Research Methodology

INTRODUCTION
One can define research as a scientific and systematic
search for pertinent information on a specific topic.
In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.
Research is a movement, a movement from the known
to the unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery.
 We all possess the vital instinct of curiosity for, when
the unknown confronts us, obtaining the knowledge of
whatever the unknown, can be termed as research.
According to Clifford Woody research comprises
defining and redefining problems, formulating
hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting,
organising and evaluating data; making deductions
and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing
the conclusions to determine whether they fit the
formulating hypothesis.
The search for knowledge through objective and
systematic method of finding solution to a problem is
research.
OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
The main aim of research is to find out the truth
which is hidden and has not been discovered as yet.
Though each research study has its own specific
purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling
into a number of following broad groupings:
1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve
new insights into it (studies with this object in view
are termed as exploratory or formulative research
studies);

2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a

particular individual, situation or a group (studies with
this object in view are known as descriptive research
studies);
3. To determine the frequency with which something
occurs or with which it is associated with something
else (studies with this object in view are known as
diagnostic research studies);

4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between

variables (such studies are known as hypothesis-
testing research studies).
MOTIVATION IN RESEARCH
The possible motives for doing research may be either
one or more of the following:
1. Desire to get a research degree along with its
consequential benefits;
2. Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved
problems, i.e., concern over practical problems initiates
research;
3. Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative
work;
4. Desire to be of service to society;
5. Desire to get respectability.
MAJOR TOPICS FOR RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
Short-range forecasting Acquisition studies
(up to one year) Export and international
Long-range forecasting studies
(over one year) Financial and
Studies of business and Accounting Research
industry trends Forecasts of financial
Inflation and pricing interest-rate trends
studies
Plant and warehouse
location studies
Stock, bond, and Sales and Marketing
commodity value Research
predictions Measurement of market
Research related to potentials
mergers and acquisitions Market-share analysis
Impact of taxes Advertising research
Management and Buyer-
Organizational Behavior behavior/consumer
Research satisfaction studies
Morale and job Ecological impact studies
satisfaction
Employee productivity
Organizational
effectiveness
SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH
The significance of research can also be understood
keeping in view the following points:
(a) To those students who are to write a master’s or Ph.D.
thesis, research may mean a careerism or a way to
attain a high position in the social structure;
(b) To professionals in research methodology, research
may mean a source of livelihood;
(c) To philosophers and thinkers, research may mean
the outlet for new ideas and insights;
(d) To literary men and women, research may mean the
development of new styles and creative work;
(e) To analysts and intellectuals, research may mean the
generalizations of new theories.
MANAGERIAL VALUE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
At the Ford Motor Company a marketing manager
stated, “Research is fundamental to everything we do,
so much so that we hardly make any significant
decision without the benefit of some kind of market
research. The risks are too big.” Managers in other
functional areas have similar beliefs about research in
their specialties.
The decision making process associated with the
development and implementation of a strategy
involves three interrelated stages.
1. Identifying problems or opportunities
2. Selecting and implementing a course of action
3. Evaluating the course of action

Business research, by supplying managers with

pertinent
information, may play an important role by reducing
managerial uncertainty in each of these stages.
Identifying Problems or Opportunities
Business research can help managers plan strategies
by determining the nature of situations by identifying
the existence of problems or opportunities present in
the organization.
Before any strategy can be developed, an organization
must determine where it wants to go and how it will
get there.
Business research may be used as a diagnostic activity
to provide information about what is occurring within
an organization or in its environment.
The mere description of some social or economic
activity may familiarize managers with organizational
and environmental occurrences and help them
understand a situation.
The description of the dividend history of stocks in an
industry may point to an attractive investment
opportunity.
Once business research indicates a problem, managers
may feel that the alternatives are clear enough to make
a decision based on experience.
Or, they may decide that more business research is
needed to generate additional information for a better
understanding of the situation.
Selecting and implementing a course of action
After the alternative courses of action have been
identified, business research is often conducted to
obtain specific information that will aid in evaluating
the alternatives and in selecting the best course of
action. In such a case, business research can be
designed to supply the exact information necessary to
determine which course of action is best of the
organization.
A good forecast supplied by business researchers is
among the most useful pieces of planning information
a manager can have at his disposal.
Complete accuracy in forecasting the future is not
possible because change is constantly occurring in the
business environment. Nevertheless, objective
information generated by business research to forecast
environmental occurrences may be the foundation for
selecting a particular course of action.
The best plan is likely to result in failure if it is not
properly implemented.
Evaluating course of action
After a course of action has been implemented, business
research may serve as a tool to inform managers whether
planned activities were properly executed and whether
they accomplished what they were expected to accomplish.
Business research may be conducted to provide feedback
for evaluation and control of strategies and tactics.
In the grocery and retail drug industries, sales research
may use the universal product code (UPC) for packages,
together with computerized cash registers and electronic
scanners at checkout counters, to provide valuable market
share information to store and brand managers interested
in the retail sales volume of specific product.
When analysis of performance indicated that all is not
going as planned, business research may be required
to explain why something “went wrong.” Detailed
information about specific mistakes or failures is
frequently sought. If a general problem area is
identified, breaking down industry sales volume and a
firm’s sales volume into different geographic areas may
provide an explanation of specific problems, and
exploring these problems in greater depth may
indicate which managerial judgments were erroneous.
BUSINESS RESEARCH IN A GLOBAL ACTIVITY
Business research, like all business activity, has become
increasingly global. Some companies have extensive
international business research operations.
Companies that conduct business in foreign lands must
understand the particular nature of those markets and
determine whether they require customized business
strategies.
The 14 nations of the European Community not share a single
market, business research shows that they do not share
identical tastes for many consumer products. Business
researchers have learned that there is no such thing as a typical
European consumer or worker; the nations of the European
Community are divided by language, religion, climate, and
centuries of tradition.
Scantel Research, a British firm that advises
companies on color preferences, found inexplicable
differences in the way Europeans take their medicine.
The French prefer to pop purple pills, while the
English and Dutch wish for white ones. Consumers in
all three countries dislike bright red capsules, which
are big sellers in the United States.

A.C. Nielsen, the company that does television ratings,

is the world’s largest business research company. More
than 60 percent of its business comes from outside the
United States.
SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
The scope of business research is limited by one’s
definition of “business”.
The American Heart Association, the Sac Diego Zoo, and
the Boston Pops Orchestra, Each of these organizations
exists to satisfy social needs, and they require business
skills to produce and distribute the services that people
want.
Business research may be conducted by organizations
that are not business organizations.
The reserve bank of India, for example, performs many
functions that are similar, if not identical, to those of
business organizations.
Ethics and Business Research
Ethics in business research refers to a code of conduct or
expected societal norm of behavior while conducting
research.
Ethical conduct applies to the organization and the
members that sponsor the research, the researchers who
undertake the research, and the respondents who provide
them with the necessary data.
Ethical conduct should also be reflected in the behavior of
the researchers who conduct the investigation, the
participants who provide the data, the analysts who provide
the results, and the entire research team that presents the
interpretation of the results and suggests alternative
solutions.
The American Psychological Association has
established certain guideline for conducting research,
to ensure that organizational research is conducted in
an ethical manner and the interests of all concerned
are safeguarded.
How the subjects are treated and how confidential
information is safeguarded are all guided by business
ethics.
Types of Business Research
Business research produces information to reduce
uncertainty. It helps focus decision making.
In a number of situations business researchers will
know exactly what their business problems are and
design studies to test specific hypotheses.
Because of the variety of research activity, it will be
helpful to categorize the types of business research.
Business research can be classified on the basis of
either technique or function.
The nature of the problem will determine whether the
research is (1) exploratory, (2) descriptive, or (3)
causal.
Exploratory studies
Management may have discovered general problems, but
research is needed to gain better understanding of the
dimensions of the problems.
Management needs information to help analyze a situation,
but conclusive evidence to determine a particular course of
action is not the purpose of exploratory research.
Usually, exploratory research is conducted with the
expectation that subsequent research will be required to
provide conclusive evidence.
It is a serious mistake to rush into detailed surveys before
less expensive and more readily available sources of
information have been exhausted.
Descriptive research
Descriptive research seeks to determine the answers to
who, what, when, where, and how questions.
 Accuracy is of paramount importance in descriptive
research. Although errors cannot be completely
eliminated, good researchers strive for descriptive
precision.
If the study does not present a precise measurement,
it will mislead the managers who are making
production scheduling, budgeting, and other decisions
based on that study.
The purpose of many organizational behaviour
studies, for example, is to describe the reasons
employees give for their explanations of the nature of
things. In other words, a diagnostic analysis is
performed when employees in the various subgroups
are asked questions such as “Why do you feel that
way?”
Causal Research
The main goal of causal research is identification of
cause and effect relationships between variables.
In causal studies it is typical to have an expectation of
the relationship to the explained, such as predicting the
influence of price, packaging, advertising, and the like,
on sales. Thus researchers must be knowledgeable
about the research subject.
Ideally, a manager would like to establish that one
event (say a new package) is the means for producing
another event (an increase in sales).
Causal research attempts to establish that when we do
one thing, another thing will follow.
Stages in Research Process
It was Albert Einstein who noted that “the formulation
of a problem is often more essential than its solution”.
This is good advice for managers.
Often managers concentrate on finding the right
answer rather than asking the right question.
In business research, if the data are collected before
the nature of the business problem is carefully thought
out, the data probably will not help solve the problem.
If the purpose of the research is clear, the chances of
collecting the necessary and relevant information
without collecting surplus information will be much
greater.
A problem definition error or omission is likely to be a
costly mistake that cannot be corrected in later stages
of the process.
Careful attention to problem definition allows the
researcher to set the proper research objectives.
Pilot studies
Pilot studies collect data from the ultimate subject of
the research project to serve as a guide for the larger
study. When the term pilot study is used in the context
of exploratory research, the data collection methods
are informal and the findings may lack precision
because rigorous standards are relaxed.
The results of this survey were used to suggest
possible topics for formal investigation.
Planning the research design
A research design is a master plan specifying the
methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing
the needed information.
It is a framework of the research plan of action.
The objectives of the study determined during the early
stages of the research are included in the design to
ensure that the information collected is appropriate for
solving the problem.
The research investigator must also determine the
sources of information, the design technique (survey or
experiment, for example), the sampling methodology,
and the schedule and cost of the research.
Selecting the appropriate research design
There are four basic design techniques for descriptive
and causal research– surveys, experiments, secondary
data, and observation. The objectives of the study, the
available data sources, the urgency of the decision, and
the cost of obtaining the data will determine which
design technique is chosen.
Research investigators may choose to contact
respondents by telephone, by mail, or in person.
Surveys
The most common method of generating primary data is
through surveys. A survey is a research technique in which
information is gathered from a sample of people by use of a
questionnaire.
The task of writing a questionnaire, determine the list of
questions, and designing the exact format of the printed or
written questionnaire is an essential aspect of the development
of a survey research design.
Although personal interviews are expensive, they are valuable
because investigators can utilize visual aids and supplement the
interview with personal observations.
Each of these survey methods has advantages and disadvantages.
The researcher’s task is to find the most appropriate way to
collect the information that is needed.
Observation techniques
In many situations the objective of the research project is
merely to record what can be observed-for example, the
number of automobiles that pass a site for a proposed
gasoline station. This can be mechanically recorded or
observed by any person. The amount of time it takes an
employee to perform a task may be observed in a time-and-
motion study.
Research personnel, known as “mystery shoppers”, may act as
customers to observe the actions of sales personnel or do
“comparative shopping” to learn the prices of competitive
outlets.
The main advantage of the observation technique is that it
records behaviour without relying on reports from
respondents.
Evaluating research design
Researchers argue that there is no one best research
design for all situations. There are no hard-and-fast rules
for good business research.
This does not mean that the researcher, when faced with
a problem, is also faced with chaos and confusion.
There is never a single, standard, correct method of
carrying out a piece of research.
Do not wait to start your research until you find out the
proper approach, because there are many ways to tackle
a problem-some good, some bad, but probably several
good ways.
There is no single perfect design.
Planning the sample
Sampling involves any procedure that uses a small
number of items or that uses parts of the population to
make a conclusion regarding the whole population.
When errors are made, samples do not give reliable
estimates of the population. Specifying the target
population is a crucial aspect of the sampling plan.
Data collection
Once the research design (including the sampling
plan) has been formalized, the process of gathering
information from respondents may begin.
Obviously, because there are many research
techniques, there are many methods of data
collection.
 When the survey method is utilized, some form of
direct participation by the respondent is necessary
during the process.
The respondent may participate by filling out a
questionnaire or by interacting with an interviewer.
It is important that the data collection be consistent in
all geographic areas.
If an interviewer phrases questions incorrectly or
records a respondent’s statements inaccurately this
will cause major data collection errors.
Tabulation of data from the pretests provides the
researcher with a format of the knowledge that may be
gained from the actual study.
If the tabulation of the data and statistical tests do not
answer the researcher’s questions, this may lead the
investigator to redesign the study.
Data processing and data analysis
Editing and coding- Once the field work has been
completed, the data must be converted into a format
that will answer the decision maker’s questions.
Data processing generally begins with the editing and
coding of the data. Editing involves checking the data
collection forms for omissions, legibility, and
consistency in classification.
The appropriate analytical technique for data analysis
will be determined by management’s information
requirements, the characteristics of the research
design, and the nature of the data collected.
Conclusions and report preparation
Importance and criteria of Good research
The purpose of the research should be clearly defined
and common concepts be used.
The research procedure used should be described in
sufficient detail to permit another researcher to repeat
the research for further advancement, keeping the
continuity of what has already been attained.
The procedural design of the research should be
carefully planned to yield results that areas objective as
possible.
The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate to
reveal its significance and the methods of analysis used
should be appropriate.
The validity and reliability of the data should be checked
carefully.
Conclusions should be confined to those justified by the data
of the research and limited to those for which the data
provide an adequate basis. 
Greater confidence in research is warranted if the researcher
is experienced, has a good reputation in research and is a
person of integrity.
Good research is systematic: It means that research is
structured with specified steps to be taken in a specified
sequence in accordance with the well defined set of rules.
 Systematic characteristic of the research does not rule out
creative thinking but it certainly does reject the use of
guessing and intuition in arriving at conclusions.
Good research is logical: This implies that research is
guided by the rules of logical reasoning and the logical
process of induction and deduction are of great value
in carrying out research.
Induction is the process of reasoning from a part to
the whole whereas deduction is the process of
reasoning from some premise to a conclusion which
follows from that very premise.
In fact, logical reasoning makes research more
meaningful in the context of decision making.
Good research is empirical: It implies that research is
related basically to one or more aspects of a real
situation and deals with concrete data that provides a
basis for external validity to research results. 
Good research is replicable: This characteristic allows
research results to be verified by replicating the study
and thereby building a sound basis for decisions.
Need for Research Design
Research design is needed because it facilitates the
smooth sailing of the various research operations,
thereby making research as efficient as possible
yielding maximal information with minimal
expenditure of effort, time and money.
Just as for better, economical and attractive
construction of a house, we need a blueprint (or what
is commonly called the map of the house) well thought
out and prepared by an expert architect.
 Similarly we need a research design or a plan in
advance of data collection and analysis for our research
project
Research design stands for advance planning of the
methods to be adopted for collecting the relevant data
and the techniques to be used in their analysis, keeping
in view the objective of the research and the availability
of staff, time and money.
Preparation of the research design should be done with
great care as any error in it may upset the entire project.
The need for a well thought out research design is at
times not realised by many. The importance which this
problem deserves is not given to it. As a result many
researches do not serve the purpose for which they are
undertaken. In fact, they may even give misleading
conclusions.
Features of good research design
(i) the means of obtaining information;
(ii) the availability and skills of the researcher and his
staff, if any;
(iii) the objective of the problem to be studied;
(iv) the nature of the problem to be studied;
(v) the availability of time and money for the research
work.