"Lecture 1: Introduction to Business ResearchStudents who successfully complete this module should be able to: ? Reflect critically on theoretical and methodological issues inresearch, including critically evaluating published journal articles; ? Understand research design issues, frame appropriate researchquestions, and employ appropriate research methods for differentparadigmatic research; ? Appreciate the contexts of business research choices; ? Critically evaluate existing literature in order to produce a reflective,critical literature review for a research project; ? Choose, justify, and, where necessary, design appropriate researchmethods to collect empirical data for a research project; ? Prepare a research proposal. 2 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17? Aims to enable you to undertake an independent journey of inquiry in the subject area that you arespecialising in. 3 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17? Aside from learning about the various methods andinstruments that are available for conducting aresearch… ? … we will also help you to prepare a formalresearch proposal that you can implement in theDissertation module. Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 4? Research skills are transferable skills; ? Research is a way of thinking and the value of the datayou collect for your research will depend amongst otherthings on? the quality of your thinking about the purpose of yourresearch; ? the context in which you are conducting the research;? the data collection methods that you choose for yourstudy(choose appropriately)? the limitations of your study (budget, timeconstraints, etc.) Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 5? Mastering a research method alone is not enough: the quality of your thinking about all aspects of your research is crucial. ? The biggest challenge is working out just what issue you areseeking to address i.e. research topic and question(s). ? Collecting information (literature review) about your researchtopicwill help you in defining, refining and contextualisingthe research topic that you want to investigate.? Once you have identified and defined your research topic, youcan then compare different research and data collectionmethods to find the most suitable for conducting yourresearch study. Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 6? Research is the systematic process of collecting and analysinginformation (data) in order to increase our understanding ofthe phenomenon with which we are concerned or interested. ? Research involves three main stages:o planningo data collection? from observing a phenomenon or group of relatedphenomena o data analysis. ? description of a phenomenon or group of relatedphenomena ? formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomena ? predict the existence of other phenomena using thehypothesis 7 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17? process of inquiry & investigation ? systematic ? is unbiased and objective ? increases knowledge NOT mere description/ speculation about business events Examples of Business Research Business aspect Research issues Human Resource Management Employee attitudes, incentives, retention Finance Forecasting, budgeting, efficiency ofaccounting software Consumer behaviour Brand preference, buying habits, consumerattitudes Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 8Traditional dissertation ? Empirical research of a management or organisational practice – looks at aproblem in a place of work e.g. absenteeism, recruitment, motivation, supplychain difficulties – and explaining it in terms of theories learned – providerecommendations to solve or improve the situation. This is often a common typefor sponsored students. Data collection may be easy. Test a model dissertation ? Empirical testing and development of an existing model or development of a newmodel – take an existing model e.g. on strategic planning or customer retentionand you test this in your work-place or stated organisation. The result is toconfirm or disconfirm the effectiveness or reliability of the model.Applying the theory dissertation ? You apply relevant theories and concepts to solve a managerial or organisationalproblem. Here you take a theory e.g. expectancy theory of motivation or theory ofcultural diffusion and apply the theory in the workplace in order to explain what isgoing on there; e.g. explain lack of motivation in despatch department and makerecommendations based on the theory. 9 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/171. Choose a topic 2. Search and review literature 3. Define research problem/ set researchquestions 4. Determine your research paradigm &methodology 5. Collect data 6. Analyze & interpret data 7. Write research report, article or thesis 10 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Theory Data collection Data analysis Theory Quantitative Qualitative The process of quantitative research is mainly sequential.The process of qualitative research is mainly iterative.11 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17? Why is this a problem? ? Is this problem interesting? Is the outcomeobvious?? What do you hope to learn from the research? ? What do you / does the academic world alreadyknow about the issue? Is there a lot of research onthis topic?? Are there any constraints – time, access to people,sensitivities? 12 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/1713 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/1714 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/1715 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/171.What exactly are you being asked to produce? (how long/structure/ sections/ how many/ what goes in them/presentation)2. Why are you doing it? (external reasons: to get a degree/ foryour employer; internal reasons; personal interest) 3. Who are you writing for? (what are your examiners lookingfor/ who will help you) 4. When are your deadlines? (draft/ final/ meetings withsupervisor) 5. Where will you do your research? (primary data collection/permissions/ contacts) 16 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Until you have selected a topic, you cannot get yourresearch underway.Selecting a topic: Can be difficult to do Can be time-consuming Can lead to several dead-ends before settling on atopic Begin with your own interests: ? A topic you have previously encountered in your studies ? A topic which relates to your work in which you have apersonal interest17 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Browse through books and journals to see whatcaptures your interest and what doesn’t captureyour interest Search for ‘gaps’ in the literature: isthere a lack of evidence or unresolved debates? Browsing literature outside of your own subjectarea may generate ideas that can then be linked toyour subject You may want to replicate some research and applyit to a setting different than the original setting.You may want to ‘update’ a piece of research thatwas done 30 years ago. 18 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/171. Theoretical (presents models and theories forexplaining patterns in practice) 2. Previous Research (describes systematic enquiries intopolicy and practice) 3. Reports (written by informed professionals whoevaluate each other’s practice and by practitioners who evaluate their own practice) 4. Policies (devised by policy makers) e.g. Do international hotel chains take CSR seriously? ? policies and practices on hotel websites ? CSR ? strategic management Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 19What exactly are you trying to find out? start: “I’m trying to find out…” and finish the sentence. Nomore. write down in plain language test it out (Is it clear to you? Is it short? A single sentence?Is it specific? Does it have a single focus? Does it point youto two or three different areas of literature?) Reconsider your question if… It has lots of bits to it (some of these maybe sub-questionswhich you can include as objectives but take them out ofyour main question) It is too broad or general (a more specific question willenable you to achieve more depth) You are not happy with it e.g. How do international hotel chains implement CSR in their businessplans? Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 20Identify research topic Focus and clarify your researchquestion(s)• Research is judged on whether and how faryou achieve what you said you intended todo, so it is vital to clearly define yourresearch question, aims and objectives. It is not enough to say ‘I’m interested inlooking at inequality’. • clarify what you mean by ‘inequality’ • clarify the aspects of inequality that youwant to investigate. Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 21For example, do you want to know: The extent of inequality? How inequality is distributed? The causes of inequality? The effects of inequality? About a particular type of inequality? About inequality over a particularperiod of time? 22 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Avoid turning your research topic into a researchquestion that is too easy. For example:‘how many organisations have introduced a formaltraining scheme for volunteers to increase volunteermotivation?’question only requires a total number ofthose that have; lacks the standard of research for a degreelevel programme;does not enable generation of data foranalysis. Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 23A better question would be: ‘Has the introduction of formal training schemes forvolunteers increased volunteer motivation?’ This question generates further questions such as:What constitutes a ‘formal training scheme’? How is ‘motivation’ defined? How can motivation be ‘measured’? How will you know that reports of increased volunteermotivation can be attributed to the formal trainingscheme? Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 24Avoid developing a question that is toodifficultQuestion must be logical andunderstandable; Abstract ideas and concepts must beturned into researchable terms; Is the question researchable in the timeavailable; Is access available to relevant/necessary participants/sources of information? 25 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Avoid developing a question that hasbeen answered beforeReview literature on topic to see whatothers have done; Talk with colleagues/experts who mayknow of existing work; You must be able to demonstrate thatyou have sufficiently reviewed relevantliterature & research question has notbeen answered already. Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 26Exercise 1 Draft a general research question for the following examples: 1) A German online retailer has experienced declining sales over thepast year.2) A manager of company is experiencing a substantial number ofcomplaints from customers about delayed response to their enquiries Exercise 2 Coca-Cola is planning to launch a new Coke flavour. The company hasconducted a pilot for blind taste tests with thousands of participants inshopping malls across the UK. The research question thatis guidingCoca-Cola’s research program is:“What will the ultimate consumer reactions be to the taste of the newCoke product?” Is this research question (i) too broad, (ii) too narrow or (iii) just rightfor predicting the purchasing and consumption behaviours of theexisting consumers of this brand? 27 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Brainstorm at least three topics that youmay be interested in researching. Explain why these topics are of interest toyou Formulate research aim, question and sub- questions (if applicable) 28 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17"