Lecture 5

Examining own strengths and interests

It is important that you choose a topic in which you are likely to do well and, if possible, already have some
academic knowledge.
Looking at past project titles
Looking at past projects is a useful way of generating research ideas.
Discussion
Colleagues, friends and university tutors are all good sources of possible project ideas.
Searching the literature
As part of your discussions, relevant literature may also be suggested which includes articles in academic
and professional journals; reports and books.
Scanning the media
Keeping up to date with items in the news can be a very rich source of ideas.
Keeping a notebook of ideas
All this involves is simply noting down any interesting research ideas as you think of them and what sparked
off your thought.
Brainstorming
The technique of brainstorming, taught as a problem-solving technique on many business and
management courses, can also be used to generate and refine research ideas. To brainstorm one should:
 First, define the problem – that is, the sorts of ideas you are interested in – as precisely as possible. In the
early stages of formulating a topic this may be as vague as „I am interested in marketing but don‟t know
what to do for my research topic‟.
 Second, ask for suggestions, relating to the problem.

Refining research ideas

The Delphi technique
This involves using a group of people who are either involved or interested in the research idea to generate
and choose a more specific research idea. To use this technique you need:
1. to brief the members of the group about the research idea;
2. at the end of the briefing to encourage group members to seek clarification and more information as
appropriate;
3. to ask each member of the group, including the originator of the research idea, to generate
independently up to three specific research ideas based on the idea that has been described;
4. to collect the research ideas in an unedited and non-attributable form and to distribute them to all
members of the group;
5. a second cycle of the process (steps 2 to 4) in which individuals comment on the research ideas and
revise their own contributions in the light of what others have said;
6. subsequent cycles of the process until a consensus is reached.

Basic types of questions:

Exploratory and Descriptive
A problem statement includes both a statement of the research objective(s) and the research questions.
There are three basic types of questions that research projects can address: exploratory, descriptive and
causal questions.
Exploratory research questions
Exploratory research questions are typically developed when:
a) not much is known about a particular phenomenon;
b) existing research results are unclear or suffer from serious limitations;
c) the topic is highly complex; or
d) there is not enough theory available to guide the development of a theoretical framework
Exploratory research often relies on qualitative approaches to data gathering such as informal discussions
(with consumers, employees, managers), interviews, focus groups, and/or case studies.
Example: The manager of a multinational corporation is curious to know if the work ethic values of
employees working in its subsidiary in Pennathur City are different from those of Americans. There is very little
information about Pennathur (except that it is a small city in southern India), and since there is considerable
controversy about what work ethic values mean to people in other cultures, the manager‟s curiosity can be
satisfied only by an exploratory study, interviewing the employees in organizations in Pennathur. Religion,
political, economic, and social conditions, upbringing, cultural values, and so on play a major role in how
people view their work in different parts of the world. Here, since very little is known about work ethic values
in India, an exploratory study will have to be undertaken.
Descriptive research questions
The objective of a descriptive study is to obtain data that describes the topic of interest. For instance, if we
want to know what percent of the population likes Coca‐Cola better than Pepsi in a double‐blind test, we
are interested in describing consumers‟ taste preferences. Descriptive studies are often designed to collect
data that describe characteristics of objects (such as persons, organizations, products, or brands), events, or
situations. Descriptive research is either quantitative or qualitative in nature. It may involve the collection of
quantitative data such as satisfaction ratings, production figures, sales figures, or demographic data, but it
may also entail the collection of qualitative information. For instance, qualitative data might be gathered to
describe how consumers go through a decision‐making process or to examine how managers resolve
conflicts in organizations.
Descriptive studies may help the researcher to:
1. Understand the characteristics of a group in a given situation (for instance the profile of a specific
segment in a market).
2. Think systematically about aspects in a given situation (for instance, factors related to job satisfaction).
3. Offer ideas for further probing and research.
4. Help make certain (simple) decisions (such as decisions related to the use of specific communication
channels depending on the customer profile, opening hours, cost reductions, staff employment, and the
like).
Example: A bank manager wants to have a profile of the individuals who have loan payments outstanding for six
months and more. The profile will include details of their average age, earnings, nature of occupation, fulltime/
part‐time employment status, and the like. This might help him to elicit further information or decide right away on
the types of individuals who should be made ineligible for loans in the future.
A CEO may be interested in having a description of how companies in her industry have incorporated corporate
social responsibility into the business strategy of the organization. Such information might allow comparison later
of the performance levels of specific types of companies.
Causal research questions
Causal studies test whether or not one variable causes another variable to change. In a causal study, the
researcher is interested in outlining one or more factors that are causing a problem. Typical examples of
causal research questions are: “What is the effect of a reward system on productivity?” and “How does
perceived value affect consumer purchase intentions?” The intention of the researcher conducting a
causal study is to be able to state that variable X causes variable Y. So, when variable X is removed or
altered in some way, problem Y is solved (note that quite often, however, it is not just one variable that
causes a problem in organizations. In order to establish a causal relationship all four of the following
conditions should be met:
1. The independent and the dependent variable should covary.
2. The independent variable (the presumed causal factor) should precede the dependent variable.
3. No other factor should be a possible cause of the change in the dependent variable.
4. A logical explanation (a theory) is needed and it must explain why the independent variable affects the
dependent variable.
Example: A marketing manager wants to know if the sales of the company will increase if he increases the
advertising budget. Here, the manager would like to know the nature of the relationship that may be established
between advertising and sales by testing the hypothesis: “If advertising is increased, then sales will also go up.”
A prevalent theory is that the diversity of the workforce increases organizational effectiveness. A manager wants
to know if this relationship holds for her organization.
A manager wants to test the hypothesis that stress experienced in the job negatively affects the job satisfaction of
employees.
A researcher is interested in testing the hypothesis that women are more motivated for their jobs than men.
Sekaran and Bougie (2016) state that, “Researchers often aim to answer different types of research
questions in a single project. For this reason it is quite common to conduct exploratory research before
moving to descriptive or causal studies in order to develop a thorough understanding of the phenomenon
under study. Indeed, the three types of research (exploratory, descriptive, and causal) are often viewed as
building blocks, where exploratory research lays the foundation for descriptive research and causal
research builds on descriptive research.”