1 ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. The Role of Business Research Introduction to Academic Research Research Methods in Management

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–2 What is research? Why do we research? To solve a problem To extend prior knowledge. To suggest solutions to a specific organization, a society, a community, or a country.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–3 What is research? Research is the application of the “scientific method” in searching for the truth about any phenomena of interest.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–4 The Scientific Method Scientific Method The scientific method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists come to conclusions about the phenomenon of interest

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Scientific Method Research question Hypothesis Experiment Conclusion Background research Identify a research topic and formulate a research question Review literature and theories Provide theoretical/empirical supports and make a prediction Summarize and discuss a research finding Collect and analyze data

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Types of Research Pure (basic) research Applied research 6

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–7 Basic and Applied Research Basic (pure) research conducted without a specific decision in mind that usually does not address the needs of a specific organization/society. Attempts to expand the limits of knowledge in general. Not aimed at solving a pragmatic problem. Conducted without commission and no commercial value associated with it.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–8 Basic and Applied Research Basic (pure) research Example: The study about the origin of the universe Why dinosaurs extinct. Why human behaviors are influence by emotions. Why people resist change.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–9 Basic and Applied Research Applied research Conducted to address a specific decision for a specific firm, organization, or society. Applied research is normally sponsored by organizations or institutions that benefits from research findings

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1–10 Basic and Applied Research Applied research Example: ◗ What are entrepreneurial characteristics that enhance the competitiveness of SMEs. ◗ How to increase fuel efficiency in a new model of automobile. ◗ Does a policy to ban Facebook in a workplace make employees more productive

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Types of Research Qualitative research Quantitative research 11

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Qualitative vs Quantitative Research 1–12 QualitativeQuantitative Objective / purpose To gain an understanding of underlying reasons and motivations To provide insights into the setting of a problem, generating ideas and/or hypotheses for later quantitative research To quantify data and generalize results from a sample to the population of interest To measure the incidence of various views and opinions in a chosen sample Sometimes followed by qualitative research which is used to explore some findings further

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Qualitative vs Quantitative Research 1–13 QualitativeQuantitative Data collection technique Unstructured or semi- structured techniques (e.g. individual depth interviews or group discussions). Structured techniques such as online questionnaires, on-street or telephone interviews. Type of data gathered Gathers information that is not in numerical form. Gathers data in numerical form which can be put into categories, or in rank order, or measured in units of measurement. Sample Usually a small number of non-representative cases. Respondents selected to fulfill a given quota. Usually a large number of cases representing the population of interest. Randomly selected respondents.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Qualitative vs Quantitative Research 1–14 QualitativeQuantitative Data analysis Non-statistical Statistical data. Findings are conclusive and usually descriptive in nature. Outcome Exploratory and/or investigative. Findings are not conclusive and cannot be used to make generalizations about the population of interest. Develop an initial understanding and sound base for further decision making. Used to recommend a final course of action.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Qualitative vs Quantitative Research 1–15 QualitativeQuantitative Weaknesses Small sample size makes it difficult for researchers to infer/generalize the results back to a larger group of people. Can have higher chance of subjective bias because the results are based on subjective evaluation of a researcher Unable to get meaningful information. The scope of information that researchers can obtain is narrow.

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Combining qualitative and quantitative method Allows researchers to overcome limitations of each type of research method. Researchers can begin with qualitative research to help them identify potential factors that explain the phenomenon of interest, then the quantitative research is conducted to test them with larger scope data. Data that researchers obtained from qualitative research can be used to provide further explanations to the issues that cannot be explained by results from quantitative research 1–16

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Class activity Search in the journal database and select: 1 qualitative paper 1 quantitative paper What is the main idea of the papers? Why do you think the paper is qualitative or quantitative? 1–17