The Nature of Research

Research is not
Just collecting facts or information with no clear purpose
Reassembling and reordering facts or information without
interpretation
As a term to get your product or idea noticed and
respected
Characteristics of Research
Data are collected systematically
Data are interpreted systematically
There is a clear purpose: to find things out
Research
Is something that people undertake in order to find out
things in a systematic way, increasing their knowledge
systematic way and to find things out
Systematic
Suggests that research is based on logical relationships
and not just beliefs (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005)
Research will involve an explanation of methods or
techniques and procedures used to collect the data
includes questionnaires, observation and interviews as well
as both quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (nonstatistical) analysis techniques.
Research will involve an explanation of the methods used
to collect the data
Will argue why the results obtained are meaningful
Will explain any limitations that are associated with them
To find out things
Suggests there are a multiplicity of possible purposes for
your research
These may include describing, explaining, understanding,
criticizing and analyzing (Ghauri and Gronhaug 2005)
Note : you have a clear purpose or set of things that you
want to find out, such as the answer to a question or number
of questions
Nature of Business and Management Research
4 things combined to make business and management a
distinctive focus for research:
1. The way in which managers (and researchers) draw on
knowledge developed by other disciplines
The fact that managers tend to be powerful and busy
people. Therefore they are unlikely to allow research access
unless they can see personal or commercial advantages
The fact that managers are educated. Many now have
undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and, as such, tend
often to be as well educated as those conducting research
about them
The requirement for the research to have some practical
consequence. This means it either needs to contain the
potential for taking some form of action or needs to take
account of the practical consequences of the findings
The Research Process
1. Wish to do research
2. Formulate and clarify your research topic
3. Critically review the literature
4. Understand your philosophy and approach
5. Formulate your research design
6. Negotiate access and address ethical issues
7. Plan your data collection and collect data using one or
more of:
Data Collection
Sampling
Secondary data
Observation
Semi-structured, in-depth and group interviews
Questionnaires
8. Analyze your data using one or both of: Quantitative and
Qualitative methods
9. Write your project report and prepare your presentation
10. Submit your project report
Structuring your Project Report (Robson 2002)

Abstract
Introduction
Literature review
Method
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
References
Appendices

The Abstract
The most important part of your report
It is a short summary of the complete content of the
project report
Should contain 4 short paragraphs with the answers to the
following questions:
1. What were my research questions, and why were these
important?
2. How did I go about answering the research questions?
3. What did I find out in response to my research questions?
4. What conclusions do I draw regarding my research
questions?
Five Principles for the Writing of a Good Abstract
(Smith 1991)
1. It should be short. (Maximum of 2 pages, 300-500 words )
2. It must be self- contained. It must summarize the
complete content of your report.
3. It must satisfy your readers needs. Tell the problem, or
central issue, that the research addressed and the method
adopted to pursue the issue.
4. It must convey the same emphasis as the project report,
reader should get an accurate impression of the reports
contents
5. It should be objective, precise and easy to read. Stick to
what you have written in the report, no need elaborate, just
convey the content of your report in as clear and brief a way
as possible.
The Introductory Chapter (Chapter 1)
The introduction should give the reader a clear idea about
the central issue of concern in your research and why you
thought that this was worth studying.
Include a full statement your research question(s) and
research objectives.
Include some details of the organization (such as history,
size, products and services)
The introduction will give brief details of the content of
each chapter and present an overview of how your storyline
unfolds.
Note: The Introduction will usually be a fairly brief chapter,
but is vitally important.
Contents of your Introduction
Identify your topic; what are you doing?
Discuss what psychologist already know and what question
remain to be answered
Explain how your research will fill in some gaps in your
knowledge: why are you doing it?
Provide the logic of your hypotheses: what do you expect
to happen and why do you think this?
Starting the Introduction
Citing an Actual Event
Creating a Fictional Scenario
Making a Compelling Statement about an Important Issue
Identifying the Scope of Previous Research
Presenting a Statistic
Citing a Quotation
Describing Common Occurrences
Turning Research Ideas into Research Projects
1. Begin with one general focus research question that flows
from your research idea
Ex. Research idea
Job recruitment via the internet
General focus research question
How effective is recruiting for new staff via the internet
in comparison with traditional methods?

2. Use your general focus research question as a base from

which you write a set of research objectives
Ex. Research question
Why have organizations introduced team briefing?
Research objective
To identify organizations objectives for team briefing
schemes
SMART objectives are:
Specific. What precisely do you hope to achieve from
undertaking the research?
Measurable. What measures will you use to determine
whether you have achieved your objectives?
Achievable. Are the target you have set for yourself
achievable given all the possible constraints?
Realistic. Will you have all the time and energy to
complete the research on time considering all the other
demands upon your time?
Timely. Will you have time to accomplish all your
objectives in the time frame you have set?
The Contents of a Research Proposal
Title your first attempt at the title, nay change s your
work progresses, it should closely mirror the content of your
proposal
Background tells the reader why you feel the research is
worth the effort, expressed in the form of a problem that
needs solving or something you find exciting and has
aroused your curiosity, demonstrate your knowledge of the
relevant literature which should be your point of departure.
(Note: not the same as the literature review which you will
present in your final project report)
Method this and the background sections will be the
longest sections of the proposals, detail precisely how you
intend to go about achieving your research objectives;
Divide your method section into two parts: research design
and data collection.

Research design explain where you intend to carry out

the research
Data collection detailed explanation on how the data are
to be collected
Ex. Use of survey specify your population and sample size
- specify how it will be distributed
- How the data will be analyzed
References not necessary to try to impress with an
enormous list of references (just a few key literature sources
may be referred)
The structure of the Critical Review (Chapter 2)
The literature review should be a description and critical
analysis of what other authors have written
Note: your review should help you answer your research
questions (how it relates to your research objectives)
Structure of the Literature Review
Overall structure of starting at a more general level before
narrowing down;
The provision of a brief overview of the key ideas;
The linking of ideas;
Narrowing down to highlight that work which is most
relevant to the research reported
Literature Sources Available
Primary reports, theses, emails, conference proceedings,
company reports, some government publications
Secondary journals, books, newspapers, some
government publications
Tertiary indexes, abstracts, catalogues, encyclopedias,
dictionaries, bibliographies, citation indexes