The Role of Research

kapil Deb Subedi

Research Methods
Kapil Deb Subedi
Lecturer of Management,
Saptagandaki Multiple Campus

2010
 Overview
 Why Study Research Methods?
 What are the Stages in Research?
 Elements of Research Not Frequently Discussed
 Why writing and the language of research is so
important
 The Flow of Research
 Time, Units & Questions
 Causal Model Building
 Next Class
 What is Research?

“The discovery of nature, of the ways of planets, and

plants and animals, required first the conquest of
common sense. Science would advance, not by
authenticating everyday experience but by
grasping paradox, adventuring into the unknown.
Novel instruments, telescopes and microscopes
among others, would offer disturbing new
perspectives. …Here were the new incentives to
ransack the world for undiscovered species and
seek clues to the mystery of an ever-changing
nature.”
Daniel Boorstin (1983) The Discoverers
Why Study Research Methods?

 To Help:
– conduct your own research
– evaluate the soundness of theories
– assess the validity of others’ claims
– understand and apply research
results
– solve organizational problems.
 Objectives of A Thesis or
Dissertation
Source: Davis, Gordon and Clyde A. Parker (1997) Writing the Doctoral Dissertation, p. 15

 Demonstrate the ability to:

1. Do independent research
2. Make a contribution to knowledge with the
research
3. Document the research and make it available
to the scholarly community (i.e., publish!)
Stages in the Research Process

Problem

Model &
Generalization Hypotheses

Research
Design
Data
Analysis

Measurement
Data
Collection
 Real Stages in the Research
Process

Problem

Model &
Hypotheses
Generalization

Research
Data Design
Analysis

Data Measurement
Collection

Research is NOT a linear process!!

 Elements of Research Not
Frequently Discussed
• Research is not a linear process
• It is just written up like it is
• Note: articles are written backwards: once you know the results you
know what literature is important
• Research is a social process
• Not because research is social but because results must enter
into a social “learned” society
• Research value (impact) is more a question of
importance than volume
• But volume makes for a wonderful, simple measure of productivity
• But, one good published idea is worth more than a hundred articles
• How do you know value? CITES!!! [isi web of science]
 Little Discussed Elements (II)

 Research is for posterity

– i.e., it has a different time scale than consulting
 Refereed archival journals versus the Internet
 Research builds upon the past
– …by tearing it down (theory building),
– Or by supporting it (replications studies)
• Research not published is virtually worthless
• The importance is more to be read than to read!
 Research demands a special form of writing and
language
 Writing
"There are two moments worthwhile in writing, the one
when you start
and the other when you throw it in the waste-paper basket."
(Samuel Beckett)
 Not like anything you have ever done before
– Larger audience
– More risk
– Structured completely differently
– Rewrite-rewrite-rewrite
 Social system expectations
– Expects that conventions will be met
– Expects that the authors will get to the point!
 Drucker’s view

 “The man of knowledge has always been

expected to take responsibility for being
understood. It is barbarian arrogance to
assume that the layman can or should make
the effort to understand him, and that it is
enough if the man of knowledge talks to a
handful of fellow experts who are his peers.”
 P. 62
 Examples of Types of Writing
 Academy of Management Journal:
– “We examine how firms search, or solve problems, to create new products.
According to organizational learning research, firms position themselves in a
unidimensional search space that spans a spectrum from local to distant search. Our
findings in the global robotics industry suggest that firms' search efforts actually
vary across two distinct dimensions: search depth, or how frequently the firm reuses
its existing knowledge, and search scope, or how widely the firm explores new
knowledge.
 Katila, Riita, Ahuja, Gautam (2002) “SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW: A
LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SEARCH BEHAVIOR AND NEW PRODUCT
INTRODUCTION.” Academy of Management Journal, 45(6): 1183
 Academy of Management Review
– “We propose a model in which between-individual differences in performance
(heterogeneity) and within-individual differences in performance over time
(variability) affect flow line performance. The impact of heterogeneity and
variability is contingent upon the flow line context, particularly the rules governing
the way work moves between employees (work flow policy). We show how subtle
changes in this policy can have a motivational effect on heterogeneity and variability
and how these, in turn, can impact the relationship between work flow policy and
flow line performance. “
 Doerr, K et. al, (2002) HETEROGENEITY AND VARIABILITY IN THE CONTEXT OF
FLOW LINES. Academy of Management Review, (4): 594-607
 Language of Research - I

 Research Issues:
– Theoretical v. Empirical
a.k.a., pure v. applied
– Generalizable (nomothetic) v. Local
Truth
 Language of Research - II

– EcologicalFallacy (individual like group)

v. Exception Fallacy (group like individual;
law of small numbers)

– Positivism (external “truth”)

– v. Post-Positivism (never know “truth”, only
probabilities)
 Levels of Research

 Reporting
– Telling what someone else did
 Descriptive
– Describing who, what, where, when, how
 Explanatory
– Answers “WHY?”
 Predictive
– Answers: “What will happen if...”
 Flow of Research I:
Top to Bottom Approach
Source: http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/strucres.htm
 Flow of Research II:
Inductive v. Deductive
Source: http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/dedind.htm

Deductive (“Traditional”)

Inductive (Theory
Building; Qualitative )
 Time & Units of Analysis

 time in research:
– cross-sectional versus longitudinal
 units of analysis:
– individual,
– group, department
– organizational,
– inter-organizational,
– cross-cultural
 Types of Questions

 Descriptive
– Primarily
used for qualitative or
demographic information
 Relational
– What is related to what (no temporal
or causal inference)
 Causal
–X causes Y
 Building a Model
 Constructs
– General ideas created for theory-building
– Used to build conceptual/causal model
 Variables
– Need operational definitions
– Types
 Independent
 Dependent
 Moderating
 Intervening
 Extraneous
– That have some type of relationship
 A Causal Model is made up of -

Independent Dependent
(Outcome)
(Predictor)
(Criterion)
(X)
Variables Hypotheses (Y)
Variables

Smoking……………..Causes……………….Cancer

Extraneous Variable: hair color, accent

 And -

Independent Dependent
(Predictor) (Outcome)
Variables Variables

Moderating
(Conditional)
(Interaction)
(X*Y)

Variables
Smoking
(by people with special gene) ……causes…………….Cancer
 And -

Mediating
Independent Dependent
(Predictor) (Outcome)
(Intervening)
Variables Variables
Variables

Moderating
Variables

Smoking ……………causes
(by people with a special gene) cells to mutate that causes…….Cancer
 And -

Independent Dependent
(Predictor) Mediating
Variables (Outcome)
Variables Variables

Moderating
Variables

Control
Variables

Smoking ………………causes
(by people with a special gene) cells to mutate that causes…….Cancer
(when controlling for age)
 Types of Relationships Among
Variables

 positive, negative, none:

Independent + - Dependent
(Predictor) Mediating
Variables (Outcome)
Variables Variables
+

Moderating -
Variables

Control
Variables
 Why do You Need a Model?
Source: http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/introval.htm

In order to GENERALIZE!
What is written:

What you do:

 Language of Research, cont’d.

 Theory
 Model
 Propositions/Hypotheses
 Hypotheses

 Statistical:
– H0 (null: no difference)
– HA (alternate: the relationship you want
to “prove”)
 Academic practice:
– H# (the relationship you want to “prove”)
 Language ...

 Theory
 Model
 Propositions/Hypotheses
 Constructs/Variables
 Constructs (i.e., the ideas behind
the variables)

Independent Dependent
(Predictor) Mediating
Variables (Outcome)
Variables Variables

Moderating
Variables

External Control
Variables Variables
 Variable Measurement Types
 Categorical
– Red, blue, green
 Sorting slots
 Ordinal
– Tall, medium, short
 Non-equal spacing between items
 Interval
– 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
 with equal spacing between items
 Ratio
– “true” zero; 0 to 1
 Zero means something (absolute zero for example)
 Levels in Quantitative Research

 Theory
 Model
 Propositions
 Hypotheses
 Constructs
 Operationalizations
 “Operationalizing” Models -

 we want to ensure that the

measures represent the underlying
(latent) variables (constructs) well.
 Measures should be -

 Reliable
 Valid
– Lots more on this later
Stages in the “Quantitative”
Research Process, revisited

Problem

Model &
Generalization Hypotheses

Research
Design
Data
Analysis

Measurement
Data
Collection