Summary Research Methods for Business Students

A snapshot of the summary - Research Methods for Business Students Author: M N K Saunders Adrian Thornhill Philip Lewis ISBN: 9781292208787

• 1 Choosing a research topic and developing your research proposal

• What is a clearly defined research question? And what is most likely the first word of a research question?

  A clearly defined research question expresses what your research is about and will become the focal point of your research project.
  
  It is most likely to start with 'What', 'When', 'Where', 'Who', 'Why', or 'How'.
  
  It is the key question that your research will address.
• What is the difference between method and methodology ?

  - Method = The techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyse research data, including for example questionnaires, observation, interviews, and statistical and non-statistical techniques.
  
  - Methodology =  The theory of how research should be undertaken, including the theoretical and philosophical assumptions upon which research is based and the implications of these for the method or methods adopted.
• 'Research' is all around us. Give some exemples of where in daily life we meet the word 'research'.

  - in a debate about the findings of a recent poll of people’s opinions
  
  - Politicians often justify their policy decisions on the basis of ‘research’  
  
  - Newspapers report the findings of academics’ research
  
  - Documentary programmes tell us about ‘research findings’
  
  - Advertisers may highlight the ‘results of research’
• What is a research aim?

  A research aim is a brief statement of the purpose of the research project.
• What is theory? (as in text)

  Theory is a systematric body of knowledge grounded in empirical evidence which can be used for explanatory or predictive purposes.
• What is the adductive research approach about?

  It moves back and forth, combining deduction and induction.
• What are the three types of research?

  • Applied research; direct and immediate relevance to practitioners
    
  • Scientific research; involves the systematic observation/experimentation of phenomena
  • Information gathering
• What are the types of research objectives?

  • Exploratory research; to gain insight into a topic (e.g. What is known about 'organic labeling'?)
    
  • Descriptive research; to gain an accurate profile of a situation (e.g. What are the current sales of the 'pure & honest' brand?)
  • Explanatory research; to establish a causal relationship (e.g. Which factors affect sales of the 'pure & honest' brand?)
• What research objective do we use to establish a causal relationship?

  Then you conduct explanatory research (this implies relationships between concepts)
• Name the two types of theoretical contribution, and give a brief explanation?

  • Middle-range theories: lack the capacity to change the way in which we think about the world but are nonetheless of significance.
    
  • Substantive theories: restricted to a particular time, research setting, group or population or problem, may lead to middle-range theories.