BUSINESS RESEARCH METHOD

The Series of Essay

ESSAY ONE Basic research would basically refer to systematic study which is aimed at fuller knowledge or a deeper understanding of the essential aspects of phenomena as well as of observable facts. This would be done with no precise applications towards any processes or products in mind. At the same time basic research could possibly comprise activities with maybe broad applications in mind. On the other hand, applied research identifies a systematic study undertaken to obtain knowledge or understanding which is necessary in order to establish the possible means by which a known and exact need may be met. The terms fundamental or pure research have also been applied to basic research. t refers to research motivated by a scientist!s or person!s curiosity or keen interest in a scientific "uestion. Applied research may be thought of as intended to solve practical problems. Basic research whether in business research or any other field has as its basic goal, to expand one!s knowledge. Basic "uestions such as, #$ow can we increase production and save money at the same time%, might be a "uestion for business. f, we increase production, we also increase the cost of payroll by hiring additional production employees. #$ow can this save money&% 'uriosity lies at the heart of all business and it is this curiosity, which causes business to constantly ask "uestions that re"uire research. Today modern business uses research techni"ues and the latest technology to achieve these goals. Basic research aims to enhance the understanding of problems that commonly occur across a range of organisations while an applied research is done with the intention of applying results to specific problems in the especially in business. One person has at any given time can defines his or her research goal, as an idea to investigate, and a "uestion to answer. t is the type of "uestion which determines the nature of the research. Applied research is solutions designed from basic research information, aimed at the solution of business problems within the company. The goal of applied research is change for the better, improvements in business management and practice aimed at improving the human condition. (egardless of the type of business, applied research has as its goal in business to improve production, increase sales, control losses, restore efficiency and establish solid financial investment in the future.

Basic research has understanding as only goal. Basic research does only promise a contribution to "uestion, not to anything else, but it can give the most unexpected applications. Therefore as researcher, we can draw a borderline between basic and applied research by sorting "uestions into those with or without knowledge as to be achieved. As any business theory is based upon an idea or mental plan for creating a successful business, investigation into what others are doing and using what is known to discover new and better ways to solve the unknown answers in business is an ongoing process. *sing innovative technology and modern developmental processes paved the way for industry development in today!s modern world. As conclusion, historically basic research has led to the application of basic research to improve and develop our modern world of business industries world wide. +ood concepts of basic or applied research in the context of business policy must be inspiring for the individual in any research group.

REFERENCE '.' Beri ,)---. Marketing Research. ,/rd ed... 0ew 1elhi2 Tata 3c+raw $ill 4ekaran, *. ,)---.. Research Methods for Business. 0ew 5ork2 6ohn 7iley 8 4ons, nc. Tuckman, B. ,1999.. Conducting Educational Research ,:th ed... ;ort 7orth, T<2 $arcourt Brace 'ollege =ublishers.

ESSAY 2 The research process should be understood as one of ongoing planning, searching, discovery, reflection, synthesis, revision, and learning. According to 4ekaran. * ,)--1., research is a process of thoroughly studying and analy>ing the situational factors surrounding a problem in order to seek out solutions to it. Therefore research process is a systematic, careful in"uiry or examination to discover new information or relationships and to expand or verify existing knowledge for some specified purpose. n the business world, research process includes the systematic identification, collection, analysis and distribution of information for the purpose of knowledge development and decision making. t can be in the form of marketing research, product research or 47OT analysis. The reasons and times at which the company or organi>ation might consider performing research varies, but the general purpose of gaining intelligence for decision making remains constant throughout. There are plenty of little steps along the way of research process. ?ach of those steps fits into one of the six ma@or steps of the research process. They are2 1. Identifying the Pr !"e# This step is always the first of the research process. At this point, the problem will have been recogni>ed by at least one level of management, and internal discussions will have taken place. 4ometimes, further definition of the issue or problem is needed. The most common tools are internal and external secondary research. 4econdary research intelligence consists of information that was collected for another purpose, but can be useful for other purposes. ?xamples of internal secondary research for a marketing research consist of sales revenues, sales forecasts, customer demographics, purchase patterns, and other information that has been collected about the customer. Often referred to as data mining, this information can be critical in diagnosing the problem for further exploration and should be leveraged when available and appropriate. The amount of internal secondary information that can be applied is typically limited. ?xternal secondary research is typically far more available. 3ost external secondary information is produced via research conducted for other purposes, financial performance data, expert opinions and analysis, corporate executive interviews, legal proceedings, and competitive intelligence firms.
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2. Re$e%r&h A''r %&h Once the problem is better defined, researcher can move onto developing the research approach, which will generally be around a defined set of ob@ectives. Any clear ob@ectives will lend researcher to better marketing research approach development. 1eveloping the approach should consist of honestly assessing the research skills, understanding the environment and its influencing factors, developing an analysis model, and formulating hypotheses. (. Re$e%r&h De$ign %nd Str%tegy (esearch design and strategy is the most encompassing of all steps in the research process, re"uiring the greatest amount of thought, time and expertise. 4ince the intelligence eventually gained from the research is so closely related to the selected research design, this is the single most import step in the research process and the step most vulnerable to common marketing research errors. (esearch design and strategy includes secondary information analysis, "ualitative research, methodology selection, "uestion measurement and scale selection, "uestionnaire design, sample design 8 si>e and determining data analysis to be used. ). Re$e%r&h D%t% C ""e&ti n The research data collection ,often called survey fielding. is the point at which the finali>ed survey instrument is used in gathering information among the chosen sample segments. There are a variety of data collection methodologies to consider. Any research data collection typically begins with field testing the final "uestionnaire with a small portion of the sample taken to make sure it is gathering information correctly. Then data collection can be fairly automatic throughout the remainder of the research data collection process. 7hen "uota groups andBor sample subgroups are being screened for, data collection will re"uire more oversight, maintenance time and cost. (egardless of the data collection methodology chosen, the data collection process often takes half of the total time needed to complete a research pro@ect. *. S+r,ey D%t% An%"y$i$ Any survey data analysis will depend on how the survey "uestionnaire was constructed. Cess complex survey data analysis can be handled with any of a number of office suite
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tools, while more complex "uestionnaire data analysis re"uires dedicated research analysis programs. Types of statistical survey data analysis that might be performed are simple fre"uency distributions, cross tab analysis, multiple regression ,driver analysis., cluster analysis, factor analysis, perceptual mapping ,multidimensional scaling., structural e"uation modeling and data mining. The more complex the needed level of statistical data analysis is, the more time and cost it will take to execute. -. Re$e%r&h Re' rt$ Any critical information and knowledge that comes from the research findings will be limited by how the research reports are presented to decision makers. Once research information is collected and analy>ed, present it in an organi>ed manner to the decision makers of the business. The data gathered was created to help guide the business decisions, so it needs to be readily accessible and understandable to the decision makers. As conclusion, building a framework process for a research is very important. ?"ually important is to establish links between research type of approach, theoretical framework, and process involve during research and results of a research finding. n addition, the proposed se"uence or step in research process helps answer the "uestion, whether the findings answer and @ustify the rationale or base for conducting the research which benefiting the company and the organi>ation.

REFERENCE '.' Beri ,)---. Marketing Research. ,/rd ed... 0ew 1elhi2 Tata 3c+raw $ill $udson, 7. 8 0urius, =. ,199A.. Controversial Issues in Social Work Research. Boston, 3A2Allyn and Bacon. 4ekaran, *. ,)---.. Research Methods for Business. 0ew 5ork2 6ohn 7iley 8 4ons, nc. Tuckman, B. ,1999.. Conducting Educational Research ,:th ed... ;ort 7orth, T<2 $arcourt Brace 'ollege =ublishers.

ESSAY (
Citerature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work from secondary sources data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher. ;or example, the library is a rich storage base for secondary data and researchers used to spend several weeks and sometimes months going through books, @ournals, newspapers, maga>ines, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertations, master!s theses, government publications and financial reports to find information on their research topic. 7ith computeri>ed databases now readily available and accessible the literature search is much speedier and easier. The researcher could start the literature survey even as the information from the unstructured and structured interviews is being gathered. (eviewing the literature on the topic area at this time helps the researcher to focus further interviews more meaningfully on certain aspects found to be important is the published studies even if these had not surfaced during the earlier "uestioning. 4o the literature survey is important for gathering the secondary data for the research which might be proved very helpful in the research. The literature survey can be conducted for several reasons. The literature survey can be in any area of the business. An inFdepth interview is a "ualitative research techni"ue that allows person to person discussion. t can lead to increased insight into people!s thoughts, feelings, and behavior on important issues. This type of interview is often unstructured and therefore permits the interviewer to encourage an informant ,or respondent. to talk at length about the topic of interest. The inFdepth interview uses a flexible interview approach. t aims to ask "uestions to explain the reasons underlying a problem or practice in a target group. t is the techni"ue to gather ideas and to gather information. Actually, both the literature survey and inFdepth interview methods are contributing one another in term of developing a theoretical framework. Theoretical framework visually tells the big picture ,research. of the study identifies literature review categories and directs research ob@ectives. A typical theoretical framework with the help of both literature survey and inFdepth interview approach provides a schematic description of relationships between and among independent, dependent, moderator, control, and extraneous variables so that a researcher can easily comprehend the theori>ed relationships. Therefore, a theoretical framework is the conceptual model of how one theori>es or makes logical sense of the
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relationships among the several factors that have been identified as important to the problem. n depth interview should suffice to develop a theoretical framework but literature survey does completed the flows from the documentation of previous research in the problem by integrating logical beliefs with published research, taking into consideration the boundaries and constraints governing both the situation. The purpose of both in depth interview and literature survey is to ensure that no important variable that has in the past been found repeatedly to have had an impact on the problem is ignored. The variables considered relevant to the study should be clearly identified and labelled. t is possible that some of the critical variables are never brought out in the interviews, because the employees cannot articulate them or are unaware of their impact or because the variables seem so obvious to interviews that they are not specifically stated. f there are variables that are not identified during the interviews, but influence the problem critically then research done without considering them would be an exercise in futility. Theoretical framework is the foundation on which the entire research pro@ect is based on. As conclusion, the relationship between the literature survey and the in depth interview provides a solid foundation for developing the theoretical framework. t is done through interrelationships among the variables that are deemed to be integral to the dynamics of the situation being investigated. REFERENCE 'reswell, 6.7. ,199G.. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design Choosing !"ong #ive $raditions. Thousand Oaks, 'A2 4age =ublications $art, '. ,199G.. Doing a %iterature Revie& Releasing the Social Science Research I"agination. Thousand Oaks, 'A2 4age =ublications $udson, 7. 8 0urius, =. ,199A.. Controversial Issues in Social Work Research. Boston, 3A2 Allyn and Bacon. (eichardt, '. 8 (allis, 4. ,199A.. $he Qualitative'Quantitative De(ate )e& *ers+ectives. 4an ;rancisco, 'A2 6osseyFBass =ublishers. 4ingleton, (.A. 8 4traits, B.'. ,1999.. !++roaches to Social Research. 0ew 5ork, 052 Oxford *niversity =ress.

.UESTION ) Basic method and research design issues mainly consist of 1. P+r' $e

The research design issues answers these two main "uestions2 a. $ow was the data collected or generated& b) $ow was the data analy>ed& n research, it is vital to know how the data was obtained because the method affects the results. ;or instance, if the researchers are investigating peoples! perceptions of the efficiency of public administration in 3alaysia, they will need to obtain different results if they use a multiple choice "uestionnaire than through conducting series of interviews. Hnowing how the data was collected helps the researcher to evaluate the validity and reliability of the results, and the conclusions that can be drawn from it. n other words, it shows how the researchers obtained their results and explain how the result is obtained. Often there are different methods that the researcher can use to investigate a research problem. The research methodology should make clear the reasons why the researcher chose a particular method or procedure. The researcher must be able and know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study. ;or example, if the researchers are using a "uestionnaire for example to investigating peoples! perceptions the standard of public administration in 3alaysia, they need to know that it offered the respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from such as ,a. excellent, ,b. very good or ,c. good, it would obviously not be acceptable as it does not allow respondents to give negative answers. The basic research design must be appropriate to the ob@ectives of the study. f the researcher performs a case study of one respondent in order to investigate users! perceptions of the efficiency of public administration in 3alaysia, the method is obviously unsuited to the ob@ectives. Therefore the methodology should also discuss the problems that were anticipated and explain the steps taken to prevent them from occurring, and the problems that did occur and the ways their impact was minimi>ed. 2. C ## n Pr !"e#$
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There are commons problems or issues with a basic research design. They are a) rrelevant detail b) *nnecessary explanation of basic procedures c) =roblem blindness 3ost of the researchers encounter some problems when collecting or generating the data from the context of study. t is advisable to do not ignore significant problems or pretend they did not occur. A study context can be in the form of physical setting, pretest sensiti>ation, treatment conditions and sub@ects thoughts about the study. 4ome time it can be some issue on how it is handled for example "uestion on how the "uality of instrument, "uestion and data matching, independence of observations or person or people responsible of collecting the data. Often sometime through recording on how the researchers overcame obstacles can form an interesting part of the methodology. t also means that the researchers can also give a rationale for certain decisions, plus a realistic view of using the methods of research chosen. (. Different Ty'e$ f Re$e%r&h De$ign

There are different types of basic research designs. A good researcher must be able to choose the suitable research design to achieve the purpose of researching. t shows how the results were achieved through explanation of how data was collected or generated and explanation of how data was analy>ed explanation of methodological problems and their solutions or effects The basic research designs consist of2 a) Analysis Analysis is classes of data are collected and studies conducted to discern patterns and formulate principles that might guide future action b. 'ase 4tudy 'ase study provides the background, development, current conditions and environmental interactions of one or more individuals, groups, communities, businesses or institutions is observed, recorded and analy>ed for stages of patterns in relation to internal and external influences.

c. 'omparison

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'omparison happens when two or more existing situations are studied to determine their similarities and differences. d. 'orrelationFprediction 'orrelationFprediction is a situation when statistically significant correlation coefficients between and among a number of factors are sought and interpreted. e. ?valuation ?valuation is an act of research to determine whether a program or pro@ect followed the prescribed procedures and achieved the stated outcomes. f. 1esignFdemonstration 1esignFdemonstration is a new system or programs are constructed, tested and evaluated g. ?xperiment An experiment is conducted when one or more variables are manipulated and the results analy>ed. h. 4urveyF"uestionnaire 4urveyF"uestionnaire is a tool to discover behaviors, beliefs and observations of specific groups are identified, reported and interpreted. i. 4tatus 4tatus is a representative or selected sample of one or more phenomena is examined to determine its special characteristics. @. Theory construction Theory construction is an attempt to find or describe principles that explain how things work the way they do. k. Trend analysis Trend analysis is a tool to predict or forecasting the future direction of events.

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The A+thenti&ity f /%ri%!"e$

n a wellFdesigned research, the researcher varies at least one independent variable to assess its effects on respondents! behavior, assigns participants to the experimental conditions in a way that assures their initial e"uivalence, and controls extraneous variables that may influence the behavior of research. (esearchers may vary an independent variable through environmental, instructional, or invasive manipulations. To assure that their independent variables are strong enough to produce the hypothesi>ed effects, researcherIs often pilot test their independent variables and use manipulation checks in the experiment itself. n addition to independent variables manipulated by the researcher, experiments sometimes include sub@ect variables that reflect characteristics of the respondents. The logic of the experimental method re"uires that the various experimental and control groups be e"uivalent before the levels of the independent variable are introduced. nitial e"uivalence of the various conditions is accomplished in one of three ways. n betweenFsub@ects designs, researchers use simple or matched randomly assignment. n withinFsub@ects or repeated measures designs, all respondents serve in all experimental conditions, thereby ensuring their e"uivalence. 7ithinFsub@ects designs are more powerful and economical than betweenFsub@ects designs, but order effects and carryover effects are sometimes a problem. 0othing other than the independent variable may differ systematically among conditions. 7hen something other than the independent variable differs among conditions, confounding occurs, destroys the internal validity of the experiment and making it difficult, if not impossible, to draw conclusions about the effects of the independent variable. +ood researchers will try to minimi>e error variance. ?rror variance is produced by unsystematic differences among participants within experimental conditions. Although error variance does not undermine the validity of an experiment, it makes detecting effects of the independent variable more difficult. Attempts to minimi>e the error variance in an experiment may lower the study!s external validity the degree to which the results can be generali>ed. $owever, most experiments are designed to test hypotheses about the causes of behavior. f the hypotheses are supported, then they are not the particular results of the study are generali>ed. Any good researchers must be able to look for the purpose of each part of the methodology before deciding its usage or function. t can be rationale or reasons for doing
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something, description or e"uipment used, purpose, application on how something is used, structure of the research or the order in which information will be given, assumption, and parameters or variables that are measured. A good research must be able to differentiate series of "uestion such as where did sub@ects come from&, what kinds of samples&, how many of intended sub@ects actually supplied data&, were in final analysis& and how motivated were sub@ects&. Through this then the researchers are be able to serve the basic issues of research design and the role of statistics in research with clear classification of variables, "uantification of variables or scales of measurement and finally the validity of interpretations of research studies. As conclusion, a basic research design is a tool which assists the researcher in defining a research topic, by which describing the method by which the research topic will be explored and analy>ing the sources which will be utili>ed.

REFERENCE Bridget 4omek and 'athy Cewin. ,)--D. Research Methods in the Social Sciences. Condon2 4age =ublications 1avid 4. 3oore and +eorge =. 3c'abe. ,)--D. Introduction to the *ractice of Statistics. 0ew 5ork2 7.$. ;reeman and 'ompany +all, 3. 1., Borg, 7. (., +all, 6. =. ,)--/.. Educational Research !n introduction. ,Eth ?dition.. 7hite =lains, 0ew 5ork2 Congman. +ilbert, 0. ed. ,199D. Researching Social %ife. 0ew 5ork2 4age =ublications 6ohn 7. 'reswell. ,)--/. Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative and Mi-ed Methods !++roaches. Condon2 4age =ublications 3iles, 3. B. and A. 3. $uberman ,199A. Qualitative Data !nalysis !n E-+anded Source(ook, 0ew 5ork2 4age =ublications

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