Samenvatting Research skills
Chapter I: Why Science?
1. What is science?
Business administration is a science, same as sociology, physics, biology and psychologie are.
While the subject matter in all these disciplines different they share:
Three fundamental features
1. Systematic empiricism: Empiricism refers to learning based on observation and
scientists learn about the world -including other humans!- systematically
2. Empirical questions: These are questions about the way the world actually is. → these
questions can be answered by systematically observing it.
3. Public Knowledge: After asking their empirical questions, making their systematic
observations, and drawing conclusions, scientists publish their work. Increasingly
scientists are started to publish their work more often in open access journals. People
can freely check the articles. This important choice allows publicly-funded research to
create knowledge that is truly public.
2 reasons why publication is an essential feature of science:
1. Science is, perhaps surprisingly, a remarkably social process.
- Large scale collaboration
2. Publication allows science to be self-correcting.
- Besides someone's best efforts their data can be flawed
- They might make mistakes
- Conclusions may be incorrect.
Psychological and marketing theory is:
So-called ego-depletation effect → This theory suggests that someone’s self-control is a
resource that can be depleted, but there has been much debate on whether such an effect
actually exists.
2. The broader purpose of business research
The three goals of science
1. To describe (Most basic)
- This goal is achieved by making careful observations.
- E.g. Perhaps I know different managers, and observe that some are more
successful at managing their tea, than others. I could perform qualitative
research, follow these managers and describe what they do throughout
the day.
2. To explain (Voor velen het uiteindelijke doel)
- This goal involves determining the causes of behavior.
1
, - E.g. I could survey many of the aforementioned mangers and asl them all
kinds of questions on their personality, management style, or othe
relevant characteristics. And also collect data from members from the
team. I could use statistical methods to see weather these things are
relevant. If they don’t then maybe i need to revise my ideas, but we
learned something.
3. To predict
- Once we have observed with some regularity that two behaviors or events are
systematically related to one another, we can use information to predict whether
an event or behavior will occur in a certain situation.
- E.g once I understand which factors drive a manager's success I can
predict whether a job candidate I would want to hire is likely to be (or
become) a successful manager.
Basic versus applied research
Scientific research is often classified as being either basic or applied:
● Basic research → Most of the time for achieving a more detailed and accurate
understanding of human behavior, without necessarily trying to solve a particular
practical problem
● Applied research→ Conducted primarily to address some practical problems.
→ Although the difference between Basic and applied research is nice to know, but it is not
always that clear. A lot of articles have both Basic and applied elements. And a lot of excellent
studies contribute both theoretical and practical understanding
2
,Chapter 2: Thinking like a researcher?
3. Concepts, constructs and variables
Concepts and constructs
Concepts → Concepts are generalisable properties or characteristics associated with objects,
events or people. While objects such as a person, a firm or a car are not concepts, their specific
characteristics or behaviour such as a person's attitude toward immigrants, a firm’s capacity and
a car’s weight. can be viewed as concepts.
The idea of gravitation (borrowed from physics) → Can be used in business to describe why
people tend to gravitate to their preferred shopping destinations
Distance → Can be used to explain the degree of social separation between two otherwise
collated individuals.
Construct → a construct is an abstract concept that is specifically chosen (or created) to
explain a given phenomenon.
Unidimensional construct → only one concept (e.g. weight)
Multidimensional construct → Multiple underlying concepts (e.g. communication skills)
The difference between constructs and concepts is more clear in multidimensional constructs,
where the higher order abstraction is called a construct and the lower order abstraction is
called a concept. This concept is more blurred when its unidimensional constructs.
Two types of definitions:
1. Conceptual definitions
2. Operational definitions
Conceptual versus operational definitions
Conceptual definition → Involves defining a construct on an abstract and theoretical level.
E.g A conceptual definition of perceived service quality could be ‘ the degree and
direction of discrepancy between consumers’.
Operational definition → Necessary when it comes to actually collecting and analyzing data. In
constructing an operational definition, you have to be very specific on how you will actually
measure your construct.
→ Key to remember about operational: You have to be very specific about how you will measure
a construct. E.g. Temperature (celcius, fahrenheit, kelvin) Income (annual income, monthly
income, before tax or after).
Variables
Variable → Is a measurable representation of an abstract construct.
Constructs are not directly measurable and thats why we look for proxy measures called
variables.
3
, E.g sometimes we want to measure someone's intelligence, we can measure that with IQ.
Intelligence is then a construct and IQ-score the
variable.
Scientific research proceeds along two planes:
1. Theoretical plane: In which we discuss constructs,
conceptual definitions and propositions in an
abstract sense
2. Empirical plane: Here constructs have operational
definitions that are measured by variables about
which we may have hypothesis.
Types of variables and conceptual models
Types of variables:
Independent, dependent, moderating, mediating or control variables.
Independent variables: Variables that explain other variables
Dependent variables: Those variables are explained by other variables
Mediating (Or intermediate) variables : Is a variable that help us understand the mechanism/
process through which something works.
Moderating variable: A variable that strengthens or weakens the effect of another variable, and
can sometimes even change the direction of the effect.
Control variable: Is a variable that one has to ‘ control for’, that is: take into account in a
scientific study, but are otherwise not main of interest.
Conceptual models
Conceptual model: The overall network of relationships between a set of related constructs
4. Propositions, hypotheses, theories and models
Propositions and hypotheses
We must identify and state patterns of relationships between these constructs. Such patterns of
relationships are called propositions.
Propositions: Is a tentative and conjectural relationship between constructs that is stated in
declarative form. Generally derived based on logic or empirical observations.
E.g. ‘An increase in student intelligence causes an increase in their academic
achievement’. This declarative statement does not have to be true, but must be empirically
testable using data, so that we can judge whether it is true or false
4
Chapter I: Why Science?
1. What is science?
Business administration is a science, same as sociology, physics, biology and psychologie are.
While the subject matter in all these disciplines different they share:
Three fundamental features
1. Systematic empiricism: Empiricism refers to learning based on observation and
scientists learn about the world -including other humans!- systematically
2. Empirical questions: These are questions about the way the world actually is. → these
questions can be answered by systematically observing it.
3. Public Knowledge: After asking their empirical questions, making their systematic
observations, and drawing conclusions, scientists publish their work. Increasingly
scientists are started to publish their work more often in open access journals. People
can freely check the articles. This important choice allows publicly-funded research to
create knowledge that is truly public.
2 reasons why publication is an essential feature of science:
1. Science is, perhaps surprisingly, a remarkably social process.
- Large scale collaboration
2. Publication allows science to be self-correcting.
- Besides someone's best efforts their data can be flawed
- They might make mistakes
- Conclusions may be incorrect.
Psychological and marketing theory is:
So-called ego-depletation effect → This theory suggests that someone’s self-control is a
resource that can be depleted, but there has been much debate on whether such an effect
actually exists.
2. The broader purpose of business research
The three goals of science
1. To describe (Most basic)
- This goal is achieved by making careful observations.
- E.g. Perhaps I know different managers, and observe that some are more
successful at managing their tea, than others. I could perform qualitative
research, follow these managers and describe what they do throughout
the day.
2. To explain (Voor velen het uiteindelijke doel)
- This goal involves determining the causes of behavior.
1
, - E.g. I could survey many of the aforementioned mangers and asl them all
kinds of questions on their personality, management style, or othe
relevant characteristics. And also collect data from members from the
team. I could use statistical methods to see weather these things are
relevant. If they don’t then maybe i need to revise my ideas, but we
learned something.
3. To predict
- Once we have observed with some regularity that two behaviors or events are
systematically related to one another, we can use information to predict whether
an event or behavior will occur in a certain situation.
- E.g once I understand which factors drive a manager's success I can
predict whether a job candidate I would want to hire is likely to be (or
become) a successful manager.
Basic versus applied research
Scientific research is often classified as being either basic or applied:
● Basic research → Most of the time for achieving a more detailed and accurate
understanding of human behavior, without necessarily trying to solve a particular
practical problem
● Applied research→ Conducted primarily to address some practical problems.
→ Although the difference between Basic and applied research is nice to know, but it is not
always that clear. A lot of articles have both Basic and applied elements. And a lot of excellent
studies contribute both theoretical and practical understanding
2
,Chapter 2: Thinking like a researcher?
3. Concepts, constructs and variables
Concepts and constructs
Concepts → Concepts are generalisable properties or characteristics associated with objects,
events or people. While objects such as a person, a firm or a car are not concepts, their specific
characteristics or behaviour such as a person's attitude toward immigrants, a firm’s capacity and
a car’s weight. can be viewed as concepts.
The idea of gravitation (borrowed from physics) → Can be used in business to describe why
people tend to gravitate to their preferred shopping destinations
Distance → Can be used to explain the degree of social separation between two otherwise
collated individuals.
Construct → a construct is an abstract concept that is specifically chosen (or created) to
explain a given phenomenon.
Unidimensional construct → only one concept (e.g. weight)
Multidimensional construct → Multiple underlying concepts (e.g. communication skills)
The difference between constructs and concepts is more clear in multidimensional constructs,
where the higher order abstraction is called a construct and the lower order abstraction is
called a concept. This concept is more blurred when its unidimensional constructs.
Two types of definitions:
1. Conceptual definitions
2. Operational definitions
Conceptual versus operational definitions
Conceptual definition → Involves defining a construct on an abstract and theoretical level.
E.g A conceptual definition of perceived service quality could be ‘ the degree and
direction of discrepancy between consumers’.
Operational definition → Necessary when it comes to actually collecting and analyzing data. In
constructing an operational definition, you have to be very specific on how you will actually
measure your construct.
→ Key to remember about operational: You have to be very specific about how you will measure
a construct. E.g. Temperature (celcius, fahrenheit, kelvin) Income (annual income, monthly
income, before tax or after).
Variables
Variable → Is a measurable representation of an abstract construct.
Constructs are not directly measurable and thats why we look for proxy measures called
variables.
3
, E.g sometimes we want to measure someone's intelligence, we can measure that with IQ.
Intelligence is then a construct and IQ-score the
variable.
Scientific research proceeds along two planes:
1. Theoretical plane: In which we discuss constructs,
conceptual definitions and propositions in an
abstract sense
2. Empirical plane: Here constructs have operational
definitions that are measured by variables about
which we may have hypothesis.
Types of variables and conceptual models
Types of variables:
Independent, dependent, moderating, mediating or control variables.
Independent variables: Variables that explain other variables
Dependent variables: Those variables are explained by other variables
Mediating (Or intermediate) variables : Is a variable that help us understand the mechanism/
process through which something works.
Moderating variable: A variable that strengthens or weakens the effect of another variable, and
can sometimes even change the direction of the effect.
Control variable: Is a variable that one has to ‘ control for’, that is: take into account in a
scientific study, but are otherwise not main of interest.
Conceptual models
Conceptual model: The overall network of relationships between a set of related constructs
4. Propositions, hypotheses, theories and models
Propositions and hypotheses
We must identify and state patterns of relationships between these constructs. Such patterns of
relationships are called propositions.
Propositions: Is a tentative and conjectural relationship between constructs that is stated in
declarative form. Generally derived based on logic or empirical observations.
E.g. ‘An increase in student intelligence causes an increase in their academic
achievement’. This declarative statement does not have to be true, but must be empirically
testable using data, so that we can judge whether it is true or false
4
