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Introduction to Business Research

Learning about business research as a systematic means of collecting data to inform business decisions was informative. I also discovered reasons why businesses should be interested in conducting research, also identified three types of research: exploratory, descriptive and causal research. In the upcoming session we look at methods involved in research.

In this session I was introduced to different terms like epistemology, ontology and axiology as ways of understanding knowledge, reality and values. I looked at positivism, interpretivism, pragmatism, objectivism and subjectivism as research philosophies. Also distinguished between deduction and induction as research approaches and differentiated between qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research strategies. We learned that ethical misconduct and the introduction of technology can distort the researcher’s findings.

Business research was introduced as the inquiry into a specific business problem in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.  Some of the theoretical of research including research philosophies, approaches and methods of research are important considerations such as the role of ethics in research, the relationship between researcher and sponsor and the issues arising from the introduction of technology were also addressed.

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The Research Method
In this unit I was introduced to the research process. The process served to guide the conduct of the investigation of a business problem as identified by management. The process was broken down into six steps, which began with the problem definition and ended with the presentation of the results or findings. I learned about research problems, and the problem definition process. You learnt how the decision statement, research objectives, research questions and research hypotheses fit into the problem definition process and how to articulate these.

The importance of the literature review for the researcher, how to conduct a literature review using various sources of literature and how to write a literature review for a business problem was also introduced. Identifying the research objectives and writing research questions and hypotheses. The unit also explored the use of the literature review as a process and a product to gain a better understanding of the body of knowledge available relevant to a research problem.

The various steps in the research process in this unit problem definition. Greater insight was gained into research problems and how to write research objectives, questions and hypotheses. By the end of the session you should be able to construct research questions and hypotheses for business problems. There was a quiz given at the end of the unit to determine what was learnt.

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Research Design

In this unit I learned about qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research. I learned that qualitative research focuses on narrative data, quantitative research is concerned with numerical data and mixed methods research combines both to study a problem.  Research designs provide a detailed plan for conducting research of a topic under investigation. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches to research and related these to exploratory, causal and descriptive designs in business research.

I learned about independent variables, which are variables which can take on any value, and dependent variables, which are those whose values depend on the value of the independent variable. I also learned about levels of measurement: ordinal, nominal, ratio and interval. I learned about probability and non-probability sampling and how to select sample designs. I also learned about types of errors sampling and non-sampling which occur when using samples

I looked at methods which emphasize conceptualizing and measuring the experience, knowledge and attitudes. I learned about probability and non-probability sampling and how to select sample designs. We also learnt about types of errors (sampling and non-sampling) which occur when using samples. At the end of the unit a quiz was given to test my knowledge.

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Communication in the Research Process
In unit 3 I was introduced to the research proposal. It is the first step in the communication process between management and the researcher. It puts forward the problem and a proposal for addressing that problem. The proposal is presented to management for approval. In this unit we also addressed the different sections of the research proposal. The research proposal also provides information on the design of the project, how the data will be analyzed, the qualifications of the research personnel, and other information such as the time schedule within which the project will be completed.

I also learned about some components that are added to the research report such as the results, discussion and conclusion sections.  Learnt how to use the report to communicate the findings of research and provide information necessary for management to make decisions relevant to the research problem. Also learned that the researcher’s task in writing the proposal is to convince management of the benefits to be gained from investigating the problem and do so in the way outlined in the proposal. In this unit also a weekly discussion question was given as an assignment.

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Data Collection

In this discussion the advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary data was introduced. Secondary data requires less time and money and is easier to obtain than primary data, but the data may be outdated. Sources from which data can be collected and criteria that the researcher should be considered. Primary data collection involves the collection of first hand data, that is, data collected by the researcher, whilst secondary data is data that has been collected by third parties.

The unit made the distinction between primary and secondary data and sources of data. And also an examined observation, interview and survey as common methods of data collection. A look at the roles of fieldworkers and managers was done. The qualities and the skills needed by fieldworkers and also covered activities involved in the management of fieldwork, including minimizing errors in the data collection process.

Gathering data from outside of the organization involves fieldwork. Poor fieldwork can negatively impact the quality of data collected, therefore, proper field preparation and management of the field processes are important. In this unit the role of fieldworkers and the qualities and skills they should possess were introduced and also how to manage the data collection process and minimize errors. A weekly discussion was given at the end of the unit to be completed about the unit.

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Questionnaire Design

Unit 6 the discussion was focused on modes of communicating with respondents to participate in research using the questionnaire as a data collection instrument.  The different techniques that may be used to administer the questionnaires. Mode of communication is a decision that the researcher will need to make.  The questions written for the questionnaire will have to be written, sequenced and laid out based on the communication mode or medium. Respondents may be more comfortable with a self-administered mode that allows more flexibility in time of completion and may provide greater use.

Introduced to questionnaires and questionnaire design, learnt the benefits and limitations of open-ended and closed questions and that the type of questions you use should depend on. Sources of error in related questionnaire design were addressed. At this point I was able to design a questionnaire. Examining errors that are common in questionnaire design and ways of avoiding these errors was introduced in this unit.

I learned that the medium used can place differing amounts of burden on the respondent to interpret and follow instructions and interpret and respond to questions. At the end of the unit for the weekly discussion a questionnaire had to be designed.

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Data Preparation and Presentation

Unit 7 taught the preparation and presentation of data for analysis and looked at data editing and coding. This stage of data analysis allows the researcher to transform raw data collected during data collection into usablec data. Learning how to examine the editing and coding of data, explored the importance of checking data for omissions, consistency, legibility and errors to ensure the integrity of the data. We also looked at the process of coding data to make it more understandable by computer software in preparation for analysis. Also learned to identify when a response is an error and should be edited, explain how to code qualitative and quantitative data, explain the purpose and construction of the codebook, and compare and contrast software used to code and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data. In this unit it continued to explore preparation of data for analysis, introduced to the processes of data cleaning and data modification, and the need for these two processes.

I also learnt about the data dictionary and its place in the process. This unit focused on data preparation and presentation. This involves editing and coding data, centering and cleaning data and displaying data for analysis. I learnt that quality control is very important throughout preparation of data for analysis, which is why data should be edited and cleaned at the respective stages in the process. Also learnt that data may be more difficult to analyze and interpret unless it is appropriately displayed in a visual form. Having completed the preparation for data analysis, I am now ready to analyze the data.

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Data Analysis

In this unit I explored the basic qualitative data analysis process which consists of noticing things, collecting things and thinking about things. I also learnt about various processes involved in qualitative data analysis and some of the techniques that the researcher may use and learnt the importance of the researcher as a data analysis tool, even when using data analysis software.  I was able to describe processes involved in analyzing qualitative data, analyze qualitative data using appropriate data analysis techniques,  distinguish between the roles of the researcher and software programs in the analysis of qualitative data. I was introduced to inferential data analysis, but also focused on the two branches of descriptive data analysis univariate analysis and bivariate analysis.  I also learnt how to determine frequency, central tendency, dispersion and correlation of quantitative data. And I also explored basic inferential data analysis. This unit taught about the use of estimation statistics and hypothesis testing statistics to make inferences from a sample about a population.

In this unit it focused on equipping with the competencies needed to analyze qualitative data using univariate and bivariate analyses. It also analyzes quantitative data using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. After this unit I was able research, study and produce an accompanying report that can be submitted to a business enterprise.

At the end of this unit there were activities to be done to test your level of understanding about what was taught in this unit.