THEORIES & MODELS

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Module Name: Research Methodologies
Module Leader: Dr Roshni Paul
Research Methodologies 23/04/2025
 A Demonstrate an understanding of research methodology and frameworks relevant to the
conduct of business research.

B Assess the suitability of research tools and techniques and the limitations of quantitative and
qualitative research

C Understand the use of research and its applications to business needs

D Interpret research reports and output derive insights from them

E Prepare a sample questionnaire, collect data and communicate the analysis via a research report

F Plan and coordinate work independently and in teams, to meet deadlines, delivery styles and
specified quality standards.

G Prepare a sample research proposal responsibly and with due consideration of various ethical
principles of research

LEARNING OUTCOMES
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WHAT IS THEORY?

 A THEORY is “a coherent set of general propositions, used as principles of

explanation of the apparent relationships of certain observed phenomena.”

 Before a proposition can be explained, the nature of theoretical concepts

must be understood.

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WHAT IS A CONCEPT?

 A CONCEPT (or construct) is “a generalized idea about a class of objects,

occurrences, or purposes.”
 Concepts are our building blocks, and some examples of organizational
theory concepts might be “leadership,” “productivity,” and “morale.”

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WHY DO RESEARCHERS NEED
THEORY & CONCEPTS?
 The basic or scientific business researcher operates at two levels:

1. the abstract level of concepts (and propositions) and

2. the empirical level of observation and manipulation of objects and
events.
 Researchers are concerned with the observable world, or what we will
loosely term “reality.”
 Theorists translate their conceptualization of reality into abstract ideas.
 Thus, theory deals with abstraction.
 Things are not the essence of theory, ideas are.
 Only when we begin to explain how concepts relate to other concepts; we
begin to construct theories.
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 WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC
METHOD?
 A scientific method is a set of prescribed procedures for establishing and connecting

theoretical statements about events and for predicting events yet unknown.

 There is no consensus concerning exact procedures for the scientific method, but most

discussions of the scientific method include a reference to “empirical testability.”

 A hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable.

 Variables may be measured.

 Thus, the scientific method has two basic levels: the empirical level which is primarily

concerned with the facts of the science as revealed by observation, and the abstract or
theoretical level which consists of a serious attempt to understand the facts of the science,
and to integrate them into a logical system.
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VERIFICATION OF THEORIES
 To determine which is the better theory, researchers gather empirical data
or evidence to verify theories.
 One task of science is to determine if a given theoretical proposition is false
or if there are inconsistencies between competing theories—theories are
made to be tested.
 Business research gathers facts to verify theories. However, the
researcher must understand the difference between facts and theories.
 Facts are the world’s data.
 Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts.
 Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them.

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WHAT IS REASONING?
 Reasoning is the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible
manner.
 There are two types of reasoning – Deductive and inductive.
 Deductive reasoning is the logic process of deriving a conclusion from a
known premise or something known to be true.
 It is a bottom-up approach where some specific conclusion is established
from a generic observation.
 Inductive reasoning is the logical process of establishing a general
proposition on the basis of observation of particular facts.
 This is a top-down approach where a specific observation is tried to be
generalized.

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CONNECTION BETWEEN
REASONING & THEORY?
 Theory generation may occur at the abstract, conceptual level and at the
empirical level.
 At the abstract, conceptual level, theory may be developed with deductive
reasoning.
 For example, we know that all managers are human beings. If we also
know that Mary Fisher is a manager, then we can deduce that Mary Fisher
is a human being.
 At the empirical level, theory may be developed with inductive reasoning.
 For example, all managers that have ever been seen are human beings;
therefore, all managers are human beings.
 Therefore, theory construction is often the result of a combination of
deductive and inductive reasoning.
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STEPS INVOLVED FOR THE APPLICATION
OF SCIENTIFIC THEORY
 Seven operations may be viewed as the steps involved in the application of
the scientific theory:
 A. Assessment of relevant existing knowledge
 B. Formulation of concepts and propositions
 C. Statement of hypotheses
 D. Design the research to test the hypotheses
 E. Acquisition of meaningful empirical data
 F. Analysis and evaluation of data
 G. Provide explanation and state new problems raised by the research

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PRACTICAL VALUES OF
THEORIES
 Theories allow us to generalize beyond individual facts or isolated
situations.
 Theories provide a framework that can guide managerial strategy by
providing insights into general rules of behavior.
 A good theory allows us to generalize beyond individual facts so that
general patterns may be predicted and understood.

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WHAT IS A THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
 The theoretical framework is a logically developed, described and
elaborated network of associations among the variables deemed relevant
to the problem situation.
 The relationship between the literature review and the theoretical
framework is that the former provides a solid foundation for developing the
latter. That is the literature review identifies the variables that might be
important as determined by previous research findings.
 The theoretical framework represents an elaborate relationship
among the variables, explains the theory underlying these
relations and describes the nature and direction of the
relationships.
 Just as a literature review sets the stage for good theoretical framework
this in turn provides a logical base for developing testable hypothesis.
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WHAT ARE VARIABLES?
 A variable is a quality that can exhibit differences in value, usually
magnitude or strength.
 In statistical analysis, a variable could be identified by a symbol such as X.
 Six main types of variables are mainly described in a research:
 1. Dependent variable (Criterion variable)
 2. Independent variable (Predictor variable)
 3. Moderating variable
 4. Mediating variable
 5. Sub variable
 6. Output variable
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 VARIABLES DEFINED  Moderating variable
 Dependent variable

A dependent variable is the main variable A moderating variable is the one that
that lends itself for investigation. has a strong contingent effect on the
independent-dependent variable
 Sub Variable
relationship.
A sub-variable is a variable which is  Mediating variable
indented to another parent variable
(independent variable). A mediating variable describes the
 Independent variable relationship between the independent
and dependent variables.
An independent variable is a variable that
 Output variable
is expected to influence the dependent
variable either in a positive or negative Output variables are those that
way. describe the outcome of research
An independent variable is the cause while such as any results, products, or
a dependent variable is the effect in a outcomes produced by the processes.
causal research study.
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WHAT IS A CONCEPTUAL
MODEL?
 A conceptual model describes your ideas about how the concepts or
variables in your model are related to each other.
 A schematic diagram of the conceptual model helps the reader to visualise
the theorist relationships between the variables in your model hand us to
obtain a quick idea about how you think the research problem can be
solved.
 Hence conceptual models are often expressed in this diagrammatic form.

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HOW IS THEORY AND
MODEL CONNECTED?
 A theory or a clear explanation for the relationships in your model is the
last component of a theoretical framework.
 A theory attempts to explain relationships between the variables
in your model.
 An explanation should be provided for all the important relationships that
are theorised to exist among the variables.
 Then there should also be an indication as to whether the relationships
should be positive or negative and linear or nonlinear.
 From the theoretical framework then, testable hypothesis can be
developed to examine whether the theory formulated is valid or not.

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WHAT IS A HYPOTHESIS?
 A hypothesis is an unproven proposition or possible solution to a problem.
 In its simplest form, a hypothesis is a guess.
 Hypotheses are statements that can be empirically tested.
 A formal statement of hypothesis can force researchers to be clear about
what they expect to find through their study.
 The hypothesis can raise critical questions about the data that will be
required in the analysis stage.
 For e.g., Here is a hypothesis from a study on turnover:
 “The lower the job performance, the greater the likelihood of turnover.”
 Job performance is the independent variable and turnover is the dependent
variable.
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 REFERENCES
 Bougie, R., & Sekaran, U. (2019). Research methods for
business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons.
 Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., Adhikari, A., &
Griffin, M. (2013). Business Research Methods A South-
asian Perspective: Cengage Learning.

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