Scuola estiva AiIG

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Scuola estiva AiIG Strategie e Gestione delle
Operations nelle Reti di Imprese

• Ideazione e progettazione di una ricerca
  empirica
• 15 settembre 2003
• Prof.Ing. Guido Capaldo
• DIEG-Università di Napoli Federico II

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Bibliografia di riferimento

• K.Howard, J.A. Sharp- The management of a student
  research project, Gower Publishing, UK, 1983
• J.P. Sheppard, P.R. Nayyar, C.E. Summer -
  Managing your doctoral program a practical
  orientation, Production and Operations
  Management,vol.9, n.4, 2000
• B.Sommer, R.Sommer - A practical guide to
  behaviuoral research.Tools and techniques, Oxford
  Universoty Press, New York, 1991

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Finalità della lezione

• Illustrare gli aspetti metodologici per la
  pianificazione e la realizzazione di un progetto
  di una ricerca empirica
• Aspetti introduttivi (classificazione delle
  tipologie di ricerca)
• Lapproccio sistematico al processo di ricerca
• Gli elementi e le fasi di una ricerca empirica
• La pianificazione del progetto di ricerca
• La realizzazione del progetto di ricerca
• Esercitazione in gruppi

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What is research?

• We define research as seeking through
  methodological processes to add to one own body
  of knowledge and, hopefully, to that of others,
  by the discovery of non-trivial facts and
  insights (Howard, Sharp- 1983)

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Classifying Research

• Field (Aree di ricerca del SDS ING-IND 35)
• Purpose
• Approach
• Nature

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The purpose of research

• To review existing knowledge
• To describe some situation or problem
• Construction of something novel(model or
  outcome)
• Explanation (causal relationships, statistical
  relationships, generalizations)

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I fondamenti teorici

• Una teoria esplicita
• I concetti (variabili)
• Le relazioni tra i concetti
• Lambito di validità di tali relazioni
• La sua verifica richiede
• La costruzione di misure (variabili ed indicatori
  empirici)
• La formulazione di ipotesi
• La creazione ed elaborazione di una base di dati
  attraverso cui determinare il grado
  corrispondenza fra realtà empirica e ipotesi
  teoriche

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I fondamenti teorici

• Concetti
• (riferimento e definizione degli oggetti o eventi
  di interesse
• (comportamenti, practices, percezioni, etc.))
• Proposizioni
• (affermazioni sulla relazione che intercorre tra
  concetti)
• Teoria
• (insieme di proposizioni interconnesse)
• Ipotesi
• (traduzione operativa delle proposizioni di
  ricerca)

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I quesiti di ricerca

• Ricerca
• Confirmativa
• Esplorativa
• Descrittiva

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The nature of research (Grinyer, 1981)

• Pure theory (high contribution to knowledge, low
  chance of successful)
• Testing of existing theory
• Description of the state of the art
• Field Research Specific problem solution (low
  contribution to knowledge, high chance of
  successful)

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The approach to field research

• Case study
• Field experiment
• Survey
• Panel and Focus Group

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The approach to field research

• Case Study o Case Survey Studio di una specifica
  o di un insieme limitato di unità di analisi
• Field Experiment Studio dellimpatto sullunità
  di analisi delle modificazioni indotte dal
  ricercatore ( esperimenti)
• Survey Research Studio di un campione di unità
  di analisi attraverso questionari e/o interviste
  strutturate e predefinite
• Panel e Focus Group Interazione strutturata tra
  un gruppo di persone (esperti) in relazione alla
  tematica oggetto di studio

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A research process model The planning phase
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A research process model The effectuation phase
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Initial selection of a topic

• Criterion to identify potential research areas
• Identify an apparently novel topic
• Be able co convince himself and others
  (supervisor) of the novelty of the topic
• Process of topic selection?

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Initial selection of a topic

• Sources of research topics
• Communication with supervisor
• Previous Doctoral Theses
• Articles in academic and professional journey
• Books and book reviews
• Commmunication with experts in the field
• Communication with potential users of the
  research findings

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Helping in generating research topics

• The underfocused student
• The ideas of topic is not specific enough to form
  the basis of a viable thesis
• He need method useful to him to identify a
  researchable nich which he is capable of
  exploiting with the time and resoirces at his
  disposal
• The overfocused student
• He has a clear idea of the research he wish to do
  with the aim of pursuing a particular topic.
  Possible risk it has been already and he is
  anaware because of unfamiliarity whith the
  frontiers of the topic
• For both types of student methods capable of
  suggesting alternative themes could be useful

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Techniques for generating research topics

• Use of analogy
• Perceived resemblance to particular subject area
  could suggest fruitful line of enquiry in other
  area
• Methods of analysis devised for use in one field
  could be profitably be employed in another field
• Relevance trees
• Useful for generating aternative topics or for
  fixing on some niche?
• Morphological analysis
• It relies upon a threefold process
• Definining the key factors of a particular
  subject
• Listing the various attributes of the factor or
  ways it can occur
• Defining all feasible combinations of the
  attributes?

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Is the research feasible?

• 1. Availability of and access to data and
  information
• 2. Opportunity to pursue a particular reserach
  design
• 3. Time needed to complete the research
• 4. Technical skills needed
• 5. Financial support
• 6. Risk involved

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Has the research sufficient value?

• How do the results add to the body of knoweldge
  in the specific field of the research?
• Have results implication at theoretical and
  managerial level?
• How do the results could be implemented
  practically?

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Is the research sufficiently symmetrical?

• If
• two or more outcomes may be possible
• hypothesis may be proved or disproved
• experiment may provide definite results or may be
  inconclusive
• each of the outcomes should represent acceptable
  findings (high research symmetry)

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Examples of symmetrical reserach topic

• Research topic A the effect on career progress
  of students attaining the degree of MBA
• If it were found that MBA had no effect on career
  progress this conclusion would be of considerable
  value as would the contrary finding..
• Research topic B is the leadership theory based
  on research in the private sector applicable
  also to management in the public sector?
• The hypothesis could be proved or disproved
  either findings could be of considerable value

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Is there sufficient scope?

• Scope of the research the opportunity to
  increase, reduce or even confirm current beliefs
• Scope?Value

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Developing a research proposal

• 1. Topic analysis
• Useful to compare the various aspects of one or
  more potentially acceptable topics
• 2. Structuring the research proposal
• Useful to develop a realistic plan of action
  (clear objectives, taking account of resources
  and constraints)

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The topic analysis

• The hypothesis of the research
• Hypothesis ..a single statement that attemps to
  explain or to predict a single phenomenon
  (Simon, 1968)
• Theory an entire system of interrelated thought
• Novel hypothesis substantiated?addition to the
  body of knowledge?high value of research
• A risk the purpose of the research lends itself
  to trivial hypothesis.
• A suggestion to avoid too detailed specification
  of the research. It is usually better to identify
  a single hypothesis with considerable potential
  for testing

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Il disegno della ricerca - Survey Research

• Fornisce indicazioni quantitative
• Utilizza principalmente questionari
• Riguarda in genere un campione della popolazione
  di riferimento
• Viene classificata in base al tempo
  (cross-sectional o longitudinale) e allo scopo
  (esplorative, descrittive o confirmative)

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La raccolta dei dati

• Identificazione
• dellUnità di analisi ( oggetto da osservare)
• della Popolazione di riferimento ( Insieme
  totale delle entità che hanno in comune almeno
  una caratteristica di interesse)
• del Campione ( sottoinsieme di elementi estratti
  da una data popolazione)
• Raccolta dati, utilizzando
• Basi di dati già disponibili
• Rilevazione sul campo
• Identificazione rispondenti
• Scelta/Costruzione delle Misure
• Predisposizione del Questionario / Check List
• Verifica Pilota
• Rilevazione
• Data Entry

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Lanalisi dei dati(in Forza, 2003)
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Lanalisi dei dati statistiche descrittive
In Forza (2002)
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Errori
In Forza (2002)
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The structuring of research proposal

• The student should immagine that he is tendering
  for a research contract through the medium of the
  research proposal
• Before embarking in the execution phase the
  student must be able to satisfy himself and his
  advisers that he is wholly familiar with previous
  and current work in the area of his planned study
• The final version of the proposal might be 10 to
  15 pages in lenght. It will need to describe in
  sufficient detail the approach which the student
  will use.

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Provisional chapter details of research proposal
(I)

• 1. Introduction
• The general problem area, the specific problem,
  why the topic is important, prior research,
  approach of the thesis, limitations and key
  assumptions,contribution to be made by the
  research
• 2. Survey of prior research
• If there is extensive prior research, the results
  might be preferably be broken into two or more
  chapters.
• 3. Description of the research methodology
• It is important to describe in depth how the
  research was conducted, which kind of method was
  used and why

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Provisional chapter details of research proposal
(II)

• 4. Research results
• Data presentation, definition of the historical
  analysis, etc.
• 5. Analysis of the results
• Explanation of the conclusion that can be drawn
  from the data, the implication for the theory,
  etc.
• 6. Summary and conclusions
• The thesis is summarised with emphasis upon the
  results obtained and the contribution made by
  results. Suggestions for further research are
  outlined.