Session 1: Introduction to research, research

approaches and designs

 Overview of the module
 Q & A about the module
 Introduction to research, research approaches
and designs
 Dr. Helen Verhoeven
h.verhoeven@hw.ac.uk
F36 (2nd floor)
 Posting up lecture notes
 Access to datasets
 Class announcements
 Underpins dissertation
 Allows you to gain key skills required in
business e.g.
◦ Identifying gaps in knowledge
◦ Developing an implementable project
◦ The pros and cons of different research
approaches
◦ How to interpret and make use of data
 Methodological rigor is key to undertaking
good research
 Small scale research project which usually
requires the collection of primary data or an
in-depth analysis of secondary data

 The point of a dissertation:

◦ To research a particular subject in-depth with a
view to finding out something new (and of value)
about the subject under investigation
Lots, but here are the key ones:
 Independent learning
 Critical thinking
 Ability to demonstrate a depth of
understanding in written form
 Analytical skills either textual or numeric
 Time management
 Title page
 Acknowledgements
 List of contents
 An abstract
 Introduction
 Literature review
 Research methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Conclusion
 Appendices
 References
 How do I get started?

 What process should I use to achieve a good

end product?
Understanding, Knowledge and Subject-Specific Skills
 Select and develop a topic to investigate
 Obtain relevant information
 Access and evaluate literature
 Select an appropriate methodology
 Develop an understanding of the differences and
similarities between qualitative and quantitative research
 Know how to analyse, interpret and write-up research
results

Cognitive skills, Core Skills and Professional Awareness

 Know how to analyse & interpret research results
 Work independently
 Communicate & present ideas effectively by written &
verbal means
 Lecture topic Reading chapters for core text Seminar/lab topic
1 Introduction to research, research approaches and designs Z: 1 and 4

Q: 4
2 Generating research ideas Z: 6

Q: 5
3 Undertaking a literature review Z: 8 Developing and critiquing ideas
for your dissertation
Q: 6
4 The importance and use of theory in research Z: 3 Critical reading and writing
skills. Pitfalls and good practice
5 Qualitative research methods Z: 7 Practical qualitative research
skills
6 Quantitative research methods Z: 15, 16 and 13 Practical quantitative skills
7 Ethics Z: 5, 12 and 20 Getting started with SPSS;
descriptive statistics
Experimentation
8 Dataset management and use of existing data sets Z: 21 and 22 Inferential statistics

Hypothesis testing
9 Measurement, reliability, validity and generalisability Z: 13 and 23 Reliability analysis and
correlation

10 multivariate statistics Z: 24 Multiple regression analysis

11 Qualitative data analysis Q: 15 Lab revision class

 Generic skills rather than topic based
 Need for holistic understanding
 Build on week by week
 Learning by doing
 6-8 hours of preparation each week
 Preparation of exercises etc.
 Full attendance
 Participation in class exercises
 Feedback
 Lecture notes do not cover all the points that
are made, not all the examples used. This is
deliberate !!!
 You need to take notes during the lecture to
get the full benefit of what is being covered
 Also take notes when reading the textbook
and journal articles
 Lectures, Seminars, Exercises, Lab session
 Textbooks and journal articles

 What do you think?

 Where knowledge is generated, refined and
critiqued
 Peer reviewed
 Focused on topic
 Journals are not all the same
◦ Orientation
◦ Quality (ABS journal list)
 Practical experience of analysing data
 Cover techniques that you can use in your
dissertation
 Gain skills on how to present and interpret
data
 All PCs on campus
 Core text: Zikmund, Babin, Carr, Griffin, and
Quinlan (2011) Business Research Methods.
Custom edition for Heriot-Watt University.
South-Western: Cengage

 Eaterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., and Jackson, P.R.

(2008), Management Research.Sage
 Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2009)
Research Methods for Business Students. Prentice
Hall.
 Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007) Business Research
methods. Oxford University Press
 100 % course work
 Assessment: 2 course works
 Described in handbook – standard university
regulations apply
Literature search and literature review (50 per
cent of final coursework mark)
 Literature review: 2,250 and 2,750 words
(excluding reference lists).
 Introduction section: purpose & expectations
 Main body, Discussion and Conclusions
section, Normal reference list
 Further list of literature
 All Harvard referenced
 Sunday 19th February, 8 p.m Dubai
Research proposal
◦ Title
◦ Supervisor
◦ Background
◦ Research Methodology and ethics
◦ Time table
◦ Structure of end result
 Between 2,750 and 3,250 words (excluding
reference list, tables, charts, figures,
appendices).
 All Harvard reference
 Wednesday 28th March, 8.00 p.m. Dubai time
Let’s make a start
 What do you understand by the term
‘research’ ?
 What distinguishes business and
management research from research more
generally?
 What distinguishes academic B&M research
from B&M research more generally?
Research’s role in the decision making process
 Recognising the nature of the problem or
opportunity
 Identifying how much information is currently
available and how reliable it is
 Determining what information is needed to
better deal with the situation
 Time constraints
 Availability of data
 Nature of the decision
 Benefit of research information
 Discipline base:
◦ Psychology
◦ Sociology
◦ Anthropology
◦ Economics
 Sub Field:
◦ O.B. - marketing
◦ HRM - strategy
◦ Industrial Relations - accounting/finance
◦ Operational research
Basic research
Purpose
 Expand knowledge
 Generate universal principles
relating process to outcomes
 Findings of value to society
Context
 Undertaken in universities
 Choice of topic and
objectives determined by
researcher
 Flexible timescales
Applied Research
Purpose
 Improve understanding
 Solution to problem
 Knowledge limited to
problem
 Findings of practical
relevance
Context
 Undertaken in a variety of
settings
 Objectives negotiated with
originator
 Tight timescales
 Exploratory: clarify ambiguous
situations/discover ideas

 Descriptive: describe characteristics of

objects, people, groups, organisations or
environment

 Causal:seek cause and effect relationships

Uses:
 Describe segment characteristics
 Estimate proportion of people who behave in a
certain way
 Make specific predictions

Types:
 Longitudinal study
 True panel
 Omnibus panel
 Sample Survey
Uses:
 Formulate problems more precisely
 Develop Hypotheses
 Establish priorities for research
 Eliminate impractical ideas
 Clarify concepts

Types:
 Literature search
 Experience survey
 Analysis of select cases
 Focus groups
 Interviews
 Projective tests (unstructured prompts)
 Ethnographics (outline and analyse the ‘habitat’)
Uses:
Provide evidence regarding causal relationships
(casual inference) by means of :
 Concomitant variation (change course/change
outcomes)
 Time order in which variable occur (temporal
sequence)
 Elimination other explanations (nonspurious
association)

Types:
 Laboratory experiment
 Field experiment
 Absolute: necessary and sufficient to bring
effect
 Conditional: necessary but not sufficient to
bring effect
 Contributory: neither necessary nor sufficient
to bring effect (lowest form of causality)
 Controlled study which manipulates a
proposed cause and observes any
corresponding change in the proposed effect

 Experimental variable = proposed cause

 Manipulation = altering the level of variable
 Test market = experiment in actual market
conditions
 Defining research objectives
 Research design
 Sampling
 Data collection
 Data analysis
 Conclusions and reporting
 Forward linkage: earlier stages of the
research process influence the later stages
(e.g. objective and sample selection)

 Backward linkage: later steps influence earlier

steps in research process (e.g. data collection
method and sample selection)
 Define objectives: deliverables
 Research design: methods and procedures for
collecting and analysing information needed
◦ Survey
◦ Experiment
◦ Secondary data
◦ Observation
 Sampling: conclusions based on
measurement of a portion - population,
sample, sampling techniques
 Data collection: Obstrusive or Unobstrusive
(respondents are not disturbed)
 Data analysis: application of reasoning to
understand the data that have been gathered –
patterns, summarising, statistical analysis
◦ Management information requirement
◦ Characteristics of research design
◦ Nature of the data gathered
 Conclusions and reporting: communicating
research results: interpreting results, describing
implications, drawing conclusions for managerial
decisions
 A researcher’s ontology refers to:

His/her philosophical assumptions about the

Nature of Reality
 A Researchers Epistemology is a result of
his/her ontological position and refers to

His/her assumptions about the best ways of

inquiring into the nature of the world and
establishing ‘truth’
 Ontology:  Epistemology:
 Objectivism  Natural Science
◦ Structural analysis model
◦ Attitudinal analysis ◦ Positivism
◦ Realism
 Empirical realism
 Critical realism

 Interpretivism
 Constructivism ◦ Verstehen
◦ Categorical analysis ◦ Phenomenology
◦ Discourse analysis ◦ hermeneutics
 Objectivism asserts that social phenomena
and their meanings have an existence that is
independent of social actors.

 It implies that social phenomena and the

categories that we use in everyday discourse
have an existence that is independent or
separate from actors.
 Structural: sees structures independent of the
subject (have life of their own) e.g. not
questioning managerial level

 Attitudinal: focuses on the attitudes that

people hold but seen as ‘there’ and not
changeable
 Also referred to as constructivism
 Social phenomena and
◦ Their meanings are continually being generated by
social actors
◦ Categories are produced through social interaction
◦ Categories are in a constant state or revision
 Researchers’ own accounts of the social world
are constructions
 Knowledge is viewed as indeterminate
 Categorical: categorising and looking for
relationships

 Discourse: dominant ideas/concepts, will be

accepted by the majority. Decisions will take
discourse into account – discourses are not
permanent
 Measuring using a scientific method
 - One objective reality !
Five elements:
1. Phenomalism – knowledge must be confirmed
by the senses
2. Inductivism – facts gathered to generate laws
3. Deductivism – role of theory is generation of
hypotheses to be tested
4. Objectivism – objectivity in the gathering and
analysis of data
5. Concern with scientific rather than normative
statements
 Natural and social sciences can and should apply the
same approach to collecting data and to explanation
 There is an external reality to which scientists direct
their attention.
 Empirical realism
◦ Asserts that, through the use of appropriate methods,
external reality can be understood
◦ Implies that categories refer to real objects
 Critical realism
◦ Recognizes the reality of the natural order
◦ Recognizes events and discourses of the social world
◦ Seeks to identify the structures at work that generate those
events and discourses
◦ Admits into explanation theoretical terms not directly
amenable to observation
 Alternative to the positivist orthodoxy
 A strategy is required that respects the
differences between people and the objects
of the natural sciences
 Requires the social scientist to grasp the
subjective meaning of social action
 Its intellectual heritage includes:
◦ Weber’s notion of Verstehen: understanding
◦ The hermeneutic-phenomenological tradition;
 Analysis of text through which a person tells about
him/herself – studying human experiences based on
the idea that the experience is subjective and
determined by the context
◦ Symbolic interactionism: study of micro-scale social
interaction to give subjective meaning to human
behaviour
 A particular Epistemology usually leads the
researcher to a Methodology that is
characteristic of that position

 Conversely, where a given Range of Methods

is employed in a particular study it is possible
to infer that the researcher holds, perhaps
implicitly, a corresponding Epistemology.
 Fundamental philosophies support the
(research) methodologies, which in turn
support the data collection methods
 Quantitative Qualitative
Principal orientation to Deductive Inductive
the role or research in
relation to research
Epistemological Natural science Interpretivism
orientation mod3el, in particular
positivism
Ontological orientation Objectivism Constructionism
 Quantitative data is either expressed as or
collected in the form of numbers

 Qualitative data is expressed mainly in the

form of the written word (but not always) and
is concerned with meanings

 Remember: you can not necessarily tell the

underlying epistemology based on the
researcher’s choice of methods.
Qualitative research Quantitative research

 Capture and discover  Test hypothesis that the

meaning once the researcher begins with
researcher becomes
immersed in the data
 Concepts are in the form
 Concepts are in the
forms of themes, motifs, of distinct variables
generalizations, and
taxonomies  Measures are
 Measures are created in systematically created
and ad hoc manner and before data collection
are often specific to the
individual setting or and are standardised
researcher
Qualitative
 Data are in the form of words
and images from documents,
observations and transcripts
 Theory can be causal or
noncausal and is often
inductive
Research procedures are

particular, and replication is
very rare.
 Analysis proceeds by
extracting themes or
generalisations from
evidence and organising data
to present a coherent,
consistent picture.
(Allyn and Bacon, 2008)
Quantitative
 Data are in the form of
numbers from precise
measurement
 Theory is larely causal
and is deductive
 Procedures are standard,
and replication is
frequent
 Analysis proceeds by
using statistics, tables, or
charts and discussing
how what they show
relates to the hypotheses
 Generating research ideas