Defining your research
IB 316 Research Methods
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Pavida Pananond
Topics
† What is research? What is not
research?
† Research types
† Research process
† What should I study?
y
What is research?
† Research is a process of finding out
information and investigating
g
g the unknown
to solve a problem
† Research involves more than searching
g for
information
† Research is ‘a systematic
y
process
p
that
includes defining, designing, doing and
describing an investigation into a research
problem’ (Maylor and Blackmon 2005: 5)
Business and management
research
† May involve individuals (e.g. customers,
shareholders), groups of individuals (e.g.
(e g
board of directors), organisations (e.g.
businesses NGOs), supply chains,
businesses,
chains
industries, markets, regions
What research is not
† Research is not just a process of
collecting and reporting
information:
„ research involves creating new knowledge
by analysing, interpreting and reporting that
information,, and by
y integrating
g
g this new
knowledge with what we already know
What research is not
† Research is not journalism:
„ a common purpose: to gather
information and present it in appropriate
format
„ Key difference: researchers must verify
the research findings before they are
published
What research is not
† Research is not consulting:
„ Consulting engagements aim at solving
an organisational problem
„ Research projects are undertaken to
create and share original knowledge.
This mean researchers need to link their
research to previous research on the
subject,
j
, and show that they
y are adding
g
something new.
Originality in research
† New or improved evidence
† New or improved methodology
† New or improved analysis
† New or improved
d concepts or theories
h
Research types
† Basic research:
conducted to increase
knowledge,
g , with little consideration for future
applications (e.g. explaining people’s learning
behaviour)
† Development:
taking an original idea,
possibly from a basic research project, and looking
for applications (e
(e.g.
g how knowledge about learning
behaviour can be used for training)
† Commercial:
taking an idea from the
possibility of application through to commercial
g ((e.g.
g sell the above as a training
g service))
usage
Thinking about your research
† Why am I doing this research project, and
what do I want to g
get out of it?
† What do I want to find out?
† Where is the information that I want to find
out?
† Who will want to know what I find out?
† How will I be assessed?
† When can I start,
start and when must I finish?
Key dimensions of business and
management research (table 1.2)
Scholarly v.s commercial
Scholarly v
v.s.
s student research
Assigned v.s. interest-driven topics
Indirect v.s. direct contacts with
organisation
g
to gather
g
data
† Individual v.s. group research
† Single discipline v
v.s.
s interdisciplinary
†
†
†
†
Research Process
D4
Describing
Your research
D3
Doing
Your research
D1
Defining
Your research
D2
Designing
Your research
Four stages of the research process
St
Stage
M j
Major
outputs
t t
F
Form
Project definition
Research topic,
problem,,
research p
research questions
Project / research
proposal
Project design
Methods for gathering
y g evidence
and analysing
and testing knowledge
claims
Research design
Project execution
Knowledge claims,
evidence, analysis and
interpretation
Findings
Project description
New knowledge
Project
j
/ research
report
Source: Maylor and Blackmon 2005
Research project breakdown
D1
D fi
Define
it
Identify
Potential topics
Set up project
Goals and
Outline plans
Complete
Initial literature
review
Identify
Research
questions
Prepare
Proposal and
Submit for
approval
Milestone 1:
Proposal approved
1
Research project breakdown (cont.)
D2
Design it
Detailed
Literature review
Identify research
approach
h
Identify research
methods
h d
Arrange access
To sources of
data
Milestone 2:
Project designed
And ready to go
2
Research project breakdown (cont.)
D3
Do it
Gather data
Analyse findings
Milestone 3:
Sufficient data
Collected and analysed
3
Research project breakdown (cont.)
D4
Describe it
Interpret results
Write report
Milestone 4:
Submitted report
4
What should I study?
† Generating ideas
† Selecting the best idea as research
topic
† Developing a research proposal
Generating ideas
† Research topic: a general area of
business and management
g
that y
you
can investigate. A good research topic
practical or
should lead to either a p
theoretical problem
g where y
you will
† Research setting:
conduct your project
† Sample: where you will collect your
data
Generating ideas
† Research ideas can involve:
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
A phenomenon
An issue
A problem
p oblem
A question to study
A general theme
An area of behaviour
A body of theory
Generating ideas
† Sources of ideas can be drawn from:
„ Practical p
problems in business and
management (e.g. how can we reduce our
purchasing costs through developing a supply
strategy? How can we retain customers who are
defecting because of bad services?)
eo e ca problems
p o e s taken
a
from
o the business
bu
„ Theoretical
and management literature
† Other sources of ideas: brainstorming,
g
personal interests, studies
Generating ideas
Journalism
Practical
Consulting
Student
Research
Pure
Research
Theoretical
Range of approaches to studying problems
Generating ideas
† Which ideas are worth pursuing?
„ Does it meet the p
project
j
requirements?
q
„ Is it relevant to at least one practical problem in
business and management?
„ Is it relevant to at least one theoretical problem
faced by researchers?
„ Can I identify a research setting and research
sample in which I could gather data?
„ Am I interested in doing it?
„ Is it worth studying?
Selecting the best idea
† Characteristics of a good research topic:
Topic
p satisfies p
project
j
g
guidelines
Topic is feasible (given time and resources)
Topic has a manageable scope
Topic has symmetrical outcomes (whichever
outcome can be interesting)
„ Topic
T i is
i relevant
l
to business
b i
and
d management
practice
„ Topic is linked to business and management
knowledge
„
„
„
„
Refining research topics
† Define your research questions (areas of
research topic you want to investigate)
† Research questions should:
„ Define your research topic –the business or
management phenomenon you will focus on
„ Define the nature of your research –describe,
explore,
p
or explain
p
„ Define the issues you will explore—what aspects
of the phenomenon
„ Indicate whether you foresee a relationship
between the concepts you are exploring—
develop any propositions or hypotheses
Refining research topic
† Avoid these questions:
„ ones that lead to no significant
contribution—those that have already
been answered
„ ones that are biased or self-answering
„ Unanswerable questions (e
(e.g.
g good or
evil, right or wrong)
† Use the literature to support your
research topic and questions
Refining research topic
† Use a hierarchy of concepts to refine your topic
Marketing
k
Online
marketing
Business to business
Not relevant
Business-to-customers
Luxury goods
Everyday purchase
Not relevant
Main focus
Online grocery
shopping
Online book
shopping
Refining research topic
† Use a Venn diagram to refine your
research area/field
Strategy
Logistics
Area of interest
IB
Research proposal
† Working title
† Main discipline: finance,
finance strategy,
strategy IB?
† Background to the study: how did it
come about?
† Management
g
issues related to the
topic
† Research questions/ propositions/
hypotheses
Research proposal
† Project objectives: what do you hope
to achieve? What do you hope the
project will find?
† Project scope
† Sources of data