Research Methodology (Module:2)
Prepared By: Prof. Vijay Bhatu Vijay Bhatu
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Problem Identification, Problem
Statement
• A problem statement is a concise description of an issue
to be addressed or a condition to be improved upon.
• It identifies the gap between the current (problem) state
and desired (goal) state of a process or product.
• The first condition of solving a problem is understanding
the problem, which can be done by way of a problem
statement.
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Why define the Research Problem?
• The main purpose of the problem statement is to identify and
explain the problem.
• This includes describing the existing environment, where the
problem occurs, and what impacts it has on users.
• Additionally, the problem statement is used to explain what the
expected environment looks like.
• Defining the desired condition provides an overall vision for the
process.
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Writing the problem statement
• It is useful to design and follow a specific format when writing a problem
statement.
• While there are several options for doing this, the following is a simple and
straightforward template often used in Business Analysis to maintain focus on
defining the problem.
∙ IDEAL: This section is used to describe the desired or “to be” state of the
process or product.
∙ REALITY: This section is used to describe the current or “as is” state of the
process or product.
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Con…
• CONSEQUENCES: This section is used to describe the
impacts on the business if the problem is not fixed or
improved upon. This includes costs associated with loss of
money, time, productivity, competitive advantage, and so
forth.
• PROPOSAL: This section is used to describe potential
solutions. Once the ideal, reality, and consequences sections
have been completed, understood, and approved, the project
team can start offering options for solving the problem.
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Errors in Defining the Market Research Problem
Common Errors
Problem Definition is too
Broad Problem Definition is too Narrow
Does Not Provide Guidelines for May Miss Some Important
Subsequent Steps Components of the Problem
e.g., Improving the Company’s e.g. Changing Prices in Response to a
Image Competitor’s Price Change.
Review of Literature
• A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and
any other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of
research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a
description, summary, and critical evaluation of these
works in relation to the research problem being
investigated.
• The main purpose of literature review is to convey to the
readers about the work already done & the knowledge &
ideas that have been already established on a particular
topic of research.
IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE REVIEW
∙ To define and limit of the research
∙ To place your study in an historical perspective
∙ To avoid unnecessary duplication
∙ To evaluate promising research methods
∙ To relate your findings to previous knowledge and
suggest further research
Resources of literature review
∙ Dictionary
∙ Electronic database
∙ Books
∙ Journals
∙ Conference
∙ Research reports
∙ Magazines
∙ Newspapers
Points to be considered for literature review
→ Be specific
→ Be selective
→ Focus of current topics
→ Focus on sources of evidences
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Research Objective
• A research objective addresses the purpose of the
investigation and types of knowledge to be generated out
of one’s investigation.
• Looking at the objectives of the research, one can
anticipate what is to be achieved by the study.
• A research objective indicates the population of interest,
the independent variable, and the dependent variable.
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Reasons for formulating the objectives
• Focus the study on narrowing it down to essentials;
• Avoid collection of data that are not strictly necessary for
understanding and solving the problem in hand;
• Organize the study in clearly defined components or
phases.
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Objectives criteria
• They are realistic to fit the local environment.
• They cover the different aspects of the problem.
• They consider the contributing factors in a coherent way
and in a logical sequence.
• They consider ethical issues if any.
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Hypothesis formulation
• In conducting research, the important consideration after the
formulation of a research problem is the construction of hypothesis.
• As you know, any scientific inquiry starts with the statement of a
solvable problem, when the problem has been stated, a tentative
solution in the form of testable proposition is offered by the
researcher.
• Hypothesis is often considered a tentative and testable statement
of the possible relationship between two or more events / variables
under investigation.
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Characteristics of a good research
hypothesis
• Hypothesis should be conceptually clear;
• Hypothesis must be testable;
• Hypothesis should be related to the existing body or
theory and impact;
• Hypothesis should have logical unity and
comprehensiveness;
• Hypothesis should be capable of verification.
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The Null Hypothesis
• Is the starting point of a scientific investigation
• It tries to account for patterns in the data in the simplest
way possible, which often means initially attributing
variation in the data to randomness or measurement
error.
• The statistical null hypothesis is usually one of “no
pattern”, such as no difference between groups or no
relationship between two continuous variables.
• Ex. H0: There is no significant relationship between
advertisement and sales.
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The Alternate (research) Hypothesis
• In contrast, the alternative hypothesis is that pattern exists.
• Once we state the statistical null hypothesis, we then define
one or more alternatives to the null hypothesis
• The alternative hypothesis is focused simply on the pattern
that is present in the data
• Examples:
• H1: Increase in the advertisement campaign leads to
increase in the sales
• H2: A poor advertisement campaign leads to decrease in the
sales.
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ERRORS IN TESTING A HYPOTHESIS
• You have already learned that hypotheses are
assumptions that may be prove to be either correct or
incorrect. It is possible to arrive at an incorrect
conclusion about a hypothesis for the various reasons if –
• Sampling procedure adopted faulty
• Data collection method inaccurate
• Study design selected is faulty
• Inappropriate statistical methods used
• Conclusions drawn are incorrect
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Two common errors exist when testing a
hypothesis
• Type I error – Rejection of a null hypothesis when it is
true.
• Type II error - Acceptance of a null hypothesis when it is
false.
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Five Steps in Hypothesis Testing:
1.Specify the Null Hypothesis
2.Specify the Alternative Hypothesis
3.Set the Significance Level (a)
4.Calculate the Test Statistic
5.Drawing a Conclusion
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What is Research Design??
• Research Design Constitutes the blueprint for the
collection, measurement and analysis of data.
• Research design is the conceptual structure within which
research would be conducted. The function of research
design is to provide for the collection of relevant
information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and
money.
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Aspects of a Good Research Design
• Flexible
• Appropriate
• Economical
• Minimizes Bias
• Maximizes Reliability of the data
• Smallest experimental error
• Provides an opportunity for considering different aspects
of a business
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Considerations while choosing Research
Design
• The means of obtaining information;
• The availability and skills of the researcher and his staff,
if any;
• The objective of the problem to be studied;
• The nature of the problem to be studied; and
• The availability of time and money for the research work.
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Types of
Researc
h Design
Explorato Descriptiv
Causal
ry e
Cross Longitudin
Sectional al
Research Research
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Exploratory Research
• Is mainly used to explore the insight of the general
research problem.
• Obtaining Background Information (current and relevant
information)
• Research Problem Formulation or defining it more
precisely
• Identifying and Defining key research Variables
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Methods of Conducting Exploratory
Research
• Qualitative Techniques
▫ Depth Interviews
▫ Participant Observation
▫ psychological testing
▫ Case Studies
▫ Secondary Data analysis
▫ Focus Group
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Descriptive Studies
• Who, what, when , where, and how of the topic.
• Description of phenomena or characteristics.
• Estimates the proportion of the population that have
these characteristics.
• Description of association among different variables.
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Methods of Conducting Descriptive Research
• Survey research
• Correlational research
• Causal-Comparative research
• Experimental research
• Online research / Literature research
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Cont..
• Cross Sectional
▫ One time data collection
• Longitudinal
▫ Panel : Studying a group of people over the time
▫ Cohort Group: different subjects over the time
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Causal Studies
• A produces B or A forces B to occur
• Causal Relationships
▫ Ex. Income, Living Style, Expense,etc.
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Con…
• Causal research is conducted in order to identify the
extent and nature of cause-and-effect relationships.
• Causal research can be conducted in order to assess
impacts of specific changes on existing norms, various
processes etc.
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Example
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Comparison of Research Designs
Designs Exploratory Descriptive Causal
Objective: Discovery of ideas and Describe market Determine Cause and
insights characteristics or effect relationship
functions
Characteristics: Flexible, versatile Marked by the prior Manipulation of one
formation of specific and more independent
hypothesis variables
Design: Often the front end of Pre-planned and Control of other
total research design structured design mediating variables
Methods: Expert surveys, Pilot Secondary data, Experiments
surveys, Secondary data: quantitative analysis,
Qualitative Research survey, Panels,
observations and other
data
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Thank
You
