Business Research Methods

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Topic & Structure of the lesson

Topic Outline The Primary Purpose of Research Research Problem/Opportunity Steps in Research Process Implementation of Research Proposal

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Learning Outcomes
On completion of this chapter you should be able to understand:
Research is decision- and dilemma-centered. The Research Question is the result of careful exploration and analysis and sets the direction for the research project Planning research design demands an understanding of all the stages in research process

Reality testing at each stage of the process is critical to successful implementation of research proposal

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Primary Purpose of Business Process

The primary purpose of research is to reduce the level of risk of a business decision

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 Management-research question hierarchy Begins with management dilemma

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Decision Problem Research Problem 1. What should be done to increase the 1. What is the awareness and purchase customer base of organic products in the intention of health conscious consumers domestic market? for organic products? 2. How to reduce turnover rates in the 2. What is the impact of shift duties on BPO sector? work exhaustion and turnover intentions of the BPO employees? 3. Should the company continue with its 3. What is the satisfaction level of the existing security services vendor or look company with the existing vendor? Are at an alternative? there any gaps? Can they be effectively handled by the vendor? 4. Can the Housing and real estate 4. What is the current investment in Real growth be accelerated? Estate and Housing? Can the demand in the sector be forecasted for the next six months? 5. Whom should SBI choose as its next 5a. what has been the Leadership Managing director- Mr ABC or Mrs. XYZ? initiatives and performance record of ABC viz. XYZ? 5b. Can a leading aggressive govt. sector bank accept a woman Augustits2012 as 7, leader? 7

Stress the cost to employer Age discrimination in the workplace The cashless society imminent reality or impossible dream

The impact of development in IT on financial services

Corporate strategy and planning: the role of personnel department in its formulation

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Research Process
Whenever a research is to be undertaken the best way is to

consider it as a process, which has certain sequence.

There may be some variations for different situations.

No one claims that research requires completion of each step

before going to the next. Recycling and skipping occur. Despite this, the idea of sequence is useful in developing a research project. steps. Step Step Step Step Step Step Step research process as consisting of seven

We conceptualize the

1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7:

Problem Defining/Identifying the Opportunity Planning the Research Design Selecting a Research Method Selecting a Sampling Procedure Fieldwork or Data Collection Data Evaluation and Analysis Report Preparation and Presentation
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A research problem can be defined as a gap or uncertainty in the decision makers existing body of knowledge which inhibits efficient decision making. The gap could be academic & theoretical (basic) or real time and action oriented (applied).

Management decision problem: the issue/decision that needs to be resolved through research

Discussion with experts: to get the right perspective on the issue, discussion/dialogue is held with subject/industry expert.
Review of literature: the most valuable source of framing the research question is to review the past work done on related topic(s).

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A hypotheses is any assumption/presupposition that the researcher makes about the probable direction of the results that might be obtained on the completion of the research process

Descriptive hypotheses: This is simply a statement about the magnitude, trend, or behaviour of a population under study. e.g. The educational system is not oriented towards human needs of a country;

The rate of unemployment amongst art graduates is higher than that of commerce graduates.

Relational hypotheses: These are the typical kind of hypotheses which state the expected relationship between two variables. e.g. Upper-class children have fewer children than lower class people. Labour Productivity decreases as working duration increases.

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 Defn: Framework of a Research that provides specific

details regarding the process to be followed in conducting the research.

Information to be obtained from Time & budget allotted Appropriate measurement techniques

Factors like Research objective, the importance of decision, cost involved in conducting the research, & the availability of data sources determine the selection of an appropriate research design.

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Methods of conducting a research study: Secondary data studies Surveys Experiments Observations

Analyzing Research Design: Work backward i.e. from the end results that needs to be obtained

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 Probability/Non Probability Sampling Defining the population Size of the sample

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Pre-testing of Data Collection Main Data Collection Questionnaire technique Telephonic Interview Technique

Errors in Data Collection: Human Error, Missing Values

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 Editing & Coding & of Data Collected Editing-Verifying data & check for inconsistency, errors cropped up during the interview e.g. not understanding the question/recording the answer under wrong column Coding-Data can be fed and interpreted easily using computers. Direct method of coding -telephonic interview Tabulation of Data Collected Analysis

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Oral/Written Format Contents: Objective of the research Summary of the research design adopted Summary of major findings Conclusion with the limitations & recommendations, as per requirement of the management

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1.

2.
3. 4.

Business Research Methods Cooper, Schindler; Tata Mc Graw Hills Marketing Research G C Beri; Tata Mc Graw Hills. Business Research Methods William G Zikmund; Thomson. Marketing Research Tull, Hawkin; PHI

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Q&A

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