Slide 5.

CHAPTER 5
Formulating the research design

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
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• Submitted by Aamir Waheed

• PhD Management Sciences

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
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The Process of Research Design

• Research choices

• Research strategies

• Time horizons

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Slide 5.4

Research Design and Tactics

The research onion

Source: © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis

Adapted from Saunders et al, (2012)

Figure 5.1 The research ‘onion’

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.5

Research Design
The research design needs

• Clear objectives derived from the research question

• To specify sources of data collection

• To consider constraints and ethical issues

• Valid reasons for your choice of design

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.6

Multiple research methods

Research choices

Saunders et al, (2009)

Figure 5.4 Research choices
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
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Multiple research methods

Reasons for using mixed method designs:

(Table 5.1 )
• Initiation
• Facilitation
• Complementarity
• Interpretation
• Generalisability
• Diversity
• Problem solving
• Focus
• Triangulation
• Confidence
Source: developed from Bryman (2012)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.8

Classification of the research purpose

 Exploratory research
 a search of the literature; interviewing ‘experts’ in the subject; conducting
in-depth individual interviews or conducting focus group interview
 These interviews are likely to be relatively unstructured and to rely on the
quality of the contributions from those who participate to help guide the
subsequent stage of your research.
 Descriptive studies
 To describe or Define the topic at hand
 Relationships based on predefined variables, providing a clear picture of
the situation
 Explanatory studies
 Causal (causes and effects) relationships between
variable.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.9

Research Strategies

Experiment Action research

Grounded theory Survey

Ethnography Case study

Archival research

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.10

Research Strategies: Experiment

An experiment will involve

 Definition of a theoretical hypothesis

 Selection of samples from know populations
 Random allocation of samples
 Introduction of planned intervention
 Measurement on a small number of dependent
variables
 Control of all other variables

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.11

Research Strategies: Experiment

Variables
• Independent variable
• Dependent variable
• Mediating variable
• Moderator variable
• Control variable
• Confounding variable

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.12

Research Strategies: Experiment

• Classical experiment
• Quasi experiment
• Between Subject design
• Within Subject Design

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.13

Research Strategies: Experiment

A classic experiment strategy

Saunders et al, (2009)

Figure 5.2 A classic experiment strategy

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.14

Research Strategies: Survey

Survey: key features

• Popular in business research

• Perceived as authoritative
• Allows collection of quantitative data
• Data can be analysed quantitatively
• Samples need to be representative
• Gives the researcher independence
• Structured observation and interviews can be used

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.15

Research Strategies: Archival research

• An archival research makes use of administrative records and

documents as the principal source of data.
• Focus on RQ that deals with past the changes over time.
• Primary or secondary data?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.16

Research Strategies: Case Study

Case Study: key features

• Provides a rich understanding of a real life context

• Uses and triangulates multiple sources of data

A case study can be categorised in four ways

and based on two dimensions:

single case v. multiple case

holistic case v. embedded case
Yin (2003)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.17

Research Strategies: Ethnography

• Ethnography is used to study groups.
• Aims to describe and explain the social world
inhabited by the researcher
• It may involve researchers living amongst those whom they study to
observe and talk to them ion order to produce detail cultural
accounts of their shared beliefs, behaviors, interactions, language,
rituals and the events that shape their lives.
• Takes place over an extended time period

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.18

Research Strategies

Action research: key features

• Research IN action - not ON action

• Involves practitioners in the research
• The researcher becomes part of the organisation
• Promotes change within the organisation
• Can have two distinct focii (Schein, 1999) –
the aim of the research and the needs of the sponsor

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.19

Research Strategies
The action research spiral

Saunders et al, (2009)

Figure 5.3 The action research spiral

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.20

Research Strategies
Grounded theory: key features

• Theory is built through induction and deduction

• Helps to predict and explain behaviour

• Develops theory from data generated by

observations

• Is an interpretative process, not a logico-deductive

one
Based on Suddaby (2012)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.21

Research Strategies
The role of the practitioner-researcher
Key features

• Research access is more easily available

• The researcher knows the organisation
• Has the disadvantage of familiarity
• The researcher is likely to their own assumptions
and preconceptions
• The dual role requires careful negotiation

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.22

Time Horizons

Select the appropriate time horizon

• Cross-sectional studies

• Longitudinal studies

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Slide 5.23

Credibility of research findings

Important considerations
• Reliability: Consistency of findings if repeated
• Validity: research measures what you actually
intend to measure.
• Internal validity: IV is established when your research
demonstrates a causal relationship between two
variables
• External validity: Can a study’s findings be generalised in
other relevant settings or groups.
• Logic leaps and false assumptions

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.24

Credibility of research findings

Threats to Reliability
• Participant error: Any factor which adversely alters
the way in which the participant performs.
• Participant Bias: any factor which includes a false
response.
• Researcher error: Any factor which alters the
researcher's interpretation
• Researcher bias: Any factor which includes bias in
the researcher's recording of responses.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.25

Credibility of research findings

Threats to internal validity
• Past or recent event: An event which changes participant’s
perceptions.
• Testing: The impact of testing on participant’s view or actions.
• Instrumentation: Impact of a change in a research instrument
between different stages of the research.
• Mortality: Impact of participants withdrawing form the studies.
• Maturation: Impact of outside factor that affects participants’
attitudes and behavior
• Ambiguity about causal direction: Lack of clarity about cause and
effect

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 5.26

 Past or recent events An event which changes participants’

perceptions.
 Testing The impact of testing on participants’ views or actions.
Instrumentation The impact of a change in a research instrument
between different stages of a research project affecting the
comparability of results.
 Mortality The impact of participants withdrawing from studies.
Often participants leave their job or gain a promotion during a study
 Maturation The impact of a change in participants outside of the
influence of the study that affects their attitudes or behaviours etc.
 Ambiguity about causal direction Lack of clarity about cause and
effect.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009