Académique Documents
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Research in Business
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. What business research is and how it differs from decision support systems and business
intelligence systems.
2. The trends affecting business research and the emerging hierarchy of research-based
decision makers.
3. The different types of research studies used in business.
4. The distinction between good business research and that which falls short of professional
quality.
5. The nature of the research process.
2. Ethics in Business Research
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. What issues are covered in research ethics.
2. The goal of "no harm" for all research activities and what constitutes "no harm" for
participant, researcher, and research sponsor.
3. The differing ethical dilemmas and responsibilities of researchers, sponsors, and research
assistants.
4. The role of ethical codes of conduct in professional associations.
3. Thinking Like a Researcher
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The terminology used by professional researchers employing scientific thinking.
2. What you need to formulate a solid research hypothesis.
3. The need for sound reasoning to enhance business research results.
7. Qualitative Research
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. How qualitative methods differ from quantitative methods.
2. The controversy surrounding qualitative research.
3. The types of decisions that use qualitative methods.
4. The variety of qualitative research methods.
8. Observation Studies
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. When observation studies are most useful.
2. The distinctions between monitoring nonbehavioral and behavioral activities.
3. The strengths of the observation approach in research design.
4. The weaknesses of the observation approach in research design.
5. The three perspectives from which the observerparticipant relationship may be viewed
in observation studies.
6. The various designs of observation studies.
9. Experiments
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The uses for experimentation.
2. The advantages and disadvantages of the experimental method.
3. The seven steps of a well-planned experiment.
4. Internal and external validity with experimental research designs.
5. The three types of experimental designs and the variations of each.
10. Surveys
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The process for selecting the appropriate and optimal communication approach.
2. What factors affect participation in communication studies.
3. The major sources of error in communication studies and how to minimize them.
4. The major advantages and disadvantages of the three communication approaches.
5. Why an organization might outsource a communication study.
11. Measurement
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The distinction between measuring objects, properties, and indicants of properties.
2. The similarities and differences between the four scale types used in measurement and
when each is used.
3. The four major sources of measurement error.
4. The criteria for evaluating good measurement.
12. Measurement Scales
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The nature of attitudes and their relationship to behavior.
2. The critical decisions involved in selecting an appropriate measurement scale.
3. The characteristics and use of rating, ranking, sorting, and other preference scales.
13. Questionnaires and Instruments
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The link forged between the management dilemma and the communication instrument by
the management-research question hierarchy.
2. The influence of the communication method on instrument design.
3. The three general classes of information and what each contributes to the instrument.
4. The influence of question content, question wording, response strategy, and preliminary
analysis planning on question construction.
5. Each of the numerous question design issues influencing instrument quality, reliability,
and validity.
6. Sources for measurement questions.
7. The importance of pretesting questions and instruments.
14. Sampling
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The two premises on which sampling theory is based.
2. The characteristics of accuracy and precision for measuring sample validity.
3. The five questions that must be answered to develop a sampling plan.
4. The two categories of sampling techniques and the variety of sampling techniques within
each category.
5. The various sampling techniques and when each is used.
15. Data Preparation and Description
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. The importance of editing the collected raw data to detect errors and omissions.
2. How coding is used to assign numbers and other symbols to answers and to categorize
responses.
3. The use of content analysis to interpret and summarize open questions.
4. Problems with and solutions for "don't know" responses and missing data.
5. The options for data entry and manipulation.
16. Exploring, Displaying, and Examining Data
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
1. That exploratory data analysis techniques provide insights and data diagnostics by
emphasizing visual representations of the data.
2. How cross-tabulation is used to examine relationships involving categorical variables,
serves as a framework for later statistical testing, and makes table-based analysis using
one or more control variables an efficient tool for data visualization and decision making.