UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

2016 May/June Examinations

MBA574 : BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

Faculty: COMMERCE

Department: GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Duration: 3 HOURS

Examiner: DR M. SANDADA

Authorized Materials: Non Programmable Calculator

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. This paper contains Six (6) Questions
2. Answer Question One (40 marks); and Any other Three Questions (20 marks each)
3. Start each question on a new page
4. This question paper comprises Five (5) printed pages

NB: DO NOT TURN OVER THE QUESTION PAPER OR COMMENCE WRITING

UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO.

Page 1 of 5
QUESTION 1 (Compulsory – 40 Marks)

Your intended research is concerned with managers and how they cope with pressure in
the workplace. You particularly want to find out the coping strategies they use. You think a
qualitative study could be advantageous in that it enables management research to gain
new insights that may not be obtained through a quantitative study. You realise that most
students have used quantitative methods with an emphasis on measuring and the use of
factor analysis. Researchers hope this allows them to find statistical correlations between
two variables and demonstrate some relationship between sources of pressure and
possible physical, psychological or even physiological outcomes, if coping strategies were
not successful. You decide not to use this approach. You feel that a number of students’
dissertations had already used this approach and you want to get away from statistical
analysis and examining pressure on managers using a positivistic approach. You are
convinced that the positivist research ignores the managers’ biography which could prove
to be important in understanding how the managers cope with pressure. The positivist
paradigm seems to perceive the individual as passive and playing little part in making and
constructing his/her reality. It is as if the researcher with questions asked in the
questionnaire has already structured the reality. However, people working in organisations
do have histories, futures and expectations and pursue their individual goals. For example,
long-term sources of a person’s distress may be traced back to experiences at work many
years before. You think that to study this would require you to use an interpretivist
paradigm.

Source: Examiner’s compilation

Required:
(a) Given the background above, design a qualitative research proposal extract.
(20 marks)

(b) Outline the methods to be used and justifications for those methods as you have
used them in the case. (20 marks)

QUESTION 2

(a) Identify and explain the systematic biases that may invalidate some of the
inferences derived from survey research design and how to overcome these
limitations. (20 marks)

Page 2 of 5
QUESTION 3

(a) Discuss the key decisions that a researcher must make when considering to carry
out a case study research method. (10 marks)

(b) ‘Case research is a difficult research method that requires good research skills on
the part of the researcher and is therefore often prone to error’. Describe five
problems that are frequently encountered in case research studies. (10 marks)

QUESTION 4

(a) Use examples to explain the following research aspects:

(i) A measure can be reliable but not valid (3 marks)

(ii) A measure can be valid but not reliable (3 marks)
(iii) Reliability implies consistency but not accuracy (3 marks)

(b) Describe three main sources of unreliable observations in social science

measurements. (6 marks)

(c) Suggest strategies that a researcher can use to create reliable measures. (5 marks)

QUESTION 5

(a) Discuss the two fundamental sets of philosophical assumptions that shape the way
researchers view and study phenomenon. (4 marks)

(b) Depending on the purpose of research, scientific research can be grouped into three
types or purposes. Use examples to describe these three research purposes.
(6 marks)

(c) Using practical examples, distinguish between relational and descriptive

hypotheses. (4 marks)

(d) Intelligence influences the students’ academic achievement and ultimately the
students’ job prospects. The effect of intelligence on academic achievement also
depends on the effort invested by the student in the learning process. Use this
information to present a conceptual framework depicting how these variables are
linked. (6 marks)

Page 3 of 5
QUESTION 6

Predictors: (Constant), Innovation, Dynamism, Globalisation, Owner Motivations

Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients Collinearity Statistics
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig. ToleranceVIF
1 (Constant) 1.846 .238 7.761 .000
Dynamism .109 .041 .195 2.658 .009 .971 1.030
Motivations .120 .036 .287 3.338 .001 .709 1.411
Globalisation .154 .035 .329 4.439 .000 .953 1.049
Innovation .119 .049 .208 2.448 .016 .727 1.375
Dependent Variable: Strategic Planning

Regression Analysis Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .642a .413 .392 .32536

ANOVAa

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 8.331 4 2.083 19.675 .000b
Residual 11.856 112 .106
Total 20.188 116
a. Dependent Variable: Strategic Planning
b. Predictors: (Constant), Innovation, Dynamism, Globalisation, Motivations

Required:

The SPSS output presented above shows a multiple regression analysis where the
strategic planning depends on innovation, dynamism, globalization and Owner motivations.

(a) What research approach was employed for this study. (3marks)

Page 4 of 5
(b) What does the “F” statistic explain. (1 mark)

(c) What does the R-squared explain. (1 mark)

(d) Interpret the relation between each explanatory variable and the dependent variable.
(9 marks)

(e) Explain why the Adjusted R-squared and the Standardized Beta coefficients are
preferred to the Adjusted R-squared and Unstandardized Beta coefficients
respectively. (4 marks)

(f) Explain the managerial implications of the results of this study. (2 marks)

END OF EXAMINATION PAPER

Page 5 of 5