Chapter 2

Classification Of
Research
References:
•Business Research Methods (William G. Zikmund)
• VU Course Business Research Methods
•Internet

Resource Person: M. Adeel Anjum

 CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
 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
1. The purpose of doing research;
2. The intended uses of research;
3. How it treats time i.e. the time dimension in
research; and
4. The research (data collection) techniques
used in it.
 1. Purpose of Doing Research
 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
I. Explore a new topic,
II. Describe a social phenomenon,
III. Explain why something occurs.
 Studies may have multiple purposes (e.g. both to explore
and to describe) but one purpose usually dominates
 I. EXPLORATORY 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 research 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:
1. Become familiar with the basic facts, setting, and
concerns;
2. Develop well grounded picture of the situation;
3. Develop tentative theories, generate new ideas,
conjectures, or hypotheses;
4. Determine the feasibility of conducting the study;
5. Formulate questions and refine issues for more
systematic inquiry; and
6. 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)
 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
a. 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.
b. 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
 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
c. In-depth Interview- An extensive interview by experts used in
primary stages of the research process.
 II. 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.
 Goals of Descriptive Research
1. Describe the situation in terms of its
characteristics i.e. provide an accurate
profile of a group;
2. Give a verbal or numerical picture (%) of the
situation;
3. Present background information;
4. Create a set of categories or classify the
information;
5. Clarify sequence, set of stages; and
6. Focus on ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘where,’ and
‘how’ but not why.
 III. Explanatory 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
 Some researchers focus on using research to advance
general knowledge, whereas others use it to solve specific
problems.
a. Basic Research
b. Applied Research
Types of Applied Research
i. 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
 act -> review -> act -> review
ii. R & D: Research for development of new products or
procedure or innovations.
iii. 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.
iv. 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
 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,
researchers observe at one 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 on 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 3. The Time Dimension in
Research Research
I. Exploratory Research a. Cross-Sectional Research
II. Descriptive Research b. Longitudinal Research
III. Explanatory (Causal) i. A cohort analysis-
Research ii. Time Series
2. The Uses of Research iii. Panel Study
a. Basic Research 4. Research (data collection)
b. Applied Research Techniques Used
i. Action research I. Quantitative
ii. R&D II. Qualitative
iii. Impact Assessment Research
iv. Evaluation Research