Getting ideas for an academic
study: conceptual and empirical
A Presentation in the Toulouse Graduate
School, University of North Texas
Charles Blankson, Ph.D. Department of Marketing & Logistics, College of
Business
4/13/2015
UNT Ph.D. Degree
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
• Observation and interaction with
subjects/objects
• Personal experience
• Curiosity
• Personal deduction
• Purposeful reading of current business/social
conundrum or challenge or interest or text book
• Media and public information on an issue (issues)
• Following an expert’s study or guidelines (e.g., a
committee member’s research stream).
Recent Ph.D. titles from the Department of Marketing
& Logistics, UNT
• My committee membership
• Dr. Tanawat (Tom) Hirunyawipada (Ph.D. in Marketing,
University of North Texas) Title: How Componential Factors
and Constraints Enhance Creativity in New Product Ideation.
Accepted a position at University of Dayton – Dayton, OH.
2007
• Dr. Clinton Amos (Ph.D. in Marketing, University of North
Texas). Title: The Impact of Visceral Influences on Consumers’
Evaluation of Potentially Misleading Advertising. Accepted a
position at Augusta State University, SC. 2008
Ph.D. titles contd.
• Dr. Lilly Ye (Ph.D. in Marketing, University of North Texas).
Title: The Impact of Gender Effects on Consumers’
Perceptions of Brand Equity: A Cross-Cultural Investigation.
Accepted a position at Frostburg State University, MD. 2008
• Dr. Gary Ray Holmes (Ph.D. in Marketing, University of North
Texas). Tile: Symbolic Visuals in Advertising: The Role of
Relevance. Accepted a position at Drury University, MO.
2008
Ph.D. titles contd.
• Dr. Selcuk Ertekin (Ph.D. in Marketing, University of North
Texas). Title: An Assessment of Consumers’ Willingness to
Patronize Foreign-Based Business Format Franchises: An
Investigation in the Fast-Food Sector. Accepted a position at
South West Missouri State University, MO. 2009
• Dr. Stanley Coffie (Ph.D. in Marketing, Birkbeck College,
University of London, UK). Title: A Strategic Market
Positioning Typology for Service Organizations in Ghana.
Accepted a position at the Ghana Institute of Management
and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra, Ghana. 2011
Ph.D. titles contd.
• Dr. Sally Samih Baalbaki (Ph.D. in Marketing, University of
North Texas). Title: Consumer Perspective of Brand Equity
Measurement: A New Scale. Accepted a position at
Metropolitan State University of Denver, CO. 2012
• Dr. Trang P. Tran (Ph.D. in Marketing, University of North
Texas). Title: Regulatory Orientation, Message Framing and
Influences on Customer Behaviors. Accepted a position at
SUNY – Oneonta, NY. 2012
Recent Master’s Degree Dissertations
• Mr. Emre Barali (MA Marketing). Dissertation title: An
Investigation of Congruence between Companies Positioning
Strategies and Target Customers’ Perceptions of Positioning
Messages, 2010, Kingston University Business School,
London, UK. Co- supervisor
• Ms. Alexandra Araujo Alvarez Jimenez (MA Marketing).
Dissertation title: The Impact of Mergers in Positioning,
2010, Kingston University Business School, London, UK. Cosupervisor
Master’s Degrees contd.
• Ms. Lilian Andrea Diaz Quintero (MA Marketing).
Dissertation title: The Interrelationship between Variables
that Influence Consumers’ Perceptions toward Advertising,
2010, Kingston University Business School, London, UK. Cosupervisor
• Mr. Behic Aydin (MA Marketing). Dissertation title:
Relationship between size of the Company and Positioning
Strategies, 2010, Kingston University Business School,
London, UK. Co-supervisor
Undergraduate Honors Program
• Miss Jennifer Ditrich, undergraduate (BA Business
Administration) Honors Program. Thesis title: The Effect of
Advertising on Female Body Images, January 2005 – May
2005, Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus, New York,
USA.
• Mr. Joseph Ambrogio (BA Business Administration) Honors
Program. Thesis title: College Students’ Choice Criteria of
Credit Card Brands: A Replication Study, January 2004 – July
2005, Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus, New York,
USA.
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
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What is the definition of the Ph.D. degree?
What are the expectations at UNT?
What is the purpose of your study?
What is (are) the theoretical foundation(s) of the area
of interest
– Seminal/original scholarly papers – who are the
authorities?
– What is the state of the literature? Who has done what?
– Determination of gaps in the literature
• How will you examine the research questions?
– What is the research context and why is it important?
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
• The theoretical review, observations, consultations
with experts will help you focus on particular area
that has strong theoretical foundation on which to
claim legitimacy.
• Anchor your study within your discipline – with the
purpose of increasing knowledge in your field.
• The theoretical review will help you demonstrate
your thorough comprehension of your field of study
and be able to intelligently critique others’ study.
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
• The left & right (this or that) stages:
– Select and refine a topic:
– Look at the “limitations and future research directions of
previous or current journal articles or Ph.D. dissertations”
– Review the literature – be a critical reader of articles
– Summarize and identify key issues
– Write, i.e., put it on paper –
write down your ideas as
they occur – use a note pad.
Write everyday, not every week.
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
• Read, summarize, critique and identify key issues from
each article read – place these in a Table format
– List all references, e.g. Yadav, Manjit S. (2010), “The Decline of
Conceptual Articles and Implications for Knowledge Development”,
Journal of Marketing, 74(1), 1-19 (or see the journal)
• For each article, identify the purpose/objectives/research
questions
• Conceptual framework – literature base/theory
• Propositions/hypotheses or statement of aim and objectives
• Research method(s) used
• Results/findings
• Conclusions
– Now, what do you see as the gaps for research?
Table 1
Conceptualization of CBBE Construct
Dimensions
Salience
Equity
Attitudinal
Equity
Relationship
Equity
Constructs
Conceptualization
Brand
Awareness
The ability for a buyer to recognize or
recall that a brand is a member of a
certain product category.
Brand
Association
The other informational nodes that are
linked to a brand node in memory, and
they contain the meaning of the brand
for consumers.
Brand
Uniqueness
The degree to which consumers feel
that a brand is different from
competing brands – how distinct it is
relative to competitors.
Seminal Contributions
Aaker (1991, 1996)
Biel (1993)
Keller (1993, 2003)
Yoo & Donthu (2001)
Aaker (1991, 1996)
Biel (1993)
Keller (1993, 2003)
Pappu et al. (2005)
Yoo & Donthu (2001)
Aaker (1991, 1996)
Agarwal & Rao (1996)
Carpenter et al. (1994)
Netemeyer et al. (2004)
Brand
Attitude
The degree of affect or feelings for or
against a brand.
Chauduri & Holbrook
(1992)
Low et al. (2000)
Perceived
Quality
Consumers’ judgment of the overall
excellence of a brand relative to
alternatives.
Perceived
Value
Assessment of the utility of a brand.
Brand
Loyalty
Proclivity to be loyal to a focal brand
demonstrated by the intention to buy
the brand as a primary choice.
Brand
Attachment
The intensity of a person’s specific
emotional bonds with a brand.
Aaker (1991, 1996)
Agarwal & Rao (1996)
Lassar et al. (1995)
Pappu et al. (2005)
Yoo & Donthu (2001)
Agarwal & Rao (1996)
Lassar et al. (1995)
Netemeyer et al. (2004)
Aaker (1991, 1996)
Chaudhuri (1999)
Lassar et al. (1995)
Yoo & Donthu (2001)
Fournier (1998)
Thomson (2006)
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
• Develop precise conceptual definitions for the
constructs and measurements – either
borrowed from the literature or DIY
• Constructs are the building blocks of theory. And
without well-developed conceptual definitions for the
constructs, it becomes difficult/impossible to develop a
coherent theory.
• Without a definition, you cannot measure a
concept/construct.
• Avoid pseudo definitions.
Issues about definitions of constructs
• Definitions are important (Pastrana et al., 2008); they serve
as the impetus for conducting consistent research in social
phenomena; positioning is no different.
– “Despite the extensive research in the concept of positioning, a review
of the literature indicates a level of ambiguity and inconsistency
associated with the definition of the positioning. Accordingly, scholars
have documented the “absence of a clear, universally accepted
definition of the construct” (Kalafatis et al., 2000) and the lack of
abiding themes capable of reflecting the basis of positioning
frameworks in the literature (Hooley, Greenley, Fahy, and Cadogan
2001; Levitt 2002; Piercy 2005; Schultz 2006). This quandary however,
has resulted in inconsistent (and in some instances, inaccurate)
conceptualization, and research in positioning” Blankson, Dai, and
Boatswain (2013 – on-going study).
Getting ideas for Ph.D. study
• Evaluate the hypotheses before designing the empirical
study
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Are the hypotheses clearly written?
Is each of the hypotheses falsifiable/testable?
Do any of the hypotheses involve truism or tautologies?
Are any of the hypotheses trivial to raise questions about the
methodology?
• Is any of the theoretical rationale provided for each hypothesis
compelling?
• Are there any additional theoretical arguments that would strengthen
the conceptual support for the hypotheses?
• Do the hypotheses to be tested represent a cohesive set?
Follow typical examples in articles and adapt to suit your study.
Aggressively solicit criticism of your conceptual framework.
Identify the intended contributions of the study
1. Conceptual contributions:
– Improved conceptual definitions of the original
constructs
– The identification of and conceptual definition of
additional constructs to be added to the conceptual
framework (e.g., additional dependent, independent,
mediating, and/or moderator variables).
– The development of additional theoretical linkages
(research hypotheses) with rationale
– The development of improved theoretical rationale
for existing linkages.
2. Empirical contributions
• Testing a theoretical linkage between two
constructs that has not previously been tested.
• Examining the effects of a potential moderator
variable on the nature of the relationship
between two constructs
• Determining the degree to which a variable
mediates the relationship between two
constructs
• Investigating the psychometric properties of an
important scale.
3. Methodological contributions
• Reduce the potential problems with shared method variance
through the use of multiple methods of measurement
• Increase the generalizability of the research through more
appropriate sampling procedures
• Allow the investigation of plausible “third-variable explanations”
for the results of past studies
• Enhance the construct validity of key measures through the use of
refined multiple-item measures and/or the use of measurement
approaches that do not rely on self-reports.
• Scale development and validation of a concept/construct.
Designing the empirical study
• Bear in mind, nothing can be done to improve the
research methodology once the data have been
collected.
• Also, if the data are seriously flawed, no amount
of re-writing of the
manuscript/thesis/dissertation can overcome
weakness of the methodology.
So, prior to embarking upon the data collection,
seek critical feedback on the research designs.
Pretest your Questionnaire
• Subject your already critiqued questionnaire
to rigorous pretest by experts – dissertation
committee, other faculty members.
• Then administer the refined questionnaire to
a pre-test of say, 30 participants/respondents
(e.g., students, university
secretaries/administrators, members of the
general public, managers etc.).
• Remember to document all these procedures
as appropriate in your methodology.
And finally…………Dr.
Understanding literature review
• http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/lit-review/