LESSON 4

Chapter 5
THE RESEARCH
PROCESS

1
 Lesson 4.
Chapter 5. THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Steps 4 and 5: Theoretical Framework and Hypothesis Development

TOPIC DISCUSSED
 THE NEED FOR A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 VARIABLES (4 types)
 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND ITS FIVE BASIC
FEATURES
 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
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 THE NEED FOR A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

 A theoretical framework is a
conceptual model of how one
theorizes or makes logical
sense of the relationships
among the several factors
that have been identified as
important to the problem.
 This theory flows logically
from the documentation of
previous research in the
problem area.
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 THE NEED FOR A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 Testable hypotheses can be
developed to examine whether
the theory formulated is valid or
not.
• The hypothesized relationships
can thereafter be tested through
appropriate statistical analyses.
• By being able to test and
replicate the findings, we will
also have stronger conviction in
the rigor of our research.
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 THE NEED FOR A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 Since the theoretical framework offers the conceptual
foundation to proceed with the research, and since a
theoretical framework is none other than identifying
the network of relationships among the variables
considered important to the study of any given
problem situation, it is essential to understand what a
variable means and what the different types of
variables are.

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 VARIABLES
 A variable is anything that can take on differing
or varying values. The values can differ at
various times for the same object or person, or
at the same time for different objects or
persons.
• Examples of variables are production units,
absenteeism, and motivation.

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 VARIABLES
 Example 5.1
• Production units: One worker in the
manufacturing department may
produce one widget per minute, a
second might produce two per
minute, a third might produce five
per minute. It is also possible that
the same member could produce
one widget the first minute, and
five the next minute. In both cases,
the number of widgets produced
has taken on different values, and is
therefore a variable.
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 VARIABLES
 Example 5.2
• Absenteeism: Today three
members in the sales
department may be absent,
tomorrow six members may
not show up for work; the day
after, there may be no one
absent. The value can thus
theoretically range from “zero”
to “all” being absent, on the
absenteeism variable.

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 VARIABLES
 Example 5.3
• Motivation: The levels of motivation of
members to learn in the class or in a work
team might take on varying values ranging
from “very low” to “very high.”

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 VARIABLES
 Types of Variables
• Four main types of variables are discussed in this chapter:
1. The dependent variable
(also known as the criterion
variable).
2. The independent variable
(also known as the predictor
variable).
3. The moderating variable.
4. The intervening variable.
• Variables can be discrete (e.g., male/female) or
continuous (e.g., the age of an individual). 10
 VARIABLES
1. Dependent Variable
• The dependent variable is the variable of primary
interest to the researcher. The researcher‘s goal is to
understand and describe the dependent variable.
• An applied research wants
to increase the
performance of
organizational members in
the bank. The dependent
variable would be
employee performance.
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 Dependent Variable
 Example 5.4
• A manager is concerned that the sales of a new
product introduced after test marketing it do not meet
with his expectations. The dependent variable here is
sales. Since the sales of the product can vary—can be
low, medium, or high—it is a variable; since sales is the
main focus of interest to the manager, it is the
dependent variable.
 Example 5.5
• A basic researcher is interested in investigating the
debt-to-equity ratio of manufacturing companies in
southern California. Here the dependent variable is the
ratio of debt to equity. 12
 Dependent Variable
 Example 5.6
• A vice president is concerned that the employees are
not loyal to the organization, and in fact, seem to switch
their loyalty to other institutions. The dependent
variable in this case would be organizational loyalty.
• Here again, there is variance found in the levels of
organizational loyalty of employees. The V.P. might want
to know what accounts for the variance in the loyalty of
organizational members with a view to control it. If
he finds that increased pay levels would ensure their
loyalty and retention, he can then offer inducement to
employees by way of pay raises, which would help
control the variability in organizational loyalty and keep
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them in the organization.
 Dependent Variable
Now respond to Exercises 5.1 and 5.2
 Exercise 5.1
• An applied researcher wants to increase the
performance of organizational members in a
particular bank.
What would be the dependent variable in this case?

 Exercise 5.2
• A marketing manager wonders why the recent
advertisement strategy does not work.
What would be the dependent variable here?
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 VARIABLES
2. Independent Variable
• It is one that influences the dependent variable in
either a positive or negative way.
• When the independent variable is present, the
dependent variable is also present, and with each unit
of increase in the independent variable, there is an
increase or decrease in the dependent variable also.

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 Independent Variable
 Example 5.7
Research studies indicate that successful new product
development has an influence on the stock market price of
the company. That is, the more successful the new product
turns out to be, the higher will be the stock market price of
that firm. Therefore, the success of the new product is the
independent variable, and stock market price the
dependent variable. The degree of perceived success of
the new product developed will explain the variance in the
stock market price of the company. This relationship and
the labeling of the variables are diagrammed in Figure 5.1.
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 Independent Variable
 Figure 5.1
• Diagram of the relationship between the
independent variable (new product success)
and the dependent variable (stock market
price).

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 Independent Variable
Now do Exercises 5.3 and 5.4
List the variables in this and the next exercise, individually,
and label them as dependent or independent, explaining
why they are so labeled. Diagram the relationships.
 Exercise 5.3
• A manager believes that good supervision and training
would increase the production level of the workers.
 Exercise 5.4
• A consultant is of the opinion that much benefit would
accrue by buying and selling at the appropriate times in a
financial environment where the stocks are volatile.

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 VARIABLES
3. Moderating Variable
• It is one that has a strong contingent effect on the
independent variable–dependent variable
relationship. That is, the presence of a third variable
(the moderating variable) modifies the original
relationship between the independent and the
dependent variables. This becomes clear through
the following examples.

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 Moderating Variable
 Figure 5.3B
• Diagram of the relationship between the independent
variable (availability of reference materials) and the
dependent variable (rejects) as modulated by the
moderating variable (interest and inclination).

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 Moderating Variable
 Example 5.10
• A prevalent theory is that the diversity of the
workforce (comprising people of different ethnic
origins, races, and nationalities) contributes
more to organizational effectiveness because
each group brings its own special expertise and
skills to the workplace.
This synergy can be exploited, however, only if
managers know how to harness the special
talents of the diverse work group; otherwise
they will remain untapped.
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 The Distinction between an Independent Variable
and a Moderating Variable
 At times, confusion is likely to arise as to when a variable is
to be treated as an independent variable and when it
would become a moderating variable. For instance, there
may be two situations as follows:
 Situation 1
• A research study indicates that the
better the quality of the training
programs in an organization and the
greater the growth needs of the
employees (i.e., where the need to
develop and grow on the job is
strong), the greater is their
willingness to learn new ways of
doing things. 22
 The Distinction between an Independent Variable
and a Moderating Variable
 Situation 2
• Another research study indicates
that the willingness of the
employees to learn new ways of
doing things is not influenced by the
quality of the training programs
offered by the organizations to all
people without any distinction.
• Only those with high growth needs
seem to have the yearning to learn to
do new things through specialized
training.
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The Distinction between an Independent Variable
and a Moderating Variable

 Even though the variables used are the same, the

decision whether to label them dependent,
independent, or moderating depends on how they
affect one another.
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The Distinction between an Independent Variable
and a Moderating Variable
Now do Exercises 5.5 and 5.6
 Exercise 5.5
List and label the variables in this and the following
exercise and explain and diagram the
relationships among the variables.
• A manager finds that off-the-job classroom
training has a great impact on the productivity
of the employees in her department. However,
she also observes that employees over 60
years of age do not seem to derive much benefit
and do not improve with such training. 25
The Distinction between an Independent Variable
and a Moderating Variable
 Exercise 5.6
• A visitor to a factory observes that the workers
in the packing department have to interact with
one another to get their jobs done. The more
they interact, the more they seem to tend to stay
after hours and go to the local pub together for
a drink.
However, the women packers, even though
they interact with the others as much as the
men, do not stay late, nor do they visit the pub
after work hours.
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 VARIABLE
4. Intervening Variable
 It is one that surfaces between the time the
independent variables start operating to
influence the dependent variable and the time
their impact is felt on it.

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 Figure 5.7
Diagram of the relationship among the independent,
intervening, moderating, and dependent variables.

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 Intervening Variable
 The independent variable helps to explain the
variance in the dependent variable;
 the intervening variable surfaces at time t 2
as a function of the independent variable,
which also helps us to conceptualize the
relationship between the independent and
dependent variables;
 and the moderating variable has a contingent
effect on the relationship between two
variables.
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 Intervening Variable
 Whether a variable is an independent variable, a dependent
variable, an intervening variable, or a moderating variable
should be determined by a careful reading of the dynamics
operating in any given situation.
• For instance, a variable such
as motivation to work could
be a dependent variable, an
independent variable, an
intervening variable, or a
moderating variable,
depending on the theoretical
model that is being
advanced.
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 Intervening Variable
Now do Exercise 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9
 Exercise 5.7
• Make up three different situations in which motivation
to work would be an independent variable, an
intervening variable, and a moderating variable.

 Exercise 5.8
• List and label the variables in the following situation,
explain the relationships among the variables, and
diagram these.
- Failure to follow accounting principles causes immense
confusion, which in turn creates a number of problems
for the organization. Those with vast experience in
bookkeeping, however, are able to avert the problems 31
 Intervening Variable
 Exercise 5.9
List and label the variables in the following situation. Explain the
relationships among the variables and diagram them. What might be
the problem statement or problem definition for the situation?
The manager of Haines Company observes that the morale of
employees in her company is low. She thinks that if their working
conditions are improved, pay scales raised, and the vacation
benefits made attractive, the morale will be boosted. She doubts,
however, if an increase of pay scales would raise the morale of all
employees.
Her conjecture is that those that have supplemental incomes will
just not be turned on‖ by higher pay, and only those without side
incomes will be happy with increased pay with resultant boost of
morale.
Working condition
Vacation benefits Moral of employees
Pay Scales D.V

Side incomes

April 13 th 50 minutes

April 17 th 50 minutes
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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 It is the foundation on which the entire research
project is based. It is a logically developed, described,
and elaborated network of associations among the
variables deemed relevant to the problem situation
and identified through such processes as interviews,
observations, and literature survey. Experience and
intuition also guide in developing the theoretical
framework.

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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 The relationship between the literature survey and
the theoretical framework is that the former
provides a solid foundation for developing the latter.
That is, the literature survey identifies the variables
that might be important, as determined by previous
research findings.

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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 The theoretical framework
elaborates the relationships
among the variables, explains
the theory underlying these
relations, and describes the
nature and direction of the
relationships.
• Just as the literature survey
sets the stage for a good
theoretical framework, this in
turn provides the logical base
for developing testable
hypotheses. 36
 The Components of the Theoretical Framework
There are five basic features that should be incorporated
in any theoretical framework:
1. The variables considered
relevant to the study should be
clearly identified and labeled
in the discussions.
2. The discussions should state
how two or more variables are
related to one another. This
should be done for the
important relationships that
are theorized to exist among
the variables.
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The Components of the Theoretical Framework

 Five basic features (cont.)

3. If the nature and direction of the relationships can be
theorized on the basis of the findings of previous
research, then there should be an indication in the
discussions as to whether the relationships would be
positive or negative.
4. There should be a clear explanation of why we would
expect these relationships to exist. The arguments
could be drawn from the previous research findings.
5. A schematic diagram of the theoretical framework
should be given so that the reader can see and easily
comprehend the theorized relationships.
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The Components of the Theoretical Framework
 Example 5.13: DELTA AIRLINES
• With airline deregulation, there were price wars
among the various airlines that cut costs in different
ways. According to reports, Delta Airlines faced
charges of air-safety violations when there were
several near collisions in midair, and one accident
that resulted in 137 deaths in 1987.

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The Components of the Theoretical Framework
 Example 5.13: DELTA AIRLINES (cont.)
• Four important factors that seem to have
influenced these are poor communication
among the cockpit crew members themselves,
poor coordination between ground staff and
cockpit crew, minimal training given to the
cockpit crew, and management philosophy that
encouraged a decentralized structure. It
would be nice to know if these factors did
indeed contribute to the safety violations, and
if so, to what extent.
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 Figure 5.9
Schematic diagram for the theoretical framework
including the intervening variables.

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 The Components of the Theoretical Framework
• It would now be interesting to see if we can interject
an intervening variable in the model. For example, we
may say that lack of adequate training makes the pilots
nervous and diffident, and this in turn explains why
they are not able to confidently handle situations in
midair when many aircraft share the skies. Nervousness
and diffidence are a function of lack of training, and
help to explain why inadequate training would result
in air-safety hazard. This scenario can be depicted as in
Figure 5.9.
• We may also substantially change the model by using
(poor) training as a moderating variable as shown in
Figure 5.10. 42
 Figure 5.10
Schematic diagram for the theoretical framework
including the moderating variables.

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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Now Do Exercises 5.10 and 5.11
 Exercise 5.10
Develop a theoretical framework for the following situation after
stating what the problem definition of the researcher would be
in this case.
• A family counselor, engaged in counseling married couples
who are both professionals, is caught in a dilemma. He
realizes that the focus of the counseling sessions should be on
both family satisfaction and job satisfaction; however, he is
not sure how they can be integrated in the dual-career family.
Husbands, who are the traditional breadwinners, seem to
derive more job satisfaction as they get more involved in their
jobs and also spend more discretionary time on job-related
activities.

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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 Exercise 5.10 (cont.)
• This, however, does not seem to
be true in the case of the wives,
who perform the dual role of
career person and homemaker.
However, both husbands and
wives seem to enjoy high levels
of family satisfaction when
they spend more time together
at home and help each other in
planning family-oriented
activities.
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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 Exercise 5.11
Define the problem and develop the theoretical framework
for the following situation.
• The probability of cancer victims
successfully recovering under
treatment was studied by a medical
researcher in a hospital. She found
three variables to be important for
recovery.
 Early and correct diagnosis by the
doctor.
 The nurse‘s careful follow-up of the
doctor‘s instructions.
 Peace and quiet in the vicinity.
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 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 Exercise 5.11 (cont.)
In a quiet atmosphere, the patient rested well and
recovered sooner. Patients who were admitted in
advanced stages of cancer did not respond to treatment
even though the doctor‘s diagnosis was performed
immediately on arrival, the nurses did their best, and
there was plenty of peace and quiet in the area.
Diagnosis by the
doctor
Atmosphere in the Success of the
area (I.V) treatment D.V

Nurse’s 47
Stage of cancer
 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
1. Definition of Hypothesis
• It can be defined as a logically
conjectured relationship between two or
more variables expressed in the form of
a testable statement.
• Relationships are conjectured on the
basis of the network of associations
established in the theoretical framework
formulated for the research study.
• By testing the hypotheses and
confirming the conjectured relationships,
it is expected that solutions can be
found to correct the problem
encountered.
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 Definition of Hypothesis
 Example 5.14
Several testable statements or hypotheses can
be drawn from the theoretical framework
formulated in Example 5.13. One of them could
be as follows:
If the pilots are given adequate training to
handle midair crowded situations, air-safety
violations will be reduced.

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 Definition of Hypothesis
 Example 5.14 (cont.)
• By convention in the social sciences, to call a
relationship “statistically significant,” we
should be confident that 95 times out of 100
the observed relationship will hold true.
There would be only a 5% chance that the
relationship would not be detected.

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 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
2. Statement of Hypotheses: Formats
 If–Then Statements
• To examine whether or not the conjectured
relationships or differences exist, these
hypotheses can be set either as propositions
or in the form of if–then statements.
• The two formats can be seen in the following
two examples.

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 Statement of Hypotheses: Formats

 Example 5.15
Employees who are more healthy will take sick
leave less frequently.

 Example 5.16
If employees are more healthy, then they will
take sick leave less frequently.

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 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
3. Directional and Nondirectional Hypotheses
 If, in stating the relationship
between two variables or
comparing two groups, terms
such as positive, negative,
more than, less than, and the
like are used, then these
hypotheses are directional
because the direction of the
relationship between the
variables (positive/negative) is
indicated.
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 Directional and Nondirectional Hypotheses
 Nondirectional hypotheses are formulated either because the
relationships or differences have never been previously
explored and hence there is no basis for indicating the
direction, or because there have been conflicting findings in
previous research studies on the variables. In some studies a
positive relationship might have been found, while in others a
negative relationship might have been traced.
• Hence, the current researcher
might only be able to hypothesize
that there would be a significant
relationship, but the direction may
not be clear. In such cases, the
hypotheses could be stated
nondirectionally.
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 Directional and Nondirectional Hypotheses
 Example 5.20
There is a difference between the work ethic values of
American and Asian employees

• In Example 5.20, we do not know whether the work

ethic values are stronger in Americans or in Asians.
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 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
4. Null and Alternate Hypotheses
 The null hypothesis is a proposition that
states a definitive, exact relationship between
two variables. That is, it states that the
population correlation between two variables
is equal to zero or that the difference in the
means of two groups in the population is
equal to zero (or some definite number).

56
 Null and Alternate Hypotheses
• In general, the null statement is expressed as no
(significant) relationship between two variables
or no (significant) difference between two
groups, as we will see in the various examples in
this chapter.
 The alternate hypothesis, which is the opposite
of the null, is a statement expressing a
relationship between two variables or
indicating differences between groups.

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 Null and Alternate Hypotheses
 Exercise 5.13
• A production manager is concerned about the low output
levels of his employees. The articles that he read on job
performance frequently mentioned four variables as
important to job performance: skill required for the job,
rewards, motivation, and satisfaction. In several of the
articles it was also indicated that only if the rewards were
valent (attractive) to the recipients did motivation,
satisfaction, and job performance increase, not otherwise.
Given the above situation, do the following:
i. Define the problem.
ii. Evolve a theoretical framework.
iii. Develop at least six hypotheses.
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 Null and Alternate Hypotheses
 Exercise 5.14
• Retention of minority women at the workplace is
becoming more and more difficult. Not finding an
influential mentor in the system who is willing to help
them, lack of an informal network with influential
colleagues, lack of role models, and the dearth of high-
visibility projects result in dissatisfaction experienced at
work and the minority women ultimately decide to leave
the organization. Of course, not all minority women quit
the system. Only those who have the wherewithal (for
example, resources and self-confidence) to start their own
business leave the organization.
For the above situation, define the problem, develop a
theoretical framework, and formulate six hypotheses.
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HYPOTHESIS TESTING WITH QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
NEGATIVE CASE ANALYSIS
• Hypotheses can also be tested with
qualitative data. For example, let us say that
a researcher has developed the theoretical
framework after extensive interviews, that
unethical practices by employees are a
function of their inability to discriminate
between right and wrong, or due to a dire
need for more money, or the organization‘s
indifference to such practices.

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• To test the hypothesis that these three factors
are the primary ones that influence unethical
practices, the researcher would look for data
that would refute the hypothesis. When even a
single case does not support the hypothesis, the
theory would be revised.

 Example 5.21
EXAMPLE OF LITERATURE REVIEW, THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK, AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
( Textbook page 109)
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