Topic 4

The Research Process – Elements of

Research Design

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Research Design

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Purpose of the Study

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 Exploratory Research CONTD…

Uses of Exploratory Research Methods of Exploratory Research

 Formulate a problem or define a  Survey of experts
problem more precisely
 Identify alternative courses of  Pilot surveys: is a research study
conducted before the intended study. Pilot
action
studies are usually executed as planned
 Develop hypotheses for the intended study, but on a smaller
 Isolate key variables and scale.
relationships for further
examination  Secondary data analyzed in a
 Gain insights for developing an qualitative way
approach to the problem
 Qualitative research: “study things in
 Establish priorities for further
their natural settings, attempting to make
research sense of or interpret phenomena in terms
of the meanings people bring to them.”

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 Exploratory study contd…

 Exploratory study: Example

– A service provider wants to know why his

customers are switching to other service providers?

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 Descriptive Research contd…

Use of Descriptive Research Methods of Descriptive Research

 To describe the characteristics of relevant  Secondary data analyzed in a quantitative
groups, such as consumers, salespeople, as opposed to a qualitative manner
organizations, or market areas.
 Survey: means to collect information.
 To estimate the percentage of units in a
specified population exhibiting a certain
behavior.  Panels: A group of respondents recruited
to take part in a number of market
 To determine the perceptions of product research sessions or projects over a period
characteristics. of time. Respondents might regularly
attend a group discussion about one
 To determine the degree to which subject, or about a different subject each
marketing variables are associated. time.

 To make specific predictions  Observational and other data

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 Specific techniques of survey
research
• 1] Questionnaires - a series of written questions a participant answers.
This method gathers responses to questions that are essay or
agree/neutral/disagree style.
• 2] Interviews - questions posed to an individual to obtain information
about him or her. This type of survey is like a job interview, with one
person asking another a load of questions.
• 3] Surveys - A survey is a quick interview and discussion, with the surveyor
asking only a few questions on a specific topic.

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 Descriptive study contd…

 Descriptive study: Example:

– A bank manager wants to have a profile of the individuals who have

loan payments outstanding for 6 months and more. It would include
details of their average age, earnings, nature of occupation,
full-time/part-time employment status, and the like. This might help him
to elicit further information or decide right away on the types of
individuals who should be made ineligible for loans in the future.

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 Casual Research contd…

Uses of Casual Research Method of Causal Research

 To understand which variables

are the cause (independent
 METHOD: Experiments
variables) and which variables
are the effect (dependent
variables) of a phenomenon

 To determine the nature of the

relationship between the causal
variables and the effect to be
predicted

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 Causal research contd…

 Causal research : Example:

– A marketing manager wants to know if the

sales of the company will increase if he
doubles the advertising dollars.

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 A Comparison of Basic Research Designs
EXPLORATORY DESCRIPTIVE
Objective: CAUSAL
Discovery of ideas Describe market Determine cause
and insights characteristics or and effect
functions relationships

Characteristi Flexible, versatile

cs: Marked by the prior Manipulation of one
formulation of specific or more
hypotheses independent
Often the front end variables
of total research Preplanned and
design structured design Control of other
mediating variables
Methods: Expert surveys Secondary data
Pilot surveys Surveys Experiments
Secondary data Panels
Qualitative research Observation and other
data
 Type of Investigation
Causal Study Causal Study: examples
– it is necessary to establish a A causal study question:
definitive cause-and-effect
relationship. i) Does smoking cause cancer?
- To delineate the cause of one or The answer to this question helps to
more problems. establish whether people who do not
And be able to state that variable X smoke will not develop cancer.
causes variable Y.
So when X is removed or altered in
some way Y is solved ii)Does advertising leads to purchase?

– Whether a research is causal or

correlational depends on: The answer to question ii) is whether
**type of question asked & people will not buy if there are no
** how the problem is defined advertisements.

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  Correlational study: example
 Correlational study

– identification of the important Are smoking, drinking and chewing tobacco

associated with cancer?
variables “associated with” the
The above question suggest there are
problem. several factors besides the THREE that
influences cancer.
 A correlational study question: If YES does these THREE factors help to
explain a significant amount of variance in
cancer?
Are smoking and cancer related?
Among these THREE factors which one has
or the greatest association with cancer?
Are smoking, drinking and chewing tobacco
associated with cancer?
The answer to the correlational study would
help to determine the extent to which people
who smoke, drink and chew tobacco would
expose themselves to the risk of getting cancer

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 Extent of Researcher Interference
Low Interference Moderate to High Interference

• The extent of researcher’s • Causal studies to determine cause

interference with the normal flow and effect relationships requires
of work at the work place is a researcher to manipulate
directly related to whether a certain variables so as to study
study is causal or correlational. the effects of such manipulations
on the dependent variable.
• Correlational study is conducted • Here the researcher purposely
in the naturel environment of the change certain variables in the
company with minimal study setting and this interferes
interference by the researcher with the events as they normally
with the normal flow of work occur in the organization.

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 Study Setting

(i) Contrived Setting Contrived Setting contd…

• This is an artificial setting. Purpose is to • Cause and effect studies can also be
establish cause and effect between carried out in the natural work
variables. environment and is called FIELD
EXPERIMENT. Involves moderate
• researcher interference.
Most rigorous causal studies are done
in contrived lab settings. • Example: A manager wishes to find out
the effects of pay on performance
• a) Unit 1 – increase pay
• Experiments done to establish cause
and effect relationship requires the b) Unit 2 – decrease pay
creation of an artificial, contrived c) Unit 3 – no change in pay
environment where all external factors • By manipulating the pay system the
are strictly controlled. Subjects are cause and effect relationship between
carefully chosen to respond to certain pay and performance is established. AND
manipulated stimuli – LAB the study is done in a natural work
EXPERIMENT setting
 Study Setting

(ii) Non-Contrived Setting Non-Contrived Setting contd…

• Correlational studies (association In short:
between variables) are done in non-
contrived settings
• Contrive setting:
• Non contrived setting involves a) Lab experiment: high researcher
minimal researcher interference. interference
Organizational research can be b) Field experiment: moderate
carried out in the natural researcher interference
environment where work proceeds
normally.
• Non-contrive setting:
• Correlational studies done in a) Field study: low researcher
organizations are called FIELD interference
STUDIES
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 Population to be Studied

Unit of analysis Unit of analysis: Examples

• Is the level of aggregation of data • Individuals feedback will be aggregated.
collected during the subsequent data • Dyads: two person groups ie. husband-
analysis stage. wife, employer=employee, mentor-
mentee
• Nature of information gathering n level at • Groups: > 2 ie. Husband, wife n children.
which date will be aggregated for analysis Individual data will be aggregated into
are critical decisions to be made group data and data analysis will be done
pertaining to UNIT OF ANALYSIS. on the groups.
• Organizations: Company’s data will be
• This decision will be made when research aggregated ie. All commercial banks in
questions are formulated & it affects later Malaysia.
decisions such as data collection methods, • Cultures: Several cultures will be
sample size or even number of variables aggregated ie Malay, Chinese, Indians etc
to be included in the study. cultures

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