Business Research

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Business Research

• IBC464
• International College

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1 Introduction to Research

• 1.1What is research?
• Research is the process of finding solutions to a
  problem after a thorough study and analysis of
  the situational factors.
• http//www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit01/infoage01
  _03.phtml
• http//www.google.co.th/search?hlthdeflenqdef
  ineresearchsaXoiglossary_definitioncttitle

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1.2.What is business research?

• Research provides the needed information that
  guides managers to make informed decisions to
  successfully deal with problems.
• The information provided could be the result of a
  careful analysis of data gathered firsthand or of
  data that are already available (in the company).

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1.3.Types of Business research.

• 1.Applied research
• Is to solve a current problem faced by the
  manager in the work setting,demanding a timely
  solution.
• 2.Basic research (fundamental, pure)
• Is to generate a body of knowledge by trying to
  comprehend how certain problems that occur in
  organizations can be solved.
• The findings of such research contribute to the
  building of knowledge in the various functional
  areas of business.

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1.4. Why is it important for managers to know
about research?

• Solve problems
• Decision making tool
• Competition
• Risk
• Investment
• Hire researchers and consultants more effectively

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2 Scientific Investigation

• 1 Observation
• 2 Identification of problem area
• 3 Theoretical framework
• 4 Hypotheses
• 5 Research design
• 6 Data collection
• 7 Data analysis
• 8 Data interpretation
• 9 Implementation

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The seven-step process in the Hypothetico-Deductiv
e method

• 1 Observation
• 2 Problem identification
• preliminary information gathering
• 3 Theoretical framework
• theory formulation
• 4 Hypothesizing
• 5 Research design
• further scientific data collection
• 6 logical analysis
• 7 Deduction

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The seven-step process

• problem statement is a clear, precise, and
  succinct statement of the question or issue that
  is to be investigated with the goal of finding an
  answer or solution.
• Theoretical framework is the foundation on which
  the entire research project is based.It is
  logically developed,described,and elaborated
  network of associations among the variables
  relevant to the problem situation.
• A hypothesis is a tentative statement that
  proposes a possible explanation to some
  phenomenon or event. A useful hypothesis is a
  testable statement which may include a
  prediction. A hypotheses should not be confused
  with a theory.
• Data analysis the data gathered are
  statistically analyzed to see if the hypotheses
  that were generated have been supported.
• Measurement is the process observing and
  recording the observations that are collected as
  part of a research effort.
• Deduction is the process of arriving at
  conclusions by interpreting the meaning of the
  data analysis results.

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Problem Formulation

• "Well begun is half done" --Aristotle, quoting an
  old proverb
• Where do research topics come from?
• The idea for a research project?
• one of the most common sources of research ideas
  is the experience of practical problems in the
  field?
• The Literature Review

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Levels of Measurement
http//www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/design.php

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The Research Cycle

• The Research Cycle
• http//questioning.org/rcycle.html
• QUESTIONING
• PLANNING
• GATHERING
• SORTING SIFTING
• SYNTHESIZING
• EVALUATING
• REPORTING
• http//questioning.org/module/cycle.html
• Research Project?
• http//www.ri.net/schools/East_Greenwich/research.
  html

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Information needs in business

• Almost every organization has to engage in
  research at some level to stay competitive.
• Companies gather data both from within and
  outside the organization.
• The methods used to gather,analyze,and synthesize
  information from the external and internal
  environments are becoming increasingly
  sophisticated to the immense scope of computer
  technology.

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Computer Technology and Business

• ICT
• Information
• Communication
• Technology
• http//tutor2u.net/business/ict/intro_what_is_ict.
  htm

http//www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/impl
ications/0moralandsocialissuesrev1.shtml
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The research process

• 1 Observation
• 2 Data gathering
• 3 Problem definition
• 4 Theoretical framework (variables identified)
• 5 Hypotheses
• 6 Research design
• 7 Data collection,analysis,interpretation
• 8 Deduction
• 9 Report writing
• 10 Report presentation
• 11 Managerial decision making

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Research design

• Purpose of the study
• Exploratory study
• Is undertaken when no information is available on
  how similar problems or research issues have been
  solved in the past
• Descriptive study
• Is to able to describe the characteristics of the
  variables of interest in a situation.
• Hypotheses testing
• Is undertaken to explain the variance in the
  dependent variable or to predict organizational
  outcomes.
• Case studies
• Research design can be thought of as the
  structure of research -- it is the "glue" that
  holds all of the elements in a research project
  together

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Measurement

• The rating scale
• Have several response catagories
• Likert scale is designed o exermine how strongly
  subject agree or disagree with statements on a
  5-point scale
• Ranking scale
• Are used to tap preferences between two or more
  objects or items
• Goodness of measure reliability,validity

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Data collection methods

• Data can be collected in a variety ways ,data
  sources can be primary or secondary.
• Data collection methods such as
• interview(face-to-face,telephone,computer-assisted
  interviews),
• Questionaires
• Observation
• Motivational techniques

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Sampling

• A sample is a subset of the population.
• Sample is the process of selecting a sufficient
  number of elements from the population.
• Studying a sample rather the entire population is
  sometimes to lead to more reliable results,
  mostly because fatigue is reduced,resulting in
  fewer errors on collection data. (time,
  cost,human resources)
• Surveys are useful and powerful in finding
  answers to research question but if data are not
  collected from the people or objects that can
  provide the correct answers to solve the
  problem, the survey will be in vain.

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Data Analysis and Interpretation

• The data analysis involves three major steps,
  done in roughly this order
• Cleaning and organizing the data for analysis
  (Data Preparation)
• Describing the data (Descriptive Statistics)
• http//www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/statdesc.p
  hp
• Testing Hypotheses and Models (Inferential
  Statistics)

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Descriptive Statistics

• Descriptive statistics
• provide simple summaries about the sample and the
  measures.
• Central Tendency. The central tendency of a
  distribution is an estimate of the "center" of a
  distribution of values. There are three major
  types of estimates of central tendency
• Mean is the most common-used measure of data
  tendency.average.
• Median is the middle value , when the data
  is arranged in numerical order. 
• Mode is the value ( number) that appears the
  most.
• Dispersion (Range, Standard Diviation)refers to
  the spread of the values around the central
  tendency
• Inferential statistics
• t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Analysis
  of Covariance (ANCOVA), regression analysis,
  Correlation is a measure of the relation between
  two or more variables.
• we use inferential statistics to make judgments
  of the probability that an observed difference
  between groups. Thus, we use inferential
  statistics to make inferences from our data to
  more general conditions
• we use descriptive statistics simply to describe
  what's going on in our data.

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Statistics methods

• Central tendency
• Exercise
• http//www.quia.com/rr/51667.html
• http//www.regentsprep.org/Regents/Math/mean/Pmeas
  ure.htm
• http//www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/grizzly/432/
  Research.htm
• http//www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/statdesc.p
  hp

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The Research Report

• Researh proposal
• Research report
• Research presentation

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Research report articles vary in how they are
organized,

• Abstract - Brief summary of the contents of the
  article
• Introduction - A explanation of the purpose of
  the study, a statement of the research
  question(s) the study intends to address
• Literature review - A critical assessment of the
  work done so far on this topic, to show how the
  current study relates to what has already been
  done
• Methods - How the study was carried out (e.g.
  instruments or equipment, procedures, methods to
  gather and analyze data)
• Results - What was found in the course of the
  study
• Discussion - What do the results mean
• Conclusion - State the conclusions and
  implications of the results, and discuss how it
  relates to the work reviewed in the literature
  review also, point to directions for further
  work in the area
• http//www.wesleyan.edu/libr/tut/litrev/thelitrev.
  html

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Research Proposal

• Title Page
• Abstract (on a separate single page)
• The Body (no page breaks between sections in the
  body)
• Introduction (2-3 pages)
• Methods (7-10 pages)
• Sample (1 page)
• Measures (2-3 pages)
• Design (2-3 pages)
• Procedures (2-3 pages)
• Results (2-3 pages)
• Conclusions (1-2 pages)
• References
• Tables (one to a page)
• Figures (one to a page)
• Appendices
• Sample Paper http//www.socialresearchmethods.net
  /kb/sampaper.php
• http//www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/guideeleme
  nts.php

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Student Presentation

• http//blog.spu.ac.th/readmore/2008/04/22/entry-2
  
• http//blog.spu.ac.th/readmore/gallery/394
• http//dekkid.blogspot.com/search?qbusinessresea
  rch

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Question?

• How can you solve business problem?
• Why do you need to know how to write the research
  proposal?
• Do you understand the research process?
• Do you know why do you have to identify problem
  statement clearly before doing research?
• Do you know why sampling and statistics are
  important to the research result?
• Why do you have to identify the limitation of
  your study?
• Why the research report and presentation are
  important?
• Do you know how to apply the steps of the
  research process ?

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Questions

• 1.If you want to set up a coffee shop near the
  university and school, what is your research
  topic?
• 2.Identify the problem statement.
• 3.Identify the objectives
• 4.The hypotheses
• 5. The research methodology.
• 6. The examples of the questionaire?