Business research techniques for premaster
Week 1
1.1 – What is business research?
Business research = a series of well thought out activities and carefully executed data analysis that help a
manager to avoid, solve or minimize a problem.
Why should managers know about business research?
• To be able to perform business research
• To be able to steer business research
• To be able to evaluate business research
Study materials:
• Applied research – used to answer a specific question that has direct applications to the world
(problem solving research)
• Basic research – driven purely by curiosity and a desire to expand our knowledge
• The difference between the two is the purpose of the research
1.2 – Hallmarks of business research
There are six hallmarks of good business research
• Purposiveness – knowing the “why” of your research (purpose of the research)
• Rigor – strict precision or correctness
o Ensuring a sound theoretical base
o Ensuring a sound methodological design
• Objectivity – drawing conclusions based on facts
• Parsimony – simplicity
o “shaving away” unnecessary details
o Explaining a lot with little
o “things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler” à you still need complete
research
• Replicability
o Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
o Transparency about research setup
• Generalizability
o Being able to apply the research findings in a wide variety of different settings à should hold
for fundamental research but less for applied research
Applied research Fundamental research
• To solve a current problem faced by a • To generate new knowledge about how
manager problems that occur in several firms can be
• Applies to a specific company solved
• Within firms or research agencies • Applies to several organizational settings
• Mainly within universities (and knowledge
institutes
Goal of fundamental research: intended to find generalizable conclusions and factors that influence the
research so that at a later stage it can be applied by organizations to solve their own problems
,1.3 – Seven step plan for inductive and deductive research
Inductive research: data à theory (“building theory”; qualitative data)
• observation (data) à pattern à tentative hypothesis à theory
Deductive research: theory à data (“testing theory”; quantitative data)
• theory à tentative hypothesis à observation (data) à confirmation
Seven-step deductive research process Seven-step inductive research process
1. Define the business problem 1. Define the business problem
2. Formulate the problem statement 2. Formulate the problem statement
3. Develop a theoretical framework 3. Provide a conceptual background
4. Choose a research design 4. Choose a research design
5. Collect data 5. Collect data
6. Analyze data 6. Analyze data
7. Write up 7. Develop theory
Week 2
2.1 – An introduction to business problems
A business problem occurs when there is a gap between the actual status of a company and the desired
status of a company. There are two types of business problems:
• The actual situation is seriously wrong and needs to be solved asap
• The actual situation is not seriously wrong but can be improved
What makes a good business problem?
• Feasibility (is it doable/ possible?)
o Is the problem demarcated
o Can the problem be expressed in variables?
o Are you able to gather the required data?
§ Existing data or new data
• Relevance (is it worthwhile/ important?)
o Managerial relevance
§ Managers, end-users, public policy makers
o Academic relevance
§ Completely new topic
§ New context
§ Integrate scattered research
§ Reconcile contradictory research
2.2 – Formulating a problem statement and research questions
From business problem to problem statement à conduct preliminary research to find background
information on the organization and context; do a thorough literature search to formulate a problem
statement.
Characteristics of a good problem statement
• Formulated in terms of variables and relations
• Open-ended question
• Stated clearly and unambiguously
• Managerial and academic relevance
What makes good research questions?
• Research questions should collectively address the problem statement
• First theoretical and then practical research questions
, o Theoretical research questions
§ Context questions, conceptualization questions, relationship questions
o Practical research questions
§ Relationship questions, implication question
• Stated clearly and unambiguously
2.3 – Developing a conceptual model
How to define variables à what makes a good variable definition?
• Informative variable name
• Variable without jargon
o Based on careful literature review
o Unless very obvious
o Pitfall: examples do not substitute for a definition
• One or two supporting references per variable definition
What if many different definitions exist in the literature?
• Acknowledge the major differences
• End with a definition that focuses on the shared meaning across definitions or pick one definition and
justify why
à always use exactly the same variable names throughout your research!
A conceptual model specifies how your variables are related to each other
• Variables are building blocks
o Dependent variable – the variable of primary interest (criterion variable/ DV)
o Independent variable – influences the dependent variable (predictor variable/ IV)
o Mediation variables – explains why or how an IV has an effect on the DV à a variable that
explains the mechanism at work between X and Y (intervening variable)
o Moderating variables – a variable that alters the strength and sometimes even the direction
of the relationship between X and Y (interaction variable)
§ Quasi moderation: MOD moderates the relationship between X and Y, but it also has
a direct effect on Y
§ Pure moderation: MOD moderates the relationship between X and Y but it has no
direct effect on Y
o Control variables – a variable that is not the focus of the research study, but its existence has
an important impact on the DV that cannot be ignored
• Relationships are arrows
o Main effect
o Direct/ indirect effect
o Moderating effect
2.4 – An introduction to hypotheses
A theoretical framework consists of; (1) variable definitions, (2) conceptual model, (3) hypotheses.
Hypothesis = a tentative statement about the coherence between two or more variables. What makes a
good hypothesis?
• Testable (measurable variables)
• Derived from theory
• Unambiguously phrased
Week 1
1.1 – What is business research?
Business research = a series of well thought out activities and carefully executed data analysis that help a
manager to avoid, solve or minimize a problem.
Why should managers know about business research?
• To be able to perform business research
• To be able to steer business research
• To be able to evaluate business research
Study materials:
• Applied research – used to answer a specific question that has direct applications to the world
(problem solving research)
• Basic research – driven purely by curiosity and a desire to expand our knowledge
• The difference between the two is the purpose of the research
1.2 – Hallmarks of business research
There are six hallmarks of good business research
• Purposiveness – knowing the “why” of your research (purpose of the research)
• Rigor – strict precision or correctness
o Ensuring a sound theoretical base
o Ensuring a sound methodological design
• Objectivity – drawing conclusions based on facts
• Parsimony – simplicity
o “shaving away” unnecessary details
o Explaining a lot with little
o “things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler” à you still need complete
research
• Replicability
o Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
o Transparency about research setup
• Generalizability
o Being able to apply the research findings in a wide variety of different settings à should hold
for fundamental research but less for applied research
Applied research Fundamental research
• To solve a current problem faced by a • To generate new knowledge about how
manager problems that occur in several firms can be
• Applies to a specific company solved
• Within firms or research agencies • Applies to several organizational settings
• Mainly within universities (and knowledge
institutes
Goal of fundamental research: intended to find generalizable conclusions and factors that influence the
research so that at a later stage it can be applied by organizations to solve their own problems
,1.3 – Seven step plan for inductive and deductive research
Inductive research: data à theory (“building theory”; qualitative data)
• observation (data) à pattern à tentative hypothesis à theory
Deductive research: theory à data (“testing theory”; quantitative data)
• theory à tentative hypothesis à observation (data) à confirmation
Seven-step deductive research process Seven-step inductive research process
1. Define the business problem 1. Define the business problem
2. Formulate the problem statement 2. Formulate the problem statement
3. Develop a theoretical framework 3. Provide a conceptual background
4. Choose a research design 4. Choose a research design
5. Collect data 5. Collect data
6. Analyze data 6. Analyze data
7. Write up 7. Develop theory
Week 2
2.1 – An introduction to business problems
A business problem occurs when there is a gap between the actual status of a company and the desired
status of a company. There are two types of business problems:
• The actual situation is seriously wrong and needs to be solved asap
• The actual situation is not seriously wrong but can be improved
What makes a good business problem?
• Feasibility (is it doable/ possible?)
o Is the problem demarcated
o Can the problem be expressed in variables?
o Are you able to gather the required data?
§ Existing data or new data
• Relevance (is it worthwhile/ important?)
o Managerial relevance
§ Managers, end-users, public policy makers
o Academic relevance
§ Completely new topic
§ New context
§ Integrate scattered research
§ Reconcile contradictory research
2.2 – Formulating a problem statement and research questions
From business problem to problem statement à conduct preliminary research to find background
information on the organization and context; do a thorough literature search to formulate a problem
statement.
Characteristics of a good problem statement
• Formulated in terms of variables and relations
• Open-ended question
• Stated clearly and unambiguously
• Managerial and academic relevance
What makes good research questions?
• Research questions should collectively address the problem statement
• First theoretical and then practical research questions
, o Theoretical research questions
§ Context questions, conceptualization questions, relationship questions
o Practical research questions
§ Relationship questions, implication question
• Stated clearly and unambiguously
2.3 – Developing a conceptual model
How to define variables à what makes a good variable definition?
• Informative variable name
• Variable without jargon
o Based on careful literature review
o Unless very obvious
o Pitfall: examples do not substitute for a definition
• One or two supporting references per variable definition
What if many different definitions exist in the literature?
• Acknowledge the major differences
• End with a definition that focuses on the shared meaning across definitions or pick one definition and
justify why
à always use exactly the same variable names throughout your research!
A conceptual model specifies how your variables are related to each other
• Variables are building blocks
o Dependent variable – the variable of primary interest (criterion variable/ DV)
o Independent variable – influences the dependent variable (predictor variable/ IV)
o Mediation variables – explains why or how an IV has an effect on the DV à a variable that
explains the mechanism at work between X and Y (intervening variable)
o Moderating variables – a variable that alters the strength and sometimes even the direction
of the relationship between X and Y (interaction variable)
§ Quasi moderation: MOD moderates the relationship between X and Y, but it also has
a direct effect on Y
§ Pure moderation: MOD moderates the relationship between X and Y but it has no
direct effect on Y
o Control variables – a variable that is not the focus of the research study, but its existence has
an important impact on the DV that cannot be ignored
• Relationships are arrows
o Main effect
o Direct/ indirect effect
o Moderating effect
2.4 – An introduction to hypotheses
A theoretical framework consists of; (1) variable definitions, (2) conceptual model, (3) hypotheses.
Hypothesis = a tentative statement about the coherence between two or more variables. What makes a
good hypothesis?
• Testable (measurable variables)
• Derived from theory
• Unambiguously phrased
