 Welcome To Unit 3 MT320 Research and Presentation Dr. Nazly Nardi 1

Before we get started: 2 If you have any trouble in seminar, please call Tech Support at: They can assist if you get “bumped” from the seminar room or experience other difficulties.

Agenda  Review – last unit  Definition of basic process of scientific inquiry  Discuss key terminology  Questions 3

Review  Unit 2 –  How did it go?  Discussion  Project 4

Terminology Methods - The techniques and procedures used to obtain data Methodology - The theory of how research should be undertaken Saunders et al. (2009)

The nature of research Definition: ‘Something that people undertake in order to find things out in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge’ Saunders et al. (2009) Characteristics:  Data are collected systematically  Data are interpreted systematically  There is a clear purpose to find things out

Features of business and management research (1)  Managers draw on knowledge from other disciplines  Managers are more likely to allow access if they see commercial or personal advantage  Managers now tend to be as educated as the researchers  Managers require research to have some practical consequence  Easterby-Smith et al. (2008)

Features of business and management research (2) Basic and applied research Sources: authors’ experience; Easterby-Smith et al. (2008); Hedrick et al. (1993)

The research process (1) Stages of the research process  Formulating and clarifying a topic  Reviewing the literature  Designing the research  Collecting data  Analysing data  Writing up Based on Figure 1.2: Saunders et al. (2009)

Writing your research proposal Purposes of the research proposal  To organise your ideas  To convince your audience  To contract with your client (your tutor)  To meet ethical requirements

 And finally…….. “there is no one best way for undertaking all research” Saunders et al. (2009)

Formulating the Research Problem  Definition - An interrogative sentence that states the relationship between two variables  Criteria for good research problems  Variables should express a relation  Stated in question form  Capable of empirical testing

Formulating the Research Problem (cont'd)  Specificity of the research question  too vague - What effect does the environment have on learning ability?  better – What effect does the amount of exposure to words have on the speed with which they are learned?

Overview  Define:  Concepts and Constructs  Operational definition  Hypothesis  Theory  Model 14

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Phases of Research  Idea-generating phase  Problem-definition phase  Procedures-design phase  Observation phase  Data-analysis phase  Interpretation phase  Communication phase

Concepts and Constructs 16 Observations are our perceptions of realty while facts are those things we believe are true. But what is a concept? Concepts are abstract ideas generalized from particular facts. What is a construct? A specific type of concept that exists at higher levels of abstraction and are invented for special theoretical purpose. So – basically a construct is a concept we are going to use for a specified purpose.

Why do we invent constructs?  Some phenomena exist only in the human mind – but we can only infer its existence from people’s behavior.  What is a constitutive definition of a construct?  It defines those concepts using other concepts and constructs. 17

What is an operational definition? 18 Operational definition puts empirical meaning to constitutive definitions and specify the procedures by which the concepts will be measured or manipulated.

Operational definition 19 As a note – operational definitions are what we use the most in the research I am accustomed to reviewing. For example, a construct is “job satisfaction”. A constitutive definition might be defining that in terms of happiness. Its operational definition (how it would be measured) might be “how much time an employee spends at work” or “how much time and employee spends searching for a new job” or “how many people the employee recommends to apply for a job at the company”.

Formulating Hypotheses  Definition -- the best prediction or a tentative solution to a problem  Criterion--Must be capable of being refuted or confirmed (testability)  Types  research  null

What is a hypothesis?  Statements of the relationship between two or more variables that carry clear implications for testing the stated relationship.  Can you state a hypothesis that is related to your business? Examples:  More varieties of coffee offered in the store will increase sales.  More seating areas will increase dine-in customer satisfaction.  The key components are – a stated relationship – that can be tested. 21

Role of Theory in Science  To summarize and integrate existing data  To guide new research  Continuous interaction between theory and empirical observation

What is a theory?  An interrelated set of statements of relationship whose purpose is to explain or predict. (Many proven hypotheses put together can lead to a theory) A theory also gives us a framework for translating the situation into a real problem.  Use job satisfaction to illustrate a theory development  Can you name a theory?  Theory of relativity? Energy and matter are conserved and can be converted to one another. 23

Figure 1.2 Illustration of the relationship between theory and research.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Types of Theories  Inductive theories : built on strong data base and tend to stay close to the data  Deductive theories : logically derived rather than derived from the data  Functional theories : about equal emphasis on inductive and deductive processes  Models : an analogical representation of reality

What is a model?  A model is a formalized representation of a theory. A model can be represented using a mathematical formula or it can be a conceptual model using a diagram.  For the theory of relatively E = mc2 is the model. 26

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Models in Science  Model :  A simplified representation of something  Used to conceptualize phenomena that are too complex to understand in their entirety  The closer a model is to reality, the more likely that it will be useful

Characteristics of the scientific method?  Critical and analytical  Logical  Objective  Conceptual and theoretical in nature  Empirical  Systematic  All components must be present but my opinion is that “objective” is the one we as researchers may have the most problem. If you have a lot invested in a certain hypothesis – you have to guard against biasing the results in your favor. You have to also watch that you don’t “spin” it your way – that relates to ethics.  28

Characteristics of Scientific Research  Control—eliminating the influence of extraneous variables  Operationism—representing constructs by a specific set of operations  original focus was on operational def.  objections to strict operational definition  demands too strict  each operational definition completely specified the meaning of the term

Characteristics of Scientific Research (cont'd)  Operationism—representing constructs by a specific set of operations  operationalism focuses on features used to represent a construct  is essential for communication  many different ways of representing constructs  multiple operationalism involves use of multiple measures of a construct

Characteristics of Scientific Research (cont'd)  Replication— reproduction of results in a new study  reasons for failure to replicate  effect doesn’t exist  replication study is not an exact replication  effect may depend on context  meta-analysis – a quantitative technique for describing the relationship between variables across multiple studies

Business research hypothesis  Now for the fun part. Could each of you give an example of a business research hypothesis you have seen tested in your company where you work or an example you have seen in your personal life. 32

Testing of a hypothesis  You may see a hypothesis and then the testing of that hypothesis. You may also see research framed in terms of a problem statement with follow-up questions that need to be answered. It’s simply a matter of how the issue is framed.  For example our hypothesis from way back in the seminar was: More variety of coffee will increase sales at Starbuck’s  Another way this might be famed is: Problem Statement: Starbucks sales are lagging.  Research Questions that could be asked.  What are methods available to increase sales?  Will coffee variety improve sales? 33

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Phases of Research  Idea-generating phase  Problem-definition phase  Procedures-design phase  Observation phase  Data-analysis phase  Interpretation phase  Communication phase

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Idea-Generating Phase  Ideas come from many places  The researcher’s own interests  The research and theories of others  Nurture and develop ideas  Be curious  Read what others think and what they have done

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Problem-Definition Phase  Ideas are formalized into testable research questions  Need to be more critical in this phase  How does your idea compare to existing theory and research?  Is your idea logical?  What does your idea predict?

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Procedures-Design Phase  Translate your ideas into testable hypotheses  The variables must be defined and procedures selected  Each step should be planned  Ethical issues must be considered

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Observation Phase  “Doing the research”  The central activity of research  Earlier phases were the planning  Later phases will evaluate and interpret the findings  The data gathered here will answer the question(s) you raised earlier

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Data-Analysis Phase  Evaluating the data, usually using statistical procedures  Statistical procedures are selected in the procedures-design phase  Many types of statistics are available  Depends on the question asked  Depends on the nature of the data

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Interpretation Phase  Making sense out of the results  Involves several steps  Interpreting the statistical findings  How do the findings relate to the research question asked?  Are there alternative interpretations of the data?

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2010) Communication Phase  Publication allows others to  Judge your work  Build on your work  Challenge your work  Many ways to make research public  Conference presentations  Publishing in journals or books

The Research Proposal  Research Proposal = a detailed plan for conducting a study on a specific research question, that includes a literature review and specific techniques to be used.

The Research Proposal  A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  1. When do you focus the research question?  2. To what universe can you generalize from a study’s findings?  Universe = a broad category of cases or units to which the study findings apply.

The Research Proposal  A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  3. Which type of research path do you follow?  Linear path = a relatively fixed sequence of steps in one forward direction, with little repeating, moving directly to a conclusion.  Nonlinear path = advancing without fixed order that often requires successive passes through previous steps and moves toward a conclusion indirectly.

 A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  4. What do you examine?  Variable = a feature of a case or unit that represents multiple types, values or levels.  Independent Variable = the variable of factors, forces, or conditions acting on another variable to produce an effect or change in it.  Dependent Variable = the variable influenced by and changes as an outcome another variable.  Intervening Variable = a variable that comes between the independent and dependent variable in a causal relationship. The Research Proposal

 A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  4. What do you examine?  Hypothesis = a statement about the relationship of two (or more) variables yet to be tested with empirical data.  Null hypothesis = a hypothesis that there is no relationship between two variables, that they do not influence one another. The Research Proposal

 A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  5. How to Look for Patterns in the Data  Quantitative data: rearrange, examine, and discuss numbers by using charts, tables and statistics to see patterns.  Qualitative data: rearrange, examine, discuss textual or visual data. The Research Proposal

 A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  6. What type of explanation will you use?  Causal explanation = a type of research explanation in which you identify one or more causes for an outcome, and place cause and effect in a larger framework.  Has three elements:  Time order  Association  Alternative causes ruled out The Research Proposal

 A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  6. What type of explanation will you use?  Grounded Theory = ideas and themes that are built up from data observation.  7. What are the Units of Analysis in your study?  Unit of Analysis = the case or unit on which you measure variables or other characteristics. The Research Proposal

 A Proposal for Quantitative or Qualitative Research  8. What is the Level of Analysis of your study?  Level of Analysis = The level of reality to which explanations refer, micro to macro.  Micro-Level: small-scale (a few friends, a small group)  Macro-Level: large-scale (entire civilizations or a major structure of a society).  Warning: Avoid Spuriousness  Spuriousness = when two variables appear to be causally connected but in reality, they are not because an unseen third factor is the true cause. The Research Proposal

Wrap up  I hope you enjoyed this session and the readings. These may be foreign ideas – so take the time to read them two or more times. As you get further into the course and see some examples, I think the ideas will become a bit more clear. 52

Week 3 Assignment Part ONE of your Project Outline:  Based on your proposal, you will provide Answers to the Questions in Figure 1.4 (P.15) in a narrative format. In addition you will THEN:  (1) A description of the type of decision needed to be made by your company  (2) How those decisions are made within your company (who, how long, etc)  (3) Utilize the Plan of the Book (P.14-18) and build a process utilizing Figure 1.5 (P.17) (Outline for your Final Project)  (4) Compile your material into a MS Word Document using APA Format and Submit in the Dropbox.  Project Directions  This report should be a minimum of 2-3 pages in text length, and you should support your position with at least two credible secondary references. 53

Questions 54

Thank you  I appreciate your time and attention during our 1 hour seminar today. If you have questions, feel free to contact me: and I’ll be happy to help!  See you in Class! 55