[JBIMS] [RM] Research Methodologies - Chapter 1 to 3

[peeyush]

Ref Book: Research Methods for Business - A skill building approach by Sekaran et al

Will be posting whatever I am reading through this book and finding interesting. My personal views, if any, will be formatted in italics. As for the book, it seems pretty easy going at least for now. Simple language and simpler examples. Though the book focuses on how to plan and execute research from business perspective, the points seem relevant for application in other domains as well.

Definition: Business Research [BR] is organized, systematic , data-based, critical, objective, scientific inquiry or investigation into a specific problem undertaken with the purpose of finding solutions to it.

Hallmark of Scientific Research:

1. Purposiveness: Research has definite aim or purpose
2. Rigor: Rigor connotes carefulness, scrupulousness and the degree of exactitude in research investigation
3. Testability: Research lends itself to testing logically developed hypotheses to see whether or not the data support the educated conjectures that are developed after a careful study of the problem situation
4. Replicability: Results of the tests of hypotheses should be supported again and yet again when the same type of research is repeated in other circumstances. In other words, hypotheses should not have been supported merely by chance but should be repetitive.
5. Precision and confidence: Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to reality based on a sample. Precision reflects the degree of accuracy or exactitude of the results on the basis of the sample to what really exists in the universe. Confidence refers to the probability that our estimations are correct.
6. Objectivity: Conclusions drawn through the interpretation of the results of data analysis should be objective; they should be based on the facts of the findings derived from the actual data and not on our subjective or emotional values
7. Generalizability: Scope of applicability of the research findings in one organizational setting to other settings. The wider the range of applicability of the solutions, the more useful the research is to the users.
8. Parsimony: Simplicity in explaining the phenomena or problems that occur, and in generating solutions for the problems, is always preferred to complex research frameworks that consider an unmanageable number of factors.

Seven-step process in the Hypothetico-deductive method:

1. Identify the broad problem area
2. Define the problem statement
3. Develop Hypotheses
4. Determine Measures
5. Data collection
6. Data analysis
7. Interpretation of data

What makes a good problem statement?
A problem statement is a clear, precise, and succinct statement of the specific issue that a researcher wishes to investigate. There are three key criteria to assess the quality of the problem statement: It should be relevant, feasible and interesting.

From an academic perspective, research is relevant if a) Nothing is known about a topic, b) much is known about the topic but the knowledge is scattered and not integrated, c) much research on the topic is available but the results are (partly) contradictory or d) established relationships do not hold in certain situations.

A problem statement is feasible if you are able to answer the problem statement within the restrictions of the research project. Restrictions can be about availability of the respondents, samples or resources such as time and money.

Problem statement should be interesting to you as that would help in driving you in completing research.