Exploratory ResearchResearch Methodology

Prepared By

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Manu Melwin JoyAssistant Professor

Ilahia School of Management Studies

Kerala, India.Phone – 9744551114

Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

Exploratory Research• Exploratory research is

research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined. It often occurs before we know enough to make conceptual distinctions or posit an explanatory relationship. Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects.

Exploratory Research• Exploratory research often

relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumers, employees, management or competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods, case studies or pilot studies.

Exploratory Research• The Internet allows for research

methods that are more interactive in nature. For example, RSS feeds efficiently supply researchers with up-to-date information; major search engine search results may be sent by email to researchers by services such as Google Alerts; comprehensive search results are tracked over lengthy periods of time by services such as Google Trends; and websites may be created to attract worldwide feedback on any subject.

Exploratory Research• Social exploratory research

"seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meanings they give to their actions, and what issues concern them. The goal is to learn 'what is going on here?' and to investigate social phenomena without explicit expectations." (Russell K. Schutt, "Investigating the Social World," 5th ed.).

Exploratory Research• Exploratory research is used

when problems are in a preliminary stage.[3] Exploratory research is used when the topic or issue is new and when data is difficult to collect. Exploratory research is flexible and can address research questions of all types (what, why, how). Exploratory research is often used to generate formal hypotheses.

Exploratory Research• To make this a little more

understandable, imagine you are blindfolded or placed into a room without light. You are not told if something is in the room, but you have a suspicion there is something in there. You shuffle out slowly into the room, exploring with the tips of your fingers until you find something.

Exploratory Research• Exploratory research can come in

two big forms: either a new topic or a new angle. A new topic is often unexpected and startling in its findings. For example, American psychologist John Watson really began his behaviorism research with a new topic on the study of human behaviors and learning: rats! Because humans have brains and rats have brains, it makes a certain kind of sense. There was an attempt to find the universal laws of learning in all brains.

Exploratory Research• New angles can come from new

ways of looking at things, either from a theoretical perspective or a new way of measuring something. For instance, computers have allowed large populations to be looked at. Old experiments can now involve thousands of people from around the globe instead of a few people from the local train station.

4 Ways to Implement Exploratory Research into a Research Plan

• Focus Groups: A focus group most commonly contains 8 to 12 people fitting the description of the target sample group and asks them specific questions on the issues and subjects being researched. Sometimes, focus groups will also host interactive exercises during the session and request feedback on what was given.

4 Ways to Implement Exploratory Research into a Research Plan

• Secondary Research: It is almost impossible to come up with a research topic that hasn’t been conducted before. Beyond this, when it comes to designing your survey and research plan, it is usually not best to reinvent the wheel. All research strategies can benefit from reviewing similar studies taken and learning from their results.

4 Ways to Implement Exploratory Research into a Research Plan

• Expert Surveys: Expert surveys allow us to gain information from specialists in a field that we are less qualified or knowledgeable in. For example, if I was tasked with surveying the public’s stance and awareness on environmental issues, I could create a preliminary expert survey for a selected group of environmental authorities.

4 Ways to Implement Exploratory Research into a Research Plan

• Open-Ended Questions: All open-ended questions in your survey are exploratory in nature. The mere fact that you allow respondents to provide any feedback they please, gives you the opportunity to gain insights on topics you haven’t previously thought of. Adding a few open-ended questions in surveys with large amounts of respondents can be somewhat difficult and time-consuming to sort through, but it can indicate important trends and opinions for further research.