Complete summary of the course research skills: with papers and tutorials!

Summary Research Skills

Lecture 1: Research process and literature review

2.3 Managerial problem solving and the role of the researcher
 Research in business studies and managerial problem solving are not much different from
each other.
 Managers must have the capability to analyse their situations and to use investigate
approaches to decision making and problem solving.
 The researcher explains how information is collected, argues for methods used to obtain
results and explains their limitations: they work systematically.
 The researcher has to explain and convince the reader of the purpose and methods of
observation.

2.4 Originality in research
 Originality is a basic condition for a scientific study.
 Originality describes studies that create a new dimension to already existing knowledge, for
example
o Some novel twist, fresh perspective
o New hypothesis or assumption
o New and innovative methods of handling an existing topic/knowledge.

2.5 Induction
 Induction is based on empirical evidence.
 Through induction we draw general conclusions from our empirical observations.
 The process goes from observations  analysis  findings  theory building.
 This type of research is often associated with qualitative research.
o For the master thesis: Inductive studies are not used, mainly because of time
constraints

2.5 Deduction
 Deduction is based on logic.
 The researcher builds/deduces hypotheses from the existing knowledge (literature), which can
be subject to empirical scrutiny (testing) and thus can be accepted or rejected.
 This type of research is often associated with quantitative research.
o For the master thesis: Deductive studies use quantitative methods and start with the
development of hypotheses, based on theory.

Induction vs. deduction
 Deductive reasoning: the logical process of deriving a conclusion from a known premise or
something known as true.
 Inductive reasoning: the systematic process of establishing a general proposition on the basis
of observation or particular facts.

, o (1) = deductive reasoning
o (2) = inductive reasoning

2.5 Abduction
 Not just a combination of induction and deduction.
 A theoretical interpretation of an empirical problem that can lead to development of new
theories.
 The original framework and theoretical assumptions of the researcher are continuously
modified as a result of empirical findings.
o For the master thesis: Abductive studies use qualitative methods and use the literature
to identify concepts that might be relevant to the problem and situation under study.

2.8 The wheel of research: research never stops




2.11 The researcher’s moral responsibility
 The moral responsibility of the researcher deals with social guidelines and constraints upon
research techniques and measurements.
 Research findings might lead to action that is against the principles of the researcher or the
funding organization.
 The results might influence an important decision to be made by policy makers (e.g.,
regarding mergers and acquisitions, anti-trust measures or standards setting for a particular
industry).




Factors influencing research.

Ethical issues

,  Ethical issues arise particularly at the data collection stage.
 Reporting your results objectively and honestly is the most important aspect of ethics.
 Any misinterpretation of data will lead to misleading results and is ethically wrong.

3.1 Research process
 Research is often thought of as a process, that is a set of activities unfolding over time.
 A process has a few distinct stages, as different stages entail different tasks.
 In reality, however, the process of not so orderly and sequential.







o Step 1 and 2: the starting point is the research topic, that is the phenomenon or the
theme to be studied. In a subsequent step, a more specific question is addressed:




o Step 2a-8
 Any problem must be captured or represented. This is done by a set of
interrelated concepts, or a model, implicit or explicit (2a)
 Research design relates to the choice of strategy to collect the data needed to
answer the stated research problem (3)
 Good measurements are a prerequisite for high-quality empirical research (4)
 Choice of data and how to collect them, from whom, and in what way, are
important (5)
 Data must be handled analyzed and interpreted (6)
 Most research efforts are reported in written form (7)
 In business, the outcome of research efforts often results in or influences
actions (8)
Levels of research

,  All research requires activities at the conceptual level
 So called “theoretical studies” deal only with this level (1)
 An empirical study requires efforts at the conceptual level (2)





 Master thesis: a master thesis is an empirical study and requires efforts at the conceptual level
as well as efforts at the empirical level.
o 1 = literature review
o 2 = data collection and analysis

3.3. Research and knowledge
 The main purpose of research is to produce insights or knowledge.
 New insights can be acquired in:
o Theories/models
o Concepts
o Methods/techniques
o Facts
 Any research should have an intended contribution

3.5 Definitions of important elements of research
 Concepts
o A concept is an abstraction representing an object, a property of an object, or a certain
phenomenon.
 Concepts are the foundation of communication
 Concepts introduce a perspective
 Concepts are means of classification and generalization
 Concepts serve as components of theories (models)
o Concepts are the most critical element in any theory, because they direct what is
captured.
 Definitions
o Clarification and precision of concepts are achieved through definitions.
 Definitions that describe concepts by using other concepts are conceptual
definitions.
 An operational definition is a set of procedures that describe the activities to
be performed to establish empirically the existence or the degree of existence
of what is described by a concept.
o When we move from the conceptual to the empirical level in research, concepts are
converted into variables by mapping them into a set of numbers.
 This is not true for qualitative research, as it does not use variables and
numbers.
 Theory
o A theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions and propositions that present a
systematic view of specifying relations among variables with the purpose of
explaining and predicting phenomena.
 Methods
o Research methods are rules and procedures and can be seen as tools to solve
problems or ways of proceeding.