Download Deciding research approach and choosing a research

DECIDING RESEARCH
APPROACH AND CHOOSING
A RESEARCH STRATEGY
By: Zeeshan A. Bhatti
Approach to research
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First layer: Research Philosophy
Second layer: Subject of your research approach that
flows from that research philosophy
Third layer: Research Strategy
Fourth layer: Time horizons you apply to your
research
The research process ‘onion’
Research Philosophy
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Depends upon the way you think about the
development of knowledge
3 views dominate literature:
 Positivism
 Interpretivism
 Realism
Positivism
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Based on the view that information derived from
logical and mathematical treatments and reports
of sensory experience is the exclusive source of all
authoritative knowledge
This view holds that society, like the physical world,
operates according to general laws.
The stance of natural scientists
Positivism (Cont’d)
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You will prefer working with an observable social
reality and that the end product of such research can
be law-like generalizations
Emphasis on highly structured methodology to
facilitate replication
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And on quantifiable observations that lend themselves to
statistical analysis
The assumption:
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‘the researcher is independent of and neither affects nor is affected by
the subject of the research”
Interpretivism
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Social world of business and management is far too
complex to lend itself to theorizing by definitive
‘laws’
Not only business situations are complex, they are
also unique
The knowledge generated from this discipline is
perceived through socially constructed and
subjective interpretations
Interpretivism (Cont’d)
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Social constructionism views reality as being socially constructed
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People may place different interpretations on the situations in which they find
themselves
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These interpretations are likely to affect their actions and the nature of their
social interaction with others
This immediately raises the question about the generalizablity of the
research
It is therefore, the role of interpretivist to understand the subjective reality of
those that they study to in order to be able to make sense of their actions and
motives
Realism
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Social constructionism also recognizes that people are likely to share
interpretations of their socially constructed environment

Commonly experienced stimuli of generating a shared interpretation
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These stimuli will exert an influence on the way in which those affected
socially construct their world
In the social sciences and business study, this can be seen as
indicating that there are large-scale social forces and processes that
affect people without their necessarily being aware of the
existence of such influences on their behaviors
Choosing a research approach
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Deduction: Testing theory
Induction: Building theory
The need for a clear Research
Strategy
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A general plan of how you will go about answering
your research question(s)
 Clear
objectives
 Specify the sources from which you intend to collect
data
 Consider the constraints (access to data, time, location,
money and ethical issues)
Different research strategies
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Experiment
Survey
Case study
Grounded Theory
Ethnography
Action Research
Cross-sectional and Longitudinal studies
Exploratory, Descriptive and Explanatory Studies
Experiment
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A classical form of research that owes much to natural
sciences
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Features in social sciences as well– psychology
It involves typically:
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Definition of a theoretical hypothesis
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Selection of samples of individuals from known populations
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Allocation of samples to different experimental conditions
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Introduction of planned change on one or more variables
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Measurement on a small no. of the variables
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Control of other variables
Survey
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Usually associated with deductive approach
One of the most popular strategy in business
 Allow
collection of large amount of data from a
sizeable population in a highly economical way
 Often obtained as questionnaire, the data are
standardized, allowing easy comparison
 Easily understood by people
 E.g.,
results published in newspapers that a certain
population thinks or behaves in a particular way
Survey (Cont’d)
 Time
consuming in the sense of designing and piloting
questionnaire
 Results can be analyzed with the aid of computer
packages (e.g., SPSS)
 However, There is a limit to the no. of questions
 Questionnaire is not the only survey method
 Structured
observation
 Structured interview
A
worthwhile way of exploring existing theory
Case Study
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Strategy which involves an empirical investigation of
a particular contemporary phenomenon within its
real life context
 If
you wish to gain a rich understanding of the context
of the research & the processes
 Answers questions such as “why”, “how”, “what”
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Can deploy various data collection methods
Grounded Theory
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Inductive Approach
A systematic methodology in the social
sciences involving the discovery of theory through the
analysis of data
Rather than beginning with a hypothesis, the first step is
data collection, through a variety of methods
 From the data collected, the key points are marked with a
series of codes, which are extracted from the text
 the codes are grouped into similar concepts
 From these concepts, categories are formed, which are the
basis for the creation of a theory, or a reverse
engineered hypothesis
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Grounded Theory (Cont’d)
Ethnography
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Firmly rooted in inductive approach
Emanates from the field of anthropology
 Aimed
at exploring cultural phenomena
 The resulting field study or a case report reflects the
knowledge and the system of meanings in the lives of a
cultural group
 Ethnography, as the empirical data on
human societies and cultures, was pioneered in the
biological, social, and cultural branches
of anthropology
Ethnography (Cont’d)
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Very time consuming – extended over a period of
time
 Researcher
needs to be responsive to change and
constantly develop new patterns
Action Research
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Action research is a research initiated to solve an
immediate problem or a reflective process of
progressive problem solving led by individuals
working with others
 Change
intervention
 Close collaboration b/w practitioners
 Implications beyond the immediate project
Time Horizons
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An important question while planning research:
“Do I want my research to be a snapshot taken at a
particular time or Do I want it to be a representation
of events over a period of time (diary)”
It all depends upon the question of research
Cross Sectional Research (Time
Horizons)
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The snapshot approach is called “Cross-Sectional
Research”
A
study of particular phenomenon at a particular time
 Majority of academic research are cross-sectional due
to time constraints
 Often employ survey strategy
 Might
define the incidence of a phenomenon
 Compare factors in different organizations etc.
 They
may also use qualitative methods such as
interviews
Longitudinal Research (Time Horizons)
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Strength: Capacity that it has to study change and
development
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Observing people and events over time – the researcher is
able to exercise a measure of control over variables being
studied
Example: Workplace Industrial Relations Survey
published in 1980, 84, 90 and 1998
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From these surveys, we can have insight into developments in
personnel management and industrial relations over a period
of wide-ranging change
Exploratory Studies
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A valuable means to explore what is happening;
to seek new insights;
 To ask questions and to assess phenomenon in a new light
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3 principal ways to conducting explanatory research
A search of the literature
 Talking to experts in the subject
 Conducting a focus group interviews
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Descriptive Studies
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A portray on accurate profiles of persons, events or
situations
 An
extension or a forerun of exploratory research
Explanatory Studies
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Causal relationships b/w variables
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To explain relationships
 E.g.,
a quantitative data analysis on manufacturing
scrap rates shows relationship between b/w scrap rates
and the age of machine operated.
Using Multi-Methods
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It is often quite usual for a single study to combine
quantitative and qualitative methods
2 major advantages of multi-methods:
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First, Different methods can be used for different purposes
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E.g., interviews, in order to get a feel for the key issues before
embarking on a questionnaire
Second, it enables triangulation to take place
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Triangulation refers to the use of different data collection methods
within one study are telling you what you think they are telling you
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E.g., semi-structured interviews can verify data collected by questionnaire
The credibility of research findings
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How do you know the results are correct?
 You
cannot know!! All you can do it to reduce the
possibility of getting a wrong answer
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To reduce the possibility of getting a wrong answer,
we emphasize on two things:
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Reliability
Validity
Generalizability
Logic Leaps and False Assumptions
Reliability
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Can be assessed by following questions:
 Will
the measure yield the same results on other
occasions?
 Will similar observations be reached by other
observers?
 Is there transparency in how sense was made from the
raw data?
Threats to reliability
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4 threats to reliability:
 Subject
or Participant Error
 E.g.,
studying employees’ enthusiasm for their work at
different times of the week may yield different results
 How to control: Chose a more neutral time
 Subject
 E.g.,
or Participant Bias
Interviewees may have been saying what they thought
their bosses wanted them to say
 How to control: ensuring anonymity of respondents
 Observer
Error
 Multiple
researchers doing the same research with multiple
methods yields different results
 How to control: Introducing a high degree of structure to
the interview schedule
 Observer
 Biasness
Bias
due to observer himself
 How to control: Research can be conducted by multiple
researchers
Validity
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Validity refers to whether the findings are really
about what they appear to be about
 Is
the relationship b/w two variables a causal
relationship?
 E.g.,
in a study of an electronics factory we found that
employees’ failure to look at new product displays was not
due to apathy but due to lack of opportunity (as it was
located in a part they rarely visited)
 The
potential lack of validity was minimized by using focus
groups after questionnaire results were analyzed
Threats to Validity
 History
 You
may decide to study the opinions that employees have
about their job security in a particular organization
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However, if the research is conducted after a major redundancy
program, this can have an effect on findings
 Testing
 You
research may include measuring how long it takes
telesales operators to deal with customer enquiries
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If the operators believe that the results of the research may
disadvantage them in some way, then it is likely to affect results
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Instrumentation
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If the operators are given an instruction to take every opportunity
to sell new policies b/w the first and second batch of interviews
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Mortality
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Dropping out of participants
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Consequently the calls will last longer
Studying a problem spread on time and dropping participants from
the sample
Maturation
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Some events happening in time can affect the behavior of people
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Ambiguity about causal direction
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E.g., A student studying effectiveness of performance appraisal in
her organization
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Findings: Poor performance ratings of employees were associated with
negative attitude
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What was no clear: Whether the poor performance ratings caused the
negative attitude to appraisal
OR
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The negative attitude to appraisal was causing the poor performance
Generalizability
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Also referred to as external validity
 Whether
your research findings be equally applicable
in other settings
 Particularly
 As
in case study research
long as you do not claim that your results, conclusions
or theory can be generalized, there is no problem
Logic Leaps and False Assumption
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Not just the quantity of data but also the thought
process should be of high quality
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Identification of the research population
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If the intention is to generalize the conclusion across whole
population, it the choice of population logical?
Data Collection
E.g., If you are interviewing top bosses, you are likely to hear the
“the good news” syndrome
 If you collect press cuttings from newspapers, how can you assume
there has no political bias out on them?
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 Data
interpretation
Deductive or Inductive approach
 Hybrid approaches
 The theory chosen shapes your conclusions, select the
appropriate theory
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