Research Methodology

Introduction to Research Methodology

 INTRODUCTION

✓ Research is “Search of knowledge”- It is a scientific and systematic

search for relevant information on specific topic”
✓ According to Oxford Dictionary, “A careful inquiry specially
through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge”
✓ According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and
redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solution;
collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and
reaching conclusion; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to
determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.
Research is an organized set of
activities to study and develop a model
of procedure technique to find the
result of a realistic problem supported
by literature and data such that its
objectives are maximised
 Importance of Research

IMPORTANCE OF RSEARCH IN MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT

Three factors stimulates decision;
✓ The managers increased need for more and better
information.
✓The availability of improve techniques and tools to meet
this need.
✓The resulting information overload.
 ROLE IN BUSINESS / INDUSTRY
Common uses of research in decision making ;
Marketing Research:
✓ Product Research – Assessment of suitability of goods
with respect to design and price.
✓Market Characteristics Research (Qualitative) – Who
uses the product? How product is used, shopping habits,
units in which product is purchased….
✓Size of Market (Quantitative) – Market potential, total
sales quota sales & advertising efforts etc…
✓Sales research – Analysis sales record
✓New product lunching..
 ROLE IN BUSINESS / INDUSTRY
Government policies & economics system:
✓ It helps in examining the consequence of changes coming in
economic condition.
Solving Operational & Planning Problems :
✓ Helps in deciding forecasting which helps in efficient
production and investment programmes such as purchasing &
financial plans which effect the Profit and Loss account
Social Relationships :
✓ Helps people earn their livelihood
✓ It helps students to know and write and report various findings.
✓ It may help researchers, in general, to generalize a new
theories..
 MANAGEMENT RESEARCH…..
Management Research as follows….

✓ The systematic and objective process of generating

information for aid in making management decisions
✓ The aim is to obtain an in-depth understanding of the
particular subject.
✓ Rising competition has compelled many organizations
to conduct market research.
✓ Organizations may conduct research themselves, by
appointing a research team to work on the same.
 APPROACHES MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Few Management Approaches are as follows….
✓ Pure & Basic Research; Its basic purpose is to enhance
knowledge and understanding.
✓ Objective Research; Frames certain clear objectives and
hypothesis and then tests the validity of established knowledge
with the situation / issue.
✓ Evaluative Research; In this the research, in contrast assess
some aspect of the organizational function by analyzing the
effectiveness of given issue.
✓ Applies Research; This type is more of solving a particular
problem within the organization.
 SOME TERMINOLOGIES
✓Data: Measurement of records of facts made under
specific conditions
✓Hypothesis: tentative assumption of the study or
expected results of the study
✓Independent variable: The part of the experiment
that the researcher is manipulating; also called
experimental or treatment variable.
✓Dependent variable: The effect of the Independent
variable
 SOME TERMINOLOGIES

✓Population: A total number of subjects which they

abide the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
✓Review: A research paper that is a critical
evaluation of research on a particular topic.
✓Research proposal / Synopsis: A formal
preparation that includes introduction, review of
literature and proposed method of conducting study.
 What is Research Methodology?

✓Is defined as a highly intellectual human activity

used in the investigation of nature and matter
and deals specifically with the manner in which
data is collected, analyzed and interpreted

✓A system of models, procedures and

techniques used to find the result of a research
problem is called research methodology
 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
✓To gain familiarity with a phenomenon
✓To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group
✓To determine the frequency with which something
occurs or with which it is associated with something
else
✓To identify the casual relationship between variables
 Attributes of Good Research Study
✓ OBJECTIVE: A good research must answer the research question.

✓ CONTROL: A good research must be able to control all variables.

✓ GENERALISABILITY: Generate similar result when used other

method.
✓ BIAS FREE: Research should be free from personal bias. It should
be based on objective and not on subjective matter.
✓ SYSTEMATIC: A good research study must have various well
planned steps, i.e. all steps must be interrelated and one step should
lead to another step.
 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new

insights into it (studies with this object in view are termed
as exploratory or formulative research studies);
2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular
individual, situation or a group(studies with this object in
view are known as descriptive research studies);
3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or
with which it is associated with something else (studies
with this object in view are known as diagnostic research
studies);
4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables
(such studies are known as hypothesis-testing research
studies).
 SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The application of valid & reliable research methods is called

scientific method. It has three distinct characteristics.
✓ OBJECTIVE: Should enable to classify facts
accurately.
✓ACCURACY OF MEASUREMENT: Only collection
of facts will not be sufficient, it must be able to make
observations of the correlation and sequence, which
can be derived as desired results.
✓SELF CRITICISM: Should critically examine the
research as the study done is not sure that they have
found truth.
 FEW TYPES OF RESEARCH STUDIES

✓ Descriptive research
✓ Analytical research
✓ Applied research
✓ Basic research
✓ Quantitative research
✓ Qualitative research
✓ Conceptual research
 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
✓Surveys & fact finding enquiries of different kinds
✓Purpose is description of the state of affairs as it
exists at present.
✓Researcher has no control over the variables; he
can only report what has happened or what is
happening.
 ANALYTICAL RESEARCH

✓Involves indebt study and evaluation of available

information in an attempt to explain complex
phenomenon.
✓The researcher has to use facts or information
already available and analyze these to make a critical
evaluation of the material.
 TYPES OF RESEARCH

✓(i) Descriptive vs. Analytical:

✓ Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding
enquiries of different kinds.
✓ In social science and business research we quite often use
the term Ex post facto research for descriptive research studies.
✓ The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher
has no control over the variables; he can only report what
has happened or what is happening.
✓ The methods of research utilized in descriptive research
are survey methods of all kinds, including comparative and
correlation methods.
✓ In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher
has to use facts or information already available, and
analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the
material.
✓ (ii) Applied vs. Fundamental:
✓ Applied (or action) research : aims at
finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a
society or an industrial/business organization,

✓ Fundamental (to basic or pure) research: is mainly

concerned with generalizations and with the formulation
of a theory.
✓ (iii) Quantitative vs. Qualitative:

✓ Quantitative research is based on the measurement of

quantity or amount.

✓ Qualitative research, on the other hand, is concerned

with qualitative phenomenon, i.e., phenomena relating
to or involving quality or kind.
✓ (iv) Conceptual vs. Empirical:

✓ Conceptual research :
is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory.

✓ Empirical research ;
It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions
which are capable of being verified by observation or
experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of
research.
 CONCEPTUAL / EXERIMENTAL RESEARCH

✓Related to some abstract ideas / theory experiment

✓Attempt to establish cause and effect relationship
 WHY BUSINESS RESEARCH?

✓Information Overload
✓Technological Connectivity
✓Shifting Global Centers of Economic Activity and
Competition
✓Informed Decision Making
✓Market Understanding
✓Risk Reduction
✓Competitive Advantage
✓Strategic Planning
 SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH?

✓Market Research
✓Consumer Research
✓Product Research
✓Financial Research
✓Competitive Analysis
✓Operational Research
✓Human Resource Management Research
(v) Some Other Types of Research:

✓ One-time research or longitudinal research. In the former case

the research is confined to a single time-period, whereas in the
latter case the research is carried on over several time-
periods.
✓ Field-setting research or laboratory research or simulation
research, depending upon the environment in which it is to
be carried out.
✓ Clinical or diagnostic research. Such research follow case-study
methods or in-depth approaches to reach the basic causal
relations.
✓ Conclusion-oriented and decision-oriented. While doing
conclusion-oriented research, a researcher is free to pick up
a problem, redesign the enquiry as he proceeds and is
prepared to conceptualize as he wishes.
✓ The exploratory research or it may be formalized.
✓ The objective of exploratory research is the
development of hypotheses rather than their testing,
whereas formalized research studies are those with
substantial structure and with specific hypotheses to be
tested.
✓ Historical research is that which utilizes historical
sources like documents, remains, etc. to study events or
ideas of the past, including the philosophy of persons
and groups at any remote point of time.
 Research Approaches
✓ Two basic approaches to research, viz., quantitative
approach and the qualitative approach .
✓ Quantitative approach sub-classified into inferential ,
experimental and simulation approaches to research.
✓ Qualitative approach to research is concerned with
subjective assessment of attitudes, opinionsand
behavior.
 Research Methods versus Methodology

✓ Research methods or techniques, thus, refer to the

methods the researchers use in performing research
operations.
✓ Thus, when we talk of research methodology we not
only talk of the research methods but also consider the
logic behind the methods we use in the context of our
research study and explain why we are using a
particular method or technique and why we are not
using others so that research results are capable of being
evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others.
the difference between methods and
techniques of data collection
 research process guideline:
(1) formulating the research problem;
(2) extensive literature survey;
(3) developing the hypothesis;
(4) preparing the research design;
(5) determining sample design;
(6) collecting the data;
(7) execution of the project;
(8) analysis of data;
(9) hypothesis testing;
(10) generalisations and interpretation,
(11) preparation of the report or presentation of the results ,i.
e., formal write-up of conclusions reached.
 1. Formulating the research problem:

✓ There are two types of research problems, viz., those

which relate to states of nature and those which relate
to relationships between variables.
2. Extensive literature survey:

✓ Once the problem is formulated, a brief summary of it

should be written down. It is compulsory for a
research worker writing a thesis for a Ph.D. degree to
write a synopsis of the topic and submit it to the
necessary Committee or the Research Board for
approval.
 What is Literature Review?
✓ To see what has and has not been investigated.
✓ To develop general explanation for observed variation in
behavior or phenomenon.
✓ To learn how others have defined and measured key
concepts.
✓ To develop alternative research project.
✓ To discover how a research project is releated to work of
others.
 3. Development of working hypotheses:

✓ After extensive literature survey, researcher should state in

clear terms the working hypothesis or hypotheses.
✓ Working hypothesis is tentative assumption made in order
to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences.
 4. Preparing the research design:

✓ The research problem having been formulated in clear

cut terms, the researcher will be required to prepare a
research design, i.e., he will have to state the conceptual
structure within which research would be conducted.
✓ Research purposes may be grouped into four categories,
viz., (i) Exploration, (ii) Description, (iii) Diagnosis, and
(iv) Experimentation.
✓ There are several research designs, such as, experimental
and non-experimental hypothesis testing.
✓ Experimental designs can be either
✓ Informal designs (such as before-and-after without
control, after-only with control, before-and-after with
control)
✓ Formal designs (such as completely randomized design,
randomized block design, Latin square design, simple
and complex factorial designs), out of which the
researcher must select one for his own project.
 5. Determining sample design:

✓ All the items under consideration in any field of inquiry

constitute a ‘universe’ or ‘population’.
✓ A complete enumeration of all the items in the
‘population’ is known as a census inquiry.
✓ A brief mention of the important sample designs is as
follows:
✓ (i) Deliberate sampling: Deliberate sampling is also
known as purposive or non-probability sampling.
✓ (ii) Simple random sampling:
This type of sampling is also known as chance sampling or
probability sampling where each and every item in the
population has an equal chance of inclusion in the
sample and each one of the possible samples, in case of
finite universe, has the same probability of being
selected.
✓ (iii) Systematic sampling: In some instances the most
practical way of sampling is to select every 15th name on
a list, every 10th house on one side of a street and so on.

✓ (iv) Stratified sampling: If the population from which a

sample is to be drawn does not constitute a
homogeneous group, then stratified sampling technique
is applied so as to obtain a representative sample.
✓ (v) Quota sampling:
In stratified sampling the cost of taking random
samples from individual strata is often so expensive
that interviewers are simply given quota to be filled
from different strata, the actual selection of items for
sample being left to the interviewer’s judgment.
✓ (vii) Multi-stage sampling:
This is a further development of the idea of cluster
sampling.

✓ (viii) Sequential sampling:

This is somewhat a complex sample design where the
ultimate size of the sample is not fixed in advance but is
determined according to mathematical decisions on the
basis of information yielded as survey progresses.
 6. Collecting the data:
✓ Data can be collected by any one or more of the
following ways:
(i) By observation
(ii) Through personal interview
(iii) Through telephone interviews
(iv) By mailing of questionnaires
(v) Through schedules
8. Analysis of data:7. Execution of the project:
Requires a number of closely related operations such as
establishment of
✓ Categories
✓ Coding
✓ Editing
✓ Tabulation
✓ Analysis work after tabulation is generally based on the
computation of various percentages, coefficients, etc., by
applying various well defined statistical formulae.
 9. Hypothesis-testing:

✓ Various tests, such as Chi square test, t-test, F-test, have

been developed by statisticians for the purpose.
✓ Hypothesis-testing will result in either accepting the
hypothesis or in rejecting it.
 10. Generalisations and interpretation

11. Preparation of the report or the thesis

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