Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Research Methods
William G. Zikmund
Chapter 2:
Problem Definition and the
Research Proposal
Problem Discovery and Definition
• First step
• Problem, opportunity, or monitor operations
• Discovery before definition
• Problem means management problem
Problem Definition
Understand Determine
background of the relevant variables
problem
9
The Iceberg Principle
15
Types of Variables
• Categorical-Any variable that has a limited
number of distinct values
• Continuous-Any variable that has an infinite
number of possible values
• Dependent- A variable that is to be
explained or predicted.
• Independent - A variable that is to be
expected to influence the dependent
variable
Hypothesis
• An unproven proposition
• A possible solution to a problem
• Guess
State the research questions and
research objectives:
Research Question: An interrogative statement of a
business problem makes it easier to understand what
is perplexing managers and indicates the issues to be
resolved. A research question is the researcher’s
translation of the business problem into a specific
need for inquiry
18
Research Proposal
• A written statement of the research design
that includes a statement explaining the
purpose of the study
• Detailed outline of procedures associated
with a particular methodology
Building/Abbreviated version
Research Proposal
• Purpose of the Research
• Research Design
• Sample Design
• Data gathering
• Data Processing and Analysis
• Report Preparation
• Budget and Time Schedule
Purpose of the Research