Business Research Methods

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Business Research Methods
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Lecture Overview

• Course overview
• Information the Management Information System
  (MIS)
• Business research what is it?
• Characteristics of scientific research
• Types of Business research
• Philosophical bases of research
• Key research terms
• Research process the main steps
• Research brief
• Current issues
• Research Ethics

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Course Overview Research Methods
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Why is information needed?
Competition
Market/ Environment
Business managers need information on
Customers needs
Strategic planning
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The Management Information System
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Research the management process

• Research is a fundamental component of the
  process of management and the management decision
  process
• Research is key element of the management
  information system
• Can be used to analyse and monitor market
  opportunities
• Can be helpful in providing insight into
  organisational and individual behaviour

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Where is the Research function located within an
organisation if at all?

• Marketing Department (Mkt Info System)
• Research Department that undertakes research
  work for the Mkt dept and other research on
  both internal and external customers
• Engage an independent Research Company to conduct
  research

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What is business research?

• Systematic and organised effort to investigate a
  specific problem or opportunity with the goal of
  finding answers to the issues
• Marketing/Tourism research and business research
  should be considered one and the same
• Marketing / Tourism research is different in the
  focus but not in the process or outcomes from
  developing rigor and balance in the research
  process.

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Business Research
Business research is an organised, systematic,
data-based, critical, objective, scientific
inquiry or investigation into a specific problem
or issue with the purpose of finding solutions to
it or clarifying it.
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Characteristics of scientific research Factors
to evaluate research

• Research must be conducted with
• Clear purpose
• Relevance
• Timely
• Efficiency
• Quality Accurate, Reliable Valid
• Objectivity
• Ethical
• Limitations of scientific research in behavioural
  areas

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Types of Business Research
Applied done with the intention of applying
results to specific problems in the
business Basic/Pure to enhance the
understanding of problems that commonly occur
across a range of organisations. Undertaken to
extend knowledge
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Why study Business research

• A tool that can be used in any discipline
• Foundation of both business and academic best
  practice
• If you are not a researcher in the future chances
  are that you will be a user of research allows
  use it in more sophisticated and creative ways
• Allows you to sift for reliable information
• Allows you to evaluate other peoples research.

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Philosophical bases of research

• Paradigm reflects a basic set of philosophical
  beliefs about the nature of the world.
• Give guidelines and principles in the way
  research is conducted within a paradigm
• Research methods and techniques should be in
  sympathy with the paradigm
• Research Paradigms Positivist Interpretative
  Critical Feminist Postmodern
• Paradigm a set of beliefs
• Ontology the nature of reality
• Epistemology relationship between researcher
  and the subject/object/respondent
• Methodology set of guidelines for conducting
  research tools for data collection analysis

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Key Research Terms

• Observations - perceptions of reality
• Fact universal truth supported by measurable
  evidence
• Opinion persons belief
• Concepts general representations of ideas to be
  studied ie service value service quality
• Variables concepts that are operationalised so
  it can be observed measured

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Quantitative Res Qualitative Res

• Reality is objective singular apart from
  researcher
• Researcher is independent of that being
  researched
• Concepts are in the form of distinct variables
• Measures are systematically created before data
  collection are standardised

• Reality is subjective multiple, as seen by
  participants
• Researcher interacts with that being researched
• Concepts are in the form of themes,
  generalisations
• Measures are open ended questions created for the
  specific research setting

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Quantitative Res Qualitative Res

• Data are in the form of numbers from precise
  measurements
• There are many subjects or respondents
• Procedures are standard - replication
• Analysis use statistics
• Methods Survey, Experiment
• Triangulation mixed method approach both qual
  quant methods are used will be a predominant
  use of one method.

• Data are in the form of words from documents,
  transcripts
• Generally few subjects or participants
• Procedures not easily replicated
• Analysis extract themes from evidence present
  a coherent picture
• Methods indepth interviews focus groups
  observations panels case studies

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Key Research Terms

• Secondary research researcher uses previously
  collected data
• Primary research collection of original data by
  researcher
• Research Design- framework or blueprint for
  conducting the research.
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal (hypothesis testing)
• Should note that researchers my use a singular,
  dual or multiple research design

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Why should management not automatically
commission a research study?

• Identify a number of situations when research may
  be inappropriate.

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Possible reasons

• Information is already available
• There is insufficient time for research (tight
  deadlines)
• Resources are not available (insufficient
  funding)
• Costs outweigh the value of the research

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Stages in the Research Process
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Research process

• Step One
• Problem definition
• Management problem
• Research problem (in the form of a question s)
• Research objectives
• Estimate the value of the information

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Research process

• Step two
• Research design plan or blueprint for gathering
  the data
• Linked to next 2 steps in research process
• Techniques to be used
• Who will be involved - respondents
• How the data will be gathered
• How it will be analysed

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Research process

• Step three
• Sampling / representation
• How will we group people, objects, things
• How will we select them
• Why will we select them
• Note even for qualitative research we need to
  identify the participants/respondents and justify

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Research process

• Step Four
• Data collection, Data Preparation/Processing and
  Analysis
• How data is collected
• How it is recorded
• How data is analysed
• Interpretation of findings to arrive at
  conclusions

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Research process

• Step five
• Recommendations and reporting
• Analysing data is not enough, it is important to
  be able to interpret your finding and include
  them in a report that the client can understand,
  interpret and apply to the management problem
• Oral presentation of the research results to
  client

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Report writing and presentation

• Permanent record of the entire project
• Quality of work is usually judged by the final
  report and presentation
• Should influence the action taken by management
• Needed if you are doing the course - Research
  Project

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Research Brief

• A document provided by the client to the research
  agency that describes the business decision
  problem and the expectations of a research study
  design to collect information to make the
  decision.
• Includes purpose, background, any previous
  research, need for research, research objectives,
  target audience, level of reporting, budget,
  timeline, expectations of proposal/selection
  criteria, professional membership/quality
  assurance information, contact details

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Current issues

• Privacy Act was enacted on the 21st December
  2001, changed the procedures for conducting
  primary research
• Growth of sugging (selling under the guise of a
  survey), frugging (fund raising under the guise
  of a survey), dugging (developing a database
  under the guise research) and telemarketing
• These practices violate the respondents trust
  and erode willingness to support legitimate
  surveys
• Misuse of research and reporting of findings by
  the media

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Ethical Research

• Ethical Research Practices those practices and
  procedures that lead to
• protection of human non-human subjects
• appropriate methodology
• inferences, conclusions recom. based on actual
  findings
• complete accurate research reports

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• Ethics Interaction of Rights and Obligations

Subjects Rights
Clients Rights
Researchers Obligation
Researchers Obligation
Researcher
Subject
Client
Researchers Rights
Researchers Rights
Subjects Obligation
Clients Obligation
Subjects Rights
Clients Obligations
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Ethics

• Most research involves three parties
• Researcher
• Client and
• Respondent/ subject/ participant
• the public at large
• Rights and responsibilities of the above
  stakeholders will be explored in the tutorial.
  Visit the MRSA website and SR 1.1

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Scientific Misconduct

• Research fraud - falsifies or distorts the data
  or the methods of data collection
• Plagiarism - steals the ideas writings of
  others without citing the source.
• Unethical but Legal - behaviour may be unethical
  but not break the law

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Summary

• Research and the MIS
• What is research? the main characteristics
• Applied Basic/pure research
• Research paradigm positivist, interpretative
• Key research terms concept variable
  qualitative quantitative research design
  exploratory, descriptive, causal primary
  secondary research
• Research process steps
• Research brief
• Research ethics researcher, respondent, client
  public