Chapter-1

Business research

Meaning of business research:

Research means a systematic investigation or activity to gain new knowledge of the already existing facts

Definitions of Research:

• “Research is an honest, exhaustive, intelligent searching for facts and their meanings or
implications with reference to a given problem. The product or findings of a given piece
of research should be an authentic, verifiable contribution to knowledge in the field
studied.”- P.M. Cook

Characteristics of Research

(i) Research is directed toward the solution of a problem.

(ii) Research requires expertise.

(iii) Research emphasizes the development of generalizations, principles, or theories that will be
helpful in predicting future occurrences.

(iv) Research is based upon observable experience or empirical evidences.

(v) Research demands accurate observation and description.

(vi) Research involves gathering new data from primary or first-hand sources or using existing
data for a new purpose.

(vii) Research is characterized by carefully designed procedures that apply rigorous analysis.

Definitions of Research Methods and Research Methodology:

Research Method:Research methods are the methods used for data collection in a research.

Research methodology: Research methodology explains the overarching theoretical and

philosophical frameworks which guide the research.

Characteristics of Research Methods and Research Methodology:

Content:

Research Methods: Research methods involve surveys, interviews, case studies, observation,
experiments, etc.
Research Methodology: Research methodology involves the theoretical frameworks and
learning of the various techniques that can be used in the conduct of research and the conduct
of tests, experiments, surveys and critical studies.

Aim:

Research Methods: Research methods aim at finding solutions to research problems.

Research Methodology: Research methodology aims at the employment of the correct

procedures to find out solutions.

Relationship:

Research Methods: Research methods are the end of any research.

Research Methodology: Research methodology is the beginning.

RESEARCH METHOD vs RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

BUSINESS RESEARCH
Business research covers a wide range of phenomena. For managers the purpose of research is
to fulfill their need for knowledge of the organization, the market, the economy, or another
area of uncertainty.

Objectives of business & management research

• Decision making

• project identification & implementation

• Policy formulation

• Environment analysis

• Market research

• Product development and innovation

• Corporate image building

Areas of business research

• Management research – to study managerial efficiency

• Production research- to introduce new product or production method

• Research in personnel management- to study about employees

• Research in financial management- to study about sources and uses of finance

• Accounting research- to improve accounting and reporting

• Marketing research – to meet changing needs of consumers

• Business policy research – to develop guideline for day to day functioning

RESEARCH PROCESS:

1. Formulation of Research Problem: At the very outset, the researcher must decide the
general area of interest or aspect of a subject matter that he would like to inquire into
and then research problem should be formulated.

2. Extensive Literature Survey: Once the problem is formulated the researcher should
undertake extensive literature survey connected with the problem. For this purpose, the
abstracting and indexing journals and published or unpublished bibliographies are the first
 place to go to academic journals, conference proceedings, government reports, books etc.
must be tapped depending on the nature of the problem.

3. Development of Working Hypothesis: After extensive literature survey, researcher should

state in clear terms the working hypothesis or hypotheses. Working hypothesis is
tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences. It’s very important or it provides the focal point for research.

4. Preparing the Research Design: After framing hypothesis we have to prepare a research
design i.e. we have to state the conceptual structure within which research would be
conducted. The preparation of such a design facilitates research to be as efficient as
possible yielding maximal information. In other words, the function of research design is
to provide for the collection of relevant evidence with optimum effort, time and
expenditure. But how all these can be achieved depends mainly on the research purpose

5. Determining Sample Design: A sample design is a definite plan determined before any
data is actually collected for obtaining a sample from a given population.in census inquiry
we involve a great deal of time, money and energy so it it not possible in practice under
many circumstances. Sample designs can be either probability or non-probability. With
probability samples each element has a known probability of being included in the sample
but the non-probability samples do not allow the researchers to determine this
probability

6. Collecting the Data: There are several ways of collecting the appropriate data which differ
considerably in context of cost, time and other resources at the disposal of the
researcher. Primary data can be collected either through experiment or through survey. In
case of survey, data can be collected by any one or more of the following ways; By
observation,

Through personal interview,

Through telephonic interviews,

By mailing of questionnaires or

Through schedules.

7. Execution of the Project: Execution of project is a very important step in the research
process. If the execution of the project proceeds on correct lines, the data to be collected
would be adequate and dependable .A careful watch should be kept for unanticipated factors in
order to keep the survey realistic as much as possible.

8. Analysis of Data: The analysis of data requires a number of closely related operations
such as establishment of categories, the application of these categories to raw data
through coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical inference. Analysis work after
tabulation is generally based on the computation of various percentages; coefficients etc.

9. Hypothesis Testing: After analyzing the data, the researcher is in a position to test the
hypothesis, if any, he had formulated earlier. Do the facts support the hypothesis or they
happen to be contrary? This is the usual question which is to be answered by applying
various tests like‘t’ test, ’F’ test etc. F test have been developed by statisticians for the
purpose .Hypothesis testing will result in either accepting the hypothesis or in rejecting it.

Identification and formulation of problem

RESEARCH PROBLEM
• A research problem is a question that a researcher wants to answer, or a problem that
a researcher wants to solve.

The defined research problem might be classified in to two types

1. Simple problems: are those that are easy to understand and the components and identified
relationships are linear, e.g., the relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.

2. Complex problems: on the other hand, deal with the interrelationship between
multiple variables, sie.g., the impact of social networking sites like Facebook and online
shopping sites
 Management Decision Problem vs Management Research Problem

Steps in Problem Identification

1. Statement of the problem in general way: Define the problem in general way

2. Ex: Does negative news interest people more than positive news?

3. Narrow it down by rethinking over the problem. (Consider feasibility of problem)

4. Ex: Does negative news such as robbery, corruption interest people more than positive
news like country economic growth ?

2. Understanding the nature of the problem:

Best way to understand the problem is through discussion.

Discussion with the people who has good knowledge about that problem.

3.surverying the available literature

Survey all the research which are already undertaken in related problem.

It helps to:

Narrow down the problem

To identify research gaps

Gives new ideas in related are

4. Developing the idea through discussion:

 Discussion always produces useful information.

 Various new ideas can be developed through such an exercise.

5. Rephrasing the research problem:

Rephrase the research problem in to operational term.

Initial research question: Why is productivity in Japan so much higher than in India?

After, the problem has understood, available literature has taken place and discussion
over the problem has taken place, the question has rephrased.

COMPONENTS OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

 There must be an individual or a group which has some difficulty.

 There must be some objective(s) to be attained at. If one wants nothing, one
cannot have a problem.

 There must be alternative means (or the courses of action) for attaining the
objectives one wish to attain. This means that there must be at least two means
available to a researcher for if he has no choice of means, he cannot have a
problem.

 There must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the
selection of alternatives. This means that research must answer the question
concerning the relative efficiency of the possible alternatives.

 Unit of Analysis

 Research variables

 Independent variables

 Dependent variables

 Moderating variables

 Extraneous variables
Steps involved in preparing business research plan/proposal

Step 1: Identification of Problem/Opportunity: The research process starts with the

identification of the issues that needs to be researched. In case of basic research conducted by
academics an area of interest or some new area is identified for purpose of research.

Step 2: Preliminary collection of literature/ consultation: After the identification of problem,

the next Once the problem is identified, the next step is to preliminary collection of relevant
data/literature that can help develop an initial understanding of the problem; in case of
business problems/opportunity consultation can help in comprehending the situation. In
academic research this stage can help in initial understanding of the issue to be researched,
plus identification of value it has in the field of business, gaps in existing research, contribution
the research can make.

Step 3: Statement of Problem

Although other authors haven’t included this step at an explicit step, but I find it important
to clearly state the problem, delineating the problem with a statement can provide rich
benefits. It can help in developing clear understanding of what issue needs to be resolved, it
is helpful in clearly laying out the objectives, attainment of those would lead to the solution
of problem. A problem statement is a clear, precise, and succinct statement of question or
issue that is to be investigated with the goal of finding an answer or solution (Sekaran, 2003).

Step 4: Detailed Literature Review literature:

Review helps in gaining understanding of variables, it can help in identifying the research
design that may be followed for a particular study, the analytical techniques, sample size
and sampling technique. A good literature review identifies the significance of factors,
evaluates the strength and weaknesses of a particular issue concern, compares and
contrasts information, gives reasons for selecting a particular factor, links pieces of
information and draws appropriate conclusion. Literature review would have helped in
gaining detailed understanding of variables, their characteristics, their effects or how are
they affected..

A theoretical framework should have the following ingredients

1. Identification of variables considered relevant to the study

2. Discussing on the direction of relationship between two or more variables
3. How and why a certain relationship is expected, these must be supported by previous
research findings.
4. A schematic diagram to understand the theoretical relationships.

Step 5: Research Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an educated guess; it is referred to as an educated guess because it is based

on the theoretical foundation laid down in the literature review and theoretical framework.
A good hypothesis must be predictable and testable. After variables are identified, and
relationship among them is established, we now need to establish if the relationships hold
true or not. This starts with the formulation of hypothesis. A hypothesis is defined as a
logically conjectured relationship between two or more variables expressed in the form of a
testable statement (Sekaran, 2003). The book provides variety of examples on hypothesis,
each of the tests in the book is preceded by a hypothesis that is then tested using an
appropriate statistical technique.

Step 6: Research Methodology

During this step the researcher identifies how the study will be conducted. It is important
that this section should have ample information for the reader, so that if he/she wants to
replicate the study in their settings they can do it with ease (Huck, 2004). There are few
questions that a researcher needs to answer which drafting research methodology.

1. What is the Unit of Analysis?

2. Who are the subjects in the research study?
3. What is the sampling technique for the study?
4. What is the sample size for the study?
5. What statistical techniques would be used for testing hypothesis?
6. Which instrument will be used for data collection?

Step 7: Data Collection

The next step after formulating the research methodology is the collection of data. Data can
be collected through variety of means that includes telephonic interviews, personally
administered questionnaire, mail questionnaires, face to face interview, and observation. A
few issues highlighted in data collection include timing of data collection, individual
collecting the data, and cost associated with the collection of data.

Step 8: Data Entry and Screening & Cleansing of Data and

This steps starts with entering the data into any statistical software that can help in timely
analysis of data. This is discussed in detail in chapter 5. Once the data is entered it is
important to screen and clean the data for any anomalies, failure to do so will result in
incorrect results. For instance you record pay for the respondents, and each one answers
between 10000 100000, but by mistake you enter 1000 instead of 10000, this will result in
wrong interpretation of results. How to do it is discussed in detail in chapter 6.

Step 9: Data Analysis with Appropriate statistical techniques

Once the data is entered and cleaned, the next step is pursuing appropriate statistical
analysis based on the research hypothesis. There are number of techniques that are applied
to analyze the data. In order to understand if there exist differences between groups
(depending on the number of groups) we can use tests to compare groups (T-Tests, ANOVA),
to investigate relationship between variables we can use correlation and for prediction we
can use Linear, Multiple and Logistic Regression. All these techniques are discussed in
greater detail in later chapters. One of the problems with researchers is that they do not
know what test to apply in what situation, this has been taken care off by identifying the
scenarios in which the test are applicable, plus detailed examples in which the test is
appropriate.

Step 10: Interpretation/Presentation of Results

Once the data is analyzed and you have the results on screen, the next step is to interpret the
results, followed by its presentation.one of the key issues most research face is the
interpretation of the results. The researcher has to determine if the results are significant,
does the hypothesis hold true, and then present the results in a meaning full easy to
understand manner. In order to facilitate the research, this book after running each and
every test, discusses in detail the interpretation of the results and how shall they be
presented in the thesis.

Step 11: Discussion

The Discussion section is a culmination of the research and the most important part of the
paper, but one that is mostly ignored. Most newbies in research simply interpret the results
but do not discuss the findings. Discussion involves reviewing the research results in light of
the existing research. This section involves comparing and contrasting the research results
with previous research studies, and it is seen if the results are similar or contradictory to old
studies. If they are contradictory the researcher needs to look for reasons that are causing
this change.

Step 12: Conclusion

Final step in a research study is providing a Conclusion. It provides an overview of the entire
thesis while highlighting the focal points of the discussion. This section provides the findings
of the research in a logical form. The conclusions can cite references where they concur with
results from other researchers. You could summarize the main points of research, but do not
just list points, try making it interesting but providing an overall picture that helps in
developing understanding of your work. Conclude your paper by restating what you have
found, acknowledge that there is more to be explored on the topic and briefly describe the
issues that remain.

Types of Research Proposals

Basically, the proposals formulated could be of three types:

• Academic research proposals: The academic research proposal might be generated by

students or academicians pursuing the study for fundamental academic research. These kind of
studies need extensive search of past studies and data on the topic of study.
• Internal organizational proposal: The internal organizational proposals are conducted within
an organization and are submitted to the management for approval and funding. They are of a
highly focused nature and are oriented towards solving immediate problems

• External organizational proposals: External organizational proposals have the base or origin
within the company, but the scope and nature of the study requires a more structured and
objective research

RESEARCH APPROACH

• Deductive approach: tests the validity of assumptions (or theories/hypotheses) in

hand, whereas inductive approach contributes to the emergence of new theories and
generalizations.
• Adductive research:, on the other hand, starts with ‘surprising facts’ or ‘puzzles’ and
the research process is devoted their explanation
• Inductive Research Approach:Alternatively, inductive approach does not involve
formulation of hypotheses. It starts with research questions and aims and objectives
that need to be achieved during the research process.

Types of Business Research

BASED ON APPLICATION

Applied Research: Applied research refers to scientific study and research that seeks to
solve practical problems. Applied research is used to find solutions to everyday problems,
cure illness, and develop innovative technologies, rather than to acquire knowledge for
knowledge's sake.

BASIC RESEARCH:

Basic (aka fundamental or pure ) research is driven by a scientist's curiosity or interest in a

scientific question. The main motivation is to expand man's knowledge, not to create or
invent something. There is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result from
basic research.

based on the nature of enquiry or objectives

1. Exploratory research: As the name suggests, exploratory research is used to gain a

deeper understanding of the issue or problem that is troubling the decision maker. The
idea is to provide direction to subsequent and more structured and rigorous research.

Types and methodologies of Exploratory research

 Primary research methods
Primary research: is information gathered directly from the subject. It can be through a
group of people or even an individual. Such a research can be carried out directly by the
researcher himself or can employ a third party to conduct it on their behalf. Primary research is
specifically carried out to explore a certain problem which requires an in-depth study.

 Surveys/polls: Surveys/polls are used to gather information from a predefined group of

respondents. It is one of the most important quantitative method. Various types of
surveys or polls can be used to explore opinions, trends, etc. With the advancement in
technology, surveys can now be sent online and can be very easy to access. For instance, use
of a survey app through tablets, laptops or even mobile phones. This information is also
available to the researcher in real time as well. Nowadays, most organisations offer short
length surveys and rewards to respondents, in order to achieve higher response rates.
 Interviews: While you may get a lot of information from public sources, but sometimes an in
person interview can give in-depth information on the subject being studied. Such a research
is a qualitative research method. An interview with a subject matter expert can give you
meaningful insights that a generalized public source won’t be able to provide. Interviews are
carried out in person or on telephone which have open-ended questions to get meaningful
information about the topic.
 Focus groups: Focus group is yet another widely used method in exploratory research. In
such a method a group of people is chosen and are allowed to express their insights on the
topic that is being studied. Although, it is important to make sure that while choosing the
individuals in a focus group they should have a common background and have comparable
experiences.
 Observations: Observation research can be qualitative observation or quantitative
observation. Such a research is done to observe a person and draw the finding from their
reaction to certain parameters. In such a research, there is no direct interaction with the
subject.
Secondary research methods
Secondary research is gathering information from previously published primary research. In
such a research you gather information from sources likes case studies, magazines,
newspapers, books, etc.

 Online research: In today’s world, this is one of the fastest way to gather information on any
topic. A lot of data is readily available on the internet and the researcher can download it
whenever he needs it. An important aspect to be noted for such a research is
the genuineness and authenticity of the source websites that the researcher is gathering the
information from.
For example: A researcher needs to find out what is the percentage of people that prefer a
specific brand phone. The researcher just enters the information he needs in a search engine
and gets multiple links with related information and statistics.
 Literature research: Literature research is one of the most inexpensive method used for
discovering a hypothesis. There is tremendous amount of information available in libraries,
online sources, or even commercial databases. Sources can include newspapers, magazines,
books from library, documents from government agencies, specific topic related articles,
literature, Annual reports, published statistics from research organisations and so on.
However, a few things have to be kept in mind while researching from these sources.
Government agencies have authentic information but sometimes may come with a nominal
cost. Also, research from educational institutions is generally overlooked, but in fact
educational institutions carry out more number of research than any other entities.

Furthermore, commercial sources provide information on major topics like political agendas,
demographics, financial information, market trends and information, etc.

For example: A company has low sales. It can be easily explored from available statistics and
market literature if the problem is market related or organisation related or if the topic being
studied is regarding financial situation of the country, then research data can be accessed
through government documents or commercial sources.

 Case study research: Case study research can help a researcher with finding more
information through carefully analyzing existing cases which have gone through a similar
problem. Such analysis are very important and critical especially in today’s business world.
The researcher just needs to make sure he analyses the case carefully in regards to all
the variables present in the previous case against his own case. It is very commonly used by
business organisations or social sciences sector or even in the health sector.
For example: A particular orthopedic surgeon has the highest success rate for performing knee
surgeries. A lot of other hospitals or doctors have taken up this case to understand and
benchmark the method in which this surgeon does the procedure to increase their success rate.

Exploratory research: Steps to conduct a research

 Identify the problem: A researcher identifies the subject of research and the problem is
addressed by carrying out multiple methods to answer the questions.
 Create the hypothesis: When the researcher has found out that there are no prior studies
and the problem is not precisely resolved, the researcher will create a hypothesis based on
the questions obtained while identifying the problem.
 Further research: Once the data has been obtained, the researcher will continue his study
through descriptive investigation. Qualitative methods are used to further study the subject
in detail and find out if the information is true or not
 2. Conclusive research: Conclusive research is carried out to test and validate the study
hypotheses. In contrast to exploratory research, these studies are more structured and
definite. The variables and constructs in the research are clearly defined.

Based on the nature of investigation required,

conclusive research can further be divided into the following types:

1. Descriptive research: short descriptive research deals with everything that can be counted
and studied, which has an impact of the lives of the people it deals with

Descriptive Research Methods

Observational Method: he observational method is the most effective method to conduct

descriptive research and both quantitative observation and qualitative observation are used in
this research method.

Quantitative observation is the objective collection of data which is primarily focused on

numbers and values – it suggests “associated to, of or depicted in terms of a quantity”. Results
of quantitative observation are derived using statistical and numerical analysis methods. It
implies observation of any entity that can be associated with a numeric value such as age,
shape, weight, volume, scale etc.

 Case Study Method

Case studies involve in-depth research and study of individuals or groups. Case studies lead to a
hypothesis and widen a further scope of studying a phenomenon. However, case studies should
not be used to determine cause and effect as they don’t have the capacity to make accurate
predictions because there could be a bias on the part of the researcher. The other reason why
case studies are not an accurate way of conducting descriptive research is because there could
be an atypical respondent in the research and describing them leads to poor generalizations
and move away from external validity.

 Survey Research
In survey research, respondents answer through surveys or questionnaires, or polls. They are a
popular market research tool to collect feedback from respondents. In order for a survey to
gather good quality data, it should have good survey questions, which should be a balanced mix
of open-ended questions and close ended-questions. The survey method can be conducting
online or offline which is makes it the go-to option for descriptive research where the sample
size is very large

2.Causal research: Causal research studies explore the effect of one thing on another and
more specifically, the effect of one variable on another.
 Research Design

A research design is simply the framework or plan for a study that is used as a guide in
collecting and analyzing the data. It is a blueprint that is followed in completing a study.
Research design is the blue print for collection measurement and analysis of data. Actually it is
a map that is usually developed to guide the research.

Definitions:

“Research design is a master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collection and
analyzing the needed information.”- William Zikmund

Purpose of a Research Design:

i) To minimize the expenditure

(ii) To facilitate the smooth scaling

(iii) To collect the relevant data and technique

(iv) To provide blue print for plans

(v) To provide an overview to other experts:

(vi) To provide a direction

Characteristics of Good Research Design

i) Objectivity

(ii) Reliability

(iii) Validity

(iv) Generalizability

(v) Adequate Information

Classification of Research Designs

Exploratory designs:, as stated earlier, are the simplest and most loosely structured
designs. As the name suggests, the basic objective of the study is to explore and obtain
clarity about the problem situation. It is flexible in its approach and mostly involves a
qualitative investigation. The sample size is not strictly representative and at times it might
only involve unstructured interviews with a couple of subject experts. The essential purpose
of the study is to:

• Define and understand the research problem to be investigated.

• Explore and evaluate the diverse and multiple research opportunities.

• Assist in the development and formulation of the research hypotheses.

• Define the variables and constructs under study.

• Identify the possible nature of relationships that might exist between the variables under
study.

• Explore the external factors and variables that might impact the research.

2.Secondary Resource Analysis: Secondary sources of data, as the name suggests, are data
in terms of the details of previously collected findings in facts and figures—which have been
authenticated and published. It is a fast and inexpensive way of collecting information. The
past details can sometimes point out to the researcher that his proposed research is
redundant and has already been established earlier. Secondly, the researcher might find
that a small but significant aspect of the concept has not been addressed and should be
studied.

3. Case Study Method: Another way of conducting an exploratory research is the case
study method. This requires an in-depth study and is focused on a single unit of analysis.
This unit could be an employee or a customer; an organization or a complete country
analysis. They are by their nature, generally, post-hoc studies and report those incidences
which might have occurred earlier. The scenario is reproduced based upon the secondary
information and a primary interview/discussion with those involved in the occurrence. Thus,
there might be an element of bias as the data, in most cases, becomes a judgmental
analysis rather than a simple recounting of events.

4. Expert Opinion Survey: At times, there might be a situation when the topic of a
research is such that there is no previous information available on it. In these cases, it is
advisable to seek help from experts who might be able to provide some valuable insights
based upon their experience in the field or with the concept. This approach of collecting
particulars from significant and knowledgeable people is referred to as the expert opinion
survey. This methodology might be formal and structured and is useful when authenticated
 or supported by a secondary/primary research or it might be fluid and unstructured and
might require an in-depth interviewing of the expert.

5.Focus Group Discussions: Another way to conduct a exploratory analysis is carry out
discussions with individuals associated with the problem under study. This technique,
though originally from sociology, is actively used in business research.

2. Descriptive Research Designs

As the name implies, the objective of descriptive research studies is to provide a

comprehensive and detailed explanation of the phenomena under study. The intended
objective might be to give a detailed sketch or profile of the respondent population being
studied.

A) Cross-sectional Studies: As the name suggests, cross-sectional studies involve a slice of

the population. Just as in scientific experiments one takes a cross-section of the leaf or
the cheek cells to study the cell structure under the microscope, similarly one takes a
current subdivision of the population and studies the nature of the relevant variables
being investigated
B) Longitudinal Studies: of time is termed as a longitudinal study design. A panel of
consumers specifically chosen to study their grocery purchase pattern is an example of
a longitudinal design. There are certain distinguishing features of the same

3, Experimental Designs: Experimental designs are conducted to infer causality. In an

experiment, a researcher actively manipulates one or more causal variables and measures their
effects on the dependent variables of interest. Since any changes in the dependent variable
may be caused by a number of other variables, the relationship between cause and effect often
tends to be probabilistic in nature.

Types of experimental designs

1. Pre-experimental designs: There are three designs under this – one short case study
where observation is taken after the application of treatment, one group pre test-post
test design where one observation is taken prior to the application of treatment and the
other one after the application of treatment, and static group comparison, where there
are two groups – experimental group and control group. The experiment group is
subjected to treatment and a post test measurement is taken. In the control group
measurement is taken at the time when it was done for experimental group. These do
not make use of any randomization procedures to control the extraneous variables.
Therefore, the internal validity of such designs is questionable.
 2. Quasi-experimental designs: In these designs the researcher can control when
measurements are taken and on whom they are taken. However, this design lacks
complete control of scheduling of treatment and also lacks the ability to randomize test
units’ exposure to treatments. As the experimental control is lacking, the possibility of
getting confounded results is very high. Therefore, the researchers should be aware of
what variables are not controlled and the effects of such variables should be
incorporated into the findings
3. True experimental designs: In these designs, researchers can randomly assign test
units and treatments to an experimental group. Here, the researcher is able to eliminate
the effect of extraneous variables from both the experimental and control group.
Randomization procedure allows the researcher the use of statistical techniques for
analyzing the experimental results.

4. Statistical designs: These designs allow for statistical control and analysis of
external variables. The main advantages of statistical design are the following:

• The effect of more than one level of independent variable on the dependent
variable can be manipulated.

• The effect of more than one independent variable can be examined.

• The effect of specific extraneous variable can be controlled.

Statistical design includes the following designs:

(i) Completely randomized design

(ii) Randomized block design
(iii) Factorial design

Errors Affecting Research Design

Exploratory research is conducted using focus group discussion, secondary data, analysis of
case study and expert opinion survey. It is quite likely that members of the focus group have
not been selected properly. Secondary data may not be free from errors (in fact, one needs to
evaluate the methodology used in collecting such a data). Also, the experts chosen for the
survey may not be experts in the field. As a matter of fact, getting an expert is very difficult
task. All these factors could lead to errors in the exploratory design.

In the descriptive design, the purpose is to describe a phenomenon. For this one could use a
structured questionnaire. It could always a happen that the respondents do not give correct
responses to some of the questions, thereby resulting in wrong information.
In the true experimental design and statistical design, the respondents are selected at random
which may not be the case in real life. Many a times, in actual business situation, the value
judgments play very important role in selecting the respondents. Further, there can always be
errors in observations.

TYPES OF ERROR

Analytical Research

Analytical research is a specific type of research that involves critical thinking skills and the
evaluation of facts and information relative to the research being conducted.

Some researchers conduct analytical research to find supporting evidence to current research
being done in order to make the work more reliable. Other researchers conduct analytical
research to form new ideas about the topic being studied. Analytical research is conducted in a
variety of ways including literary research, public opinion, scientific trials and Meta-analysis.

SUB-DIVISION OF ANALYTICAL RESEARCH

• Historical Research
• Philosophical Research
• Review
• Research Synthesis