A PPROACHES TO R ESEARCH

S ESSION A IM To provide an overview of the differing methods of research and their uses

S ESSION OBJECTIVES By the end of the session students will be able to: Define key research terms and explain their relevance to business research Distinguish between deductive and inductive approaches State their own research position

R ESEARCH P HILOSOPHIES Your approach to your research philosophy, gives clues as to the way you view the world Values have an important impact Are you concerned with facts? Are you concerned with feelings & opinions?

E PISTEMOLOGY Are you a ‘resources’ researcher? Are you a ‘feelings’ researcher? Includes: Positivism Interpretivism Realism

P OSITIVISM The philosophical stance of the natural scientist Only data that can be observed results in credible data Uses hypotheses Concerned with social reality that can be observed The researcher is independent and value free

R EALISM Reality is independent of the mind A scientific approach to the development of knowledge Direct Realism – ‘what you see is what you get’ Critical Realism – A two stage approach

I NTERPRETIVISM Humans are social actors The researcher has to adopt an empathetic stance Based upon phenomenology, the way in which we make sense of the world around us

O NTOLOGY Concerned with the nature of reality Includes: Objectivism Subjectivism

O BJECTIVISM Portrays the position that social entities exist in reality external to social actors

S UBJECTIVISM Social phenomena are created from the perceptions and consequent actions of social actors A constant state of revision Exploration of subjective meanings

R ESEARCH APPROACH Deduction (theory testing) A search for relationships between variables

T HE FIVE STAGE DEDUCTIVE APPROACH 1. Deduce a hypothesis 2. Express the hypothesis in operational terms 3. Test the hypothesis 4. Examine the outcome of enquiry 5. If required modify the outcome in light of findings

I NDUCTIVE APPROACH Concerned with the context within which events were happening Working with qualitative data

M ULTI METHOD APPROACH Also known as ‘triangulation’ Combines both inductive and deductive methods of research approaches

R ESEARCH STRATEGIES Experiment Survey Case study Action research

T IME HORIZONS Cross-sectional research Longitudinal research

S O WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO A GOOD PIECE OF RESEARCH ? Reliability Validity

S ESSION OBJECTIVES By the end of the session students will be able to: Define key research terms and explain their relevance to business research Distinguish between deductive and inductive approaches State their own research position