A comprehensive, 43-page summary of the entire Research Methodology course taught by Jesse Blits in Hogeschool van Amsterdam in year 4. Focuses on applied research and covers all the most important topics, including hypothesis testing, statistics, variables, theoretical frameworks, operationalisati...
Summary book Business Research, a practical guide for students
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Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA)
International Business
Research Methodology
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Class 1
Business research is an organized and systematic inquiry or investigation into a specific
problem, undertaken with the purpose of finding answers or solutions to it.
Basic research generates a body of knowledge by trying to comprehend how certain
problems that occur in organizations can be solved.
Applied research solves a current problem faced by the manager in the work setting,
demanding a timely solution.
The purpose of a study can be exploratory, descriptive, explanatory/analytical/causal
or predictive.
Exploratory studies are undertaken when not much is known about the situation at hand,
or no information is available on how similar problems or research issues have been solved
in the past. Example: “A service provider wants to know why his customers are switching to
other service providers.”
Descriptive studies are undertaken in order to be able to describe the characteristics of the
variables of interest in a situation. 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, etc.”
,A descriptive study can be a correlational study, which establishes if there is an
association between or among variables. “Is there a relationship between job-satisfaction
and job involvement?”, “Is there a relation between the income of rhino horn consumer
countries and rhino poaching in South Africa?”
Exploratory/analytical/causal studies delineate one or more factors that are causing a
certain effect. Example: “A sales manager wants to know why the sales are higher in one
store than the other.” Every study higher than exploratory still has an exploratory element
(e.g. defining variables).
Predictive studies aim to generalize from the analysis by predicting phenomena on the
basis of hypothesized, general relationships. Example: models used by banks to identify
high-risk fraud candidates. Or the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAP-M), which “predicts” the
best portfolio to maximize return.
Quantitative research collects data in numerical form (e.g. experiment).
Qualitative research collects data in nominal (named) form (e.g. interview).
Deductive reasoning is the application of a general theory to a specific case (e.g.
hypothesis testing).
,Inductive reasoning is a process where we observe specific phenomena and on this basis
arrive at general conclusions (e.g. counting white swans: every swan you count is white,
therefore all swans are white).
Both inductive and deductive processes are often used in research.
Deductive processes are more often used in causal and quantitative studies.
Inductive processes are regularly used in exploratory and qualitative studies.
Deduction is the process of drawing from logical analysis an inference that purports to be
conclusive.
Research classification
Seven-step process in the hypothetico-deductive method (Popper, 1979):
1. Identify a broad problem area;
2. Define the problem statement;
3. Develop hypotheses;
4. Determine measures;
5. Data collection;
6. Data analysis;
7. Interpretation of data.
, Hallmarks, or main distinguishing characteristics of scientific research:
- Purposiveness (not for fun);
- Rigor (strict);
- Testability (can it be tested?);
- Precision and confidence (statistics);
- Replicability (can it be repeated?);
- Objectivity (pure facts);
- Generalizability (results for whom?);
- Parsimony (simplest assumption adoption).
Reliability refers to the accuracy and precision of the measurements and absence of
differences in the results if the study were replicated. Consistency is measured across time
and various items in the instrument.
A sample is a subset of a population. A population is a precisely defined body of people or
objects under consideration for statistical purposes. An element is a single member of the
population. A subject is a single member of the sample.
A larger sample size leads to more precision and leads to a more reliable study.
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