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Summary Business Research Methods - 5th Edition (E. Bell, A. Bryman, B. Harley)

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  • Methodology for IE Research
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  • Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TUE)
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  • Business Research Methods

This is a summary of the book Business Research Methods the fifth edition of E. Bell, A. Bryman and B. Harley. The chapters that are covered in this summary are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 78, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. This summary can be used for the course Methodology for ...

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  • Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
  • October 20, 2020
  • 62
  • 2020/2021
  • Summary

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  • methodology
  • 1zv60
  • brm
  • 5th edition
  • summary
  • tue
  • 2020
  • tbk
  • brm 5th edition
  • methodology for ie research
  • business research methods
  • technical business administration

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Summary Business Research Methods – 5th edition
1. The nature and process of business research
The term ‘business research’ means researching academic topics related to questions that
are relevant to business and management.

Business research and business research methods are embedded in wider contextual
factors. They are not practiced in a vacuum.

Organizations do business research because they:
1. Find a gap in the existing literature
2. Find inconsistency between a number of studies
3. Find an unresolved issue in the literature

Two approaches of doing research
- Deductive approach: set of theoretical ideas drive data collection and analysis
- Inductive approach: open ended strategy of data collection which leads to theoretical ideas

Scientific research approach: a hypothesis is formulated and then tested using precise measurement
techniques.

Evidence-based management: the systematic use of the best available evidence to improve
management practice.
- Managers need to move their “professional decisions away from personal preference and
unsystematic experience toward those based on the best available scientific evidence”.

Two modes of producing knowledge:
• Mode 1: the traditional way, via academic agendas or theory and putting knowledge
into practice.
• Mode 2: transdisciplinarity, this is a term used to indicate that knowledge is not only
achieved by utilizing different scientific disciplines (multidisciplinarity) or even combining
new theory (interdisciplinarity), but also by involving other than scientific knowledge. This is
also called knowledge-based education: a combination of science and practice.

Process of business research
1. Literature review
Existing literature represents an important element in all research. When we have topic or
issue has interested us we must read to find out more about past research, researchers,
theories, controversies etc. Furthermore, linking you research questions, findings and
discussion to existing literature is an important and useful way of demonstrating the
credibility of your research and the contribution it is making. However, a literary review is not
simply a summary; it is expected to be critical.
2. Concepts and theories
Concepts are the way that we make sense of the social world, they are labels that we give to
aspects of the social world that seem to have significant common features. Examples are:
bureaucracy, power, social control, status, etc. Concepts are a key ingredient of theories.
Concepts help us to think and be more disciplined about what we want to find out about, and
help with the organization of our research findings. So, we might collect data in order to shed

, light on a concept (or more likely, several concepts and how they are connected) (deductive).
The alternative view is that concepts are outcomes of research, and help us to reflect on and
organize the data that we collected (inductive).
3. Research questions
Research questions are extremely important in the research process, because they -force you
to consider that most basic of issues – what is it that you want to know? Examples of types or
research questions:
o Predicting an outcome (does y happen under circumstances of a and b)
o Explaining causes and consequences of a phenomenon (is y affected by x or is y a
consequence of x?)
o Evaluating a phenomenon (does y exhibit the benefits that it is claimed to have?)
o Describing a phenomenon (what is y like or what forms does y assume?)
o Developing good practice (how can we improve y?)
o Empowerment (how can we enhance the lives of those we research?)
o Comparison (do a and b differ in respect of x?)
4. Sampling
Representative samples are usually based on constructing a sample that van represent a
wider population (often collected via surveys). However, in some cases we find sampling
principles based not on the idea of representativeness but on the notion that samples should
selected on the basis of their appropriateness to the purposes of the investigation (mostly
case study research). Here, the goal is to understand the selected case of cases in depth.
Sampling issues are still relevant to such research because cases have to be chosen according
to criteria relevant to the research, and individuals who are members of the case study
context have to be sampled according to criteria too. It is also important to remember that
business research is not always carried out on people (for example content analysis).
5. Data collection
Data collection is the key point of any research project. Generally they can be qualified in
quantitative data collection and qualitative data collection.
6. Data analysis
In this stage data need to be managed. This means the researcher has to check the data to
establish whether there are any obvious flaws. Secondly it is about data reduction, reducing
the large corpus of information gathered in order to make sense of it.
7. Writing up
Writing your research down in a way others can benefit from it. The core ingredients will be:
I. Introduction
II. Literature review
III. Research methods
IV. Results
V. Discussion
VI. Conclusion

2. Business research strategies
Theory and research
Theory: a way of explaining observed patterns of associations between phenomena
• Middle-range theory (Robert Merton): theoretical explanations for social phenomena which
can be explored using empirical data of various kinds, it operates in limited domain and are
characterized by their application to specific phenomena

, • Grand theory (Robert Merton): abstract, high-level theoretical perspectives on the world and
empirical findings, they do not operate in limited domain

Contingency theory (example of middle-range theory): used to show factors in the environment that
should be taken into account, but also in normative sense to inform managerial action based on ‘best
fit’ in a particular situation.
There are three assumptions:
1. There is no best way to organize
2. One way of organizing is not equally effective under all conditions
3. To be most effective, organizational structures should be appropriate to the type of work and
environmental conditions

Empiricism: approach to the study of reality that suggests that only knowledge gained through
experience and testing is acceptable, research which starts by gathering data on specific phenomena.
- Problem: empiricists tend to assume that theory will somehow arise from the facts “like
steam from a kettle”.
- But, facts are never given, they are selected by theory.

Deduction vs. Induction
Deduction (revision/evidence theory): an approach to the relationship between theory and research
in which the latter is conducted with reference to hypothesis and ideas inferred from the former
• Theory -> observations/findings
• Deductive approach appears very linear – one step follows the other
• In practice, deduction is often less linear
• Quantitative research
Theory -> Hypotheses -> Data collection -> Findings -> Hypotheses confirmed/rejected -> Revision of
theory

Induction (compare/exploratory theory): an approach to the relationship between theory and
research in which the former is generated out of the latter
• Observations/findings -> theory
• The process of induction involves drawing generalizable inferences out of observations
• Inductive process is likely to involve some deduction
• Iterative: it involves weaving back and forth between data and theory
• Inductive researcher often use a grounded theory approach to data analysis and theory
generation
• Qualitative research
Gather information -> Ask questions -> Form categories -> Look for patterns -> Develop theory ->
Compare theory

Abductive reasoning: starts with a puzzle of surprise and then seeks to explain it. Puzzles may arise
when researchers encounter empirical phenomena which existing theory cannot account for.
• Involves seeking to identify the conditions that would make the phenomenon less puzzling,
turning surprising facts into a matter of course

Mantere and Ketokivi distinguish between three types of reasoning in organizational research:

, 1. Theory-testing research: this involves developing hypotheses from a priori theoretical
considerations, enabling them to be tested through statistical inference
2. Inductive case research: this involves theory being developed in a ‘data-driven manner’ using
qualitative data, often taking a grounded theory approach
3. Interpretive research: this also involves qualitative data, theory is developed in quite a
different way, involving a dialogical process between theory and empirical phenomenon

Ontological considerations
Ontology: particular understanding of what reality is, theorizing about the nature of reality
1. Objectivism = asserts that social phenomena and their meanings have an existence that is
independent of social acts
o It implies that social phenomena and the categories that we use in everyday life have
an existence that is independent or separate from actors
o Both organization and culture can be understood as social entities that are external
to the actor, with an almost tangible reality of their own
2. Constructionism = asserts that social phenomena and their meanings are continually being
accomplished by social actors
o It implies that social phenomena and categories are not only produced through social
interaction, but are also in a constant state of revision
o Both organization and culture can be taken to be an emergent reality in a continuous
state of construction and reconstruction (people create culture continuously)

Epistemological considerations
Epistemology: particular understanding of how we can gain knowledge of that reality, theory of
knowledge
1. Positivism: advocates the application of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of
social reality and beyond
o Appropriate way to gather data is to observe phenomena directly or to ‘measure’
them using surveys or other instruments
o Only phenomena, and hence knowledge confirmed by the senses can genuinely be
warranted as knowledge
o Positivism contains elements of both a deductive approach and inductive strategy
o Science must (and can) be conducted in a way that is value free (that is, objective)
2. Interpretivism: respects differences between people and the objects of the natural sciences
and therefore requires the social scientist to grasp the subjective meaning of social action
o Its intellectual heritage includes Weber’s notion of Verstehen; the hermeneutic-
phenomenological tradition; and symbolic interactionism
o The subject matter of social sciences, people and their institutions is very different
from that of the natural sciences
o Goal is to understand an individual’s behavior in an empathic way
o Makes sense of the world from the individuals point of view instead of observing their
behavior and looking for relations of cause and effect

Empirical realism (shares two features with positivism): a belief that the natural and the social
sciences can and should apply the same approach to data collection and explanation, and a
commitment to the view that there is an external reality to which scientist direct their attention

Research paradigms

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