For downloading PPT lecture slides, please visit:
http://ims.uob.edu.pk/ (Faculty--Mr. Furqan ul Haq--Uploaded Notes)
Chapter 2
Classification Of
Research
References:
•
•
•
Business Research Methods (William G. Zikmund)
VU Course Business Research Methods
Internet
Resource Person: Furqan-ul-haq Siddiqui
Different between Research &
Investigation


Research is a human activity based on
intellectual investigation and is aimed at
discovering, interpreting, and revising human
knowledge on different aspects of the world.
investigation you are required to make quarry
for already happened events and bring the facts
of the matter. Investigation is sort of finding
hints or clues and moving forward .
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
1. Purpose of Doing
Research
a.
b.
c.
Exploratory Research
Descriptive Research
Explanatory (Causal)
Research
2. The Uses of Research
a.
b.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
3. The Time Dimension in
Research
a.
b.
i.
ii.
iii.
Cross-Sectional Research
Longitudinal Research
A cohort analysisTime Series
Panel Study
Basic Research
4. Research (data collection)
Applied Research
Techniques Used
Action research
a.
Quantitative
R&D
b.
Qualitative
Impact Assessment Research
Evaluation Research
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH


1.
2.
3.
4.
Before a researcher begins to conduct a study, he
or she must decide on a specific type of research.
For classification of research we shall look from
four dimensions
The purpose of doing research;
The intended uses of research;
How it treats time i.e. the time dimension in
research; and
The research (data collection) techniques used in
it.
1. Purpose of Doing Research






I.
II.
III.

If we ask someone why he or she is conducting a study,
we might get a range of responses:
“My boss told me to do”;
“It was a class assignment”;
“I was curious.”
Simply there are almost as many reasons to do research
as there are researches.
Yet the purposes of research may be organized into three
groups based on what the researcher is trying to
accomplish
Explore a new topic,
Describe a social phenomenon,
Explain why something occurs.
Studies may have multiple purposes (e.g. both to explore
and to describe) but one purpose usually dominates
a.
Exploratory/Formulative Research
You may be exploring a new topic or issue in order
to learn about it, you began at the beginning to
clarify and define the nature of a problem.
 Management may have discovered general problem
but research is needed to gain better understanding
of problems.
 Exploratory research may be the first stage in a
sequence of studies.
 Subsequent researches expected.


The results of exploratory research are not usually useful for
decision-making by themselves, but they can provide
significant insight into a given situation. Although the
results of qualitative research can give some indication as to
the "why", "how" and "when" something occurs, it cannot
tell us "how often" or "how many."
Goals of Exploratory Research:
a. Become familiar with the basic facts, setting, and
concerns;
b. Develop well grounded picture of the situation;
c. Develop tentative theories, generate new ideas,
conjectures, or hypotheses;
d. Determine the feasibility of conducting further
study;
e. Formulate questions and refine issues for more
systematic inquiry; and
f. Develop techniques and a sense of direction for
future research.

Categories of Exploratory Research
Experience Surveys
 Secondary Data Analysis
 Case Studies
 Pilot Studies

Experience Surveys
An exploratory research technique in which
individuals who are knowledgeable about a
particular research problem are surveyed
Secondary Data Analysis
Data that have been previously collected for same
purpose other then problem at hand (Books,
periodicals, government sources, internet, media)
i.
Case Study Method
Intensely investigates one or A few situations
similar to the problem. Investigate in depth.
Analyzing the similar situations already occurred.
Pilot Study
The use of small-scale diverse research techniques
that involves sampling but doesn't apply rigorous
standards. It includes
Focus group Interview-A focus group is a
gathering of 6 to 10 people who are carefully
selected and invited to discuss relevant problem of
interest in the presence of a moderator.
ii.



Projective Techniques- An indirect means of questioning
that enables a respondent to project beliefs and feeling of
3rd party. these are unstructured prompts or stimulus that
encourage the respondent to project their underlying
motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings onto an
ambiguous situation. They are all indirect techniques that
attempt to disguise the purpose of the research includes
Word Association Tests- Subject is presented with a list
of words by Asking to respond with first word that comes
to mind.
Sentence Completion Method- respondents are given
incomplete sentences and asked to complete them
Story completion - respondents are given part of a story
and are asked to complete it




iii.
Third-person Technique- a verbal or visual representation of an
individual and his/her situation is presented to the respondent the respondent is asked to relate the attitudes or feelings of that
person - researchers assume that talking in the third person will
minimize the social pressure to give standard or politically
correct responses
Role Playing- respondents are asked to play the role of someone
else - researchers assume that subjects will project their own
feelings or behaviors into the role
T.A.T- respondents are shown a picture (or series of pictures)
and asked to make up a story about the picture (s) that are
assumed to reveal elements of his or her psychological makeup
Picture Frustration/cartoon tests - pictures of cartoon
characters are shown in a specific situation and with dialogue
balloons - one of the dialogue balloons is empty and the
respondent is asked to fill it in
In-depth Interview- An extensive interview by experts used in
primary stages of the research process.
b.
Descriptive /Statistical Research
Describe characteristics of a population or
phenomenon.
 Descriptive research seeks to determine the answers
to who, what, when, where, and how questions.
Although the data description is factual, accurate
and systematic, the research cannot describe what
caused a situation.
 Labor Force Surveys, Population Census, and
Educational Census are examples of such research.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Goals of Descriptive Research
Describe the situation in terms of its
characteristics i.e. provide an accurate profile of
a group;
Give a verbal or numerical picture (%) of the
situation;
Present background information;
Create a set of categories or classify the
information;
Clarify sequence, set of stages; and
Focus on ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘where,’ and
‘how’ but not why.
c.
Explanatory/Causal Research
When we encounter an issue that is already
known and have a description of it, we might
begin to wonder why things are the way they are.
The desire to know “why,” to explain, is the
purpose of explanatory research.
 Subdivided in Causal research
Conducted to identify cause and effect
relationships
 Laboratory Experiment
 Field Experiment

Goals of Explanatory Research
1. Explain things not just reporting. Why? Elaborate and
enrich a theory’s explanation.
2. Determine which of several explanations is best.
3. Determine the accuracy of the theory; test a theory’s
predictions or principle.
4. Advance knowledge about underlying process.
5. Build and elaborate a theory; elaborate and enrich a theory’s
predictions or principle.
6. Extend a theory or principle to new areas, new issues, new
topics:
7. Provide evidence to support or refute an explanation or
prediction.
8. Test a theory’s predictions or principles
2. The Uses of Research

a.
o
o
o
o
Some researchers focus on using research to advance
general knowledge, whereas others use it to solve specific
problems.
Basic Research- Investigation and analysis focused on a
better or fuller understanding of a subject, phenomenon, or
a basic law of nature in stead of on a
specific practical application of the results.
It does not directly involve the solution to a particular
pragmatic problem.
Just to consider how different problems that occur in
organizational setup can be solved.
Knowledge gained by the findings of basic research can
be used by others.
Verify the acceptability of a given theory.
b.
o
i.

Applied Research- When research is done with the
intention of applying the results of findings to solve the
specific problem currently being experienced by
organization.
It is conducted when a decision must be made about a
specific real-life problem.
Types of Applied Research
Action Research: It allows practitioners to address
those concerns that are closest to them. In this,
researcher wants to improve the way they address
issues and solve problems. In larger organizations
it is guided by professional researchers.
action research = action and research
ii.
iii.
iv.

R & D: Research for development of new products or procedure or
innovations.
Impact Assessment Research: Its purpose is to estimate the likely
consequences of a planned change. Such an assessment is used for
planning and making choices among alternative policies. Eg.
Impact of Basha Dam on the environment, impact of CNG on
atmosphere of Quetta.
Evaluation Research: It addresses the question, “Did it work?”
The process of establishing value judgment based on evidence
about the achievement of the goals of a program, policy, or way of
doing something.
Two types of evaluation research are formative and summative.
Formative evaluation is built-in monitoring or continuous feedback
on a program used for program management. Summative
evaluation looks at final program outcomes. Both are usually
necessary
Applied Research Examples
UoB conducts research on “Should faculty be
promoted on the bases of seniority or on
merit/educational base in UoB”?
 Should ufone introduce a new post pay package?
 A product is not selling in the market ,to check the
reasons & rectifying them.
 SBP conduction research on how to control inflation
in country
 OPEC conducting research on how to control the
prices of petrol around the glob.

20
Basic Research Example
Is executive success correlated with high need
for achievement?
 Are members of highly cohesive work groups
more satisfied than members of less cohesive
work groups?
 Do consumers experience cognitive
dissonance in low-involvement situations?
 Causes of Inflation in Pakistan

21
Difference Between Applied &
Fundamental Research
Applied Research is aimed at solving current
problem.
 Fundamental Research has more general
objective of generating knowledge &
understanding of organizational problems.

22
3. The Time Dimension in Research
Some studies give us a snapshot of a single, fixed time point it in
detail & some studies provide a moving picture that lets us follow
events, people, or sale of products over a period of time.
a. Cross-Sectional Research. In cross-sectional research, researcher
collects and analyses data at one specific point in time.
 The simplest and least costly.
 cannot capture the change processes.
 Cross-sectional research can be exploratory, descriptive, or
explanatory, but it is most consistent with a descriptive approach to
research.
b. Longitudinal Research. Examining features of people or other units
at more than one time. It is usually more complex and costly than
cross-sectional research
 more powerful, especially when researchers seek answers to
questions about change. There are three types of longitudinal
research: time series, panel, and cohort.

i. Time Series Research- In this same type of information is
collected from a group of people or other units across
multiple time periods. Researcher can observe stability or
change in the features of the units or can track conditions
overtime.
ii. The panel study- In panel study, the researcher observes
exactly the same people, group, or organization across time
periods. It is a difficult to carry out such study.
iii. A cohort analysis- is similar to the panel study, but rather
than observing the exact same people, researcher collects
information from people who have same nature, same
characteristics etc.
4. Research (data collection) Techniques Used
a. Quantitative
b. Qualitative
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
1. Purpose of Doing
Research
a.
b.
c.
Exploratory Research
Descriptive Research
Explanatory (Causal)
Research
2. The Uses of Research
a.
b.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
3. The Time Dimension in
Research
a.
b.
i.
ii.
iii.
Cross-Sectional Research
Longitudinal Research
A cohort analysisTime Series
Panel Study
Basic Research
4. Research (data collection)
Applied Research
Techniques Used
Action research
a.
Quantitative
R&D
b.
Qualitative
Impact Assessment Research
Evaluation Research