BRM CH. 4

The stages in the business research process

(1) Defining the research objectives (2) Planning a research design (3) Planning a sample (4) Collecting the data (5) Analyzing the data (6) Formulating the conclusions and preparing the report

Which Approach is best?

Exploratory research is conducted during the early stages of decision making, whereas descriptive and causal research are often conducted in the later stages.

Research program

When numerous related studies come together to address issues about a single company

Research project

When the researcher has only one or a small number of research objectives that can be addressed in a single study

Casual Research

allows causal inferences to be made. researchers typically have a good understanding of the phenomena being studied and can make an educated prediction about the cause and effect relationships that will be tested.

Exploratory Research

conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities. It is not intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine a particular course of action. In this sense, it is not an end unto itself, and researchers usually undertake this form of research with the full expectation that more research will be needed to provide more conclusive evidence.

Descriptive research

describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments. It addresses who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. conducted with a considerable understanding of the situation being studies.

Conditional Causality

means that a cause is necessary but not sufficient to bring about an effect. This is a weaker causal inference than absolute causality.

Absolute Causality

the cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the effect. Although this is a very strong inference, it is impossible to think that we can establish absolute causality in the behavioral sciences. While managers may like to be able to draw absolute conclusions, they can often make very good decisions based on less powerful inferences.

Contributory Causality

the weakest form of causality, but it is still a useful concept. This degree of causality means that a cause need be neither necessary nor sufficient to bring about an effect.