Business Research Methods

Chapter 2:

The Business Research Process

OBSERVATIONBroad areaOf research

Interestidentified

1

PRELIMINARY DATA

GATHERING

InterviewingLiterature

survey

PROBLEMDEFINITION

ResearchProblem

Delineated

2

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

Variables clearlyIdentified and labeled

GENERATION OF

HYPOTHESES

4

5

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

DESIGN

6

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS, ANDINTERPREATIO

N

7

DEDUCTION

Research Question

answered ?

8

ManagerialDecision Making

REPORTPRESENTATION

REPORTWRITING

1011No

3

9

Yes

Research Process

RESEARCH PROCESSStep-1 Broad Problem Area

OBSERVATION:- Broad problem area one sees / feels certain changes are occurring or new behaviors, attitudes and feelings are surfacing. It is gut feeling. Problem is not defined yet. Managers take cues from verbal & non verbal signals. Eg. Sales decline, production interruptions, lack of motivation etc

Step-1 Broad Problem Area cont..

Problem can be:Currently existing (harassment) Improvement requiredConceptual or theoretical issueEmpirical answers

Broad problem area would be narrowed down to specific issues of investigation.

Step 2 PRELIMINARY DATA GATHERING(By Interview & Literature Survey)

Seeking information to know more about what one observed. Talking to others and literature review.

At the first stage interviews are conducted to know the nature of problem.

Nature of information needed to understand problem is:i- Background information of the organization

ii Management philosophy and structural factors

Information gathered on these issues will be useful for researcher in talking with officials & interviewing them. This information can be taken by asking direct questionsiii-Perceptions, Attitudes and behavioral responses

Step 2 PRELIMINARY DATA GATHERING(By Interview & Literature Survey)

Research Proposal

A written statement of the research design that includes a statement explaining the purpose of the study.

Detailed outline of procedures associated with a particular methodology

Research Proposal

A proposal is an individual’s or company’s offer to produce a product or render a service to a potential buyer or sponsor.

The purpose of proposal is: - To present the problem to be researched and its

importance. To discuss the research efforts of others who have

worked on related problem. To suggest the data necessary for solving the problem

and how that data will be gathered, treated and interpreted.

A contract proposal must represent its plan services & credentials to win the proposal.

A proposal is also called work plan, prospectus, outline, and statement of intent or draft plan.

Research Proposal

A Proposal tells:What will be done ?Why it will be done ?How it will be done?Where it will be done?To whom it will be done?What is the benefit of doing it?

Research Proposal

SPONSOR USES Every research has a sponsor in one form or another.

A student researcher is responsible to class Instructor. Doctoral candidate is responsible to committee. In corporate setting researcher is responsible to department or management of organization.. University, Govt or corporate – sponsored research use grant committee to evaluate work.

Proposal is first step in evaluation process; it allows the sponsors to assess the sincerity of your purpose, design, background material and fitness of undertaking the prefect & compares with computers.

Research Proposal

Proposal also provides a basis for sponsor to evaluate the result of a project by comparing it with find product.

External contract starts from RFP (Request For Proposal )

Research Proposal

Researcher Benefits. Prompts the researcher to assess previous

approaches to the problem and revise the plan accordingly.

Opportunity to spot flaws in the previous work i.e errors in logic, assumption or even problems.

Accepted proposal serves as guide to researcher throughout the project

Forces time & budget estimates.Proposal Complexity

Depending on the type of project, the sponsoring individual or institution, and the cost of project; different levels of complexity are required for proposals to be judged.

PROPOSAL COMPLEXITYComplexity

Type Least Most

Student Term paper Master’s thesis Doctoral thesis

Internal Exploratory Small Scale Large Scale Study

study Study

External Exploratory Small Scale Large Scale contract research contract research Govt. Sponsored

research

Types of Research Proposals

Internal Proposal: Done for company by research department. Brief in nature To solve problem, make decision, improvement. Executive survey essential Schedules & budgets.

External Proposal : Important section of external proposal includes

objectives, design, qualification, schedule, budget executive survey, letter of transmittal.

Structure of Research Proposal

1. Executive Summary:- Brief statement of problem, research objectives / research question & benefits of your approach.

2. Problem Statement:- State the problem, background consequences importance of problem. Restriction areas of problems, which will not be discussed.

3. Research Objectives:- Purpose of investigation, what is being planned by research approach. It can be stated as the research questions. List the objectives either in order of importance or general terms first.

Structure of Research Proposal

4. Literature Review:- Examines the present or past research studies, company data, industry reports, do a brief review not comprehensive.

5. Importance / Benefits of Study6. Research Design

• Qualitative research• Quantitative methods

Questionnaires interviews

Structure of Research Proposal

7. Qualification Of Researchers: - Begin with principal investigator, experience of previous research done. Relevant business & technical societies to which researcher belongs can be mentioned.

8. Budget:- Provide it as required by the sponsor not more than two pages. Don’t forget to include cost of proposal writing into your fee. Also cost of publication & deleting of final report.

Structure of Research Proposal

9. Schedule:- Time table of major phases of project. Gantt chart , critical path method (CPM) are used to schedule the activities to finish in time.

10. Facilities & special resources:- Some projects require special facilities or resources that should be described in detail e.g focus groups, CATI list all these.

Structure of Research Proposal

11. Project Management:- Show the sponsor that research team is organized & can do it efficiently. Include the following:-

Team’s Org. Management procedure & control for

Research Project. Examples of mgt & tech reports Research team relationship with sponsor Financial & legal responsibility Management competence

Structure of Research Proposal

12. Bibliography :- Projects that require literature review, provide bibliography as required.

13. AppendicesGlossaryMeasurement instrumentOther

Prepared&Design By

Prepared byMuhammad Mohsin Shakoor

BBA(HONS)7th(EVE)University of Education Lahore(Okara)

Campus

THANKS