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MGT-491

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND


RESEARCH FOR MANAGEMENT

OSMAN BIN SAIF


Self Introduction
• Finance Graduate;
– MSC. Accounting and Finance (University of Exeter, UK)
– MBA- Finance (SZABIST, Islamabad)
– Certified Financial Consultant (IFC , Canada)
– Certifications in Project Management, Monitoring and
Evaluation and Research Policy Development.
• Consultant with SDPI
• Senior Researcher with TP WING, MOC
• Visiting Faculty various universities and institutes.
Course Objective
• To familiarize students with the types of
business problems often faced by corporate
entities and to help them develop insights
about basic concepts of research designs and
methodology aimed at solving business
problems.
Course Objective (Contd.)
• To help students develop skills in structuring
and analyzing, various Business Research
problems, for managerial decisions, using
basic Quantitative tools and techniques.
Course Description
• Business research is a systematic inquiry,
whose objective is to provide information, to
solve managerial problems. This course is an
introduction on how to do business research,
with an emphasis on applied problem solving.
This course has a major focus on problem
identification, analysis and problem solving
strategies and techniques.
Intended Learning Outcomes
• Upon completion of this course you should be
able to:
– Clearly identify and analyze business problems
and identify appropriate and effective ways to
– answer those problems
– Understand and apply the major types of research
designs
Intended Learning Outcomes (Contd.)
– Formulate clearly defined research questions
– Analyze and summarize key issues and themes
from existing literature
– Evaluate and conduct research.
Intended Learning Outcomes (Contd.)
– Understand the ethical issues associated with the
conduct of research
– Be able to formulate and present effective
research reports.
Brief Course Contents
1. Section 1; Introduction to Business Research
and research design
1. Nature and Scope of Business research
2. Information based decision making
3. The research process
4. Basic approaches and terminologies used
5. Defining research question
6. Framing of Hypothesis
Brief Course Contents (Contd.)
• Section 1; Introduction to Business Research
and research design (Contd.)
7. Preparing research plan
8. Qualitative research designs
9. Sources of secondary data
10. Case review and analysis
Brief Course Contents (Contd.)
2. Section 2; Measurement and Scaling, data
Source and Data Collection
1. Primary Data Collection from observations
2. Surveys and Experimentation
3. Commonly used scales in business research
4. Checking reliability and validity of scales
Brief Course Contents (Contd.)
2. Section 2; Measurement and Scaling, data
Source and Data Collection
5. Designing instrument for data collection
6. Testing the instrument
7. Data collection process
8. Sampling methods and procedures
9. Sample size decisions
10. Case review and analysis
Brief Course Contents (Contd.)
3. Section 3; Data Analysis and Presentation
1. Editing and Coding of Data
2. Tabulation
3. Graphic presentation
4. Cross tabulation
5. Testing of Hypothesis
6. Type I and II errors
Brief Course Contents (Contd.)
• Section 3; Data Analysis and Presentation
(Contd.)
7. One tailed and two tailed test of significance
8. Test of association
9. Simple Linear regression
10. Research report Writing
11. Case review and analysis
Brief Course Contents (Contd.)
4. Section 4; Business Research Problems
1. Nature of business research problems
2. Steps in solving business research problems
3. Solutions through graphical method
4. Formulation of Linear programming equation
5. Introduction to sensitivity analysis
Recommended Reading text book;
Research methodology and
Operations Research
Published By: PEARSON EDUCATION
Authors: Hamdy A. Taha, Mark N.K.
Saunders
Section 1; Introduction to Business
Research and Research design
Knowledge
• Knowledge is a collection of facts, information
and skills acquired through;
– experience or
– education
• or (more generally) the theoretical or practical
understanding of a subject is called
knowledge.
Knowledge (Contd.)
• It can be
– implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or
– explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a
subject);
• and it can be more or less formal or systematic
Theory
• Theory is the conclusion we make through
general observations. We then verify the
validity of the particular theory by using data
we have collected.
Theory (Contd.)
• If the data analyzed verify the validity of the
theory, then the theory becomes a law. This
law will be embraced until there is a
competing theory that states otherwise.
Theory (Contd.)
• A theory is a coherent set of general
propositions used as principles to explain the
apparent relationships of certain observed
phenomena.
Research
• Research can be defined as the search for
knowledge , or as any systematic investigation,
with an open mind to;
– establish novel facts,
– solve new or existing problems,
– prove new ideas, or
– develop new theories,
usually using a scientific method.
Research (Contd.)
• Research in common parlance refers to a
search for knowledge.
• Research can also be defined as “An art of
scientific investigation”.
Research (Contd.)
• Research is the process of gathering the
information needed, to answer certain
questions and thereby helping in solving
problems faced by an;
– individual,
– firm,
– organization
– society.
Research? (Contd.)
• Therefore, research is something which
people undertake to find out something in a
systematic way, thereby increasing their
knowledge. It is a primary tool used in
virtually all areas of science to expand the
frontiers of knowledge.
Objective of Research
• The purpose of research is to discover answers
to questions through the application of
scientific procedures.
Objective of Research
• The main aim of research is to find out the
truth which is hidden and which has not been
discovered as yet.
Nature and Scope of Business
Research
1. Research: “A way of examining your practice”
– Research is undertaken within most professions.
– More than a set of skills, research is a way of
thinking
– Examining critically the various aspects of your
day-to-day professional work
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
– Understanding and formulating guiding principles
that govern a particular procedure
– Developing and testing new theories
– It is also a habit of questioning what you do and a
systematic examination of the observed
information to find answers.
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
• Example 1: Health Service
– You: Front line service provider, Supervisor, health
administrator/ planner
– Questions:
• How many patients do I see everyday?
• What are some of the most common conditions
prevalent among my patients?
• What are the causes of these conditions?
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
– Questions:
• What are the health needs of the community?
• Why do some people use the service while others do
not?
• What do people think about the services?
• How satisfied are patients with the service?
• How effective is the service?
• How can the service be improved?
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
• Example 2: Business Marketing
– You: Salesperson, Sales manager or Sales
promotion executive
– Questions:
• What is the best strategy to promote the sale of a
particular product?
• How many salespersons do I need?
• What is the effect of a particular advertising campaign
on the sale of this product?
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
– Questions:
• How satisfied are the consumers with this product?
• How much are consumers prepared to spend on this
item?
• What do consumers like or dislike about this product?
• What type of packaging do consumers prefer for this
product?
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
• Example 3:
– You: As a professional
– Questions:
• Which is the most effective intervention for a particular
problem?
• What causes X or what are the effects of Y?
• What is the relationship between the two
phenomenon?
Nature and Scope of Business
Research (Contd.)
– Questions:
• How do I measure self esteem of my clients?
• How do I ascertain the validity of my questionnaire?
• Which is the best way of finding out community
attitudes towards an issue?
• Which is the best way to find out the effectiveness of a
particular treatment?
• How can I select an unbiased sample?
Motivation for Research
• What makes people to undertake research?
This is a question of fundamental importance.
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;
Motivation for Research (Contd.)
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
Research Problem
• A research problem refers to a difficulty which
a researcher or a scientific community or an
industry or a government organization or a
society experiences. It calls for a thorough
understanding and possible solution.
Types of Research
• The basic types of research are as follows:
1. Descriptive vs. Analytical
2. Applied vs. Fundamental
3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative
4. Conceptual vs. Empirical
Types of Research (Contd.)
5. Some Other Types of Research
I. One-time research or longitudinal research
II. Field-setting research or laboratory research or
simulation research
III. Clinical or diagnostic research
IV. Historical research
V. Conclusion-oriented research
VI. Decision-oriented research.
Descriptive Research
• Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-
finding enquiries of different kinds. The major
purpose of descriptive research is description
of the state of affairs as it exists at present
Descriptive Research (Contd.)
• In social science and business research we
quite often use the term Ex post facto
research for descriptive research studies. The
main characteristic of this method is that the
researcher has no control over the variables;
he can only report what has happened or
what is happening.
Analytical Research
• In analytical research, on the other hand, the
researcher has to use facts or information
already available, and analyze these to make a
critical evaluation of the material.
Applied Research
• Applied research aims at finding a solution for
an immediate problem facing a society or an
industrial/business organization.
• It is also called action research.
Fundamental research
• Fundamental research is mainly concerned
with generalizations and with the formulation
of a theory.
• It is also called basic or pure research.
• Testing a theory or conforming to the laws.
Quantitative research
• Quantitative research is based on the
measurement of quantity or amount. It is
applicable to phenomena that can be
expressed in terms of quantity. When
reporting an event or situation and describing
it.
Qualitative research
• Qualitative research, on the other hand, is
concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e.,
phenomena relating to or involving quality or
kind. For instance, when we are interested in
investigating the reasons for human behavior.
Or when analyzing a degree of variation
between two events or situations.
Conceptual research
• Conceptual research is that related to some
abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used
by philosophers and thinkers to develop new
concepts or to reinterpret existing ones.
Empirical research
• Empirical research relies on experience or
observation alone, often without due regard
for system and theory. It is data-based
research, coming up with conclusions which
are capable of being verified by observation or
experiment.
One time research
• Research is confined to a single time-period.
Longitudinal research
• Research is carried on over several time-
periods.
Field-setting research or Laboratory
research or Simulation research
• Depends upon the environment in which it is
to be carried out.
• Physical experimentation.
Clinical or Diagnostic research
• Research follow case-study methods or in-
depth approaches to reach the basic causal
relations. Such studies usually go deep into
the causes of things or events that interest us,
using very small samples and very deep
probing data gathering devices.
Historical Research
• It is a type which utilizes historical sources like
documents, remains, etc. to study events or
ideas of the past, including the philosophy of
persons and groups at any remote point of
time.
Conclusion oriented research
• Doing conclusion oriented research, a
researcher is free to pick up a problem,
redesign the enquiry as he proceeds and is
prepared to conceptualize as he wishes.
Decision-oriented research
• Decision-oriented research is always for the
need of a decision maker and the researcher
in this case is not free to embark upon
research according to his own inclination.
Decision-oriented research
• Operations research is an example of decision
oriented research since it is a scientific
method of providing executive departments
with a quantitative basis for decisions
regarding operations under their control.
• It is of fundamental importance in business
research.
Characteristics of Research
1. Controlled;
– Cause and Effect relationship between the two
variable is not effected by another independent
variable. It is possible in physical experiments e.g.
Laboratory experiments but not possible in social
sciences.
2. Rigorous;
– It is ensured that the procedures followed to find
answers to the questions are relevant, appropriate
and just. A degree of rigor varies depending on the
type of experiment.
Characteristics of Research (Contd.)
3. Systematic;
– This implies that the procedures adopted to
undertake an investigation follows certain logical
sequence.
4. Valid and Verifiable;
– This concept implies that, whatever you conclude
on the basis of your findings is correct and can be
verified by you and others.
Characteristics of Research (Contd.)
5. Empirical;
– This means that any conclusions drawn are based
upon hard evidence gathered from information
collected from real life experiences and
observation.
6. Critical;
– Critical scrutiny of the procedures used and the
methods employed is crucial to research inquiry.
Summary of Today’s Lecture
• Introduction
• Brief contents of the Course
• Our Course Objective
• What is knowledge and Theory?
• Why Research?
• What is research problem?
• Types of Research
Summary of Today’s Lecture (Contd.)
• Characteristics of Research
Thanks

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