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Summary Saunders et al Research Methods for Business Students Business Research Methods (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien)

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1.1 Introduction This book teaches the different steps one should take when conducting business and management research. It will help you to undertake aresearch project by providing a range of approaches, strategies, techniques and procedures. Throughout this book the term methods andmethodology will be used. However some may think these terms refer to the same thing, they actually have different meanings. The term‘methods’ refers to techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyze data. While ‘methodology’ refers to the theory of how research shouldbe undertaken. 1.2 What is research? People conduct research to systematically investigate things in order to enhance their knowledge, but research is not merely collecting data.Research is conducted when:  Data are collected systematically  Data are interpreted systematically  There is a clear goal: to discover new findings

In order to systematically conduct research based on logical relationships, a researcher must provide an explanation of the methods used to collectdata, prove why the results are meaningful and outline any limitations to the research. The goal of research is not only to explain, describe,criticize, understand or analyze something, but also to simply find a clear answer to a specific problem. 1.3 The nature of business and management research Management research is different from other kinds of research because it is transdisciplinary (multiple studies are involved with it) and it is adesign science. Moreover, it has to be theoretically and methodologically accurate, while at the same time being of practical relevance in thebusiness world. The researcher Michael Gibbons has introduced 3 modes of knowledge creation:  Mode 1 – creating fundamental knowledge  Mode 2 – creating practical relevant knowledge, with emphasis on collaboration  Mode 3 – creating knowledge that is mainly relevant to the human condition Research that only emphasizes Mode 1 ways of creating knowledge which only focuses on understanding business and management processes andtheir outcomes is called basic, fundamental or pure research. Another type of research is called applied research where the emphasis is more on Mode 2. In this case research is only being conducted direct relevance to managers and is presented in ways these managers can understand and act upon. Pure and applied research are two extremes, in order to successfully conduct business and management research there has to be a balance between the theoretical (Mode 1) and practical (Mode 2) part of research. Figure 1.1 p.11 1.4 The research process When doing research on needs to go through several stages, usually involving: formulating and clarifying

the research topic, reviewing the literature, designing the research, collecting the data, analysing the data and finally the writing. However, it is not always necessary to pass through these stages one at a time. More frequently the stages in a research process will cross-refer to other stages, meaning that there is no linear line in the research process. Therefore it’s important to have a strong research topic and to revise ideas many times. See figure 1.2 in the book on p 14. 2.2 Characteristics of a good research topic Before generating ideas for a research topic it is always useful to address the assessment criteria. The topic of research should be something that really excites the researcher and it should lie within his capabilities. These capabilities depend on constraints on time and financial resources, possession of the necessary skills and access to the relevant data. Moreover, it is useful for a researcher to have knowledge of the literature eassociated with the topic and to be able to provide bright insights. It is important to have a symmetry of potential outcomes, which means that the result will have to be of similar value whatever you find out. If thisis not the case there is a chance you find an answer of little importance. Also consider your career goals, consider how this research could be usefulin your future career. 2.3 Generating and refining research ideas There are many different techniques that can be used to generate research ideas. They can be divided into those techniques that involve rationalthinking…:  Examine own strengths and interests, choose a topic in which you are likely to do well  Explore your university staff research interests  Analyse past project titles of your university such as dissertations (projects from undergraduates) and theses (projects made by postgraduates)  Discuss with colleagues, friends or university tutors  Search through literature and media (articles in journals, books, reports). Review articles in particular, since they contain a lot of information about a specific topic and can therefore provide you with many ideas and those that are more based on creative thinking:  Noting ideas down in a notebook  Exploring preferences using past projects (see page 28 to know how)  Brainstorming  Exploring relevance of an idea to business using the literature, articles may be based on abstract ideas (conceptual thinking) or on empirical studies (collected and analysed data)Most often it is a combinations of these two ways of thinking that leads to a good research idea. Refining Ideas – There exist different techniques for refining research techniques, one of which is the Delphi technique. This approach requires a group of people who are involved with or share the same interest in the research idea to generate and pick a more specific research idea. Another way to refine a research idea is

to is to turn it into a research question before turning it into a research project. This is called preliminary inquiry. Integrating Ideas – The integration of the ideas from the techniques is an important part of a research project. This process includes ‘working upand narrowing down’, which means that each research idea needs to be classified into its area, its field, and ultimately the precise aspect intowhich one is interested. 2.4 The transformation from research idea to research project Writing research questions - It is very important to define a clear research question at the beginning of the research process. These may be:  Descriptive – question usually starts with ‘When’, ‘What’, ‘Who’, ‘Where’, or ‘How’  Evaluative – question may start with ‘How effective…’ or ‘To what extent….’  Explanatory – question mainly starts with ‘Why’ or has this word in it Do not make the research question too simple or too difficult to answer. The ‘Goldilocks test’ may be helpful to determine if a question is too big(when it demands too many resources), too small (provides insufficient data), too hot (when it is a sensitive subject) or ‘just right’. It is also essential for a research question to provide new insights. Writing research objectives – Research questions can be used either to produce more detailed investigative questions or as a starting point for research objectives. Writing objectives is more generally accepted as a way to specify sense and direction in a research project than research questions. This is because they are more precise in displaying what one would like to make clear. Research objections operationalize the research question, which means that they show the steps that are required to take to answer it. What is theory and why is it important? – Theory is concerned with causality. This means that it regards the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. For example, theory explains why and how a promotion influences employee’s behaviour. Logical reasoning is essential hereto explain in a clear way why this is the case. The role of theory is to explain the relationship between variables and to make predictions aboutpossible new outcomes. Advising on how to take research in a certain way (Variable 1) is based on the theory that this will eventually create effective results (Yield B). By undertaking research it is possible to collect data with which new theories could be developed. A research project is designed to either test a theory or to develop a theory. When someone is taking a clear theoretical standpoint and wishes totest this through the collection of data one is using a deductive approach. An inductive approach is used when someone builds a theory from thecollected and analysed data. There exist three kinds of theories:

 Grand theories – Newton’s gravity theory, Darwin’s evolution theory etc.

 Middle range theories – these are significant, but they don’t change the way in which we think like grand theories do  Substantive theories – focused on a particular, setting, group, or time theories 2.5 Writing a research outline The research proposal is a structured outline of a research project. Making a research proposal demands that you think through what you want todo and why. It helps you to guide the project through all of its stages. When producing a proposal think of these general criteria:  Research project needs to be coherent, which means that all different components of the project need to be in relationship with each other. It needs to be feasible as well. This means that the project should be possible to achieve. Structure of a research proposal Title – This should summarise the research questionBackground – This is an introduction for the reader to the problem or issue, it gives answers to the questions ‘what is going to be done’ and ‘for what purpose?’. The background also shows the relationship between a theory and a particular context and it should demonstrate the relationship between the research and what has been done before in this subject area. Research question and objectives - the background should eventually lead to a statement of the research questions and objectives and the observable outcomes. Method – This is the longest section and reveals how there search will be conducted. It consists of two parts: Research design and data collection. Research design is an overall overview of the chosen method and provides the reason for choosing this method. Here you will explain the choice for a certain research strategy and determine an appropriate time frame for the project. The section ‘data collection’ will specific how and where the data will be collected and will explain the various analysis techniques that will be used during the research. Timescale – In this section you will divide the research into different stages and explain how much time each stage will approximately take. Resources – In this facet of the proposal certain resource categories such as finance, data access and equipment will betaken into consideration. This section will also include the expenses that may be involved with these categories. References – This section consists of the literature sources to which you have referred to.

3.1 What is a literature review? A literature review is a review in which one makes reasoned judgements about the value of pieces of literature. When doingthis, it is necessary to organise valuable ideas and findings. Thereare two kinds of reviews. The first kind of review goes along withthe initial search for research ideas, because that’s when youbrowse through pieces of work and judge which ones arerelevant and which ones are not. The second kind of reviews arereferred to as critical reviews. To be able to show the significanceof a research project it is necessary to understand the subjectfield and its concepts, ideas and key theories. One is ‘criticallyreviewing literature’ when one chooses those pieces of literaturethat are relevant to the research. 3.2 Critical review A critical review should be a constructively analysis that critically develops a transparent argument about what the chosen literature tells you abouta research question. It should not simply summarize what a piece of literature is about. Rather, it is necessary to evaluate what is significant to theresearch project and what is not. The goal of a critical review – Reviewing literature critically enables you to generate the foundation on which a research is based. The exact goal ofreading literature depends on the approach one is wishing to use in a research. A deductive approach is when you develop a theoretical orconceptual framework which you afterwards

test using data. An inductive approach is when one analyses the collected data to subsequentlydevelop theories from them and relate them to the literature. The difference with an inductive approach is that you don’t start with predeterminedtheories and conceptual frameworks. There are three ways of using literature:1. Use literature in the initial stages of a research, when making research proposal2. Use literature to provide the theoretical framework and context3. To help place research findings within the wider body of knowledgeWhen a critical review is successful it will provide new insights about a subject area that no one has ever thought about. It is necessary to showhow the new findings and developed theories relate to other literature about your subject to demonstrate that you are familiar with what hasalready been said about the subject. Adopting a critical view of your reading – In order to read effectively it is necessary to master various skills, which include:Previewing: Browsing the text to find out what its purposeAnnotating: Conducting an analogue with yourself, the author and the issues at stakeSummarising: Be able to explain/state the text in your own wordsComparing and contrasting: How has your thinking been altered by this reading?Use review questions: Questions which you ask yourself during reading which are linked to your research questions Content of a critical review – The critical review will eventually have to appear in a project report. It has to include an evaluation of the researchthat has already been done in the subject area, demonstrate and discuss the relationships between published research findings and refer to theliterature in which they were reported. Moreover, a critical review must present the key points and trends in a structured way and show therelationship with the research. By doing so the readers of a research project will have background knowledge to the research questions. Whenconsidering the content of a critical review one needs to:  Include the key academic theories within the chosen research area  Demonstrate that your knowledge of the chosen area is up to date  Through clear referencing, enable those reading your project report to find the original publications which you cite How to be ‘critical’ – Being critical means that one needs to make reasoned judgments about a particular text, by evaluating a problem with gooduse of language. This means that one ’s own critical stance needs to be based on clear arguments and references to the literature. Being criticalalso means making a clear and justified analysis of the key literature of a research project. The structure of the critical literature review – A literature review is a critical analysis and a description of what other writers have written. It ishelpful to address to a literature review as a discussion of how far existing literature goes in answering the chosen research questions. One shouldtherefore point out the limitations of the existing literature. It is also helpful to look at the way the review relates to the chosen researchobjectives. There are three common critical review structures:

 One single chapter  A series of chapters  Throughout the project report while tackling various issues Every project report should refer to the key issues from the literature in the discussion and conclusions. Don’t let the review become an uncritical listing of previous research! It is easy to be critical when constantly tries to compare or contrast different authors and their ideas. The review should be a funnel in which you: 1. Start at a general level and narrow it down to research questions and objectives 2. Provide a brief overview of key ideas and themes 3. Summarise, compare and contrast research of the key writers 4. Narrow down to highlight research most relevant to the research 5. Provide detailed findings and show how they are related to the literature 6. Highlight those aspects where your research is providing new insights 7. Lead the reader to subsequent sections of your project 3.3 Available literature sources The available literature sources can be divided into three categories: primary, secondary and tertiary sources (See Figure 3.3 on page 82). Primary literature First occurrence of a piece of work. Includes public sources as reports and documents, but also unpublished work such as lettersand memo’s. Most of the times this kind of literature is very detailed, but not easy to access, therefore it is sometimes referred to as greyliterature. Secondary literature Is aimed at a wider audience, easier to locate and better covered by tertiary literature. This includes books, journals andnewspapers. Tertiary literature Also called search tools, to locate primary and secondary literature. They include online search tools, databases, and dictionaries. Especially journals are a essential literature source for virtually any research, since they provide a researcher with information which focussed on his subject area. Nowadays it is easy to access journals via online databases. Refereed academic journals only publish articles which are evaluated by academics before their publication. These articles are therefore characterised by their quality and suitability. Professional journals are made for their members by various organisations. Their articles are usually more of practical nature than those of refereed academic journals.

3.4 Planning a literature search strategy If one starts his search for literature it is important to have clearly defined research questions, objectives and outline proposal. This preventsinformation overload. One should make a search strategy which includes:  The parameters of the search  The key words and search terms  The databases and search engines you’re going to use  The criteria to select relevant and useful studies Defining parameters - A way to start searching for parameters is to browse lecture notes /course textbooks and make notes for research question. Generating search terms – It is important to read articles from key authors as well as recent review articles in the area of research. This will helpgenerating key words. Recent review articles are sometimes also helpful to refine search terms, plus they will sometime refer to other work whichmay be relevant to your project. The identification of search terms is an essential part of planning a search for relevant literature. The definition ofsearch terms is: basic terms that describe research questions and objectives and shall be used to search the tertiary literature. Different techniquesfor generating search terms are: 1. Discussion 2. Initial reading, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks and thesauruses 3. Search on Google with ‘define: (enter term)’ 4. Brainstorming 5. Relevance trees: constructed after brainstorming - see box 3.11 on page 96

3.5 Conducting literature search While most it is very tempting to start a literature search with using a search engine such as Google, this must be handled with care, as theresearch project should be an academic piece of work and hence must utilise academic sources. Search should therefore be used to provide accessto academic literature. Conducting literature search can be done by:1. Using Tertiary literature sources2. Obtaining literature referenced in books and journal articles you already read3. Using Internet: see Table 3.4 and figure 3.34. Scanning and browsing secondary literature in the library 5. Searching the Internet

3.6 Obtaining and evaluating the literature Box 3.15 on page 108 displays a checklist of what should be done to evaluate the literature. 3.7 Recording literature It is important to make notes of the literature one has read, because it will help thinking ...