lesson no 5 - elements of research design

BRM 5: ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGNBRM 5: ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN

11

ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN

BRM 5: ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGNBRM 5: ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN 22

OBSERVATION(BROAD AREA OF

RESEARCH INTEREST

IDENTIFIED)

PRELIMINARYDATA GATHERING

(INTERVIEWS,LITERATURE

SURVEY)

PROBLEMDEFINITION

FORMULATIONOF THEORATICAL

FRAMEWORK

IDENTIFICATIONOF VARIABLES

GENERATIONOF

HYPOTHESIS

DATACOLLECTION,

ANALYSIS &

INTERPRET-ATION

SCIENTIFICRESEARCH

DESIGN

DEDUCTIONS:HYPOTHESIS

SUBSTANTIATED?

RESEARCH QUESTIONANSWERED?

REPORTWRITING

REPORTPRESENTATION

MANAGERIALDECISIONMAKING

YES

NO


RESEARCH INTEREST

IDENTIFIED)

PROBLEMDEFINITION



SURVEY)


RESEARCH INTEREST

IDENTIFIED)

PROBLEMDEFINITION


RESEARCH INTEREST

IDENTIFIED)

PROBLEMDEFINITION


RESEARCH INTEREST

IDENTIFIED)



SURVEY)

PROBLEMDEFINITION

OBSERVATION(IDENTIFICATIONOF BROAD AREA OF RESEARCH

INTEREST)


INTEREST)

PROBLEMDEFINITION


INTEREST)



SURVEY)

PROBLEMDEFINITION


INTEREST)



SURVEY)

PROBLEMDEFINITION


INTEREST)



SURVEY)

PROBLEMDEFINITION


INTEREST)

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION FORMULATION OF PLAN

FIELDWORK

AN

AL

YS

IS


33

WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH DESIGNIT IS…..

A PLAN FOR SELECTING THE SOURCES AND TYPES OF INFORMATION USED TO ANSWER THE RESEARCH QUESTION

A FRAMEWORK FOR SPECIFYING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE STUDY’S VARIABLES

A BLUEPRINT THAT OUTLINES EACH PROCEDURE FROM THE HYPOTHESES TO THE ANALYSIS OF DATA

PROVIDES ANSWERS TO ISSUES SUCH AS:

– TECHNIQUES TO BE USED TO GATHER DATA

– WHAT KIND OF SAMPLING WILL BE USED

– HOW WILL TIME & COST CONSTRAINTS BE DEALT WITH



44

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH DESIGN

AIM

TO DESIGN THE RESEARCH IN SUCH A WAY THAT REQUIRED RESEARCH DATA CAN BE

GATHERED AND ANALYSED TO ARRIVE AT A SOLUTION



55

HELPS TAKE DECISIONS RELATED TO: PURPOSE OF THE STUDY (DESCRIPTIVE OR CAUSAL)

TYPES OF INVESTIGATION (OBSERVATIONAL OR SURVEY)

EXTENT OF RESEARCHER INTERFERENCE APPROPRIATE TO THE RESEARCH (MINIMAL OR MANIPULATIVE)

STUDY SETTING (RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT)

MEASUREMENT AND “MEASURES” TO BE ADOPTED

UNIT OF ANALYSIS TO BE ADOPTED

SAMPLE DESIGN (PROBABILITY/NON PROBABILITY, SAMPLE SIZE)

TIME HORIZONS (CROSS SECTIONAL OR LONGITUDINAL)

DATA COLLECTION METHODS TO BE ADOPTED

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH DESIGN


66

IDENTIFICATION OF PURPOSE OF STUDY

POSSIBLE TYPES EXPLORATORY

DESCRIPTIVE

ANALYTICAL (HYPOTHESIS TESTING)

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS



77

UNDERTAKEN WHEN NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SITUATION AT HAND OR NO INFO IS AVAILABLE ON HOW SIMILAR ISSUES HAVE BEEN RESOLVED IN THE PAST

INVOLVES EXTENSIVE PRELIMINARY WORK DONE TO GAIN FAMILIARITY WITH PHENOMENA IN THE SITUATION BEFORE DEVELOPING A MODEL AND SETTING UP A DESIGN FOR COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION

WHEN COLLECTED DATA REVEALS SOME PATTERN REGARDING PHENOMENA OF INTEREST, THEORIES ARE DEVELOPED AND HYPOTHESES FORMULATED FOR SUBSEQUENT TESTING

ALSO NECESSARY WHEN SOME FACTS ARE KNOWN BUT MORE INFO IS NEEDED FOR DEVELOPING A VIABLE THEORATICAL FRAMEWORK

SOME QUALITATIVE STUDIES WHERE DATA IS COLLECTED THROUGH OBSERVATIONS ARE EXPLORATORY IN NATURE

EXPLORATORY STUDY


88

EXAMPLES OF EXPLORATORY STUDIES

ESTABLISHING IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE

THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN IN ORGANIZATIONS

ESTABLISHING IF THE WORK ETHICS OF A SUBSIDIARY

FACILITY WOULD BE DIFFERENT TO THOSE AT THE MAIN

FACILITY

STUDIES RELATED TO “QUALITY OF LIFE”

STUDIES RELATED TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN

DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, RACES, COMMUNITIES, ETC

STUDIES RELATED TO FEASIBILITY OF INTRODUCTION

OF A NEW PRODUCT



99

UNDERTAKEN TO ASCERTAIN AND BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VARIABLES OF INTEREST IN A SITUATION ie WHEN CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS ARE KNOWN TO EXIST AND ONE WANTS TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THEM BETTER BY OFFERING A PROFILE OF THE DIFFERENT FACTORS INVOLVED SUCH AS AGE, JOB STATUS, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, ETC

USUALLY INVOLVE LEARNING ABOUT AND DESCRIBING CHARACTERISTICS OF A GROUP OR CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT FOLLOW CERTAIN COMMON PRACTICES

GOAL IS TO OFFER TO THE RESEARCHER A PROFILE OR TO DESCRIBE RELAVENT ASPECTS OF A PHENOMENA OF INTEREST FROM AN INDIVIDUAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, INDUSTRY ORIENTED OR OTHER PERSPECTIVE

CHARACTERISTICS OF A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY:

– DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING OF A GROUP’S CHARACTERISTICS IN A GIVEN SITUATION

– THINK SYSTEMATICALLY ABOUT ASPECTS IN A GIVEN SITUATION

– OFFER IDEAS FOR FURTHER PROBE AND RESEARCH

– HELP MAKE CERTAIN SIMPLE DECISIONS

DESCRIPTIVE STUDY


1010

PROFILING OF CLIENTS IN A BANK WHOSE LOAN PAYMENTS ARE OUTSTANDING TO DECIDE WHICH CATEGORIES OF CLIENTS SHOULD BE MADE INELIGIBLE FOR LOANS IN FUTURE

SEEKING INFORMATION ABOUT COMPETITORS BEFORE EVOLVING A PRICING, SALES, DISTRIBUTION OR ADVERTISING STRATEGY

POSSIBLE INTERNAL REACTION WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION TO INTRODUCTION OF ANY NEW POLICIES OR POLICY CHANGES

USUALLY BASED ON QUANTITATIVE DATA

EXAMPLES OF DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES


1111

USUALLY EXPLAIN

– THE NATURE OF CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS ORTHE NATURE OF CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS OR

– ESTABLISH THE DIFFERENCES AMONG GROUPS ORESTABLISH THE DIFFERENCES AMONG GROUPS OR

– THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF TWO OR MORE FACTORS THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF TWO OR MORE FACTORS

IN A SITUATIONIN A SITUATION

EXPLAIN THE VARIANCE IN THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE OR TO

PREDICT ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES

ANALYTICAL STUDY(HYPOTHESES TESTING)


1212

ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND

INCREASE OF SALES (BY TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: “IF

ADVERTISING IS INCREASED, THEN SALES WILL ALSO GO UP”)

PREDICTING FACTORS THAT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ACCOUNT

FOR DECISION TO BUILD A HOUSE IN A PARTICULAR AREA

ESTABLISHING DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR PATTERNS ON THE

BASIS OF SEX

EXAMPLES OF ANALYTICAL STUDIES


1313

INVOLVE IN-DEPTH CONTEXTUAL ANALYSES OF MATTERS RELATED TO SIMILAR SITUATIONS IN

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

NOT FREQUENTLY RESORTED TO AS A PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUE BECAUSE FINDING THE SAME PROBLEM IN ANOTHER COMPARABLE SETTING IS

DIFFICULT

IN QUALITATIVE TERMS, ARE USEFUL IN APPLYING SOLUTIONS TO CURRENT PROBLEMS BASED ON

PAST PROBLEM SOLVING EXPERIENCES

ALSO USEFUL IN UNDERSTANDING CERTAIN PHENOMENA AND GENERATING FURTHER

THEORIES FOR EMPERICAL TESTING

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS


1414

CAUSAL

DONE WHEN IT IS NECESSARY TO ESTABLISH A DEFINITIVE CAUSE & EFFECT RELATIONSHIP

UNDERTAKEN WHEN RESEARCHER WANTS TO DELINEATE ONE OR MORE FACTORS THAT ARE CAUSING A PROBLEM TO OCCUR eg DOES SMOKING CAUSE CANCER ? ?

CORELATIONAL

DONE WHEN MERE IDENTIFICATION OF THE IMPORTANT FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROBLEM WILL SUFFICE eg ARE SMOKING AND CANCER RELATED

OR

ARE SMOKING, DRINKING AND CHEWING TOBACCO ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER ? IF SO, WHICH OF THESE CONTRIBUTES MOST TO THE VARIANCE IN THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

WHETHER A STUDY IS CAUSAL OR CO-RELATIONAL DEPENDS ON TYPE OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS ASKED AND HOW THE PROBLEM IS DEFINED

TYPE OF INVESTIGATION


1515

CAUSALFEARS OF AN EARTHQUAKE PREDICTED RECENTLY IN THE MUZAFFARABAD FAULT ZONE WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF HOUSE OWNERS IN THE CITY TRYING TO SELL THEIR PROPERTIES

CORELATIONALINCREASE IN INTEREST RATES AND PROPERTY TAXES, RECESSION IN THE COUNTRY AND THE PREDICTED EARTH QUAKE CONSIDERABLY SLOWED DOWN THE BUSINESS OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN MUZAFFARABAD

EXAMPLES OF CAUSAL & CORELATIONAL

STUDY QUESTIONS


1616

INVOLVES INTERFERENCE BY THE RESEARCHER WITH THE NORMAL FLOW OF WORK AT THE WORKPLACE

ALSO HAS A DIRECT BEARING ON WHETHER THE STUDY IS CAUSAL OR CORRELATIONAL

CORELATIONAL STUDY IS CONDUCTED IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION WITH MINIMAL INTERFERENCE BY RESEARCHER

WITH NORMAL FLOW OF WORK

IN STUDIES CONDUCTED TO ESTABLISH CAUSE & EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS, RESEARCHER

MANIPULATES CERTAIN VARIABLES TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF THIS MANIPULATION ON THE

DEPENDENT VARIABLE OF INTEREST

EXTENT OF RESEARCHER INTERFERENCE WITH THE STUDY


1717

MINIMAL INTERFERENCE

– LITTLE OR NO INTERFERENCE WITH NORMAL ACTIVITIES

MODERATE INTERFERENCE

– MANIPULATION OF NORMAL COURSE OF EVENTS TO STUDY EFFECTS

EXCESSIVE INTERFERENCE

– MAY ALSO INTERFERE WITH THE SETTING TO STUDY EFFECTS



1818

TERMS RELATED TO RESEARCHER’S CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS

– EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. A GROUP FORMULATED BY THE RESEARCHER ON WHICH EFFECTS UNDER STUDY ARE SPECIFICALLY APPLIED

– CONTROL GROUP. A GROUP WHICH IS NOT SUBJECTED TO ANY MANIPULATION AND ALLOWED TO EXPERIENCE ANY EFFECTS UNDER STUDY IN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

– EFFECTS OF APPLICATION OF PHENOMENA BEING RESEARCHED ARE STUDIED BY COMPARING THE RESULTS OF ITS APPLICATION ON THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WITH

THOSE DISPLAYED ON THE CONTROLLED GROUP



1919

STUDY SETTING

NON CONTRIVED

– STUDIES DONE IN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS WHERE

WORK PROCEEDS NORMALLY

– GENERALLY DONE IN CASE OF CORRELATIONAL

STUDIES

– FIELD STUDIES. CORELATIONAL STUDIES DONE

WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS WITH NO INTERFERENCE

TO THE NORMAL ROUTINE OR WORKING ARE CALLED

FIELD STUDIES



2020

STUDY SETTINGCONCERNS THE ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH THE STUDY IS UNDERTAKEN

AND MAY BE CONTRIVED OR NON CONTRIVED

CONTRIVED STUDY SETTING– ENVIRONMENTS ARE ADAPTED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF A

RESEARCH PROJECT– SUCH SETTINGS USED IN CAUSAL STUDIES– FIELD EXPERIMENTS. STUDIES CONDUCTED TO ESTABLISH

CAUSE & EFFECT RELATIONSHIP USING THE SAME NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH EMPLOYEES NORMALLY FUNCTION. HOWEVER, RESEARCHER MAY MANIPULATE THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

– LAB EXPERIMENTS. EXPERIMENTS DONE TO ESTABLISH CAUSE & EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS BEYOND THE POSSIBILITY OF THE LEAST DOUBT BY CREATION OF ARTIFICIALLY CONTRIVED ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH ALL EXTRANEOUS FACTORS ARE STRICTLY CONTROLLED WITH SIMILAR SUBJECTS BEING CHOSEN TO RESPOND TO CERTAIN MANIPULATED STIMULI



2121

EXAMPLES OF STUDY SETTINGS

ISSUE

– A BANK MANAGER WANTS TO ANALYSE THE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN INTEREST RATES AND BANK DEPOSIT PATTERNS

OF CLIENTS

FIELD STUDY

– THE TWO ISSUES ARE CO-RELATED BY LOOKING AT

DEPOSITS INTO DIFFERENT KINDS OF ACCOUNTS AS

INTEREST RATES CHANGED.

– THIS IS A FIELD STUDY IN A NON CONTRIVED SETTING

WITH NO INTERFERENCE TO THE NORMAL WORK ROUTINE



2222

EXAMPLES OF STUDY SETTINGS

FIELD EXPERIMENT

– TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN INTEREST RATE AND THE INDUCEMENTS IT

OFFERS TO CLIENTS TO SAVE AND DEPOSIT MONEY, FOUR

BANK BRANCHES ARE SELECTED AND FOR ONE WEEK,

INTEREST RATES ARE CHANGED TO 9%, 8% AND 10% IN

THREE OF THE BRANCHES AND REMAIN UNCHANGED AT

5% IN THE FOURTH BRANCH.

– THIS IS A FIELD EXPERIMENT SINCE ONLY THE INTEREST

RATE HAS BEEN MANIPULATED WHILE ALL ACTIVITIES

CONTINUE IN NORMAL AND NATURAL WORK

ENVIRONMENTS



2323

LAB EXPERIMENT

– TO ESTABLISH THE CAUSAL CONNECTION BETWEEN INTEREST

RATES AND SAVINGS AN ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT IS CREATED BY

RECRUITING 40 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENTS. THEY ARE

SPLIT INTO 4 GROUPS AND EACH GROUP IS GIVEN CHIPS THAT

COUNT FOR $1,000 WHICH THEY CAN USE TO BUY THEIR NEEDS

OR INVEST FOR THE FUTURE AS DESIRED BY THEM.

– AS INCENTIVE, INTEREST ON SAVINGS IS OFFERED BUT IS

MANIPULATED AT DIFFERENT RATES FOR DIFFERENT GROUPS TO

ESTABLISH THEIR RESPONSE PATTERN

– HERE, A LAB ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN CREATED WITH A

CONTRIVED SETTING, MAXIMUM RESEARCHER INTERFERENCE AND

MANIPULATION OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE WHILE TRYING TO

CONTROL OTHER EXTRANEOUS (NUISANCE) FACTORS



2424

UNIT OF ANALYSIS REFERS TO THE LEVEL OF AGGREGATION OF

THE DATA COLLECTED DURING THE SUBSEQUENT DATA ANALYSIS STAGE

COMMON UNITS OF ANALYSIS

INDIVIDUAL

DYADS ie TWO PERSON GROUPS

GROUP

DIVISION

INDUSTRY

COUNTRY, ETC



2525

TIME HORIZON

CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES

STUDY IN WHICH DATA IS GATHERED JUST ONCE PERHAPS OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS OR WEEKS OR MONTHS

GENERALLY (BUT NOT ALWAYS) RESORTED TO IN FIELD STUDIES

LONGITUDINAL STUDIES

STUDY IN WHICH DATA IS COLLECTED AT MORE THAN ONE POINT IN TIME LONGITUDINALLY ACROSS A PERIOD OF TIME

SUCH STUDIES TAKE MORE TIME, EFFORT AND COST BUT HELP IN IDENTIFICATION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS

USUALLY RESORTED TO IN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS WHEN DATA IS REQUIRED BEFORE AND AFTER MANIPULATION OF VARIABLES



2626


lesson no 5 - elements of research design

Documents