Chapter5(Sekaran)

Chapter8(Sekaran)
Chapter9(Sekaran)

Unit4

Chapter 6 (Cooper)
Research Design: AN OVERVIEW

Denition:

Research design:
An activity- and time-based plan.
A plan always based on the research question.
A guide for selecting sources and types of information.
A framework for specifying the relationships among the studys variables.
A procedural outline for every research activity.

Learning Objectives

1 The basic stages of research design.

The general research process contains three major stages:

(1) exploration of the situation,
(2) collection of data, and
(3) analysis and interpretation of results.

2 The major descriptors of research design.

Some major descriptors of designs are
Exploratory versus formalized.
Monitoring versus communication study.
Experimental versus ex post facto.
Descriptive versus causal.
Cross-sectional versus longitudinal.
Case versus statistical.
Field versus laboratory versus simulation.
Subjects perceive no deviations, some deviations, or researcher-induced deviations.

3 The major types of research designs.

Exploratory research is appropriate for the total study in topic areas where the developed data
are limited.

Descriptive studies are those used to describe phenomena associated with a subject population
or to estimate proportions of the population that have certain characteristics.

Causal studies seek to discover the effect that a variable(s) has on another (or others) or why
certain outcomes are obtained.

4 The relationships that exist between variables in research design and the steps for evaluating
those relationships.

The relationships that occur between two variables may be symmetrical, reciprocal, or
asymmetrical.
Of greatest interest to the research analyst are asymmetrical relationships, which may be
classied as any of the following types:
Stimulus-response
Property-disposition
Disposition-behavior
Property-behavior

Chapter 7 (Cooper)
Qualitative Research

Denition:

Qualitative research includes an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe,

decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain
more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world

Learning Objectives

1 How qualitative methods differ from quantitative methods.

Qualitative research methodologies differ from quantitative methodologies based on the focus
of the research; its purpose; researcher involvement; sampling design; sample size; research
design, including participant pre tasking; data source, type, and preparation; methods of data
analysis; level of insights and meaning extracted; research sponsor involvement; speed of the
research; and data security. A qualitative methodology may be used alone to address
organizational problems or in combination with other qualitative or quantitative methodologies.

2 The controversy surrounding qualitative research.

While qualitative research is being used increasingly because of the methodologies ability to
generate deeper understanding, it still is perceived by many senior-level executives as a
stepchild of quantitative data collection. This is primarily due to qualitative researchs use of
nonprobability sampling, the smaller sample sizes involved, and the non projectability of the
results to a broader, target population.

3 The types of decisions that use qualitative methods.

Qualitative research is designed to tell the researcher how (process) and why (meaning) things
happen as they do. In business planning and decision making, qualitative methodologies are
used in market segmentation; advertising creative development; new product development,
especially concept testing; sales analysis; sales development; package design

4 The variety of qualitative research methods.

Qualitative methodologies used in decision making evolved from techniques used in

anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, communication, economics, and semiotics.
Common among these strategies are the individual depth interview (IDI) and the group
interview, as well as observation, ethnography, action research, and grounded theory.
Withingroupinterviews,thefocusgroupisthemostwidelyusedmethodology.

Qualitative research often uses projective techniques, designed to encourage the participantto
reveal in detail deeply suppressed attitudes, opinions, feelings, and experiences. Among these
techniques are word or picture association, sentence completion, cartoons or empty
balloons, the Thematic Apperception Test, imagination exercises, and sorting exercises.
Participant preparation and the actual qualitative sessions themselves often include various
creativitysessionsandexercises.

Chapter10(Cooper)
Chapter6(Sekaran)
Chapter11(Sekaran)
Chapter14(Cooper)
Samplingbyselectingsomeoftheelementsinapopulation,wemaydrawconclusionsabout
theentirepopulation
populationelementtheindividualparticipantorobjectonwhichthemeasurementistaken.
populationthetotalcollectionofelementsaboutwhichwewishtomakesomeinferences
censusacountofalltheelementsinapopulation
sampleframethelistingofallpopulationelementsfromwhichthesamplewillbedrawn

Reasonsforsampling
1. Lowercost