THE SELECTION OF RESEARCH APPROACH

Cristina Gomez, Ph.D.

Cristina.Gomez@i3l.ac.id

Richard Sutejo, Ph.D Session 01

richard.sutejo@i3l.ac.id
Determining your research approach

Let’s start from the beginning:

why are we talking about research methods?
 Talking about business…several things we need to understand

• About people as:

– Managers,
– Staff
– Consumers
– Owners
• About business entities such as:
– Companies,
– Partnerships and,
– Co-operatives
• About economies and how they affect business operations
• About products and services and how the vary overtime, and how they can be produced
more efficiently.
• About money and what regulates its availability
• About Governments and how regulations and policies affect business operation, costumers’
incomes and needs
 Why research methods are important?

Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2012/03/23/true-fact-the-lack-of-pirates-is-causing-global-warming/#51769c6a3a67
Source: https://kaiserscience.wordpress.com/physics/the-scientific-method/correlation-and-causation/
 What is research?

Research is a systematic and objective investigation of a subject or

problem in order to discover relevant information or principles. It can be
considered to be either primarily fundamental or applied in nature.

Fundamental research Applied research

• seeks to extend the boundaries of knowledge • attempts to use existing knowledge to aid in
in a given area with no necessary immediate the solution of some given problem or set of
application to existing problems. problems
• Example, the development of a research
method that would be able to predict what
people will be like x years in the future
 In any research

The questions we ask Information has to be Analyze the data with

might be valid and fair, collected in a fair care and systematic
relating directly to the systematic way. Think way. The rigor of our
need of information, about who we will ask analysis will have a
this is clear objective for information and major impact on
purpose how they will whether our results
understand our are valid or not
questions. If we cannot
ask everyone involved
we should be able to
justify why we ask only
a certain section of the
population.
 The Nature of Business research: Modes of knowledge
Mode I Mode II Mode III

• Created by academics for • Practical applied • Knowledge produced to

an academic intellectual
purpose, to further and
add to what it’s known
• I.e. in Business: the
concept of economies of
scale
knowledge that comes
from collaborating with
practitioners and/or policy
makers
• I.e. in business: how to
calculate depreciation on
capital investment with a
particular country’s
accounting standards and
how this might be used in
conjunction with business
strategy objectives for
expansion
understand the bigger
picture in relation to
society survival and the
“common good”
• I.e.: The impact of
capitalism on developing
countries in the African
continent.

Gibbons et al, 1994: Huff and Huff , 2001

 In-class task

• Have a look to Google Scholar (or another database or search engine you are familiar
with)
• Find examples of business research
• Classify them into mode I, II or III of knowledge 5 minutes

• You have 5 min.

End
 Key issues in research methods

Research is a messy activity

The researcher affects the result of the research

Qualitative vs Quantitative
 Understand Negotiate
Wish to do Formulate and Critically your Formulate your access and
research clarify your review the philosophy and research design address ethical
research topic literature approach issues

Plan your data collection and collect data using one or more of:
Sampling Secondary data Observation Semi-structured, in-depth Questionnaires
and group interviews

Analyze your data using one or both of:

Quantitative methods Qualitative methods

Write your project Submit your project

report and prepare report and present your
your presentation presentation

The Research process according to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007

 Key issues in research methods

Research is a messy activity

The researcher affects the result of the research

Qualitative vs Quantitative
• Researchers are people, not machines, they will choose the research method, and
this will affect the results.
• Not only that, the researcher’s values also will affect the results
An example:

Imaging a company
where profit levels are
falling….

There’s a financial
problem, I’ll research
sales and cost trend
data….
There’s a problem with
the marketing strategy, I’ll
research why it hasn’t
been carried out
efficiently….
There’s an industry trend
causing this problem, I’ll
research on professional
literature...

FINANCE DIRECTOR MARKETING DIRECTOR NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

 Key issues in research methods

Research is a messy activity

The researcher affects the result of the research

Qualitative vs Quantitative
Deductive VS Inductive
Look at the theory first, then hypothesize Deductive

• Approach begins by looking at the theory

• Produce a hypothesis from that theory (relates to the focus of the
research)
• Test that hypothesis (and the theory)
Inductive Observe first, then make a theory

• Approach begins by looking at the focus of the research (the

organization, the business problem, an economic issue, etc.)
• Investigates using different research methods
• Makes a theory from the research
Positivist VS Interpretivist
Positivist
• Approach associated with natural sciences research
• Involves empirical testing
• Only phenomena that we can know through our senses can produce
knowledge
• Promotes the idea of experimentation and testing to prove or disprove an
hypothesis (deductive) and then generates new theories by putting facts
together to generate “laws” or principles (inductive)
• Positivist research is about objective rather than subjective statements and
only the objective statements are seen to be the proper domain of scientists.
Interpretivist

• Approach more common used in social sciences (include

business and management)
• Subjective thoughts and ideas are valid
• Researcher aims to see the world through the eyes of the
people of his/her study
• Many perspective of reality
Qualitative VS Quantitative
Qualitative

• Likely to be associated with an inductive approach to generating theory,

often using an interpretivist model allowing the existence of multiple
subjective perspectives and constructing knowledge rather than seeking
to “find” it in “reality”.

• More towards SUBJECTIVITY.

Quantitative

• Associated with deductive approach to testing theories,

often using number or facts and therefore a positivist or
natural science model, and an objectivist view of the objects
studied.

• More towards OBJECTIVITY.

• In current business and management research you are likely to
find mix of both quantitative and qualitative strategies, looking
at observable objective facts where they might be seen to exist,
through the use and manipulation of numbers, and looking at
the perceptions of those involved with these “facts”.
• In a practical sense, we try to use the best of both worlds to
investigate the messy reality of people and organizations.
References
 Assignment

• From 3 groups of people.

• Discuss on which area you want to focus on during this lesson.
• Why do you want to focus on this. In front of the class. Must choose one topic
associated with Life Sciences:
– Health
– Environment
– Bioindustry
– Food and Agriculture
• How do you want to do your research:
– Deductive VS Inductive
– Positivist VS Interpretivist
– Qualitative VS Quantitative
THANK YOU