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Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Chapter 1

The Role and Importance of Research

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-1


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

What Research Is and What It Isn’t

A process of determining, acquiring, analyzing, synthesizing,


and disseminating relevant business data, information, and
insights to decision makers in ways that mobilize the
organization to take appropriate business actions that, in turn,
maximize business performance.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-2


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

What Research Is and What It Isn’t


Research is a process through which new knowledge is
discovered.
A theory, such as a theory of motivation, or development, or
learning, for example, helps us to organize this new information
into a coherent body, a set of related ideas that explain events
that have occurred and predict events that may happen.
Theories are an important part of science.
 It is at the ground-floor level, however, that the researcher
works to get the ball rolling, adding a bit of new insight here
and a new speculation there, until these factors come
together to form a corpus of knowledge.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-3


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

What Research Is and What It Isn’t


Characteristics of high-quality research:
 Is based on the work of others
 Can be replicated
 Is generalizable to other settings
 Is based on some logical rationale and tied to theory
 Is doable
 Generates new questions or is cyclical in nature
 Is incremental
 Is an apolitical activity that should be undertaken for the
betterment of society times

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-4


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

A Model of Scientific Inquiry

Asking the Question

Identifying the Important Factors

Formulating a Hypothesis

Collecting Relevant Information

Testing the Hypothesis

Working With the Hypothesis

Reconsidering the Theory

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-5


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Asking the Question

Our first and most important step is asking a question that


arises as the result of curiosity, and to which it becomes
necessary to find an answer.
For example, you might be curious about how
watching television affects the development of
children's language skills.
Such questions are informally stated and often are intended as
a source of discussion and stimulation about what direction
the specific research topic should take.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-6


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Identifying the Important Factors


The next step is to identify the factors that have to be
examined to answer the question.
Such factors might range from the simplest, such as a child's
age or socioeconomic status, to more complicated measures,
such as the effects of violent cartoons on a child's behavior.
the following list of factors which are important to know
about the effects of television on children.
Age of the child; Degree of violence portrayed in
programs; Stage of the child's cognitive growth; Producer's
attitude; Facial expression; Decision making; Mother's
description of viewing patterns; Emotional arousal; Ethnic
differences in response to television programs; Family
communication patterns.
M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-7
University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Formulating a Hypothesis
A hypothesis results when the questions are transformed into
statements that express the relationships between variables like
an "if ... then" statement.
For example, if the question is, "What effects does
viewing violence on television have on boys?" then
the hypothesis could be, Boys who view aggressive
acts during prime-time cartoon shows are more likely
to exhibit aggressive behaviors right after the
television viewing session than are boys who watch
nonaggressive acts during prime-time shows.
 Good questions lead to good hypotheses, which in turn lead
to good studies.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-8


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Collecting Relevant Information


Hypotheses should posit a clear relationship between different factors,
such as a correlation between television viewing and aggressive behavior
in boys.
That is the purpose of the hypothesis.
Once a hypothesis is formulated, the next step is the collection of
information or empirical data that will confirm or refute the hypothesis.
So, if you are interested in whether or not viewing aggressive television
programs leads to aggressive behavior, the kinds of data that will allow the
hypothesis to be tested must be collected.
An important point about testing hypotheses is that you set out to test
them, not to prove them.
As a good scientist, you should be intent on collecting data that reveal as
much of the truth about the world as is possible.
Setting out to prove a hypothesis can place scientists in the unattractive
position of biasing the methods for collecting data or the way in which
study results are interpreted.
If bias occurs, then the entire sequence of steps can fall apart.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-9


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Testing the Hypothesis


Is it enough simply to collect data that relate to the
phenomena being studied? Not quite.
For example, if you find that boys who watched aggressive prime-time
television programs show 4.8 aggressive acts in the 1-hour period following
exposure and that boys who watched a nonaggressive program exhibited an
average of 2.4 acts? What would your conclusion be?
 On the one hand, you could say that the boys who watched
the aggressive programs were more than twice as aggressive
as those who did not watch such programs. On the other hand,
you might argue that the difference between the two averages
is not large enough for you to reach any conclusion.
 Think about the following two scenarios:
what if one of the boys who did not watch the aggressive segment feels a bit
crabby that day and decides to whack his playmate? Or if one of the boys
who did watch the aggressive segment is tired and just does not feel like
playing at all?

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-10


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Working with the Hypothesis

Once you have collected the required data and have tested the
hypothesis, examine the results.
The results may confirm or refute the hypothesis.
If the data confirm your hypothesis, then you can go for the
next scientific experiment.
If the hypothesis is not confirmed, it may very well be a time
for learning something that was not known previously.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-11


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Reconsidering the Theory


Finally, it is time to take stock and relate all these research efforts to
what guides our work in the first place: theory.
A theory has been defined as a set of statements that predict things
that will occur in the future and explain things that have occurred in
the past.
But the very nature of theories is that they can be modified
according to the results of research based on the same assumptions
on which the theory is based.
For example, according to this theory, exposure to aggressive
behavior would lead to aggressive behavior (such as aggressive
cartoon characters).
If the hypothesis that observing such models increases aggression is
confirmed, then another building block, or piece of evidence, has
been added to the house called social learning theory.
Good scientists are always trying to see what type of brick (new
information) fits where, or if it fits at all.
M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-12
University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Asking (ew Questions

The last step in this simple model of scientific inquiry is to


ask a new question.
It might be a simple variation on a theme or a refinement of
the original question.
Whether or not the hypothesis is supported, good research
leaves you farther along the trail to answering the original
question.
You just might be at a different place than you thought or
intended to be.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-13


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Different Types of Research

The types of research methods that will be discussed differ


primarily on three dimensions:
(1) the nature of the question asked,
(2) the method used to answer it, and
(3) the degree of precision the method brings to answering the
question.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-14


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Different Types of Research


Type of Research
Nonexperimental Experimental
True
Descriptive Historical Correlational Qualitative Quasi-experimental
Experimental
.. To examine human
Describe the Relate events that Examine the behavior and the To test for causal
To test fortrue
characteristics have occurred in relationships social, cultural, and Relationships
Purpose political contexts
cause-and-effect
of an existing the past to current between without
within which it relationships
phenomenon events variables having full control
occurs
Current or past
Time
Current Past (correlation) Current or' past Current Current or past
frame
Future (prediction)
Degree of
control over Low to Model-ate to Moderate to
None or low None or low High
factors or medium high high
precision
Code words Relationship Case study Evaluation Function of Cause Function of Cause
Describe
to look for Related to Ethnography of Comparison
Interview Past Describe Historical Research
of Comparison
in research Associated with Between Effects
Review literature Survey of between Effects of
articles Predicts
An analysis of An investigation that A case study analysis
The effect of a
A survey of Freud's use of focuses on the of the preschool language Gender differences
Relationship between effectiveness of
dating practices hypnosis as It program on the
Example the number of hours of
polices for language skills of In spatial and verbal
of relates to current television watching
educating all Inner-City children abilities
adolescent girls psychotherapy and grade-pomt
practices average chrldren
Table 1.1 Summary of research methods covered in exploring research

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-15


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Basic Research Versus Applied Research

Applied research applies research to discovering solutions for


immediate problems or opportunities.

Basic (or pure) research aims to solve perplexing questions or


obtain new knowledge of an experimental or theoretical nature
that has little direct or immediate impact on action,
performance, or policy decisions.

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-16


University of Dhaka
Chapter 01 Business Research Methodology

Thank You

M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury 1-17


University of Dhaka

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