ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BOOK/ARTICLES
Lecture 1 (Chapter 1 and 2)
Introduction
Primary data: frrtthand gathered data (data collected by the invertgator himrelf/ herrelf).
Secondary data: data that are already available.
Quanttatve data: data in the form of numberr.
Qualitatve data: data in the form of wordr.
Consultants/researchers
Internal conrultantr: rome organizatonr have their own conrultng or rerearch department.
Internal consultants
Advantager Diradvantager
Acceptaton by employeer Take thingr for granted/rtereotyped t> inhibitr
frerh idear/perrpectver.
Team requirer lerr tme to underrtand the Not perceived ar expertr by the rtaf/rtatur
rtructure, philorophy/climate and ryrtemr.
Can implement their own recommendatonr Infuence from within to dirtort or mirinterpret
afterwardr factr
Cheaper Organizatonal biarer of the team might make
the fndingr lerr objectve/lerr rcientfc
External consultants
Advantager Diradvantager
Experience with other companier with rame Taker a lot of tme to get acquainted
problemr t> think divergently (reveral
angler/perrpectver) and convergently (critcal).
More knowledge of current rophirtcated High cortr
problemtrolving modelr (trainingr)
Hiring rerearcher or conrultantr:
Roler and expectatonr of both parter need to be explicit;
Communicate conrtraintr and relevant philorophier/value ryrtemr of the organizaton;
Ertablirh a good cooperaton (alro between rerearcherr and employeer).
Ethics and business research
Ethicr in burinerr rerearch referr to a code of conduct or expected rocietal normr of behaviour while
conductng rerearch.
Scientific research
Scientific research focurer on rolving problemr and purruer a rteptbytrtep logical, organized, and
rigorour method to identfy the problemr, gather data, analyze them, and draw valid conclurionr for
them. It ir NOT bared on huncher, experience, and intuiton.
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, Scientfc invertgaton and managerial decirion making are integral arpectr of efectve problem
rolving.
The hallmarks of scientific research
In rlider: purporivenerr (doelgerichtheid), rigor (zorgvuldigheid/naudkeurigheid), objectvity
(objectviteit), parrimony (rpaarzaamheid), replicability (herhaalbaarheid), generalizability
(generalizeerbaar). But in book alro:
Tertability (tertbaarheid)
o Uring hypotherer that are tertable (when the data are collected).
Precirion and confdence (precirie en vertrouwen)
o Are atained through appropriate rcientfc rampling derign.
Precirion referr to the clorenerr of the fndingr to reality bared on a rample
(confdence interval).
Confdence referr to the probability that the ertmatonr are correct
(confdence level @ 95% correct)
Lecture 2 (Chapter 3 and 5)
Preliminary information
From broad problem fearible topic: ure preliminary informaton (unrtructured interviewr,
textbookr, internet etc.). It will help the rerearcher to make the necerrary tranrformaton. It may
clarrifed under two headingr:
Background informaton on the organizatonr and it environment (contextual factorr: origin/
hirtory of the company, rize, locatonr, rerourcer, relatonrhipr with other inrttutonr,
fnancial poriton).
Informaton on the topic/rubject area (literature) – the body of knowledge available to you
or what ir already known and writen down that ir relevant to your rerearch project. ( help
you to beter underrtand the problem, to develop the problem rtatement or to rtructure
your rerearch).
After preliminary informaton problem rtatement (rerearch objectve(r)/rerearch querton(r)).
Research proposal
Before any rerearch rtudy ir undertaken, there rhould be an agreement between rerearcher and
client. rerearch proporal. It containr: ttle, background of the rtudy, problem rtatement (purpore/
rerearch quertonr), rcope of the rtudy, relevance of the rtudy, rerearch derign (type of rtudy/data
collecton methodr/rampling derign/data analyrir), tme frame of the rtudy, the budget, relected
bibliography.
Lecture 3 (Chapter 6)
Dercriptve rtudy: objectve to obtain data that dercriber the topic of interert.
o Correlatonal rerearch dercriber relatonrhipr between variabler.
Exploratory rerearch: undertaken when not much ir known about the rituaton at hand, or
no informaton ir available on how rimilar problemr or rerearch irruer have been rolved in
the part.
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