You are on page 1of 29

Chapter 2

Research Design Fundamentals

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Explain how a study is created based upon a description of the business decision involved. Describe the role of theory and science in business research. Describe the three basic business research designs. Explain the roles of exploratory and confirmatory research. Explain the roles of qualitative and quantitative research.

6.

Provide a description of basic qualitative research techniques.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

The Basic Research Process

Phase I Formulation: Develop Theory Research Questions Hypotheses Study Design

Decision Making Process

Phase III Analytical


Analyze Data Draw Inferences Interpret Results Acknowledge Limitations
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Phase II Execution
Design Data Collection Devices Collect Data Check for Errors Code Data Store Data
2

THEORY AND SCIENCE


Theory a set of

systematically related
statements, including some law-like generalizations that can be tested empirically. Law-like generalizations are expectations of what will happen under specified circumstances that allow predictions of reality.
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003. 3

The Role of Theory in Business Research


The Fuel for Research Theory offers explanations and predictions. Normative decision rules suggest what should be done when faced with a situation described by a theory, but there are many gaps in knowledge used to develop normative decision rules. Theory is Practical Narrows down things to be studied. Law-like generalizations provide hypotheses. Hypotheses based on theory determine what must be measured. Theory-based versus intuition-based explanations.
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003. 4

The Scientific Method

1.
2. 3.

Observation
Discovery Develop Hypotheses Data Collection Analysis Conclusions

Theory

4. 5. 6.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Problem Formulation

Determine the purpose of the research. Understand and define the complete problem. Identify and separate out measurable symptoms to determine the root problem versus easily observable symptoms. Determine the unit of analysis = individuals, households, businesses, objects, geographic areas, etc., or some combination. Determine the relevant variables, including specifying independent and dependent relationships, constructs, etc.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Law-Like Generalizations

Research Question states a general proposition. Hypothesis formal, specific statement of some unproven supposition that tentatively explains certain facts or phenomena.

Is gender related to job outcomes?

Female service employees report higher job satisfaction than male service employees.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Research Questions Lead to Hypotheses


Research Question Does advertising influence sales? A Corresponding Hypothesis Advertising is related positively to sales. Sales territory size is related negatively to customer service ratings. Business units using flex-time have lower unit labor costs than do those using standard schedule procedures. Consumers rate products with blue packages as higher in quality than products in orange packages. Southerners drink more beer per capita than do people from the north. Female employees report higher job satisfaction than do male 8 employees with the same job.

Is sales territory size related to customer service ratings? Do flexible schedules create increased labor efficiency?

Does package color affect product quality ratings? Is geographic region related to beverage consumption?

Is an employees gender related to Hair, job satisfaction? Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials
of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Rigor of Science

1. Data represent facts about hypothesized variables. 2. Data are analyzed to determine consistency with prediction.

3. If data and prediction are consistent


hypothesis is supported. 4. If data and prediction are inconsistent hypothesis is not supported.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Good Science is . . . .
Empirical Replicable Analytical Theory Driven Logical Rigorous

FLAT OR

ROUND
?

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

10

PARSIMONY

Parsimonious research means applying the simplest approach that will address the research questions satisfactorily.

Complex

Pragmatic

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

11

Types of Research Designs

Exploratory Descriptive Causal

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

12

Research Design Objectives


1. Exploratory to formulate the problem, develop hypotheses, develop constructs, establish priorities for research, refine ideas, clarify concepts, etc. 2. Descriptive to describe characteristics of certain groups, estimate the proportion of people in a population who behave in a given way, and to make directional predictions. 3. Causal to provide evidence of the relationships between variables, the sequence in which events occur, and/or to eliminate other possible explanations.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

13

Exploratory Research Designs

1 of 3
Exploratory research is useful when: Decision maker has little information. Research questions are vague. Decision making is in discovery phase. Basic Business Research Designs

Literature reviews Unstructured Interviews

Depth interviews
Focus groups Delphi technique
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Projective techniques
14

Descriptive Research Designs

Descriptive research describes a situation: Structured interviews are often used. Studies are: Cross-Sectional provide user with a snapshot at a given point in time. example: sample surveys Longitudinal describe events over time. example: panel data

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

15

Causal Research Designs

Causal research tests whether or not some event causes another: Experiments are used to test for a causal relationship. A causal relationship means a change in X (the cause) makes a change in Y (the effect) occur.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

16

Causal Designs
Does one thing cause another? In testing cause and effect relationships researchers look for four conditions:

1. 2. 3. 4.

Time Sequence Covariance Nonspurious Association Theoretical Support

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

17

Experiments

Potential causes are controlled by using experimental designs and manipulation: Manipulation the causal variable is altered over different conditions. Lab experiment manipulation takes place in artificial setting. maximizes control. Field experiment manipulation takes place in the relevant business context. increases representativeness.
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003. 18

Comparing Field & Lab Experiments


Goal/Benefit/Outcome Maximize Internal Validity Maximize External Validity Best Experimental Approach Lab Experiment Field Experiment Comment Researcher has maximum control of external influences. The natural setting is more realistic but subject to influences that cannot be controlled. Study seems less contrived. Implementation in the field is more difficult than implementation in a lab. The scale of the project is larger. Changes can be made as the study progresses. Implementation in the lab is usually a small-scale project. 19

Most Believable Results Costs the Most

Field Experiment Field Experiment

More Flexible Design Relatively Timely (can be carried out in a shorter period of time)

Field Experiment Lab Experiment

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

Experimental Designs

Between Subjects Designs Every subject receives one level of experimental treatment. Within Subjects Designs Every subject receives multiple levels of experimental treatments. More prone to demand effects = things that allow subjects to guess the hypothesis. Factorial Designs Two or more experimental treatments controlled at the same time.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

20

Between and Within Subjects Treatment Assignments


Between Subjects

Manipulation:
Treatment 1 Level A Level B Level A Within Subjects Level A

Level B

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

21

Exploratory and Confirmatory Research Purposes

Exploratory research seeks to: Discover issues. Generate ideas. Develop research hypotheses. Confirmatory research seeks to: Test specific hypotheses. Both types of research require data.
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003. 22

Data

Data = information recorded to represent facts: Objective Data data that is independent of any single persons opinion. Subjective Data two types:
Data that are an individuals opinion.

Researcher dependent data.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

23

More on Data

Primary Data - collected for the purpose of completing the current research project. Secondary Data collected for some other research purpose. Saves money and time Does it fit the purpose? Is it of high quality?

ciber.bus.msu.edu/ginlist
www.standardandpoors.com
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

www.census.gov www.usadata.com
24

Still More on Data

Qualitative Data = descriptions of things made without assigning numbers. result from unstructured interviews researcher interpretations needed. Quantitative Data = measurements in which numbers are used directly to represent properties of things. ready for statistical analysis.
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

25

Qualitative Research

Searches academic & trade/professional literature. Discovers and identifies ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. Exploratory research design. Uses open-ended, unstructured, probing questions in interviews and focus groups and generates qualitative data. Provides preliminary insights and understanding. Limited ability to generalize findings, typically because samples are small and non-random. Improves conceptualization. Facilitates drafting questionnaires.
Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003. 26

Quantitative Research

Validates facts, estimates, relationships, predictions, etc. Descriptive and causal designs. Mostly structured questions. Larger samples. Ability to generalize is good with proper sampling design. Uses quantitative data.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

27

Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Data


Description
Purpose:

Quantitative Data
More useful for testing. Provides summary information on many characteristics. Useful in tracking trends.

Qualitative Data
More useful for discovering. Provides in-depth (deeper understanding) information on a few characteristics. Discovering hidden motivations and values. More unstructured collection techniques requiring a subjective interpretation.

Properties:

More structured collection techniques and objective ratings.

High concern for representativeness.


Relatively short interviews (1 to 20 minutes). Interviewer is passive. Large samples (over 50). Results objective.

Little concern for representativeness.


Relatively long interviews (1/2 to many hours). Interviewer is active and should be highly skilled. Small samples (1-50). Results subjective.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

28

Summary

Introduced the basic business process. Described the role of theory and science in business research. Described the three basic research designs. Discussed exploratory versus confirmatory research. Compared and contrasted qualitative and quantitative research and data.

Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, 2003.

29

You might also like