CHAPTER 2

Scientific investigation

 Research is as an organized, systematic, databased, critical, objective, scientific inquiry into a

specific problem that needs a solution.

What are the characteristics of scientific research

Scientific research should lead to desirable results (facts).
Scientific research is not utterly relied on mangers' guessing,
experiences and intuition. It based on a step-by-step logical,
organized, and rigorous method to identify the problems,
gather data, analyze them, and draw valid conclusions from
them.
The term scientific research applies to both basic and applied
research.
Generalization of applied research findings may or may not
help other organizations; it depends on the extent to which
differences exist in the organization's size, nature of work, the
characteristics of the employees in that organizations, and
structure of the organization and the type of issue or problem
they may be encountered.

The importance of scientific research

It enables researches to compare the research findings
to the same or similar issues they may encounter in
future.
It helps researchers to state their findings with accuracy
and confidence. This would help other organizations to
apply those solutions when they encounter a similar
problem.
It tends to be more objective than subjective.
It helps managers to highlight the most critical factors at
the workplace that need specific attention so as to avoid,
minimize, or solve problems.
Scientific investigation and managerial decision making
are integral aspects of effective problem solving.

Do organizations always follow the rigorous step-by-step

process? In general, the answer is No.
It depends on the type of problem. If it is simple, past
experience might offer the necessary solution. If not so,
organizations should follow the rigorous step-by-step
process provided that the indicators of time pressure,
resources, and knowledge are not working against the
interests of organizations in the market.
If the managers do not conduct scientific research
(rigorous step-by-step) in a complex problem, the
probability of making wrong decision in such case is
high.
Business practices indicated that many implemented
plans fail because not enough research has preceded
their formulation.

The hallmarks of scientific research

Purposiveness
Identifying the research objectives (follow the
SMART term); Examples: increasing the
commitment of employees to the organization,
increasing the sales volume by 10%, decrease
the absenteeism rate, increasing the quality of
information system (focus on a specific goal).

Rigor
It refers to carefulness, scrupulousness, and the
degree of exactitude in research investigations.
If a manager did not conduct a scientific research (not
using rigorous procedures), he has two alternatives to
reach several conclusions about solving the problem:
a) Internally, the manager of an organization asks,
through interview, some employees from his
organization to suggest solutions for this problem.
b) Externally, the manager may ask other people from
outside the organization (panel of retailers,
wholesalers, consultants, or customersetc) to
provide him with some suggestions about solving the
problem.

The foresaid investigations are based on unscientific

research for the following reasons:
1) It based on the responses of just a few employees or
people whose opinions may not be representative of those
of the entire workforce, retailers, wholesalers or
customers. It means that the sampling procedures are
very important in the scientific research (taking the
sample randomly).
2) The manner of framing and addressing the questions
could have introduced bias or incorrectness in the
responses. It means that the scientific research focuses
on the formation and the structure of questions.
3) Oversight or not verbalizing some points correctly during
the interviews.

 In conclusion, rigorous research involves good

theoretical bases and a carefully thought-out
methodology that enables the researcher to collect
the right information from an appropriate sample
with the minimum degree of bias, and facilitate
suitable analysis of the data gathered. In addition,
past studies in the area of problem should be taking
into account.

Testability
It refers to the procedures of testing research
hypotheses based on previous studies that may relate to
or contribute in solving the problem.
For examples, the researcher might hypothesize that
those employees who perceive greater opportunities for
participation in decision making will have a higher level
of commitment to organization.
It involves an application of certain statistical tests to the
data collected for the purpose.
In conclusion, scientific research lends itself to testing
logically developed hypotheses to see whether or not the
data support the educated conjectures or hypotheses
that are developed after a careful study of the problem
situation.

Replicability
It refers to the replication or repetition of results if an
organization or other organizations has/have
conducted the same research procedures for the same
problem under the same circumstances and
hypothesis; hypotheses have not been supported
merely by chance, but are reflective of the true state of
affairs in the population.
For instance, the results indicate that participation in
decision making is one of the most important factors
that influence the commitment of employees to the
organization.

Precision and confidence

Precision and confidence aim to design the research in
a manner that ensures that our findings are as close to
reality.
Precision and confidence are related to sampling
design.
Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to
"reality" based on a sample. It reflects the degree of
accuracy or exactitude of the results on the basis of the
sample, to what really exists in the universe
(confidence interval in statistics).
Confidence refers to the probability that our
estimations are correct (confidence level). A
significance level of 0.05 (p = 0.05) means that there is
only a 5% probability that the findings may not be
correct.

 The greater the precision and confidence we aim at in

our research, the more scientific is the investigation
and the more useful are the results.
In scientific research, there is no definitive conclusion
for the following reasons:
In all situations, the researcher unable to study
the universe of items, events, or population he is
interested in.
The sample in question may not reflect the exact
characteristics of the phenomenon the researcher
is trying to study.
Measurement errors and other problems are
bound to introduce an element of bias or error in
our findings.

Objectivity
Scientific research stresses on the objectivity of
findings that based on the facts rather than on
emotional values or on the subjective opinion of the
researcher.
For instance, if we had a hypothesis that stated that
greater participation in decision making would
increase organizational commitment, and this was
not supported by the results, it would make no sense
if the researcher continued to argue that increased
opportunities for employee participation would still
help.

 The more objective the interpretation of the data,

the more scientific the research investigation
becomes.
Generalizability
Generalizability refers to the scope of
applicability of the research findings in one
organizational setting to other settings.

 It is related to the sampling design. Therefore,

research sampling design has to be logically
developed and a number of other details in the datacollection methods need to be strictly followed.
The more generalizable the research, the greater its
usefulness and value.
Not many research findings can be generalized to all
other settings, situations, or organizations.
A more elaborate sampling design, which would
doubtless increase the generalizability of the results,
would also increase the costs of research.
Limited generalizability does not necessarily
decrease its scientific value.

Parsimony
It refers to the variables of research's model that are
included to investigate the problem.
Parsimony can be achieved through a good
understanding of the problem and the important
factors that influence it.
Good understanding of the problem can be grasped
through unstructured and structured interviews with
the concerned people, and a thorough literature
review of the previous research work in the
particular problem area.

 The achievement of a meaningful and parsimonious

research model is better than getting an elaborate
and cumbersome model for problem solution. This
contention can be attributed to the following
reasons:
A lesser number of variables that explain the
variance are more efficiently than a complex set
of variables that only marginally add to the
variance explained.
Generate the variables that have more influences
and that are manageable.
Unmanageable number of variables might well be
totally beyond the manager's control to change.

Some obstacles to conducting scientific

research in the management area
It is not always possible to meet all the hallmarks of
science in full for the following reasons:
Unlike in the physical sciences, it is not always
possible to conduct investigations that are 100%
scientific resultant to measurement and collection of
data in the subjective areas of feelings, emotions,
attitudes, and perceptions.
Difficulties related to obtaining a representative
sample, restricting the generalizability of the
findings.

Deductive vs inductive reasoning

Science is a discipline that is based in and relies on
logic.
Research methods in any field of inquiry can involve
two types of reasoning: inductive and deductive.
Inductive reasoning is a bottom-up method of logic;
begins with an observation or several observations,
a pattern can be recognized. Once the pattern is
defined, it becomes a tentative hypothesis. Once the
hypothesis is defined and tested, the hypothesis and
theory can be proven or disproven.

 Deductive reasoning moves from general theory

down to particular examples. In social science
research, methods that rely on deductive
reasoning start with a theory, which is narrowed
to a testable hypothesis . Data is then collected
and analysed to see if the hypothesis can be
confirmed and the theory, substantiated.

The hypothetico-deductive method

The hypothetico-deductive method is a typical
version of the scientific method.
The hypothetico-deductive method provides a
useful, systematic approach to solving basic and
managerial problems.

The seven-step process in the hypotheticodeductive method

1) Identify a broad problem area (A drop in sales,
frequent production interruptions, customer
switching).

2) Define the problem statement:

a) It involves the general objective of the research. It
should be developed through gathering initial
information about the factors that are possibly
related to the problem.
b) A literature review or talking to several people in the
work setting is a helpful procedure to define the
problem statement.

3) Develop hypotheses
Hypothesis is a formal statement of an unproven
proposition that is empirically testable. For instance:
overpricing, competition, inconvenience, and
unresponsive employees affect customer switching.
A scientific hypothesis must meet two requirements:
a) a hypothesis must be testable.
b) a hypothesis must also be falsifiable (the possibility
of disproving the hypothesis).

4) Determine measures: it refers to the

conceptualization of research variables.
5) Data collection: collect data with respect to each
variable in the hypothesis need to be obtained.
6) Data analysis
Quantitative and qualitative approaches are usually
used to gather the primary data. Qualitative data
refer to information gathered in a narrative form
through interviews and observations. Analyze the
data gathered to see if the hypotheses that were
generated have been supported or not.
Hypotheses are tested through appropriate
statistical analysis.

7) Interpretation of data
Deciding whether the hypotheses are supported or
not by interpreting the meaning of the results of the
data analysis using the significant level of
confidence (P 0.05).
Hypotheses that are not supported allow us to refine
our theory by thinking about why it is that they were
not supported. We can then test our refined theory in
future research.

Deduction

Induction

It starts with identifying a broad problem

area to the interpretation of the results
(a top-down approach).

It starts from observations to broader

generalizations and theories (down-top
approach)

It starts with a general theory and then

applies this theory to specific cases.

It is a process where we observe specific

phenomena to reach general conclusions.

It often used in causal and quantitative

studies

It employs a more exploratory, openended approach

Theory testing is essential parts of the

research process

Theory generation is essential parts of

the research process

It used to test theory in different

situations.

Theory need to be developed and tested

Deductive process

Inductive process

Case studies
Case studies involve in-depth, contextual analyses of similar
situations in other organizations, where the nature and
definition of the problem happen to be the same as experienced
in the current situation.
Case study, as a problem-solving technique, is not often
undertaken in organizations because such studies dealing with
problems similar to the one experienced by a particular
organization of a particular size and in a particular type of
setting are difficult to come by.
Case studies usually provide qualitative rather than
quantitative data for analysis and interpretation.

Action research
Action research is sometimes undertaken by consultants who
want to initiate change processes in organizations.
The researcher begins with a problem that is already identified,
and gathers relevant data to provide a tentative problem
solution. This solution is then implemented, with the
knowledge that there may be unintended consequences
following such implementation. The effects are then evaluated,
defined, and diagnosed, and the research continues on an
ongoing basis until the problem is fully resolved.