Find the most effective cancer-fighting drug with minimal harm to
healthy tissue.
Interference: Excessive researcher involvement in drug development.
Setting: Lab experiment.
Strategies: Randomized controlled trials/Experimental.
Unit of Analysis: Individual patients and group samples.
Sampling: Purposive sampling of diverse cancer patients.
Time Horizon: Several years for drug development and trials/Longitudinal.
Measurement: Assess tumor reduction, survival, side effects, biomarkers,
toxicity, and quality of life.
Data Collection: Physical measurement and observation.
Data Analysis: Use statistical methods, survival analysis, and safety data analysis
to evaluate drug efficacy and side effects.

Defines:
Research Design: It is a framework for collection, measurement and analysis of
data for conducting a research study
Purpose of study:
1.Exploratory Study: An exploratory study is a preliminary research investigation
that aims to provide insights, generate hypotheses, or gain a better
understanding of a topic or phenomenon. It is used to gain qualitative data.
2.Descriptive Study: It is designed to collect detailed and accurate data through
correlational research which describes relationship between variables. It is used
to gain both qualitative and quantitative data.
3. Causal Study: It is a scientific approach that investigates cause-and-effect
relationships between variables, aiming to establish a direct link between one
factor (the cause) and another (the effect). It uses regression analysis which is
used to understand relationship between independent and dependent variable.
Extent of Researcher Interference:
1.Minimal: The researcher takes a passive or non-directive role to aim to
minimize their influence
2.Moderate: The researcher may have some level of interaction or intervention
with the participants with more active role.
3.Excessive: The researcher poses significant influence that shapes the research
process or participant responses.
Study Setting:
In a non-contrived setting, the research is conducted in a natural or real-world
environment where the conditions are not artificially manipulated. Correlational
studies are conducted in non-contrived setting.
In a contrived setting, researchers create an artificial or controlled environment
for the study. Causal studies are done in contrived setting.
Field Study: Field studies primarily take place in non-contrived settings, focusing
on real-world observations and data collection without artificial manipulations.
Field Experiment: Field experiments are conducted in non-contrived settings but
involve the manipulation of variables to examine causal relationships, allowing
for some control over the research context.
Lab Experiment: Lab experiments typically occur in contrived settings, where
researchers have a high level of control over conditions to test specific
hypotheses and cause-and-effect relationships.
Research Strategy:
Experiments: An experiment is a research strategy in which researchers
manipulate one or more independent variables to observe their effects on a
dependent variable while controlling for other factors.
Survey Research: Survey research is a research strategy that involves collecting
data from a sample of individuals or groups through structured questionnaires
or interviews.
Observation: Observation is a research strategy where researchers
systematically watch, record, and analyze behaviors, events, or phenomena.
Case Studies: Case studies are an in-depth research strategy that involves the
comprehensive examination of a particular individual, group, organization, or
phenomenon.
Time horizon:
Cross sectional: In which data is gathered only once in a point of time over a
period of days, weeks, or months.
Longitudinal: That involves the collection of data from the same participants or
subjects over an extended period, typically involving multiple data collection
points at various time intervals.