This summary contains all the information discussed in lectures and tutorials during this course. It is the perfect document to prepare you for your exams, as it did for me.
What is business research?
A series of well-thought out activities and carefully executed data analyses that help a
manager to avoid, solve, or minimize a problem.
Why should future managers about business research?
To be able to perform business research
- Undertake research yourselves to solve the smaller problems you encounter
To be able to steer business research
- Interact effectively with researchers / research agencies
To be able to evaluate business research
- To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers/
research agencies
- To discriminate between good and bad published research studies
Hallmarks of “good” (business) research
Purposiveness
Knowing the “why” of your research
Rigor
Ensuring a sound theoretical base & a sound methodological design
Objectivity
Drawing conclusions based on facts (rather than on subjective ideas)
Parsimony
Shaving away unnecessary details. Explaining a lot with a little.
Replicability
Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
Generalizability
Being able to apply the research findings in a wide variety of settings.
Should hold for fundamental research, but much less so for applied research.
Fundamental vs. applied research
Applied research
- To solve a current problem faced by a manager
- Applies to a specific company
- WIthin firms or research agencies
Fundamental (or basic) research
- To generate new knowledge about how problems that occur in several firms can
be solved.
, - Applies to several organizational settings
- Mainly within universities and knowledge institutes.
Deductive vs. inductive research
The seven-step deductive research process.
(week 2)
,What makes a good business problem?
Feasibility (is it doable?)
Relevance (is it worthwhile?)
Feasibility
Is the problem demarcated?
Can the problem be expressed in variables?
Are you able to gather the required data?
- Existing data
- New data
Relevance
Managerial relevance
- Who benefits from having the problem solved
Academic relevance
- Has the problem not already been solved in prior research?
Managerial relevance
Who benefits from having the problem solved?
Managers
- Of one company
- Of one industry
- Of multiple industries
End users (consumers, investors)
Public policy makers (government, EU)
Academic relevance
Completely new topic
- No research available at all, although the topic is important
New context
- Prior research is available but not in the same context
Integrate scattered research
- Different studies have focused on different IVs/moderators; consequently, their
relative importance is not clear
Reconcile contradictory research
- Solve the contradictions through introducing one or more moderators
What makes a good problem statement?
, Formulated in terms of
- Variables, and
- Relations
- Open-ended question
- Stated clearly/unambiguously
DO NOT USE PERFORMANCE AS A VARIABLE
What makes a good research question?
Should collectively address the problem statement.
- One problem statement is translated into multiple research questions
First theoretical, then practical research questions
- In the same order as they will be addressed in your research report
Stated clearly/unambiguously
- No vague elements
Theoretical research questions
Context question (“what is …”)
- Only of context needs elaboration
Conceptualization question (“what is …”)
- Only for the key variables that need elaboration
Relationship question (“which variables …”)
- All relationships in the problem statement should be covered
Practical research question
Relationship question (“to what extent …”)
- To what extent does X affect Y?
- What is the (relative) magnitude of the relations?
Implication question
- How can practitioners implement your results?
- Open question
Theoretical framework consists of
Variable definitions (ALWAYS USE THE SAME WORD)
Based on a careful literature review.
- Acknowledge the major differences
- End with a definition that focuses on the shared meaning across definitions or
pick one definition and justify why.
- Avoid jargon, use more simplified terms and examples are not definitions
Conceptual model - graphical representation
Variables are the building blocks.
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