By Dr.

Tewodros Mesfin

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Research topic broad enough to analyze
relevant concepts and variables in a well
defined context
 Narrow enough to be focused on a specific
concept/s and definite context
 Shouldn’t be too broad or too narrow
 Specific marketing concepts/ constructs
should be stated
 Research context should be well identified
 The relationship between those concepts/
constructs in the case of the unit of analysis/
research context is to be studied

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Area of interest / specialization
 Foundation knowledge on the area ( theories,

practices, past researches etc )

 Availability of literature ?
 Access to data ( survey or secondary)?
 Really researchable topic?
 Over researched ?
 Biased by practical experience ?

By Tewodros Mesfin
• Give brief introduction of the research constructs
• Define the concept/s
• Describe past research progress on the area
• Discuss key issues related to the research
concepts/ constructs
• Describe the context / unit of analysis
• State how the study area is important for the
research context
• State the shortage of researches on the area in
the particular context / or previous research
findings if there are any /
• Very briefly mention some observable indications
of the problem

By Tewodros Mesfin
• Discuss the research problem by more elaborating
what you have started to mention in the previous
section
• State specific problems , adverse situations,
knowledge gaps, limitations related to the research
topic which are observed in the research context
• While stating specific research problems focus should
be given for the followings :
– Is it possible to investigate the problem through empirical
data ?
– Is the problem clearly and precisely known ?
– Can the problem be explained in relation to established
theories related to the research construct/ concepts?
– What appeared to be wrong?
– Who is affected and how?
– What could be the presumed effect of the problem?
• Distinguish between problem and the symptom

By Tewodros Mesfin
• Is intellectual inquiry to investigate the
research problem
• The general research question
– Inquires the relationship between the research
variables in the research context
• Specific research Questions
– Ask the reason behind the problems
– Ask the extent of impact independent variables
have over the dependent ones
– Try to cover all the areas related to the research
topic
– Would be comprehensive when they emanate from
literature review
– Will be detailed to form questionnaire items
By Tewodros Mesfin
 General Objective
◦ To address the research topic
◦ Should relate with the general research question
 Specific Research objectives
◦ Is to answer those stated research questions
◦ Try to make one to one relationship between
objectives and questions

By Tewodros Mesfin
• is a tentative speculative statement of a
relationship between or among variables
• intellectual (informed) guess
• The premises should be backed by evidence
from literature
• Is subject to approval/ rejection through
empirical finding and statistical tests
• The hypothesized relationships should be
presented on conceptual framework

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Demonstrate what importance your research
findings would yield for relevant stake
holders
 Justify the distinct value of your research

outcome
 State who/ how would be benefited
 Be logical don’t be over ambitious

By Tewodros Mesfin
• Define the contextual and conceptual
boundaries of the study which may include
population /sample size, the key concerns of
study and the extent it tries to resolve the
problem.
• Clearly state what ( concept/ variables) you
will be studying and what you will not
• Clearly state where ( context) you will be
studying and you will not

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Research Methodology
 Literature Review
 Data Collection Instrument / Questionnaire

By Tewodros Mesfin
For MAMM Thesis
 Is an attempt to acquire comprehensive
intellectual understanding on the concepts/
research constructs
 Is should be started before deciding the

specific research topic

 On the average 20+ pages
 30+ related literatures/ articles on reputable

journals shall be consulted

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Theoretical Frame work
◦ How the concept/ is/are defined ?
◦ What are the relevant variables?
◦ Discussion of the:
 ‘functions,
 importance,
 advantages and limitations
 procedures,
 principles etc related to the concepts
and the variables’
By Tewodros Mesfin
 Who are the popular authors/ authorities
related to the research concept?
◦ Which variables were studied in which context ?
◦ Which relationships were studied?
◦ What are the methodologies used?
◦ What were the findings of different researchers in
different contexts?
◦ Are there knowledge gaps? Uncovered areas?
 How your study would fill that gap?

By Tewodros Mesfin
2.1 Theoretical Framework
◦ Operationalization of research constructs variables
◦ Definition of concepts
◦ Description of related variables
◦ Discussion on the features, nature, behavior,
characteristics, etc of the research variables
◦ Discussion on the importance, significance,
application of the research concept ( in the research
context)
 Discussion on major research findings in
relation to the research area ( context)
 Presentation of trends, patterns, consensus

( agreement) among the reviewed literatures

 Presentation of debate, discussions ( if there

are any)
 Identification of knowledge gaps related to

the research variables and research context

 Discussion how your research plans to fill

the gap
 Based on the literature review determine the
nature of relationships that you propose to
exist between and among your research
variables
 Describe the nature of relationship proposed

by the authors ( in your literature review)

State your research hypothesis
 Draw a relationship diagram to graphical

present the hypothesized relationship and

state your source/ adapted from

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Use Harvard style citation and referencing
style consistently throughout your thesis
 Please read the attached Harvard Referencing

Style
 Is an attempt to acquire comprehensive
intellectual understanding on the concepts/
research constructs
 Is should be started before deciding the

specific research topic

 In the literature review it is important to

answer the following and related questions:

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Theoretical Frame work
◦ How the concept/ is/are defined ?
◦ What are the relevant variables?
◦ Discussion of the:
 ‘functions,
 importance,
 advantages and limitations
 procedures,
 principles etc related to the concepts
and the variables’
By Tewodros Mesfin
 Who are the popular authors/ authorities
related to the research concept?
◦ Which variables were studied in which context ?
◦ Which relationships were studied?
◦ What are the methodologies used?
◦ What were the findings of different researchers in
different contexts?
◦ Are there knowledge gaps? Uncovered areas?
 Your study would fill that gap?

By Tewodros Mesfin
 Based on the literature review determine the
type / nature of you hypothesize to exist
between and among your research variables

By Tewodros Mesfin
A brief guideline
 This chapter presents the scientific approach
to be used in data gathering and analysis
 It should be synchronized with the proposal
 The methods to be used should be applicable

to address research objective

 It will have the following sections
 Paradigms can be conceptualized based on
three major elements, which influence the
way a researcher thinks about the research
process-
◦ Epistemology- what constitutes acceptable
knowledge in a field of study
◦ Ontology - the assumptions researchers make
about the way the world operates
◦ Methodology-how the researcher attempts to
discover knowledge
 Positivism paradigm- framework of research
in which the researcher sees objects as
phenomena to be studied from the outside,
with behavior to be explained on the basis of
accumulated facts and observations using
theories and models developed by the
researchers.
◦ It focuses on the facts and formulates hypotheses
and tests them against empirical evidence.
 It views research as an interactive process
where the people being researched relate
with the researcher and the findings, which
are the outcomes of the interaction and
highlight the meaning and understanding of
the situation or phenomenon being
investigated
Inductive approach- builds on specific
phenomenon to generalize,
 Deductive approach- scrutinizes phenomena

based on generic theory ( thus follows

positivism paradigm)
◦ deductive approach is applied to develop
hypotheses based on what is theoretically known
about the research constructs
 Qualitative research-
 Quantitative research-
 Mixed Method-
 Choose any of the above which ever is

appropriate for your study.

 The method should be synchronized with the

research approach and design.

• Descriptive study- explains the behaviors of
the research variables.
– Tries to answer questions like what, when , who etc
• Exploratory study- useful when prior studies
were not available or are insufficient to
answer the research question
– Qualitative method is used
– Inductive approach is applied
• Co relational / explanatory study- tries to
explain the relationship between and among
the research variables
– Not helpful to answer cause and effect relationship
• Causal Study- helps to investigate cause and
effect relationship between the research
variables
• Select the appropriate research design to
address your research objectives
• Define your population size
– Determine your unit of analysis
– Identify your sample frame
• Sample size
– Use scientific technique to determine your sample size
• Sampling Technique
– Determine your sampling technique ( and justify why)
• Simple random- equal chance of selection ( ex. Lottery )
• Convenience- ease of data collection
• Judgmental – based on some logic, reasons
• Cluster sampling- the population is
heterogeneous and each group shall get
representation
• Stratified sampling- the population is
subdivided in to groups ( strata) to make data
collection manageable
– Proportionate sampling- the sample size in each
stratum is proportionately determined ( based on
some common ground. Ex. No. of accounts in
banks)
• Source of Data
– Primary and Secondary
• Data Collection instrument
– Interview guidelines
– Questionnaires
– Source of the instrument ( adopted from)
– Scale Reliability and validity ( to be addressed
through pilot study, Factor analysis or use of
standard instrument)
– Annex data collection instruments
• Data screening
• Data coding and entering
• Use of SPSS for data analysis
• Factor analysis – Test of (construct) validity
• Cronbach alpha- Test of (scale items)
reliability
• Descriptive statistics- mean, standard
deviation etc ( explain the behavior of the
variables in line with the research objectives)
• Karl-Pierson correlation - to analyze the
relationship between the constructs of the study
• Regression analysis - to assess the influence of
explanatory variables on the dependent variables
• t-test and ANOVA techniques - to analyze the
differences between and among the response
profiles across the participants groups and
constructs, respectively
• Chi Square test- to assess the goodness of fit
between a set of observed values and those
expected theoretically.
 Explain how the study fulfills the
requirements of ethical research with respect
to :
◦ Minimizing respondents’ and researcher’s bias
◦ Respecting the voluntary consent of research
participants
◦ Avoidance of plagiarism
◦ Confidentiality and anonymity research participant