Business Research Method

(ACFN 613)
Chapter Two
Study Background and Problem
Definition

"The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows. "

Aristotle Onassis

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Background of a study
 Introduction vs. Background If the research is
done:
 introduction addresses what the study will entail while
background discusses existing data on your topic.

 Introduction:
 Tries to introduce the study in an interesting manner to the reader
 Is all about what a reader can expect in the study, in a concise
manner but contains all the major points that are actually covered
in the study.
 Has to be presented in a manner so that lures the reader into
reading the entire study.

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 Introduction is a trailer of a movie that picks up the highlights
of the movie to make it look very interesting for the viewer

Background of a study
 Background
 Makes a reader understand the reasons of conducting a
study (Answers questions like why the study and what are
the basic purpose behind the study).

 Clarifies the importance of the study in the first place

 To prepare a reader for the study who is not familiar with
the concepts discussed in the paper.

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 Tries to prepare a reader to send him finally to read the
full document.

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 Formulation of
Research Problem

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What is a research problem?
 Is more like identifying a destination prior to beginning
a journey.
 You must have a clear idea with regard to what it is that
you want to find out but not what you think you must
find.
 A research problem is like the foundation of a building.
 The type and architecture of the building depends on the
foundations.
 If the foundation is well designed and strong, you can expect
the building to be strong as well.

 So what is problem?
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A Research problem is a QUESTION…
 It is a question (or some difficulty) that the researcher
wants (faces or experiences) to answer or solve either in
the context of a theoretical or practical situation or
both .
 E.g.
 How financial markets regulation affects FIs growth in …?
 What influence does organizational culture have on the
procedures and techniques of accounting in …?
 How Professional ethics affects audit quality?

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A research problem is a GAP…
 A research problem occurs when there is a difference
between the current conditions and a more preferable set
of conditions.
 In other words, a gap exists between the way things are
now and a way that things could be better.
 The gap can come about in a number of ways:
 Business performance is worse than expected
business performance.
 Actual business performance is less than possible business
performance.

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  Expected business performance is greater than possible
business performance.

A research problem is UNRESOLVED

CONTROVERSY
 E.g.
 Accounting Standards: Are They Really Effective?
 Is auditing affected by social norms of a community?

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 Criteria to evaluate research
questions
Criteria for evaluating research problems/questions

 Questions should be clear. They must be

understandable to you and to others.
 Questions should be researchable. They should be
capable of development into a research design, so that data may
be collected in relation to them. This means that extremely
abstract terms are unlikely to be suitable.

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 Questions should be connected with established
theory and research. This helps you to illuminate how your
research questions should be approached and also allow you to
show how your research has made a contribution to knowledge and
understanding.

Criteria…
 Questions should be linked to each other. Unrelated
research questions are unlikely to be acceptable, since you
should be developing an argument in your dissertation.

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 Questions should have potential for making a
contribution to knowledge. They should be able to
make a contribution—however small—to the topic.
 Questions should be neither too broad nor too
narrow. The research questions should be neither too
large (so that you would need a massive grant to study
them) nor too small (so that you cannot make a
reasonably significant contribution to your area of study).

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 Sources of a
Research Problem
Sources of Research Problem
 Observation in everyday life
 Eg. Prof. Aklilu Lemma which resulted in the investigation of
Lemma Toxin for Bilharzia

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 Deduction from theory
 Theoretically income is correlated to the propensity to save. You
might want to test this in a specific social and economic setting

 Literature
 Past research findings, journal articles, bulletins indicate future
research areas at the end of the paper

 Contemporary social and political issues

 Eg. Food price hike, Global economic melt down and its effects on
financial institutions, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and its
impact, Terrorism, etc

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Sources of ... Cont’d
 Practical experience and discussion with a colleague
 Eg. An NGO might want to evaluate its impact in a certain
community
 Personal experience and insignt
 You might want to solve a problem that you personally
experienced
 Professional meeting
 Technological chnages
 Management Dilemma

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  Is rarely difficult unless the organization fails to truck its
performance factors.
 The examples include: rising costs, falling market share, declining
product quality, high labor turnover, high absenteeism, etc.
Translating Business problem to research problem

Problem: Declining of sales

Objectives: Improving sales of the company

Course of actions:
 By keeping TC constant and increasing TR

 Keep TR constant and decrease TC

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  Decreasing price,

 Increasing quality,  Changing package

 Motivating workers

Changing a research idea to a research

question  Effectiveness of online
employee recruitment.
Research Idea
 Advertising and share  Performance and growth
price Research Question

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 How does a TV  Is growth in market
advertisement increases share a good measure
stock price? of performance?
 How effective online
recruitment compared
with traditional method?

Exercise
Take the following research idea and write
research questions as much as you can.
Innovation and performance
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 Technology and competition
Family business and sustainability
Government budget utilization
Cost effectiveness and financing
Capital structure and ownership

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Criteria for selecting a research
problem

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Criteria for Selecting a Problem
Interest
 Most important
Significance
 Theoretical value
 Practical value
 Timeliness
 External review

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Manageability
 Expertise, time, resources
 Free from personal bias
Cont…
A good research problem is characterized as:
1. Be useful for the concerned people in a particular field
/either add knowledge or lead to improvement in the
current practices/.
2. Be novel. The research topic should be something new
/originality or no duplication/

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3. Be completed in the allotted time desired /feasibility or
amenability or suitability due to data, cooperation, guidance,
experience, courage and confidence, etc./.
4. Does not carry ethical or moral impediments
Short Notes on Formulating a research
Question
 Try to Define exactly what you wished to find
out.
 Try to provide reasons for choosing your
particular topic.

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 Establish why it is important for your chosen
topic to be carried outit is

Statement of the Problem

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Statement of the Problem
 A very specific statement which clearly identifies the
problem being studied;

 Formulation of problem statement takes place after an

initial review of related literature and the distillation
process

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 Will usually identify the key variables as well as give

some information about the scope of the study May

be either in question or declarative form.

Sample Problem Statements

a) This study was intended to determine the
relationship between stability performance and
physical growth characteristics of manufacturing
companies.

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b) The problem of the study was to ascertain if an
increase in working hours will increase the
incidence of drug abuse.
c) The current study is made to evaluate the effect
of on the job training on employee performance.
Common errors in formulating
research problems
 The following are considered as
common errors in formulating research
problems.
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  Naming a broad field
 Unable to narrow or localize a topic
Lack of precisions in the instruments

 So, what is the solution???

Guideline in writing the title [ G to S]

General Topic
HRM and productivity

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 Research Lack of employee motivation in
Problem a work place

Factors affecting employees’

Purpose
Statement motivation/productivity in the
selected organizations
Does the introduction of incentive packages in
the work place help in improving the declining
Specific
Research employee motivation and performance?
Question
End of
Chapter Two

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