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Business Research Techniques - summary by Michel Dagli
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BUSINESS RESEARCH TECHNIQUES FOR STRATEGIC MANAGEMENTCaptures all Grasple AND Q&A
MICHEL DAGLI
,INHOUD
Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Module 1 The research process ......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
The stages of the research process .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Module 2 Theory formation ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Demarcate the business problem ................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Formulate research questions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Develop a theoretical framework ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Module 3 Choosing a research strategy ........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Choose a research strategy ......................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Module 4 Data colletion .................................................................................................................................................................................. 14
How to structure a data set?....................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Sampling ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Measurement ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Choosing statistical tests ............................................................................................................................................................................. 18
ANOVA web-assignment 2 video ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
Independent vs Dependent Web assignment 3 video............................................................................................................................ 22
Module 5 Reliability and Validity ..................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Measurement reliability and validity .......................................................................................................................................................... 25
Internal and external validity ...................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Module 6 Survey research ............................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Polls vs. surveys .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Survey measures ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Survey mode ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 31
Reliability and validity in survey research ................................................................................................................................................... 31
Module 7 Experimental research ..................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Lab vs field experiments ............................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Experimental designs .................................................................................................................................................................................. 35
Reliability and validity in experimental research......................................................................................................................................... 39
Module 8 Archival research ............................................................................................................................................................................. 41
Internal vs. external archival data ............................................................................................................................................................... 41
Piecing together archival data..................................................................................................................................................................... 41
Reliability and validity in archival research ................................................................................................................................................. 42
Module 9 Qualitative research......................................................................................................................................................................... 44
The basics of qualitative research ............................................................................................................................................................... 44
Collecting primary qualitative research ...................................................................................................................................................... 44
Validity in qualitative research .................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Tutorial 1 – 31-10-2022.................................................................................................................................................................................... 50
Tutorial 2 – 14-11-2022.................................................................................................................................................................................... 52
,GLOSSARY
- Constructs and conceptual variables are the same, like: Job satisfaction
- “Variance refers to the spread of a data set around its mean value, while a covariance refers to the
measure of the directional relationship between two random variables.”
- “Covariance indicates the extent to which two random variables increase or decrease in tandem with
each other. Correlation tells us both the strength and the direction of this relationship.”
o De covariantie geeft aan of, en indirect in welke mate, de waarden van de ene variabele toe-
dan wel afnemen bij toenemende waarden van de andere.. Een vergelijkbare parameter is de
correlatiecoëfficiënt, die aangeeft in hoeverre sprake is van lineaire samenhang en die direct
de sterkte van de samenhang aangeeft.
- Abstract: existing in the mind as a concept, thought or idea, but having no physical form or concrete
existence; not concrete; conceptual 2) using non-concrete concepts; not clarified by concrete
examples or not realised in concrete situations; theoretical; sometimes also: difficult to understand;
- Bias can be defined as 'the degree to which the received signal is distorted' (vooroordeel)
- Cognitive bias is a systematic thought process caused by the tendency of the human brain to simplify
information processing through a filter of personal experience and preferences
- Empirical: Empirical research is based on observed and measured phenomena and derives knowledge
from actual experience rather than from theory or belief.
,MODULE 1 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Business research can be defined as "a systematic process of testing hypotheses through carefully executed
data analyses that are aimed to help a manager solve, avoid, or minimize a problem."
Let’s take a closer look at the various elements of this definition.
i. Business research is a systematic process
Business research consists of several distinct but highly interrelated stages. It is systematic because these
stages are universally agreed upon.
ii. Business research tests hypotheses
Business research involves constructing testable hypotheses. Whether a study starts with or without
constructing hypotheses, it produces the same empirical findings. In a study without hypotheses, however,
these findings could be a mere coincidence, rather than contribute to the understanding of the problem.
iii. Business research entails collecting and analyzing data
Business research is empirical. Data can be collected in various ways, e.g., through surveys, experiments,
extraction from companies' internal databases (e.g., customer account information) or government databases
(e.g., Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek; cbs.nl), web scraping, interviews, or observations.
iv. Business research is meant to help managers make better decisions
Better decisions are evidence-based decisions: decisions that rely on a thorough and painstaking assessment of
empirical data. In total, there are over 100 cognitive biases that affect how we process information. Three of
the most common cognitive biases that may affect managers' decisions are:
Confirmation bias
- Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to only consider information that agrees with ("confirms")
your pre-existing beliefs. You cherry-pick the information you consider: you look for only the evidence
that supports what you are already thinking and disregard the rest. As such, you may become a
prisoner of your own prejudices.
- E.g., investors whose holdings are concentrated in a specific sector may only absorb good news and
ignore bad news regarding this sector. This may lead them to overinvest in a particular sector.
- E.g. A confirmation bias is visible in pessimists who focus on the negatives while ignoring the positives,
and in news junkies who consume only media that supports their worldview
Availability bias
- Availability bias (also known as the availability heuristic) refers to a cognitive bias in which you make a
decision based on easy available information, even though it may not be the best information to
inform your decision.
- Information that is more easily recalled (i.e., is more available because it is more vivid or recent) is
assumed to reflect more frequent and more probable events, while information that is more difficult
to bring to mind (i.e., less available because it is less vivid or recent) is assumed to reflect less frequent
and less probable events. The availability bias thus leads you to overestimate events.
,What-You-See-Is-All-There-Is (WYSIATI) bias
- When deciding whether there is a relationship between an event and an outcome, we tend to notice
what is present but we often forget to consider what is absent. This tendency is referred to as What-
You-See-Is-All-There-Is. Because of this cognitive bias, managers adopt opinions, structure businesses,
and make decisions without examining all the data, which can easily lead to suboptimal decisions.
- E.g. In a business context, managers tend to notice the times when both a decision (e.g., running an
advertising campaign for a brand) and the desired outcome (e.g., increased brand sales) are present
but are less likely to notice the times when they did not make that decision; however, the outcome
was still present (e.g., they did not run an advertising campaign for a brand and brand sales increased
anyway). See picture: only focussing on the red part.
-
Overestimating the percentage of delayed flights each year due to recent news reports about Schiphol is an
example of availability bias. Failing to consider all of the times you went to the airport and didn’t see any
delayed flights is an example of WYSIATI bias.
,THE STAGES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS
1. Deductive vs. inductive research
Deductive and inductive research are two research approaches.
When using an inductive research approach, researchers first collect data. Next, they try to find a pattern in
these data, after which they develop a theoretical framework based on this pattern. (qualitative)
When using a deductive research approach, researchers first hypothesize relationships between variables
based on theory. These hypotheses are then tested using data. (quantitative)
Thus, while inductive research aims at developing a theory, deductive research aims at testing a theory.
The 7-step deductive research process
How can you evaluate whether a journal is worthy of being considered?
- You can check whether the articles in the journal are peer-reviewed. If they are not, the journal is
likely to be predatory.
- You can look up the impact factor. While this is not a perfect measure, a journal with an impact factor
of at least 1.0 is more likely to be legitimate.
- In the field of business, you can consult the list of quality journals compiled by TISEM.
,MODULE 2 THEORY FORMATION
DEMARCATE THE BUSINESS PROBLEM
A business problem occurs when a company encounters a threat (a difficulty to be eliminated) or an
opportunity (a situation that might be improved). A business problem needs to
be demarcated or narrowed before it can be researched.
PROBLEM RELEVANCE
A business problem should only be researched if it is also relevant. Two types of relevance must be considered:
- i. Academic relevance
- ii. Managerial relevance
Integrate scattered research
- Integrate different variables in one study which have not been integrated before.
o The relative importance / strength of the variables is not clear
Reconcile contradictory research
- Studies have reported contradictory conclusions that you want to explain / reconcile
o To solve the contradictions (through introducing one or more moderators)
,FORMULATE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The central question that a research study aims to answer is also referred to as the problem statement. A
problem statement expresses the relationship between at least two variables. A good problem statement is;
- an open-ended question
o Three ways of starting an open-ended question are by the use of “what”, “how” and "to what
extent."
- that identifies the study's unit of analysis, and
- that is expressed in terms of (i) variables and (ii) relationships.
Any of the following could be the unit of analysis in a business research study:
- individuals, such as consumers, investors, or CEOs
- firms, such as publicly listed companies, multinationals, or SMEs
- groups, such as boards of directors, alliances, or industries
- things, such as products, brands, or shares
- geographical units, such as cities, regions, or countries
A study's unit of analysis can be at a lower or a higher level of aggregation (see picture)
- Independent variables, control variables and moderators can be measured at the
level of the unit of analysis or at a more aggregate level.
- The dependent and mediator variable is always measured at the level of the unit of analysis.
An important characteristic of a variable is that it varies. This means a variable must have at least
two values or levels in a study. Variables can vary in three ways:
- across subjects;
o Variables can vary across subjects (e.g., persons, products, firms, industries, countries, ...), at
the same point in time.
o cannot change after a certain time: E.g. A researcher would like to test whether advertising is
more effective for firms in a service- vs. a product-based industry. The variable "service-based
vs. product-based industry" varies across subjects (firms in this case). Whether a firm
operates in a service-based industry or a product-based industry does not change over time
- over time;
o The second way in which a variable can vary is over time, within the same subject (a subject
can again be a person, a firm, an industry, a product, ...)
o Can change after a certain time: E.g. In a study on the economic factors that affect firms' R&D
spending over the last ten years, "R&D spending" is a variable that varies over time.
- across subjects and over time.
When something that could potentially vary only has one level in the study, it is not a variable but a constant.
,DEVELOP A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Different variables in a conceptional model:
- dependent (y)
- independent (x)
- mediating
o a variable that explains the mechanism between x and y (how/why does x effect y)
- moderating
o a variable that changes the strength and sometimes even the direction (positive / negative) of
the relationship between x and y
o Note that a moderator variable can sometimes also have a direct effect on the DV, in addition
to the moderating effect on the relationship between the IV and the DV.
o
▪ E.g. To what extent are X and MOD related to Y and how does the relationship
between X and Y depend on MOD?
- control variables
o it’s a variable that is not the focus of the research but its existence has a certain impact on
the dependent variable
o not included in problem statement
, RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
A research hypothesis is "a tentative statement about the coherence between two or more variables."
- A research hypothesis is a tentative statement. This means that a research study will test, using data,
whether this statement is sound.
- A research hypothesis is about the coherence, or the relationship, between variables.
- A research hypothesis pertains to two or more variables. A main-effect hypothesis is about the
relationship between two variables. A mediator and a moderator hypothesis are about the
relationship between three variables.
Whereas the null hypothesis expresses that there is no relationship between variables, the alternative
hypothesis is what researchers expect the relationship between variables to be.
- Directional hypotheses indicate the expected direction of the relationship; is the expected association
positive or negative?
- Undirectional hypotheses expect a relationship, but they do not indicate the direction (neg./pos.)
What makes a good research hypothesis?
- First, a research hypothesis should be testable. This means that it should be phrased in terms of
(measurable) variables.
- Second, a research hypothesis should not be based on your gut feeling but should be justified
using logical arguments based on prior (high-quality) research studies.
We write, if proven, that a hypothesis are: supported by (consistent with) or not supported by (not consistent
with) the data.
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